Buy the Zidoo UHD8000: summithifiusa.com/products/zidoo-uhd-8000-limited-quantity?ref=joentell Disclosure: The Affiliate links above earn me a commission if you purchase using those links. This is at no additional cost to you.
Had mine for a few weeks and loving it. Previously had a Zappiti Reference player which was eventually running the Rvolution software, which was great. I have both drive bays filled with movies and external drives too. Interface works really well, although I slightly prefer the poster wall look of the Rvolution but you can install that software on here too. I have UA-cam installed and IPTV and it works great. Plays all the HDR formats so beats my Nvidia Shield and pretty much replaces my Fire Cube too. The iPad app is a great addition, which gives it the edge over the competition. Bit like owning a Kaleidescape but without having to remortgage your house or sell a kidney. 😀👍🏻
I didn't know you could install the Rvolution app on here. How did you get it and install it? I tried getting the one from their website just to test but it wouldn't install.
@@joentell I think I just used the version that I installed on my Zappiti. You have to change the menu settings so that the posterwall is 1080p and not 4K and it worked fine.
@@joentell With either setting I got it working. But the posterwall will be messed up. I haven’t changed the firmware on my Zidoo to enable the Google play store. I side loaded the Rvolution apk which I downloaded from their site on my pc then copied over to usb drive which I connected to Zidoo and installed from there.
@@FooFighter33 ahh. I tried it and it wouldn't install. Maybe it's because I have the G version installed with the Google Play store. I'm doing it more out of curiosity than necessity. I find their Home Theater 5 app works well.
When companies remove features from newer models like 3d, do they not understand that people who tend to use this type of device might have 100's of 3d movies. If you want people to keep spending money and buy the upgrade you have to think more carefully about who your audience is.
I hear that. I don't like it when features are removed also. This is my first Zidoo product I've tested, so I might not have the same sentiment. I also have never really watched an entire 3D movie at home. Maybe I should try it sometime. I'm reviewing a new WiiM Amp Pro and it doesn't have Airplay 2 support where the old non-pro one did. It's a big complaint for people.
@@joentell Isn't the lack of Airplay 2 an advantage though? Airplay 2 is highly compressed, audio quality severely suffers from it if I recall correctly. If 2 isn't supported, it falls back to 1, meaning better sound. John Darko made a video about it.
That is a serious point I been at odds with about Zidoo products. I bought into the flagship 4K previous line and not only loss of features bothers me to upgrade but firmware is still not right and super buggy on my current Zidoo 4K and its slowed down to a crawl with fixes. Even had to opt into their Beta Firmware which has made so many issues for playback on most content. I get moving forward but don't take features and definitely show some lifetime support for the products you sold. Seems to me this company is just Beta testing and moving on which is pretty concerning
I solved my movie playback by going old school - a home theater PC with a decent if older graphics card. Kodi handles the user interface and it's great. I tinkered minimally and added the old madVR filters to it and now it produces an amazing image. I use a NAS for the file storage. With a FLIRC infrared receiver on the PC I can use any universal remote to control the media player. This unit does look pretty decent, but I prefer my DIY approach. Not least because of madVR. The HDR dynamic tonemapping from the latest madVR betas is pretty darn great.
My issues with HTPC are below. I ended up buying a Shield Pro to access the Plex Server I run in the other room. WAY better experience. 1. Slow and clunky. 2. No trigger/CEC. 3. SDR/HDR switching. 4. Audio format output doesn’t change with the content. Windows will be set to Bitstream 7.1 Atmos, so if you play anything besides Atmos, your AVR doesn’t upmix to your other speakers because it’s essentially a 5.1 signal inside an Atmos container. So no upmixing to Rears, Wides, Heights with a 5.1 track.
I used a HTPC + MadVR for many years - but the advent of HDR plus buying a Dolby Vision TV convinced me to switch to a shield because it "just works". There were so many parts in the HTPC chain (gfx drivers + madvr + tv settings + lav video settings) that all had to be configured correctly to make sure the image output looked how it should. Whereas the shield just works. The only downside is I lost my hue sync via the PC app because I don't want to pay for a Hue HDMI box
It’s probably best for my use/case to just get the middle model that costs in the $600 range and has all the movie playing features without the extra audio DAC stuff that I won’t be needing. I think the model is the Z3000
I have the z3000 pro in the same series. My first Zidoo and really happy with it. Some audio sync issues but the development team seem pretty active at resolving bugs.
I have a blu ray player and lots of 4k blu ray movies, my question is if I were to get the zidoo 8000 would I be able to install my blu ray movies with out having to buy some other Nas or similar devices or do I put a disc in the zidoo and it does the rest?
#1 Feature of this for me is Tidal Connect with Dolby Atmos: as far as I know, no other device supports this, and I don't want to use the Apple TV with all of its issues to play Apple Music And deal with an iPhone or extra remote just for spatial audio.
Hi @joentell... I'm a big fan follower of your channel . Just have one question. If I use the uhd 8000 with my soundbar , will it work ? My soundbar has only one eARC port . So if I connect the Zidoo to one of my tv hdmi in ports and then connect the TV's eARC to soundbar's eARC would it work ? This way ?
One more help I need . I'm not able to cast music from apple music n Amazon Music from my Android fone it's not showing uhd 8000 as casting device , but able to cast Spotify from fone . Is there any restriction here or am missing any settings ? Kindly guide me pls . With Gratitude
Great review Joe! I agree that it's disappointing these types of media players can't also function as streamers. Outside of maybe the VS10 engine, the Shield still seems like the all in one solution.
Joe, I am looking for something like this to manage my Apple and Vudu movies that I’m going to put on a hard drive. Would this device have any issues with this? If so is there something else you recommend?
I'm not sure what you mean from Apple and Vudu. This is primarily for people who rip their Blu-ray discs. I'm sure people who "acquire" their movies with other methods might find this useful also.
@@joentell I am wanting to put all my digital and physical media on a hard drive and use something like the Zidoo. So I can scroll or search one device rather than finding the disc or trying to remember whether I bought the movie on Apple or Vudu. 1st world prob I know but just to make it more efficient.
@@matt07497 Plex can integrate with various streaming services if you want to have all of your movies in one place. The issue is I don't think Plex differentiates between movies available on Vudu or AppleTV, and the ones you purchased.
@@joentell I purchased a handful of videos from the iTunes Store and downloaded them to my NAS. However, Plex can’t play any of those videos because of digital rights management. If I want to watch those videos, I have to switch from the Shield to my Apple TV 4K and use one of Apple’s iTunes apps.
This looks a great media player however it could have been much better if Zidoo included a HDMI 4K input socket this would of allowed say an Apple TV to be connected to it to enable video streming services
When I found out about this device (UHD8000), I was more than delighted, and then after watching a few reviews, my enthusiasm melted away! The first disappointment was that it only reads hard disks up to 16 TB, and the second reason why this device was removed from the wish list is the inability to support 3D movies !!! The horror !!! 😱 ZIDOO, why such a stupid decision!?!? I have over 500 movies in 3D format on my hard drive and I know there are many more of us who love 3D movies! I am very disappointed! 😭
The AMLOGIC chip used on this and many other similar devices, is ineligible to get Wide wine L1 license required for streaming (DRM). Because someone can technically start recording on the network? Regardless, it's not Zidoo's fault. These devices cannot get streaming licenses from big studios and Netflix.
They cant get certification because the streaming services won’t bother with them because the userbase is so small when compared to TV OS’s, streaming sticks etc. it would create more work for the streaming services without opening up a new market for them.
Depending how powerful your computer is, about an hour or so. But you’d have to find a disc drive that can rip them because not just any drive would do it
I have that Box R also and I think it's a great value. A bit sluggish at times, but I can't complain for $149. It does a lot and I highly recommend it. I put the Homatics back in the living room after I was done testing this Zidoo, and my wife commented that "the other one is faster." 😁
Dude you are missing the point! There a lots of little players that do exactly what this does but this is designed to play "REMUX" files which are raw data from the disk and include all the same Dolby Vision, ATMOS, HDR10+ and very high bitrate audio without compression which most players including NVidia's Shield Pro do not support. THIS is why people would want this.
That's what I thought too. I noticed some people like to keep ISO's to retain the Blu-Ray menu structure. Does Jellyfin support ISO because I know Plex does not.
@@joentell Yes Jellyfin can support ISO playback. I don't use jellyfin personally, I like Plex interface better. But there are solutions out there if you really want that. IDK why anyone would want it though, most people want to get directly into the movie and you can still have all your "extras" displayed in Plex alongside the movie.
I own it and it's just sitting there collecting dust. It's just easier to use my AppleTV with support for all the streaming services. I think if you have a huge collection of rip media that this would be the way to go. I do own a Plex server but the way I watch TV, I never know if I'm going to watch a show on Netflix or something on my Plex server. The convenience factor is huge for me. Anyone interested in buying mine? 🙂
Try watching a 130+GB UHD .mkv rip of one of the Lord of the rings movies over Plex... wont happen unless you're running a seriously fast local network, with high end chipset Tv box.
Good review Joe. Told me everything j needed to know about this device. The price is tough to swallow for what it is. No netflix, disney+ etc. takes away from the utility. But having a premium streamer to play my Plex library would be nice. My Apple TV, Google Chromecast, smart TV apps, xbox etc. NONE of them fully support HDR, Atmos, etc. I don't need the analog side of this at all. I wonder if they could make a cheaper version without amp, DAC and digital out only, how much cheaper could it be.
It's primary function is playing your ripped media from local disk, at the best quality available. yes it can connect to plex, but frankly if that's all you're looking at the system for then you are wasting your money.. better off picking up a Dune Homatics Box R 4K plus
Buy the Zidoo UHD8000: summithifiusa.com/products/zidoo-uhd-8000-limited-quantity?ref=joentell
Disclosure: The Affiliate links above earn me a commission if you purchase using those links. This is at no additional cost to you.
Great review, Joe. I appreciate your honest approach
Had mine for a few weeks and loving it. Previously had a Zappiti Reference player which was eventually running the Rvolution software, which was great. I have both drive bays filled with movies and external drives too. Interface works really well, although I slightly prefer the poster wall look of the Rvolution but you can install that software on here too. I have UA-cam installed and IPTV and it works great. Plays all the HDR formats so beats my Nvidia Shield and pretty much replaces my Fire Cube too. The iPad app is a great addition, which gives it the edge over the competition. Bit like owning a Kaleidescape but without having to remortgage your house or sell a kidney. 😀👍🏻
I didn't know you could install the Rvolution app on here. How did you get it and install it? I tried getting the one from their website just to test but it wouldn't install.
@@joentell I think I just used the version that I installed on my Zappiti. You have to change the menu settings so that the posterwall is 1080p and not 4K and it worked fine.
@@FooFighter33 ah, I see. I didn't know about the poster wall needing to be in 1080. I'll try it sometime.
@@joentell With either setting I got it working. But the posterwall will be messed up. I haven’t changed the firmware on my Zidoo to enable the Google play store. I side loaded the Rvolution apk which I downloaded from their site on my pc then copied over to usb drive which I connected to Zidoo and installed from there.
@@FooFighter33 ahh. I tried it and it wouldn't install. Maybe it's because I have the G version installed with the Google Play store. I'm doing it more out of curiosity than necessity. I find their Home Theater 5 app works well.
When companies remove features from newer models like 3d, do they not understand that people who tend to use this type of device might have 100's of 3d movies. If you want people to keep spending money and buy the upgrade you have to think more carefully about who your audience is.
I hear that. I don't like it when features are removed also. This is my first Zidoo product I've tested, so I might not have the same sentiment. I also have never really watched an entire 3D movie at home. Maybe I should try it sometime.
I'm reviewing a new WiiM Amp Pro and it doesn't have Airplay 2 support where the old non-pro one did. It's a big complaint for people.
@@joentell Isn't the lack of Airplay 2 an advantage though? Airplay 2 is highly compressed, audio quality severely suffers from it if I recall correctly. If 2 isn't supported, it falls back to 1, meaning better sound. John Darko made a video about it.
@@beadlesastout - FACTS !!!!
That is a serious point I been at odds with about Zidoo products. I bought into the flagship 4K previous line and not only loss of features bothers me to upgrade but firmware is still not right and super buggy on my current Zidoo 4K and its slowed down to a crawl with fixes. Even had to opt into their Beta Firmware which has made so many issues for playback on most content. I get moving forward but don't take features and definitely show some lifetime support for the products you sold. Seems to me this company is just Beta testing and moving on which is pretty concerning
I solved my movie playback by going old school - a home theater PC with a decent if older graphics card. Kodi handles the user interface and it's great. I tinkered minimally and added the old madVR filters to it and now it produces an amazing image. I use a NAS for the file storage. With a FLIRC infrared receiver on the PC I can use any universal remote to control the media player. This unit does look pretty decent, but I prefer my DIY approach. Not least because of madVR. The HDR dynamic tonemapping from the latest madVR betas is pretty darn great.
My issues with HTPC are below. I ended up buying a Shield Pro to access the Plex Server I run in the other room. WAY better experience.
1. Slow and clunky.
2. No trigger/CEC.
3. SDR/HDR switching.
4. Audio format output doesn’t change with the content. Windows will be set to Bitstream 7.1 Atmos, so if you play anything besides Atmos, your AVR doesn’t upmix to your other speakers because it’s essentially a 5.1 signal inside an Atmos container. So no upmixing to Rears, Wides, Heights with a 5.1 track.
I used a HTPC + MadVR for many years - but the advent of HDR plus buying a Dolby Vision TV convinced me to switch to a shield because it "just works". There were so many parts in the HTPC chain (gfx drivers + madvr + tv settings + lav video settings) that all had to be configured correctly to make sure the image output looked how it should. Whereas the shield just works.
The only downside is I lost my hue sync via the PC app because I don't want to pay for a Hue HDMI box
Yes Joe these are versatile and units priced in this rage and lower thanks!!!!
It’s probably best for my use/case to just get the middle model that costs in the $600 range and has all the movie playing features without the extra audio DAC stuff that I won’t be needing. I think the model is the Z3000
I have the z3000 pro in the same series. My first Zidoo and really happy with it. Some audio sync issues but the development team seem pretty active at resolving bugs.
I have the Z9X 8K. Using it only for local media streaming. works very well.
I have a blu ray player and lots of 4k blu ray movies, my question is if I were to get the zidoo 8000 would I be able to install my blu ray movies with out having to buy some other Nas or similar devices or do I put a disc in the zidoo and it does the rest?
#1 Feature of this for me is Tidal Connect with Dolby Atmos: as far as I know, no other device supports this, and I don't want to use the Apple TV with all of its issues to play Apple Music And deal with an iPhone or extra remote just for spatial audio.
Got the Zpro 20 love it the great thing about this one is the 2 internal hard drives you could movies on one and music on the other
Great video. Zidoo is where it’s at.
If we don't need internal storage and using just the HDMI output, is there any real advantage to using the UHD8000 over a simple Z9X 8K?
Does the Z9X 8K have the newer processor? If so, and if the audio DAC's aren't important to you, then you can save by getting the Z9X 8K.
Plex rules :)
Hi @joentell... I'm a big fan follower of your channel .
Just have one question.
If I use the uhd 8000 with my soundbar , will it work ?
My soundbar has only one eARC port . So if I connect the Zidoo to one of my tv hdmi in ports and then connect the TV's eARC to soundbar's eARC would it work ? This way ?
I think it will work, but I don't know if the volume control on the Zidoo will control the sound bar.
@joentell it's controlling soundbar volume with CEC settings on.
One more help I need . I'm not able to cast music from apple music n Amazon Music from my Android fone it's not showing uhd 8000 as casting device , but able to cast Spotify from fone . Is there any restriction here or am missing any settings ? Kindly guide me pls . With Gratitude
My man has a proper squat rack in his garage. Respect.
Now, I have to get back to using it. 🙃
Great review Joe! I agree that it's disappointing these types of media players can't also function as streamers. Outside of maybe the VS10 engine, the Shield still seems like the all in one solution.
Can you please mention the movies that you tested and the minutes . Thanks
This zidoo plays the FEL double track of DV well as does the OPPO 203?
Looks like a cool player
I guess it should be at that price. 😉 It really does feel like a premium device to use.
Joe, I am looking for something like this to manage my Apple and Vudu movies that I’m going to put on a hard drive. Would this device have any issues with this? If so is there something else you recommend?
I'm not sure what you mean from Apple and Vudu. This is primarily for people who rip their Blu-ray discs. I'm sure people who "acquire" their movies with other methods might find this useful also.
@@joentell I am wanting to put all my digital and physical media on a hard drive and use something like the Zidoo. So I can scroll or search one device rather than finding the disc or trying to remember whether I bought the movie on Apple or Vudu. 1st world prob I know but just to make it more efficient.
@@matt07497 Plex can integrate with various streaming services if you want to have all of your movies in one place. The issue is I don't think Plex differentiates between movies available on Vudu or AppleTV, and the ones you purchased.
@@joentell I purchased a handful of videos from the iTunes Store and downloaded them to my NAS. However, Plex can’t play any of those videos because of digital rights management. If I want to watch those videos, I have to switch from the Shield to my Apple TV 4K and use one of Apple’s iTunes apps.
how do you buy movies on Zidoo?
So Joe… off topic question. What are your thoughts of the BenQ HT4550 after a year of use? 🙏🏾
Still awesome. The factory calibration is something to be considered.
This looks a great media player however it could have been much better if Zidoo included a HDMI 4K input socket this would of allowed say an Apple TV to be connected to it to enable video streming services
With very few exceptions, any movie I want to watch more than once I can find online because most of them are older than 50 years.
When I found out about this device (UHD8000), I was more than delighted, and then after watching a few reviews, my enthusiasm melted away!
The first disappointment was that it only reads hard disks up to 16 TB, and the second reason why this device was removed from the wish list is the inability to support 3D movies !!!
The horror !!! 😱
ZIDOO, why such a stupid decision!?!?
I have over 500 movies in 3D format on my hard drive and I know there are many more of us who love 3D movies! I am very disappointed! 😭
The AMLOGIC chip used on this and many other similar devices, is ineligible to get Wide wine L1 license required for streaming (DRM). Because someone can technically start recording on the network? Regardless, it's not Zidoo's fault. These devices cannot get streaming licenses from big studios and Netflix.
Interesting! Thank you for that.
They cant get certification because the streaming services won’t bother with them because the userbase is so small when compared to TV OS’s, streaming sticks etc. it would create more work for the streaming services without opening up a new market for them.
Apple TV with a Plex server still seems like the best solution for me and my family right now. All in one solution.
How long does it take to rip one typical movie?
Depending how powerful your computer is, about an hour or so. But you’d have to find a disc drive that can rip them because not just any drive would do it
My Homatics box R 4K plus plays my media perfectly from an external SSD which costs less than 33% of that that thing costs
I have that Box R also and I think it's a great value. A bit sluggish at times, but I can't complain for $149. It does a lot and I highly recommend it. I put the Homatics back in the living room after I was done testing this Zidoo, and my wife commented that "the other one is faster." 😁
The title is misleading. UHD8000 is a streamer with a very nice DAC, that alone is worth half the price if not more.
I mentioned that exactly. The title can only be so long and these are primarily for playing movies.
@@joentell Understood. One more thing, this has PEQ, so maybe your Magic Beans app can work with it?
Dude you are missing the point! There a lots of little players that do exactly what this does but this is designed to play "REMUX" files which are raw data from the disk and include all the same Dolby Vision, ATMOS, HDR10+ and very high bitrate audio without compression which most players including NVidia's Shield Pro do not support. THIS is why people would want this.
Ummm....that's exactly what I said in the video. Did you even watch it?
Jellyfin + 4 Bay Synology NAS (64 tb) are all I need...
That's what I thought too. I noticed some people like to keep ISO's to retain the Blu-Ray menu structure. Does Jellyfin support ISO because I know Plex does not.
@@joentell Yes Jellyfin can support ISO playback. I don't use jellyfin personally, I like Plex interface better. But there are solutions out there if you really want that. IDK why anyone would want it though, most people want to get directly into the movie and you can still have all your "extras" displayed in Plex alongside the movie.
Your fortunate to have a hard drive from Channa to install into it. Saving you hours of ripping time
I own it and it's just sitting there collecting dust. It's just easier to use my AppleTV with support for all the streaming services. I think if you have a huge collection of rip media that this would be the way to go. I do own a Plex server but the way I watch TV, I never know if I'm going to watch a show on Netflix or something on my Plex server. The convenience factor is huge for me. Anyone interested in buying mine? 🙂
Just get Plex 🤷🏻♂️
Try watching a 130+GB UHD .mkv rip of one of the Lord of the rings movies over Plex... wont happen unless you're running a seriously fast local network, with high end chipset Tv box.
Better to get the UHD5000 - super high end, cheaper, and 3d movies. 8k is a waste right now.
No cereal face? Booooo! 😂
I don't want THAT many views! 😎
Good review Joe. Told me everything j needed to know about this device.
The price is tough to swallow for what it is. No netflix, disney+ etc. takes away from the utility. But having a premium streamer to play my Plex library would be nice. My Apple TV, Google Chromecast, smart TV apps, xbox etc. NONE of them fully support HDR, Atmos, etc.
I don't need the analog side of this at all. I wonder if they could make a cheaper version without amp, DAC and digital out only, how much cheaper could it be.
Just use an nVidia Shield and a NAS. Still cheaper than this product.
@@wooxify the shield is 10 years old at this point. The shield pro is 5 years old. I have my eye on the Zidoo Z9X Pro.
@@jebo4jc What difference does this make? It still plays everything without an issue. And is still getting updates.
$1500 and no ability to install video streaming apps like Plex, UA-cam, Netflix, etc. Complete waste. You could do more with a $500 PC.
Pricey Plex player
It's primary function is playing your ripped media from local disk, at the best quality available. yes it can connect to plex, but frankly if that's all you're looking at the system for then you are wasting your money.. better off picking up a Dune Homatics Box R 4K plus