I’m old school and still use discs. But I am very curious on the whole process. Ie: buying the movie, ripping it, how that’s all done and then adding it into a nas setup. So a video even if it’s lengthy would be good to see the whole entire process from start to finish 🙌🏻
@@thebrowncinema Therein lies the problem. You can buy a nas box already set up, rip your movies with a pc, and then store them on the nas. Then you'd need something to stream them. Again, you can buy devices that are essentially plug and play but they're pricey. Or You can build it all yourself and manually set everything up. This route is probably 1/3 the cost but requires a lot of knowledge and a substantial amount of time to get up and running. It all depends really.
@@mephInc I have a nvidia shield pro. I’ve seen guys use them. I guess I would need to experience it before I dropped a bunch of money on going digital
Definitely interested in the ripping process. I have a shield so I don't think I'm interested in something like this just yet although I do like the idea of having the menus.
Shield can/will play back your movies, but what I was getting at - or at least trying to - was to show the difference in experience you get. One works out of the box and has all the eye candy, the other takes a little work, and some things don't work (like menus) - for some, like me, both of those things are important.
If you're just dipping your toes in and don't want too complicated, take his advice. If you don't mind pulling your hair out, digging through forums for weeks and.....eventually getting everything set up, you can do a kodi device. Not for the faint at heart but fun if you really like to tinker.
I stick to my Nvidia Sheild Tv Pro,AppleTv 4k,Sony 4k player(region free).No intention to buy media player,16TB hard drive or sata SSD and a new 4k movie,ripping them store in storage.The more disc you buy,you need more storage after ripping them.Spend more money on new hard drive once the existing one is full.Never stop
You can do almost everything you mentioned and from 5:57 onward it does it all as well! Enabling a collection or making a movie collection bundle together is easy and is an option that you can activate on the Kodi menu, you can even make collections of movies like A fist full of dollars, for a few dollars more, The good the bad and the ugly! Audio wise is the same as it is a passthrough bitstream. For a person that is savy on this affairs it should be quite explanatory, and a bit of exploring on youtube facilitates this a lot! What Shiled lacks is the ability to play 3D movies! Zidoo doesn't suffer from this "fault".
Hey Tony. Always enjoy your content. I'm very intrigued by this product. I own over 2000 movies and would love to have them stored on a media player. The Kaleidescape is out of my price range but something like this might be right up my alley. So you show us how to connect, rip, and tell us how much equipment and total investment would be would be great. Look forward to seeing that video. Thanks 👊
Auyup Tony Yes please on a ripping movies how to, I’m just more interested in what drive/software you’re actually using. Thanks for the content you’ve been putting out, really interesting.
I've been using Kodi for many, many years so I'm used to its silly quirks, but I DO appreciate the ease of use with the Zidoo. Thanks for the comparison! Show us your ripping process next
That's pretty much all this was - showing the difference between a dedicated player and a streamer which needs a bit of TLC to get it to work and also compare the user experience.
Excellent video Tony! Because of this comparison I am considering the Zidoo. I still like my physical media, but it would be handy to have them on a drive so that I can search through them without having to look through my actual disc collection. I wish they had a version that you could put the disc in, and it would rip it directly to the device.
Plex user here. I think you've convinced me. My movies are mkv so Plex works fine for that and has a bit better interface than Kodi but a lot of the same nagging issues plague me, especially getting the native audio formats playing. Sign me up for a video about your ripping setup and process, Tony!
@@chebrubin to me the mkv cuts the red tape. Just give me the movie. But for you iso is the way to go and that is great. But yes plex does have a purpose. Zidoo might be optional in a dedicated space but. Plex is on every TV in the house and on the go.
@@BuildMontage Emby can do this easily also, which is why we don't use Plex anymore. Emby is preferred for its customization, posters, collections, user settings. Good stuff!
Z9x seems like it would be good solution for main media TV given its price tag. Interface looks beautiful similar to and perhaps better than Kodi. Would have been nice to see how it handled Blue-ray menus from ISO files. Important to keep in mind that ISO files will commonly have a lot of wasted disk space from fluff like audio and subtitles for multiple languages, trailers from other movies, ads, etc. I’m really curious how it scrapes the movies or can you use a separate program like Ember Media Manager to do it? Does it have a screen saver of your content? What about TV Shows? Perhaps like Kodi it supports nfo files? I agree it seems silly not to default to main library view. Other streaming devices such as Shield, Roku, FireTV are cheap and provide a means to have access to other media than your own content such as UA-cam, Netflix, etc. Plex or Emby apps provide access to your own content. I have a HTPC running both Kodi and Plex connected to main TV. Kodi is used there and the other streaming devices around the house use Plex. Plex offers portability to watch your content anywhere in the world via a browser or streaming device such as Roku. I have a Roku stick in a small travel case I use in hotels and friends houses when traveling. It has Plex and any other streaming service preset up for easy access.
I have a shield pro and have Kodi and never have any issues with passing through native audio. You don't need to go to developer mode at all for that. Just set audio to passthrough, and have the shield connected directly to the AVR not through the tv using arc/eArc You can disable Arc/eArc on the AVR if the shield is hdmi directly in to it. As for Kodi , again set to passthrough and all audio codecs are passed through. Kodi is set to give you access to all audio codecs and now also Dolby vision. I think you need to change Kodi skins to get a better flow. Plex does have it's issues but set to direct play it's usually pretty stable on a home network as long as it's hardwired. I can play back full 100GB remux file on my shield pro using Kodi. I'm not in to having all the DVD menu tbh, I don't ever watch or use them. As for ripping your own physical media that's illegal in NZ and AU. So I wouldn't do a video on that one
To get the custom frame rate and resolution options you do need to unlock developer mode on Shield - there are also setting you need to enable for passthrough. Zidoo just works when u turn it on. Also Kodi absolutely does NOT have the pass through options enabled by default. Ripping is only illegal if you plan on selling. You are allowed to have a backup of your physical media. If it were illegal, Zappiti NAS with ripper wouldn't be able to be sold here.
@@BuildMontage for movies you don't need custom frame rate. Just switch to the option of 24hz HDR ready DV ready. To set passthrough on kodi it's one click. As for legality of owning and ripping. No it's not legal even just for your self.. It's legal in say Switzerland or Sweden one of the two but I think you'll find in Australia and New Zealand that is actually still illegal. As it's bypassing the copyright of the DVD . Maybe look it up before you make a video about ripping them just to be safe . Ask a copyright lawyer in Aussie if you can find one. And as for that other box, it's a fork of Kodi as it's open source and can be tweaked to do what you want it to do. Example the latest release of Kodi now has DV but some DV files won't work as it only has one or two of the 7 DV codecs. So the version of Kodi I have which has been altered has all the DV codecs.
Also just checked Kodi on standard setting , passthrough shows up to be enabled. You've only got to turn it on. Or when playing movies go to sound icon and enable it for that movie and then select for everything. As long as your shield is plugged directly in to the AVR and you have passthrough enabled on both shield and Kodi it'll pass everything to the AVR and give you the corresponding audio codec. Now if plugged in to say a tv using arc / eArc then to the avr you may run in to issues with that. That's why a tv or projector should really just become a monitor as such
@@briantidey2225 pass through in Kodi is one click. But, by default all the other options for Dolby Atmos are disabled and you can’t even see that unless you go into advanced. Also if it’s illegal to have a backup of your physical disk, how are Zappiti in business here? They sell a ripper and NAS which sole purpose is to copy your disk. Also the players only play back that sort of ripped content. I have done research and all of it pointed to being ok if you own it.
@@briantidey2225 incorrect. U still need to enable all of the other settings under advanced mode. You have them enabled now but when you install Kodi, they are disabled. I have video and photo evidence of this.
I would like to see a video on how you did your collection. I did all my DVD’s into MKV files which I play through PLEX. I don’t have a 4K or Bluray player in a computer yet so I can’t do those discs. I’d like to see what equipment you use to do this as well. Great video.
So, in your opinion, the shield+kodi had picture and audio quality equivalent to the z9x? It sounds like your preferences were mostly centered around ease of use and style of the interface. If I'm happy with shield+kodi interface, is there any reason to get a zidoo? Thank you so much for making this video!
I would be very grateful if you could share the process for ripping. I went on this journey first by ripping my DVD collection several years ago - 500 discs - what a job. I got inconsistent results, issues with movie length, sound options and subtitles and only a VOB file. I decided to do my blu-ray collection (500 +) and got halfway and was really frustrated again. I bought a license from DVDFAB and found I had issues with the software on various versions of MacOS. I ripped 3D files but couldn't get them to play. I have a Synology NAS and was using either Plex of VLC to play. So I recently upgraded from Plasma to 4K and the thought of doing the ripping again is quite daunting. But If I got a 100% reliable result, I would do it. I fear UHD players will eventually become obsolete. I would love to use this device but the ripping process is beyond me. I cant find software that will do it reliably and without paying for expensive licenses and also dealing with the DRM Copy protection issues. I only want to rip movies I own. So looking forward to a guide. I live in the Hills district of Sydney BTW. Thanks for a good video. Now subscribed.
@@BuildMontage In Australia the copyright laws allow you to make a backup of a disc, so I would not be concerned. As long as you have a legal right to own the disc (like its in your collection and you bought it) making a backup copy is technically legal. It is only when you share it that you create a problem. I am no pirate and stand firmly against the act. So please just show us what software you use to make the iso and we can worry about the rest :-).
Love the videos and subscribed. I bought the Z9X after seeing one of your videos but returned it. Having 4 shields in my house and 1 HTPC with 40tb of space attached they all read directly from the HTPC over the LAN with Plex and works great. Everything you mentioned the Z9X can do the Shield can do other than menus which I don’t care about. Clicking a few toggles on the shield to open up all the options isn’t exactly hard. Thanks for covering theses though 👍🏼😊.
@@estusflask982 Actually it does. Not sure when it was updated but Nvidia clearly states it plays HDR10 or Dolby Vision if that is what your talking about. Now I just need a Dolby Vision tv!
I would definitely like a video is getting this process completed. Physical library is growing and I love it but would love to convert them to digital.
Great video, I do streaming and disc. No media player yet. I like watching Ultra HD DVDs if I have them on my Panasonic UB820 the best but streaming is pretty convenient. I guess the media player would be the best of both.
The user experience looks very nice! Very informative! Thanks for sharing! I'm still looking for a single device that can handle everything from local to online streaming, with support for all the formats, a nice user friendly interface and up to date hardware and software. Not even the high-end models from Zidoo have all that. We are basically stuck with multiple devices and services at the tinkering land for now.
Yes the Zidoo is a dedicated media player. It’s made just for that. The shield is probably the best multi purpose single device but I love the Zidoo interface and the simplicity.
Been there, done that back in the day when X-treamer made dedicated media players. I've also tried Qnap NAS, but found that too cumbersome to maintain. Also tried WD NAS which I still have and use. Ultimately, I've found that nothing beats a PC. A PC can do all of that and so much more, and I don't have to switch between devices depending on what I wanna do. But if given that scenario, I'd choose the SHIELD and install MX Player. You can play games and attach external drives and stream. It just does so much more.
I have the Shield pro but I much prefer the Zidoo as a dedicated player for movies. I use my Shield or Apple TV for streaming, I think it comes down to personal taste.
This is madness!! I remember when the Shield Pro came out and everyone was gung ho about getting it, so I did. WAAAAy before I had thought/been able to create a theater room. Now this?? I didn't even know something like this existed! So thanks! I originally was just looking for solid Blu-Ray player, but now I feel like FOMO. Maybe I'll just put the Shield on another TV then...
Great video clip . I have tried to rip movies but never turn out that's why I use Apple I buy my movie it go to my library I get all the info I need about the movie. Cheers
@@BuildMontage I usually do MKV which works better in InFuse. I use that method for stuff I want and can’t get in the K store right now. PCM decodes up to effective 7.1 lossless 1:1 in Infuse, so the only thing missing is Atmos or DTS:X native.
@@Techthusiasm yes, exactly, and I always have neural-x for that, but, it's why I was on the hunt for something that just works out of the box. K-scape always fascinated me, but I've heard some horror stories when it comes to support - and it's not available in Australia any more anyway.
@@Techthusiasm If you have a PC with HDMI port you can use the Microsoft Movies & TV app to play Dolby Atmos movies. Enable HDR in Settings and it'll play HDR10 as well.
Hello brother Just wanted to say that (almost) ALL the reasons you prefer the Zidoo are solved and are available by choosing a better Skin for Kodi I have the collections, all the info about movies, can explore movies based on director/actor/genre, etc Can see the trailer. Choose artwork, etc. It’s a very nice experience The only thing that I didn’t try is playing ISOs because I don’t use them Most people who use Kodi change the skin as a first step. The default skin is really there because there needs to be a default skin
What you say is mostly true however I have tried all the skins in Kodi and I don't like any of them. It doesn't have the same feel and user experience as a dedicated player that only does that one thing. Its just a choice, an option, as I said in the video, virtually no difference in playback performance from either player, I just prefer the experience from the Zidoo personally - and I own both devices remember :)
@@BuildMontage I understand brother. To each their own Just suggested it in case you hadn't tried that route I personally use Arctic Fuse as a skin and like it (even if a little bit a pain in the ass to configure at first) But to be honest, my main reason for using Kodi is streaming content rather than playing files i have backed up locally. If that was the case, i might have gone with the Zidoo instead Have a nice day
Found some points to be inaccurate regarding the Nvidia Shield. First, you don't need to access developer options to make the Shield work with various video formats. Most users won't miss Blu-ray menus, so if that's not a priority, you can simply rip your Blu-rays in a lossless format. These files play perfectly through Plex or Jellyfin without needing Kodi, which, as you noted, can be clunky. My setup is straightforward: I use the Nvidia Shield (2019 Pro model) connected to my NAS, streaming remuxed, lossless videos. It handles Dolby Vision, all HDR formats, and supports audio passthrough, including Atmos. The process is simple: (1) Get an Nvidia Shield 2019 Pro, (2) Rip your discs, and (3) Use Plex for playback with audio passthrough. That's all there is to it, without the complications your video suggests.
This could be true now, but a couple of years ago when I made the video, what you're talking about was not possible - I didn't just make stuff up - I spent quite a bit of time trying to get it to work before I made the video and the assistance I got showed me to do what I showed in the video. Since then, no doubt these things have likely been fixed and improved upon - hindsight is 20/20 :)
@@BuildMontage I stumbled across your video as I was debating what would be my main client for my ripped blue rays. Eventually bought a Nvidia shield second hand and found it to be pretty great minus blue ray menus . Maybe make a follow up video updating the current state of things . Keep up the good work
Although you have almost helped me through the ripping set up process i think it would be great to see a full video. No has really done it before. And it aint so simpleZ :) it would need a few setup processes - such as Synology and Zapitti Server on DSM 7.
I just got the Zidoo Z9X and its much smoother playback compared to the shield/kodi. (No judder or stuttering) I'm also not sure if the picture and audio are better, but they are stellar!
I would love to see a video on how you rip a movies (Bluray?) to your NAS, then a quick tutorial on how you edit the artwork in Kodi. What are you using for a NAS? and how big? I have a 8TB NAS now but its not really designed for media streaming. I'm probably going to build something, any recommendations? Love the videos, thanks!
Hi, Quick question. In terms of picture quality between the Zidoo Z9X and Nvidia Shield ( which one looks better on screen and do they have the same audio quality? ) Regards.
Found some answers here I asked you in another video. Once again. Great channel. You and I look for the exact same features. Like the same features. And have I'm guessing similar setups. Havent had to worry about any of this fir a while because my Zappiti took care of my needs. About to set up a Sheild. Have already returned one once. And looks like the Zidoo is a perfect replacement. As far as resolution and sound quality though. Besides it not being dedicated. Are these two comparable? I didn't even have Vision on my Zappiti. And I'm not a projector fan. I use Oleds. And I have a pretty decent 7.2.4 setup. Not the best in the world but a pretty great looking and sounding setup for my needs. With that? Would you highly recommend the Zidoo over the Shield? Or is it comparable enough to not worry. My wife would greatly enjoy everything encompassed into one player. A main reason I went for the Shield. Plus Im familiar with Kodu. Agree with you 100% on that. And then there's also a chance the Zappiti app will someday make that usable again. I'm really on a fence here if you happen to aee this or the other. Thanks again.
Thank you. I would choose Zidoo over the Shield if dedicated movies are what you're after. The shield is a great multipurpose device but doesn't have the same user experience as the Zidoo which has a more premium feel to it when you're browsing movies. I use the Apple TV as my streamer, and the Zidoo as my dedicated player and this combo works well for me.
Plex does everything you just mentioned easily except for navigation menus. I could see the benefit for someone who actually cares about the additional features and menus. I personally am just here for the movie and could care less about the rest. You get playlists, you get metadata.
@@BuildMontage that's true. But the only advantage of an ISO over an MKV is the menu. Which is what I mentioned it doesn't do. If you only care about the movie, there is literally no difference.
@@estusflask982 which again as I said is correct. If you're just there for a movie, there is literally no difference in an MKV and an ISO. I understand some people care about those things, but most people buy a movie for the movie itself. Plex will pull online features too like trailers and special features but I personally ignore those too. Just like I ignore the special features on the disc. I haven't cared about special features since the original DVD extended edition of Lord of the Rings. There's a reason studios stopped putting many special features on those discs, people don't watch them.
my problem is how many times will you watch any given movie more than once.. most of them are good enough to watch once maybe twice. I've have a couple dozen movies that i watch more than that. streaming allows me access to more movies than i own and that's is what i need because i don't know what i want to watch on any given day
I sold my nvidia shield and went zidoo and haven't looked back it plays everything I throw at it with lossless audio and video plus only a handful players play dolby vision bdmv rips which is 1 to 1 ratio I lose nothing definitely worth the pickup
Can you play your media on the Zidoo via voice control? I am currently using Home Assistant’s Plex Assistant integration, which is amazing. I would want to be able to do that with these media players.
No voice control. It’s all done using the remote but it does allow IP control so possibly you could if you had a smart home integration to do it that way. It has an Rs232 port for that.
During the Nvidia Shield section you mentioned if you had ripped your disks as MKV's you would have been able to use Plex but instead you ripped to ISO files so you use Kodi. Besides missing the Menu and bonus features in the MKV version is there any other reason you choose to rip ISO?
The main reason I went with ISO is that is the original format used. Other than that, the mt2s file inside is left unchanged if the MKV is created without opting for any compression. No other reason really in my decision, but just the way I use DVDFab to do the rips, it just works and makes sense. I also use the Zidoo players to play back these 1:1 rips - my streamer boxes don't even connect to the NAS I have them stored on so its a non-issue.
Can you set the Zidoo up the isos from Tv-shows so it can reconize the episodes on each iso like Kodi can ? I know you wrote for movies but i see Tv-shows just as an importen element for my next player.
Great content by the way. In my opinion, having to use a 3rd party app isn’t a con, if I had to jailbreak the device and use a third party app or something like that would be a con in my book, having apps is a plus to me as well, I may be able to live without the Blu-ray menus and just do mkv files, so for me, I think the shield would be perfect (for me) not for everyone, plus we all are always tweaking settings anyway when we are setting up our home theather processors, one more menu of setting to go through isn’t an issue, just my two cents. Grouping things together on the Zidoo Z9X is pretty nice though.
That sums it up for me as well. I am past tinkering when I have something setup. I love the Zidoo interface. I simply turn it on and bam - the thumbnails are there and I can browse around and hit play. It als does HDR10+ and Dolby Vision etc.. so it covers all the bases. I have both and I naturally gravitate toward the Zidoo.
I prefer the Zidoo for movie watching - that's what's built for :) Shield is great for everything else - including my PLEX server with my TV shows - I don't use the Zidoo for that.
Few things due to general lack of experience in this video. The first thing you could have done is changed the Kodi skin or just even found that it was possible in the first place, the Aeon Nox Silvo skin is outstanding, then you could have spend a few days with it to be able to give real objective feedback on it, this would have meant going through every single menu and actually setting it up or at least seeing what was possible. You made a point that the zidoo has actor thumbnails and even groups films into collections, Kodi does all that too. Ive been using Kodi with MadVR for about 10 years, I use Kodi on the Shield too, and preferred Kodi on the Zidoo I have also. The Zidoo player is pretty no frills to be honest and has hardlty any options at all, there are no skins, its not really that configuarable, its good for beginners or people who just want to play something quickly. I actually found plex more difficult to setup, ive tried it a few times due to its central library, but I hated how hard it was to never allow it to transcode. It almost always tried to transcode my videos.
I did try a few different skins but they are all pretty awful in my opinion. It’s all subjective what I was showing - I wasn’t saying absolutes, I even said it works and is pretty much the same audio and video wise as the Z9X. What isn’t subjective is all the work you need to do to get 1:1 audio pass through and video to work on Shield vs Zidoo. I’m an OG with this sort of stuff since the 90s - I think the main point may have been missed here. Open the box and plug it in and one works the other doesn’t without quite a bit of work and research. Im not knocking Kodi, but for me, I prefer the Zidoo/Zappiti.
@@BuildMontage Did you know that kodi has a version out there where you can play back with menu support? Check this out: ua-cam.com/video/0LdM0Q2ttx8/v-deo.html
Have we gotten a video explaining the ripping and NAS setup? I’m close to starting a new how build and am thinking this along with a Zidoo is the way to go! Only other question is how does the Z9X compare to the middle brother of the lineup?
The video is coming. IM waiting on some drives from the states to arrive before I can make it. Z9x is great. Similar performance just not internal drives or upgraded analogue audio components.
@@BuildMontage just watched your part 3 of the rack rebuild and heard about the drives! Thanks for the reply and also for all of your content! You're my go-to when it comes to learning about home theaters!
So using Plex on the shield is even easier and interface is as good if not better. Ripping 4k disks to an MKV file without any compression of video or audio is a breeze. I find this video ill informed.
As me and you slightly discussed on an older video, kodi is amazing once you've figured it out but it takes time and effort. Little tip: leave the audio at 2.0 and turn on passthrough. This will make kodi not touch the audio and send it straight to the receiver.
I can imagine it would be great if you could fine tune everything. For me the Poster Wall app on Zidoo is hands down the nicest way to scroll your library. It's all subjective. I have yet to see a full Kodi implementation like it. None of the skins are very nice at all. Link me to some resources if you have a chance and I'll take a look at Kodi's potential.
@@BuildMontage I'm currently running the AEON Flux skin. It's highly customizable and has 3 varieties of a wall. I run the standard wall with the case option on (looks like physical media), and then "shift" for sets of movies. As far as audio, leave it at 2.0 and turn the passthrough on. This will bypass the media device and send the audio straight to your receiver to do the processing.
Hi Tony. Thanks for reviews you do. I'm using shield pro but it has really big issue that I can't solve. Dolby vision and sdr Playback is really good but issue with HDR 10 is disturbing. I can't get 24p playback with HDR 10 in 10 bit. It Drops to 8 bit and chroma switches from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2. The only way to get 10 bit 4:2:0 is leaving refresh rate at 60 hz. Is any way to solve this problem? And how's it with zidoo does it play videos without quality drop like Blu-ray player? Or is it better to stick with my Panasonic Blu-ray player? Im using Sony oled a95l and Denon 6700
That's an interesting issue. I haven't experienced anything like that before so I can't really help but having a refresh rate determine the chroma subsampling is very odd. Zidoo works great, has the HDR to SDR conversion process as well.
You have convinced me to give the Zidoo a shot. Had been looking at Zidoo and Zappiti for months. New Zappitis are ridiculously over priced. I’ve had an Apple TV/Plex set up for years but I’m tired of the 4K Dolby Vision limitations of this set up. Zidoo doesn’t look as snappy as an ATV but way faster than a disk. Keep up the good work!
This zidoo 10 is also a android box running android 9. And their website says could get DV could get hdr10 it's not a definite. This to me looks like it's using a fork of Kodi. It's a pre loaded box
I was this 🤌 close to getting the Nvidia Shield and loading Kodi to replace my WDTV Live. my collection needs a player with a bit power these days and the Zidoo looks just the ticket. Did you make a video on how you rip and set your library up, I’m thinking of using smaller sized ISO’s. Thanks
If u rip as an iso does the file name need to be renamed properly to get it to group within a collection or its just automatic? My new fav utube channel👌 I'm also very interested I'm a ripping video, I'm waiting on my drive to start
Check out the zappiti media player, a comparison on its features and player ( audio and video ) compared to the sheiks would be appreciated. The zappiti also allows you to add applications, so it’s an all in one.
I ordered a zidoo z9x because I needed mkv FEL dolby vision profile 7 playback which the apple tv 4k cannot do it just falls back to HDR with infuse pro. With an almost full 18tb drive on my openmediavault server it would be too time consuming to remux them to DV profile 8. I will still use the ATV 4K for online streaming and just use the z9x for local network streaming.
Hey Tony. Great info. Couple of questions. How does zidoo handle extras for movies. And what about tv shows/extras as well. Is this device IYO better in quality playback that shield/kodi. I sometimes see dragging on video when some scenes pan across screen on my shield pro using kodi. Thanks!
What do you mean by extras? I personally feel the Zidoo is better than Shield/Kodi for the reasons mentioned in the video - I also like how the Zidoo handles the meta data and shows additional stuff about the director and actors etc.
Shield will pass through TrueHD (with Atmos meta data) in PLEX with MKV only as PLEX can't read ISOs - hence why I use the Zidoo, so yes you're correct :)
@@BuildMontage I believe java runtimes are needed to display blu rays menus which may explain why kodi on the shield can't run the menus. And the zidoo box probably has the required java runtimes.
this is EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. anytime I try and look into video playback they all all about streaming. I have an extensive 4k library so I needed this. I do have an LG OLED C1 but still
@@BuildMontage I have two external HDs and one internal 14tb one hooked into a dock (which connects via USB). Would these work all setup and connected to the box?
I believe there's a way to get KODI to play full Bluray menu but I wish Zidoo is a full stream like Nvidia is... love to have one box that's the best of both world.
Great Info, Many thanks. Can someone advice regarding ripped movies as MKV Maintaining original Quality Which one is better KODI/PLEX on nVidia Sheild or Apple TV "Doesn't support KODI" or Zidoo from Audio/Video Quality prospective?
I am looking to make a video, I'm just waiting to see the legal ramifications on doing so as you need to bypass DRM on the disk. Zidoo is nice, easy and looks awesome, and Shield running Kodi is equally as good in terms of quality of audio and video - although I think the way the Zidoo renders is slightly better as you can also modify the image output with sliders.
Great video. I just bought a Sony XR77A80J 77" OLED TV and use a Panasonic DP-UB9000PCK and Apple TV 4K. My concern is quality-I don’t want to loose any quality if I go this route. I have been using MakeMKV to rip older DVDs and TV series and playing them back using Emby. Please elaborate on how best to get my 4K/bluray movies ripped then using the Zidoo. BTW, can't find them in Canada? Also, what about the Z10Pro? That IS available on Amazon Canada.
Hey there. Quality will be as good as a disk in my opinion. It's the same source and using a dedicated player to play it back. I use DVDFab to do my rips to ISO format. And yes the Z10Pro is perfectly good - its similar to the z9x but allows you to put a drive bay in.
Can this player be set so that the TV does not always perceive it as an HDR signal, but has 4K upscaling? Because my Thomson THA100 player is always detected by the samsung TV as an HDR signal, even when I play SDR content.
I just wanna watch own content on a 4k OLED using a big ass storage which I want to acces via my pc to add and delete content of desired. I want all the goodies like vision / atmos etc. Just use a shield with storage the way? With plex or Kodi.
I have no idea why you used and showed kodi. Plex is the way to go. Everything you complained about in kodi is not in plex. Every feature you showed in the zidoo except menu playback, is in ones. Including the slick interface, groups, etc. and the same quality.
Because Plex wouldn’t play back my ISO rips or show blue ray menus which I retain in my rips. I have a huge Plex setup already - I asked people and they suggested Kodi.
Hello , just curious , is there any difference in video/audio quality between Shield and Zidoo if I am just connecting my external HD to it for watching watching mkv etc file formats ?
With the shield being literally the only player capable of Dolby vision single layer dual track profile 7, which is the approved mkv spec as per dolby, and being the only player capable of actual truehd audio pass through while Kodi really really lacking in any hdr presentation at all, I can see people being frustrated with Kodi or Plex on devices besides the shield. But for large libraries, 1030 4K remuxes and many more 1080p Blu-ray’s, I don’t see how this device would be able to handle a database of that size as compared to a dedicated Plex server. If it allowed for Plex install I would be very interested in the device as it could potentially solve some red shift errors that are somewhat still present in some movies on the shield. Have you seen any performance degradation on very very large databases of movies?
Im not sure what you're asking here. The library for the Zidoo is stored on a NAS and pulled over NFS. I'm unaware of any issues with the image. The Zidoo has the LLDV VS10 engine built into it so playback is pretty nice in my opinion. Shield playback is pretty similar pulling the same ISO files from my NAS.
@@BuildMontage I’m assuming the ziddo stores the movie file location on the nas and the metadata it downloads from the internet for the movies in a local database. As more movies are added and more metadata is downloaded does the performance degrade…is more what I was asking
@@BuildMontage for instance with Plex all the metadata and movie file locations are stored server side on the Plex database on whatever server/nas you use. Hence using high performance nvme raid ssds makes the interface loaded and database access lightning quick. I’m worried the ziddo would perform horribly slowly with a very very large movie collection and it’s correspondingly large amounts of metadata.
Tired of the Z9X stuttering on very low bitrates in 4K movies. Like when the picture goes black at 14 Mbps or the credits play and there is barely any data in the stream. I want something better.
@@BuildMontageWouldn't make sense for it to be a network issue. If it was a network issue, then it would stutter on high bitrates, not when the bitrate plummets. Had the same problem playing 4K movies from an SSD connected over SATA. Maybe you have the Pro model.
@Ezekiel43 I’ve tested all of them and own several and never had a stutter issue. I think if it’s doing that u may have a dud model. Have you tried factory resetting it?
Yes the z9x supports and plays back dolby vision if the display (tv usually!) can play it back. If it doesn’t u can force the vs10 engine to playback DV so you don’t get that weird magenta and green look to the image.
Is the Zidoo Z9X any better than the Zidoo Z1000 PRO 4K UHD Media Player - they both run the same CPU, GPU and RAM? The only difference I can see is the hard drive slot.
As much as I like my NVidia Shield Pro, I can't find a way to play my Blu-ray 3D files with it, so I picked up the Z9X. On the plus side, I do finally get to watch 3D files on my BenQ projector, but the picture quality seems somewhat washed out compared to my NVidia Shield Pro. Even the surround audio formats sound compressed compared to the Pro. Really wish it would have worked out but picture and sound quality are more important to me than a box that's capable of playing all formats. Will keep using my trusty Pro until I figure out this Blu-ray 3D files issue :(
That doesnt sound right. You may need to check your settings. Audio should be set to RAW so that it doesn't do any kind of manipulation to the stream and does a bitstream pass through, and also for video, make sure you have the SDR to HDR settings correctly mapped as well as the gamma setting. It should be as good/better than the shield.
Yes same when Im watching on the zidoo. A disc is a subsequent medium - the movie was made and mastered on a computer - so it has to be copied onto something for it to get to us, and whether it's a disc, or a rip of that original disc to a hard drive, it's the same thing with more convenience :)
Hi there, thanks for the vid, I am actually looking for a media player to play my movie files! For the Zidoo, is it possible that I connect to a USB external drive and just play the mkv/movie files from there directly? Thanks!
Just very simple question, Can Zidoo 9X play 4K REMUX HDR movies directly from USB drive? NO NAS etc. Just directly plugged into device, Can Zidoo play them without any lag?
How does the Z9X compare to the Z1000 pro for picture quality and sound? Thanks. What is the advantage to the Z1000Pro oer the Z9X other than internal Drive bay?
Great question: main difference is the processor/ram, so it's every so slightly slower to move around the menus and load images but it's not a huge difference. Audio/video is identical. Ive done extensive testing with both.
@@BuildMontage thank you for the quick response. Very interesting. So if I buy the z9x I get the same audio and video quality. I might have to pick one up then. Thank you.
I have z9x and I watch Netflix a lot. The problem is its not Netflix certified device and I have to use an older version to watch. I heard Nvidia stream better for other movie apps as well.
I’m old school and still use discs. But I am very curious on the whole process. Ie: buying the movie, ripping it, how that’s all done and then adding it into a nas setup. So a video even if it’s lengthy would be good to see the whole entire process from start to finish 🙌🏻
Thanks for the comment - I am going to work on one very soon!
Once you go digital, you never go back. So much simpler
@@mephInc I’m worried to see how much the cost is. I’ve heard a lot about madvr also.
@@thebrowncinema
Therein lies the problem.
You can buy a nas box already set up, rip your movies with a pc, and then store them on the nas. Then you'd need something to stream them. Again, you can buy devices that are essentially plug and play but they're pricey.
Or
You can build it all yourself and manually set everything up. This route is probably 1/3 the cost but requires a lot of knowledge and a substantial amount of time to get up and running.
It all depends really.
@@mephInc I have a nvidia shield pro. I’ve seen guys use them. I guess I would need to experience it before I dropped a bunch of money on going digital
Definitely interested in the ripping process. I have a shield so I don't think I'm interested in something like this just yet although I do like the idea of having the menus.
Shield can/will play back your movies, but what I was getting at - or at least trying to - was to show the difference in experience you get. One works out of the box and has all the eye candy, the other takes a little work, and some things don't work (like menus) - for some, like me, both of those things are important.
If you're just dipping your toes in and don't want too complicated, take his advice.
If you don't mind pulling your hair out, digging through forums for weeks and.....eventually getting everything set up, you can do a kodi device. Not for the faint at heart but fun if you really like to tinker.
Nvidia can play large movie file like 10gb or more.i think to buy.
@@SoftwareHelparihant Nvidia can Play 100GB UHD remuxed to mkv. no Problem. So Long you Network is fast. And you Hard Drive (NaS) is not to slow
I stick to my Nvidia Sheild Tv Pro,AppleTv 4k,Sony 4k player(region free).No intention to buy media player,16TB hard drive or sata SSD and a new 4k movie,ripping them store in storage.The more disc you buy,you need more storage after ripping them.Spend more money on new hard drive once the existing one is full.Never stop
Yes definitely another video on the set up please. Agree this is the best way to watch your Blu Rays or 4K movies. Keep up the awesome work.
I got a synology nas connected to a nvidya sheild using plex! I love it. No issues playing back my ripped 4k and blurry movies.
You can do almost everything you mentioned and from 5:57 onward it does it all as well! Enabling a collection or making a movie collection bundle together is easy and is an option that you can activate on the Kodi menu, you can even make collections of movies like A fist full of dollars, for a few dollars more, The good the bad and the ugly!
Audio wise is the same as it is a passthrough bitstream.
For a person that is savy on this affairs it should be quite explanatory, and a bit of exploring on youtube facilitates this a lot!
What Shiled lacks is the ability to play 3D movies! Zidoo doesn't suffer from this "fault".
Hey Tony. Always enjoy your content. I'm very intrigued by this product. I own over 2000 movies and would love to have them stored on a media player. The Kaleidescape is out of my price range but something like this might be right up my alley. So you show us how to connect, rip, and tell us how much equipment and total investment would be would be great. Look forward to seeing that video. Thanks 👊
Auyup Tony
Yes please on a ripping movies how to, I’m just more interested in what drive/software you’re actually using.
Thanks for the content you’ve been putting out, really interesting.
I've been using Kodi for many, many years so I'm used to its silly quirks, but I DO appreciate the ease of use with the Zidoo. Thanks for the comparison! Show us your ripping process next
That's pretty much all this was - showing the difference between a dedicated player and a streamer which needs a bit of TLC to get it to work and also compare the user experience.
Excellent video Tony! Because of this comparison I am considering the Zidoo. I still like my physical media, but it would be handy to have them on a drive so that I can search through them without having to look through my actual disc collection. I wish they had a version that you could put the disc in, and it would rip it directly to the device.
Zappiti do, but there is a way to do this with your PC as well I can show you ;)
Even laptop?
Plex user here. I think you've convinced me. My movies are mkv so Plex works fine for that and has a bit better interface than Kodi but a lot of the same nagging issues plague me, especially getting the native audio formats playing.
Sign me up for a video about your ripping setup and process, Tony!
Plex has no purpose. Storage prices have plummeted. Limited capacity has a purpose 5 years ago. Tony is right rip the ISO.
@@chebrubin to me the mkv cuts the red tape. Just give me the movie. But for you iso is the way to go and that is great. But yes plex does have a purpose. Zidoo might be optional in a dedicated space but. Plex is on every TV in the house and on the go.
@@triplerinse no purpose
32 terabytes of storage is under $800
@@triplerinse plex does not support TrueHD or DTS:X
Plex, roku, Pelton all useless
@@triplerinse red tape??? Format the computer you use for plex server for Windows Server 2021 or TrueNAS and enjoy your media
I love the presentation of the Zidoo and how you can group collections together! Nice touch with the SnyderVerse group BTW! : )
That's it for me. The user experience is super important and I love grouping up the collections - mostly the Zidoo will do it automatically!
@@BuildMontage Emby can do this easily also, which is why we don't use Plex anymore. Emby is preferred for its customization, posters, collections, user settings. Good stuff!
Plex has had collection grouping for a couple of years now.
@@abefroman. Plex does grouping also
Kodi does this as movie sets.
Definitely interested in the ripping process. Can't wait to see that video.
Z9x seems like it would be good solution for main media TV given its price tag. Interface looks beautiful similar to and perhaps better than Kodi. Would have been nice to see how it handled Blue-ray menus from ISO files. Important to keep in mind that ISO files will commonly have a lot of wasted disk space from fluff like audio and subtitles for multiple languages, trailers from other movies, ads, etc. I’m really curious how it scrapes the movies or can you use a separate program like Ember Media Manager to do it? Does it have a screen saver of your content? What about TV Shows? Perhaps like Kodi it supports nfo files? I agree it seems silly not to default to main library view.
Other streaming devices such as Shield, Roku, FireTV are cheap and provide a means to have access to other media than your own content such as UA-cam, Netflix, etc. Plex or Emby apps provide access to your own content. I have a HTPC running both Kodi and Plex connected to main TV. Kodi is used there and the other streaming devices around the house use Plex.
Plex offers portability to watch your content anywhere in the world via a browser or streaming device such as Roku. I have a Roku stick in a small travel case I use in hotels and friends houses when traveling. It has Plex and any other streaming service preset up for easy access.
I have a shield pro and have Kodi and never have any issues with passing through native audio.
You don't need to go to developer mode at all for that.
Just set audio to passthrough, and have the shield connected directly to the AVR not through the tv using arc/eArc
You can disable Arc/eArc on the AVR if the shield is hdmi directly in to it.
As for Kodi , again set to passthrough and all audio codecs are passed through.
Kodi is set to give you access to all audio codecs and now also Dolby vision.
I think you need to change Kodi skins to get a better flow.
Plex does have it's issues but set to direct play it's usually pretty stable on a home network as long as it's hardwired.
I can play back full 100GB remux file on my shield pro using Kodi.
I'm not in to having all the DVD menu tbh, I don't ever watch or use them.
As for ripping your own physical media that's illegal in NZ and AU. So I wouldn't do a video on that one
To get the custom frame rate and resolution options you do need to unlock developer mode on Shield - there are also setting you need to enable for passthrough. Zidoo just works when u turn it on. Also Kodi absolutely does NOT have the pass through options enabled by default. Ripping is only illegal if you plan on selling. You are allowed to have a backup of your physical media. If it were illegal, Zappiti NAS with ripper wouldn't be able to be sold here.
@@BuildMontage for movies you don't need custom frame rate. Just switch to the option of 24hz HDR ready DV ready.
To set passthrough on kodi it's one click.
As for legality of owning and ripping. No it's not legal even just for your self..
It's legal in say Switzerland or Sweden one of the two but I think you'll find in Australia and New Zealand that is actually still illegal. As it's bypassing the copyright of the DVD .
Maybe look it up before you make a video about ripping them just to be safe .
Ask a copyright lawyer in Aussie if you can find one.
And as for that other box, it's a fork of Kodi as it's open source and can be tweaked to do what you want it to do.
Example the latest release of Kodi now has DV but some DV files won't work as it only has one or two of the 7 DV codecs.
So the version of Kodi I have which has been altered has all the DV codecs.
Also just checked Kodi on standard setting , passthrough shows up to be enabled. You've only got to turn it on.
Or when playing movies go to sound icon and enable it for that movie and then select for everything.
As long as your shield is plugged directly in to the AVR and you have passthrough enabled on both shield and Kodi it'll pass everything to the AVR and give you the corresponding audio codec.
Now if plugged in to say a tv using arc / eArc then to the avr you may run in to issues with that.
That's why a tv or projector should really just become a monitor as such
@@briantidey2225 pass through in Kodi is one click. But, by default all the other options for Dolby Atmos are disabled and you can’t even see that unless you go into advanced. Also if it’s illegal to have a backup of your physical disk, how are Zappiti in business here? They sell a ripper and NAS which sole purpose is to copy your disk. Also the players only play back that sort of ripped content. I have done research and all of it pointed to being ok if you own it.
@@briantidey2225 incorrect. U still need to enable all of the other settings under advanced mode. You have them enabled now but when you install Kodi, they are disabled. I have video and photo evidence of this.
I would like to see a video on how you did your collection. I did all my DVD’s into MKV files which I play through PLEX. I don’t have a 4K or Bluray player in a computer yet so I can’t do those discs. I’d like to see what equipment you use to do this as well. Great video.
Lots of people wanting this video, so I think I will need to make it.
@@BuildMontage also keep those of us that use the Mac in mind when you do the video ... thanks
So, in your opinion, the shield+kodi had picture and audio quality equivalent to the z9x? It sounds like your preferences were mostly centered around ease of use and style of the interface. If I'm happy with shield+kodi interface, is there any reason to get a zidoo? Thank you so much for making this video!
You got it :)
I would be very grateful if you could share the process for ripping. I went on this journey first by ripping my DVD collection several years ago - 500 discs - what a job. I got inconsistent results, issues with movie length, sound options and subtitles and only a VOB file. I decided to do my blu-ray collection (500 +) and got halfway and was really frustrated again. I bought a license from DVDFAB and found I had issues with the software on various versions of MacOS. I ripped 3D files but couldn't get them to play. I have a Synology NAS and was using either Plex of VLC to play. So I recently upgraded from Plasma to 4K and the thought of doing the ripping again is quite daunting. But If I got a 100% reliable result, I would do it. I fear UHD players will eventually become obsolete. I would love to use this device but the ripping process is beyond me. I cant find software that will do it reliably and without paying for expensive licenses and also dealing with the DRM Copy protection issues. I only want to rip movies I own. So looking forward to a guide. I live in the Hills district of Sydney BTW. Thanks for a good video. Now subscribed.
I'm looking into making a ripping video - just unsure of the legal ramifications to show how to bypass DRM.
@@BuildMontage In Australia the copyright laws allow you to make a backup of a disc, so I would not be concerned. As long as you have a legal right to own the disc (like its in your collection and you bought it) making a backup copy is technically legal. It is only when you share it that you create a problem. I am no pirate and stand firmly against the act. So please just show us what software you use to make the iso and we can worry about the rest :-).
@@TDRKB it’s actually very specific and breaking drm is illegal. I’ll paste the link to the legislation when I’m back at my PC.
Love the videos and subscribed. I bought the Z9X after seeing one of your videos but returned it. Having 4 shields in my house and 1 HTPC with 40tb of space attached they all read directly from the HTPC over the LAN with Plex and works great. Everything you mentioned the Z9X can do the Shield can do other than menus which I don’t care about. Clicking a few toggles on the shield to open up all the options isn’t exactly hard. Thanks for covering theses though 👍🏼😊.
Shield can't play 4K Blurays in Dolby Vision.
@@estusflask982 Actually it does. Not sure when it was updated but Nvidia clearly states it plays HDR10 or Dolby Vision if that is what your talking about. Now I just need a Dolby Vision tv!
@@damiengvideos4337 No, it can't play Dolby Vision Profile 7 FEL, which is what Dolby Vision 4K Blurays use.
@@estusflask982 Ok I figured I was missing something
is it true Plex can't play iso and BDMV files?
I would definitely like a video is getting this process completed. Physical library is growing and I love it but would love to convert them to digital.
Great video, I do streaming and disc. No media player yet. I like watching Ultra HD DVDs if I have them on my Panasonic UB820 the best but streaming is pretty convenient. I guess the media player would be the best of both.
The user experience looks very nice! Very informative! Thanks for sharing!
I'm still looking for a single device that can handle everything from local to online streaming, with support for all the formats, a nice user friendly interface and up to date hardware and software.
Not even the high-end models from Zidoo have all that.
We are basically stuck with multiple devices and services at the tinkering land for now.
Yes the Zidoo is a dedicated media player. It’s made just for that. The shield is probably the best multi purpose single device but I love the Zidoo interface and the simplicity.
Been there, done that back in the day when X-treamer made dedicated media players. I've also tried Qnap NAS, but found that too cumbersome to maintain. Also tried WD NAS which I still have and use. Ultimately, I've found that nothing beats a PC. A PC can do all of that and so much more, and I don't have to switch between devices depending on what I wanna do. But if given that scenario, I'd choose the SHIELD and install MX Player. You can play games and attach external drives and stream. It just does so much more.
I have the Shield pro but I much prefer the Zidoo as a dedicated player for movies. I use my Shield or Apple TV for streaming, I think it comes down to personal taste.
Yes, please give us a video on your NAS and ripping!!!
This is madness!! I remember when the Shield Pro came out and everyone was gung ho about getting it, so I did. WAAAAy before I had thought/been able to create a theater room. Now this?? I didn't even know something like this existed! So thanks! I originally was just looking for solid Blu-Ray player, but now I feel like FOMO. Maybe I'll just put the Shield on another TV then...
I got rid of my physical players for the Zidoo.
Great video clip . I have tried to rip movies but never turn out that's why I use Apple I buy my movie it go to my library I get all the info I need about the movie. Cheers
I have both the Ziddo Z9X and the Z10 Pro, Amazing devices!
I just ordered the Z9X, would've got the Z10 Pro but it would've taken a month to get here.
I use a combo of Infuse on my Apple TV and Kaleidescape. Infuse has its limitations, but the two box setup is excellent.
Yes Infuse is good to play ISO but it can't do more than PCM pass through, so you don't get the 1:1 audio. K-scape of course you get that and more.
@@BuildMontage I usually do MKV which works better in InFuse. I use that method for stuff I want and can’t get in the K store right now. PCM decodes up to effective 7.1 lossless 1:1 in Infuse, so the only thing missing is Atmos or DTS:X native.
@@Techthusiasm yes, exactly, and I always have neural-x for that, but, it's why I was on the hunt for something that just works out of the box. K-scape always fascinated me, but I've heard some horror stories when it comes to support - and it's not available in Australia any more anyway.
@@Techthusiasm If you have a PC with HDMI port you can use the Microsoft Movies & TV app to play Dolby Atmos movies. Enable HDR in Settings and it'll play HDR10 as well.
i've tried infuse with my apple tv , but didn't manage to set it up. :(
Hello brother
Just wanted to say that (almost) ALL the reasons you prefer the Zidoo are solved and are available by choosing a better Skin for Kodi
I have the collections, all the info about movies, can explore movies based on director/actor/genre, etc Can see the trailer. Choose artwork, etc. It’s a very nice experience
The only thing that I didn’t try is playing ISOs because I don’t use them
Most people who use Kodi change the skin as a first step. The default skin is really there because there needs to be a default skin
What you say is mostly true however I have tried all the skins in Kodi and I don't like any of them. It doesn't have the same feel and user experience as a dedicated player that only does that one thing. Its just a choice, an option, as I said in the video, virtually no difference in playback performance from either player, I just prefer the experience from the Zidoo personally - and I own both devices remember :)
@@BuildMontage I understand brother. To each their own
Just suggested it in case you hadn't tried that route
I personally use Arctic Fuse as a skin and like it (even if a little bit a pain in the ass to configure at first)
But to be honest, my main reason for using Kodi is streaming content rather than playing files i have backed up locally. If that was the case, i might have gone with the Zidoo instead
Have a nice day
Found some points to be inaccurate regarding the Nvidia Shield.
First, you don't need to access developer options to make the Shield work with various video formats. Most users won't miss Blu-ray menus, so if that's not a priority, you can simply rip your Blu-rays in a lossless format. These files play perfectly through Plex or Jellyfin without needing Kodi, which, as you noted, can be clunky.
My setup is straightforward: I use the Nvidia Shield (2019 Pro model) connected to my NAS, streaming remuxed, lossless videos. It handles Dolby Vision, all HDR formats, and supports audio passthrough, including Atmos. The process is simple: (1) Get an Nvidia Shield 2019 Pro, (2) Rip your discs, and (3) Use Plex for playback with audio passthrough. That's all there is to it, without the complications your video suggests.
This could be true now, but a couple of years ago when I made the video, what you're talking about was not possible - I didn't just make stuff up - I spent quite a bit of time trying to get it to work before I made the video and the assistance I got showed me to do what I showed in the video. Since then, no doubt these things have likely been fixed and improved upon - hindsight is 20/20 :)
@@BuildMontage I stumbled across your video as I was debating what would be my main client for my ripped blue rays. Eventually bought a Nvidia shield second hand and found it to be pretty great minus blue ray menus . Maybe make a follow up video updating the current state of things . Keep up the good work
Great video buddy. Would love to see the process
Although you have almost helped me through the ripping set up process i think it would be great to see a full video. No has really done it before. And it aint so simpleZ :) it would need a few setup processes - such as Synology and Zapitti Server on DSM 7.
I think quite a few people are interested in this so I will get cracking on that video.
@@BuildMontage although its my next step - setting up folders to sort movies etc etc - Zapitti V Zidoo etc etc thx Tony :)
I just got the Zidoo Z9X and its much smoother playback compared to the shield/kodi. (No judder or stuttering) I'm also not sure if the picture and audio are better, but they are stellar!
Purpose built media player.
@@BuildMontage It makes a big difference and I didn't think it would.
Awesome video. The more I see about the Zidoo, the more I want to purchase one. I'm so deep in Plex at this point. Time to make a change? UGHHHHH
No need to change.. Plex still has its uses. You have a Harmony Elite, you just flick back at the press of a button.
I’m very Interested in the ripping of UHD Blu Ray discs. I tried the demo version of DVDFab but no luck. Thanks
I would love to see a video on how you rip a movies (Bluray?) to your NAS, then a quick tutorial on how you edit the artwork in Kodi. What are you using for a NAS? and how big? I have a 8TB NAS now but its not really designed for media streaming. I'm probably going to build something, any recommendations? Love the videos, thanks!
That video is in the works!
Hi, Quick question. In terms of picture quality between the Zidoo Z9X and Nvidia Shield ( which one looks better on screen and do they have the same audio quality? )
Regards.
For movie playback audio and video looks pretty similar. I can’t split it as the shield through Kodi does raw
Sir, kindly suggest that, I may cast audio and video from my android phone through zidoo z9x controller app. Kindly suggest. Thank you
No its not designed for that. It's a media player so it doesnt stream. It plays rips of physical media.
For 3D lovers only the Zidoo supports 3D MVC, the shield does not.
I can't watch 3D it makes me nauseous.
Found some answers here I asked you in another video. Once again. Great channel. You and I look for the exact same features. Like the same features. And have I'm guessing similar setups. Havent had to worry about any of this fir a while because my Zappiti took care of my needs. About to set up a Sheild. Have already returned one once. And looks like the Zidoo is a perfect replacement. As far as resolution and sound quality though. Besides it not being dedicated. Are these two comparable? I didn't even have Vision on my Zappiti. And I'm not a projector fan. I use Oleds. And I have a pretty decent 7.2.4 setup. Not the best in the world but a pretty great looking and sounding setup for my needs. With that? Would you highly recommend the Zidoo over the Shield? Or is it comparable enough to not worry. My wife would greatly enjoy everything encompassed into one player. A main reason I went for the Shield. Plus Im familiar with Kodu. Agree with you 100% on that. And then there's also a chance the Zappiti app will someday make that usable again. I'm really on a fence here if you happen to aee this or the other. Thanks again.
Thank you. I would choose Zidoo over the Shield if dedicated movies are what you're after. The shield is a great multipurpose device but doesn't have the same user experience as the Zidoo which has a more premium feel to it when you're browsing movies. I use the Apple TV as my streamer, and the Zidoo as my dedicated player and this combo works well for me.
Plex does everything you just mentioned easily except for navigation menus. I could see the benefit for someone who actually cares about the additional features and menus. I personally am just here for the movie and could care less about the rest. You get playlists, you get metadata.
Doesn't play ISO.
@@BuildMontage that's true. But the only advantage of an ISO over an MKV is the menu. Which is what I mentioned it doesn't do. If you only care about the movie, there is literally no difference.
@@JamesErwin Plex can't do special features last I checked. The only easy way to watch those is with the Bluray menu.
@@estusflask982 which again as I said is correct. If you're just there for a movie, there is literally no difference in an MKV and an ISO. I understand some people care about those things, but most people buy a movie for the movie itself. Plex will pull online features too like trailers and special features but I personally ignore those too. Just like I ignore the special features on the disc. I haven't cared about special features since the original DVD extended edition of Lord of the Rings. There's a reason studios stopped putting many special features on those discs, people don't watch them.
@@estusflask982 plex can do special features. You just have to have them correctly labled in subfolders
my problem is how many times will you watch any given movie more than once.. most of them are good enough to watch once maybe twice. I've have a couple dozen movies that i watch more than that. streaming allows me access to more movies than i own and that's is what i need because i don't know what i want to watch on any given day
Choice is a great thing :)
I sold my nvidia shield and went zidoo and haven't looked back it plays everything I throw at it with lossless audio and video plus only a handful players play dolby vision bdmv rips which is 1 to 1 ratio I lose nothing definitely worth the pickup
Totally. Once you experience it, it makes complete sense.
Picking one up on Friday can’t wait
Can you play your media on the Zidoo via voice control? I am currently using Home Assistant’s Plex Assistant integration, which is amazing. I would want to be able to do that with these media players.
No voice control. It’s all done using the remote but it does allow IP control so possibly you could if you had a smart home integration to do it that way. It has an Rs232 port for that.
During the Nvidia Shield section you mentioned if you had ripped your disks as MKV's you would have been able to use Plex but instead you ripped to ISO files so you use Kodi. Besides missing the Menu and bonus features in the MKV version is there any other reason you choose to rip ISO?
The main reason I went with ISO is that is the original format used. Other than that, the mt2s file inside is left unchanged if the MKV is created without opting for any compression. No other reason really in my decision, but just the way I use DVDFab to do the rips, it just works and makes sense. I also use the Zidoo players to play back these 1:1 rips - my streamer boxes don't even connect to the NAS I have them stored on so its a non-issue.
Can you set the Zidoo up the isos from Tv-shows so it can reconize the episodes on each iso like Kodi can ? I know you wrote for movies but i see Tv-shows just as an importen element for my next player.
Yes it treats shows with the same method and I watch tv shows on my Zidoo as well
Nvidia shields upscaling is unmatched, and it can also play games with GeForce now.
I think the new samsung tvs have it beat.
Great if you are a gamer. I found the upscaling produced disappointing results. Nothing like 4k and it introduced noise to the picture
Is there a new model of Z9x coming soon?
Not yet. It hasn’t been out for that long yet.
Great content by the way. In my opinion, having to use a 3rd party app isn’t a con, if I had to jailbreak the device and use a third party app or something like that would be a con in my book, having apps is a plus to me as well, I may be able to live without the Blu-ray menus and just do mkv files, so for me, I think the shield would be perfect (for me) not for everyone, plus we all are always tweaking settings anyway when we are setting up our home theather processors, one more menu of setting to go through isn’t an issue, just my two cents.
Grouping things together on the Zidoo Z9X is pretty nice though.
That sums it up for me as well. I am past tinkering when I have something setup. I love the Zidoo interface. I simply turn it on and bam - the thumbnails are there and I can browse around and hit play. It als does HDR10+ and Dolby Vision etc.. so it covers all the bases. I have both and I naturally gravitate toward the Zidoo.
I have both the Shield and the Z9X. Definitely prefer the Zidoo.
I prefer the Zidoo for movie watching - that's what's built for :) Shield is great for everything else - including my PLEX server with my TV shows - I don't use the Zidoo for that.
Few things due to general lack of experience in this video. The first thing you could have done is changed the Kodi skin or just even found that it was possible in the first place, the Aeon Nox Silvo skin is outstanding, then you could have spend a few days with it to be able to give real objective feedback on it, this would have meant going through every single menu and actually setting it up or at least seeing what was possible.
You made a point that the zidoo has actor thumbnails and even groups films into collections, Kodi does all that too. Ive been using Kodi with MadVR for about 10 years, I use Kodi on the Shield too, and preferred Kodi on the Zidoo I have also. The Zidoo player is pretty no frills to be honest and has hardlty any options at all, there are no skins, its not really that configuarable, its good for beginners or people who just want to play something quickly.
I actually found plex more difficult to setup, ive tried it a few times due to its central library, but I hated how hard it was to never allow it to transcode. It almost always tried to transcode my videos.
I did try a few different skins but they are all pretty awful in my opinion. It’s all subjective what I was showing - I wasn’t saying absolutes, I even said it works and is pretty much the same audio and video wise as the Z9X. What isn’t subjective is all the work you need to do to get 1:1 audio pass through and video to work on Shield vs Zidoo. I’m an OG with this sort of stuff since the 90s - I think the main point may have been missed here. Open the box and plug it in and one works the other doesn’t without quite a bit of work and research. Im not knocking Kodi, but for me, I prefer the Zidoo/Zappiti.
@@BuildMontage Did you know that kodi has a version out there where you can play back with menu support? Check this out: ua-cam.com/video/0LdM0Q2ttx8/v-deo.html
Have we gotten a video explaining the ripping and NAS setup? I’m close to starting a new how build and am thinking this along with a Zidoo is the way to go! Only other question is how does the Z9X compare to the middle brother of the lineup?
The video is coming. IM waiting on some drives from the states to arrive before I can make it. Z9x is great. Similar performance just not internal drives or upgraded analogue audio components.
@@BuildMontage just watched your part 3 of the rack rebuild and heard about the drives!
Thanks for the reply and also for all of your content! You're my go-to when it comes to learning about home theaters!
@@LoganSwish thanks for watching :) new video is coming very very soon!
So using Plex on the shield is even easier and interface is as good if not better. Ripping 4k disks to an MKV file without any compression of video or audio is a breeze. I find this video ill informed.
That’s your way. I’m demonstrating two different devices. Not a fan of plex or Kodi.
Very interesting device. Thinking of digitizing my collection and this seems like a good option.
It is, I still use mine daily.
As me and you slightly discussed on an older video, kodi is amazing once you've figured it out but it takes time and effort.
Little tip: leave the audio at 2.0 and turn on passthrough. This will make kodi not touch the audio and send it straight to the receiver.
I can imagine it would be great if you could fine tune everything. For me the Poster Wall app on Zidoo is hands down the nicest way to scroll your library. It's all subjective. I have yet to see a full Kodi implementation like it. None of the skins are very nice at all. Link me to some resources if you have a chance and I'll take a look at Kodi's potential.
@@BuildMontage
I'm currently running the AEON Flux skin. It's highly customizable and has 3 varieties of a wall. I run the standard wall with the case option on (looks like physical media), and then "shift" for sets of movies.
As far as audio, leave it at 2.0 and turn the passthrough on. This will bypass the media device and send the audio straight to your receiver to do the processing.
How do you rip losless in iso? I know make MKV, but keeping tje Menus sounds pretty nice
It's a 1:1 rip - so a direct copy of the disc bit by bit using DVDFab
Hi Tony.
Thanks for reviews you do.
I'm using shield pro but it has really big issue that I can't solve. Dolby vision and sdr Playback is really good but issue with HDR 10 is disturbing.
I can't get 24p playback with HDR 10 in 10 bit. It Drops to 8 bit and chroma switches from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2. The only way to get 10 bit 4:2:0 is leaving refresh rate at 60 hz.
Is any way to solve this problem?
And how's it with zidoo does it play videos without quality drop like Blu-ray player? Or is it better to stick with my Panasonic Blu-ray player?
Im using Sony oled a95l and Denon 6700
That's an interesting issue. I haven't experienced anything like that before so I can't really help but having a refresh rate determine the chroma subsampling is very odd. Zidoo works great, has the HDR to SDR conversion process as well.
You have convinced me to give the Zidoo a shot. Had been looking at Zidoo and Zappiti for months. New Zappitis are ridiculously over priced. I’ve had an Apple TV/Plex set up for years but I’m tired of the 4K Dolby Vision limitations of this set up. Zidoo doesn’t look as snappy as an ATV but way faster than a disk. Keep up the good work!
Curious to hear about these 4K Dolby Vision limitations in Plex?
@@paulholyoak did u get a green tint on playing back mkv files with dolby vision sent my zidoo back because of this..
This zidoo 10 is also a android box running android 9. And their website says could get DV could get hdr10 it's not a definite.
This to me looks like it's using a fork of Kodi. It's a pre loaded box
It's a custom app they built and have been improving - it's up to v4
I was this 🤌 close to getting the Nvidia Shield and loading Kodi to replace my WDTV Live.
my collection needs a player with a bit power these days and the Zidoo looks just the ticket.
Did you make a video on how you rip and set your library up, I’m thinking of using smaller sized ISO’s.
Thanks
No I decided not to due to the legal ramifications of showing people how to circumvent copy protection.
Yes, please make a ripping and NAS setup video!
If u rip as an iso does the file name need to be renamed properly to get it to group within a collection or its just automatic?
My new fav utube channel👌 I'm also very interested I'm a ripping video, I'm waiting on my drive to start
Thank you for watching. Renaming does help the scraper to identify the movie, however you can always manually match it.
Check out the zappiti media player, a comparison on its features and player ( audio and video ) compared to the sheiks would be appreciated. The zappiti also allows you to add applications, so it’s an all in one.
I am hoping for a Zappiti at some point to compare the two.
Would like to see Zappiti vs Shield too. Primarily interested to see if there is any audio/video quality difference.
I ordered a zidoo z9x because I needed mkv FEL dolby vision profile 7 playback which the apple tv 4k cannot do it just falls back to HDR with infuse pro. With an almost full 18tb drive on my openmediavault server it would be too time consuming to remux them to DV profile 8. I will still use the ATV 4K for online streaming and just use the z9x for local network streaming.
That’s exactly how I use it :)
Hey Tony. Great info. Couple of questions. How does zidoo handle extras for movies. And what about tv shows/extras as well. Is this device IYO better in quality playback that shield/kodi. I sometimes see dragging on video when some scenes pan across screen on my shield pro using kodi. Thanks!
What do you mean by extras? I personally feel the Zidoo is better than Shield/Kodi for the reasons mentioned in the video - I also like how the Zidoo handles the meta data and shows additional stuff about the director and actors etc.
I believe the shield will handle Dolby TrueHD in the plex app but you would have to have your blu rays ripped as MKVs and not ISOs losing the menus.
Shield will pass through TrueHD (with Atmos meta data) in PLEX with MKV only as PLEX can't read ISOs - hence why I use the Zidoo, so yes you're correct :)
@@BuildMontage I believe java runtimes are needed to display blu rays menus which may explain why kodi on the shield can't run the menus. And the zidoo box probably has the required java runtimes.
this is EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. anytime I try and look into video playback they all all about streaming. I have an extensive 4k library so I needed this. I do have an LG OLED C1 but still
Definitely, a dedicated player is perfect - either disks or ripped and playback through the Zidoo.
@@BuildMontage I have two external HDs and one internal 14tb one hooked into a dock (which connects via USB). Would these work all setup and connected to the box?
Guess I've been using Kodi too long, I don't understand the need to pay for a Zidoo box.
Nothing wrong with Kodi. It’s been suggested to me that the Zidoo could be running a fork of Kodi anyway!
I returned my Zidoo and got a Dune HD.
What was your reason? I've been trying to decide between Zidoo and Dune.
I believe there's a way to get KODI to play full Bluray menu but I wish Zidoo is a full stream like Nvidia is... love to have one box that's the best of both world.
Great stuff thx. Ok stupid question. How do I rip movies that I own to a Nas? Is there software that I need? Thx
Great Info, Many thanks. Can someone advice regarding ripped movies as MKV Maintaining original Quality Which one is better KODI/PLEX on nVidia Sheild or Apple TV "Doesn't support KODI" or Zidoo from Audio/Video Quality prospective?
I am looking to make a video, I'm just waiting to see the legal ramifications on doing so as you need to bypass DRM on the disk. Zidoo is nice, easy and looks awesome, and Shield running Kodi is equally as good in terms of quality of audio and video - although I think the way the Zidoo renders is slightly better as you can also modify the image output with sliders.
Great video. I just bought a Sony XR77A80J 77" OLED TV and use a Panasonic DP-UB9000PCK and Apple TV 4K. My concern is quality-I don’t want to loose any quality if I go this route. I have been using MakeMKV to rip older DVDs and TV series and playing them back using Emby. Please elaborate on how best to get my 4K/bluray movies ripped then using the Zidoo. BTW, can't find them in Canada? Also, what about the Z10Pro? That IS available on Amazon Canada.
Hey there. Quality will be as good as a disk in my opinion. It's the same source and using a dedicated player to play it back. I use DVDFab to do my rips to ISO format. And yes the Z10Pro is perfectly good - its similar to the z9x but allows you to put a drive bay in.
Hello, what do you recommend only for Netflix, Prime, Disney etc.??, I'm not interested in movies from external drives - I watch blue or uhd.
For a one fits all device maybe the Nvidia shield.
@@BuildMontage I bought Shield :) - I'm testing it :D
Can this player be set so that the TV does not always perceive it as an HDR signal, but has 4K upscaling? Because my Thomson THA100 player is always detected by the samsung TV as an HDR signal, even when I play SDR content.
I just wanna watch own content on a 4k OLED using a big ass storage which I want to acces via my pc to add and delete content of desired. I want all the goodies like vision / atmos etc. Just use a shield with storage the way? With plex or Kodi.
Yes that works.
I like the skin you have, but you are the only one i see with those images (and the info), is it built-in or you did some things to get that skin...?
The skin is built in.
The interface certainly looks nice. 👍🏻
Yeah I'm a sucker for the wall to wall posters.. Makes the experience really enjoyable.
Na sua opinião para assistir filmes e ter melhoramento na imagem pelo upscaling qual seria a melhor opção entre a placa de video ou TV nvidia Shields?
Lol brave man making this video. I can feel the comments coming in. Great video.
Yep, I like to live dangerously. I'm not afraid of reprisal, I share my experiences as I see them.
I have no idea why you used and showed kodi. Plex is the way to go. Everything you complained about in kodi is not in plex. Every feature you showed in the zidoo except menu playback, is in ones. Including the slick interface, groups, etc. and the same quality.
Because Plex wouldn’t play back my ISO rips or show blue ray menus which I retain in my rips. I have a huge Plex setup already - I asked people and they suggested Kodi.
Plex on Shield can't play real Dolby Vision.
Hello , just curious , is there any difference in video/audio quality between Shield and Zidoo if I am just connecting my external HD to it for watching watching mkv etc file formats ?
I dont think so - I even said so in the video. It's more about the user experience.
With the shield being literally the only player capable of Dolby vision single layer dual track profile 7, which is the approved mkv spec as per dolby, and being the only player capable of actual truehd audio pass through while Kodi really really lacking in any hdr presentation at all, I can see people being frustrated with Kodi or Plex on devices besides the shield. But for large libraries, 1030 4K remuxes and many more 1080p Blu-ray’s, I don’t see how this device would be able to handle a database of that size as compared to a dedicated Plex server. If it allowed for Plex install I would be very interested in the device as it could potentially solve some red shift errors that are somewhat still present in some movies on the shield. Have you seen any performance degradation on very very large databases of movies?
Im not sure what you're asking here. The library for the Zidoo is stored on a NAS and pulled over NFS. I'm unaware of any issues with the image. The Zidoo has the LLDV VS10 engine built into it so playback is pretty nice in my opinion. Shield playback is pretty similar pulling the same ISO files from my NAS.
@@BuildMontage I’m assuming the ziddo stores the movie file location on the nas and the metadata it downloads from the internet for the movies in a local database. As more movies are added and more metadata is downloaded does the performance degrade…is more what I was asking
@@BuildMontage for instance with Plex all the metadata and movie file locations are stored server side on the Plex database on whatever server/nas you use. Hence using high performance nvme raid ssds makes the interface loaded and database access lightning quick. I’m worried the ziddo would perform horribly slowly with a very very large movie collection and it’s correspondingly large amounts of metadata.
The Shield can't play Dolby Vision Profile 7 FEL.
I think you got your thumbnail picture for this video mixed up
No I don't think I did... One is a dedicated player and the other can do both but mostly used for streaming.
@@BuildMontage you think the shield is better for streaming rather than playing files off a external drive?
Tired of the Z9X stuttering on very low bitrates in 4K movies. Like when the picture goes black at 14 Mbps or the credits play and there is barely any data in the stream. I want something better.
I’ve never had a stutter issue. Sounds like a source / network / hdd / NAS issue
@@BuildMontageWouldn't make sense for it to be a network issue. If it was a network issue, then it would stutter on high bitrates, not when the bitrate plummets. Had the same problem playing 4K movies from an SSD connected over SATA. Maybe you have the Pro model.
@Ezekiel43 I’ve tested all of them and own several and never had a stutter issue. I think if it’s doing that u may have a dud model. Have you tried factory resetting it?
@@BuildMontageYeah, I've done factory resets. Just emailed Zidoo for service/replacement, but I bought it in late 2022.
Is it possible to add an external 4k UHD disc drive to the Nvidia Shield for disc playback and still support Dolby Vision, Atmos, DTS:X etc.?
Yes
I got this box 1 month ago have no regrets
I burn my 4k to rips iso mkv and play flawless
For streaming I use shield I am done
hi. Thanks for this comparison. Does the Z9X Dolby Vision on 4k IOSs (from twolayer Discs)?
Yes the z9x supports and plays back dolby vision if the display (tv usually!) can play it back. If it doesn’t u can force the vs10 engine to playback DV so you don’t get that weird magenta and green look to the image.
Ever try Nova Player in the sheild? It used to be called Archos Player I think...it's pretty good...has cover art and info ...plays alot of formats
No I haven't. Can it do ISO?
Is the Zidoo Z9X any better than the Zidoo Z1000 PRO 4K UHD Media Player - they both run the same CPU, GPU and RAM? The only difference I can see is the hard drive slot.
There is more - RAM, HDD slots, form factor. Yes, agree, there isn't huge difference in performance - playback is identical between all models.
Hi Bro. Does the Z9X have the same features as the more expensive models? How to tag chapters? Congrats from Brazil.
Yes its mostly the same, just not as powerful in terms of menu loading (not by much!) and the music components.
As much as I like my NVidia Shield Pro, I can't find a way to play my Blu-ray 3D files with it, so I picked up the Z9X. On the plus side, I do finally get to watch 3D files on my BenQ projector, but the picture quality seems somewhat washed out compared to my NVidia Shield Pro. Even the surround audio formats sound compressed compared to the Pro. Really wish it would have worked out but picture and sound quality are more important to me than a box that's capable of playing all formats. Will keep using my trusty Pro until I figure out this Blu-ray 3D files issue :(
That doesnt sound right. You may need to check your settings. Audio should be set to RAW so that it doesn't do any kind of manipulation to the stream and does a bitstream pass through, and also for video, make sure you have the SDR to HDR settings correctly mapped as well as the gamma setting. It should be as good/better than the shield.
Whose picture quality is better?
I think it's pretty close to identical for PQ.
I'm playing a 4K movie 🎬 on a 4K player...
It's the Best & Only Way I Row...
Yes same when Im watching on the zidoo. A disc is a subsequent medium - the movie was made and mastered on a computer - so it has to be copied onto something for it to get to us, and whether it's a disc, or a rip of that original disc to a hard drive, it's the same thing with more convenience :)
Hi there, thanks for the vid, I am actually looking for a media player to play my movie files! For the Zidoo, is it possible that I connect to a USB external drive and just play the mkv/movie files from there directly? Thanks!
Yes you can :)
Just very simple question, Can Zidoo 9X play 4K REMUX HDR movies directly from USB drive? NO NAS etc. Just directly plugged into device, Can Zidoo play them without any lag?
Simple answer… 100%
Yes of course.
How does the Z9X compare to the Z1000 pro for picture quality and sound? Thanks. What is the advantage to the Z1000Pro oer the Z9X other than internal Drive bay?
Great question: main difference is the processor/ram, so it's every so slightly slower to move around the menus and load images but it's not a huge difference. Audio/video is identical. Ive done extensive testing with both.
@@BuildMontage thank you for the quick response. Very interesting. So if I buy the z9x I get the same audio and video quality. I might have to pick one up then. Thank you.
Can it play sbs 3d videos with out stuck
Any details about the stability of the Zidoo Z9X? I've read lots of complains about freezing and other bugs on the firmware...
I am using it right now. Use it all the time. I’ve never had a single issue with it
@@BuildMontage Thanks for the info. 🙏Did you also tested it connected into receiver with DTS-HD 'audio through hdmi' ?
I have z9x and I watch Netflix a lot. The problem is its not Netflix certified device and I have to use an older version to watch. I heard Nvidia stream better for other movie apps as well.
Agree. This is for watching your iso/MKV rips only in my opinion.
@@BuildMontage Awesome I will show your comment to my wife and order a Shield now lol.