Mac as a Movie Server?

Nyal Mellor said:

Been there, done that, at least with Windows / JRiver. Messy, to say the least. JRiver is very cryptic, plus there are all the video card driver settings, and that's before you start fussing with MADVR! I thought it turned out ok, but was overly complex and unsupportable and now use an Oppo

Recommendation; just save your time and buy something designed to do the job i.e. kaleidescape, and I'd wait until they release their UHD model next year.

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Nyal - I suspect that you are many JR releases behind. I started on JR 18, then 19 and now 20. I have never ever had to fiddle with MadVR or even know it existed. I just check the RedOctober HQ option in JR and it handles all the interfacing to MadVR behind the scenes transparently with default settings. I have never had to touch MadVR directly. And, it looks great.

Yes, learning JR is a challenge up front. But, I have found no better tool for my audio library, and I prefer to stick with it for video.

It was you awhile back who strongly advocated for JR in your HTPC thread somewhere. That inspired me to follow that path, which I have done successfully. My system is now prepro-less, TV cable box-less, and separate player-less, with JR as the player and control center. I knew it would be less convenient than having more boxes in my system, but it works well at very high quality, with the occasional hiccup, of course. Windows and software issues, aargh. I do not know of a better, more comprehensive tool to attempt this with, but if it exists, I sure would like to know. But, JR could always be better, and it keeps adding features, which, of course, make it even more complex.

edorr said:

I'm with audioseduction on this one. I have gone through many configurations and you need serious horsepower for video processing. Forget mac. JRiver with a Multi Media server with dedicated HDMI card is recommended. Incidentally, I have one for sale (Monster Fanless with Lynx Soundcard and EVGA GeForce 750 Ti Video Card).

I use AnyDVD, PavTube Bytecopy and Handbreak for BR ripping depending on my need. It is a bit of a learning curve, but once you figured it out there is no going back.

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I have not found you absolutely need a GPU. I started with using just Intel 4000 integrated graphics on an I7 with JRiver playback, which was comparable to my Oppo player for BD playback and quite acceptable. Then, I added an AMD 970. It was somewhat better for TV and BD, but definitely not night/day. I do not regret it, but it was OK with just integrated graphics.

A Darbee box added even a little more improvement and extended the useful life of my aging TV set PQ performance wise. So, I can wait out the emerging improvements to 4k/UHD in dynamic range and color space until they are settled and available. The big question will be what will happen as far as PC hacking and playback support of UHD BD.

Fitzcaraldo215 said:

Nyal - I suspect that you are many JR releases behind. I started on JR 18, then 19 and now 20. I have never ever had to fiddle with MadVR or even know it existed. I just check the RedOctober HQ option in JR and it handles all the interfacing to MadVR behind the scenes transparently with default settings. I have never had to touch MadVR directly. And, it looks great.

Yes, learning JR is a challenge up front. But, I have found no better tool for my audio library, and I prefer to stick with it for video.

It was you awhile back who strongly advocated for JR in your HTPC thread somewhere. That inspired me to follow that path, which I have done successfully. My system is now prepro-less, TV cable box-less, and separate player-less, with JR as the player and control center. I knew it would be less convenient than having more boxes in my system, but it works well at very high quality, with the occasional hiccup, of course. Windows and software issues, aargh. I do not know of a better, more comprehensive tool to attempt this with, but if it exists, I sure would like to know. But, JR could always be better, and it keeps adding features, which, of course, make it even more complex.

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I'm on JRiver 19.

I was on the JRiver bus for video, and am now off it. A proper pre-pro is better for 99% of people, and has no configuration issues, and is more reliable, and sounds better. We still use JRiver as a movie server, just not as a pre-pro. However with K-Scape solutions coming down to the cost of a silent HTPC and JRiver showing no signs of anything to do with Dolby Atmos / DTS.X (all the HTs we do now have this), I cannot recommend it as a pre-pro solution anymore.

I

Nyal Mellor said:

I'm on JRiver 19.

I was on the JRiver bus for video, and am now off it. A proper pre-pro is better for 99% of people, and has no configuration issues, and is more reliable, and sounds better. We still use JRiver as a movie server, just not as a pre-pro. However with K-Scape solutions coming down to the cost of a silent HTPC and JRiver showing no signs of anything to do with Dolby Atmos / DTS.X (all the HTs we do now have this), I cannot recommend it as a pre-pro solution anymore.

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Sure, an external prepro is easier, more stable and reliable, with greater input flexibility, therefore preferable for most people. But, I do not find it sounds better at all vs. my PC front end, particularly with Mch audio, which requires HDMI with a prepro. HDMI is a sonic compromise in my view vs. asynch USB. I say that with experience limited to only Integra, Marantz and Anthem prepros, thus far.

I do not know of any prepros that can handle Mch sound via USB or Ethernet inputs. Kal Rubinson constantly laments the same thing. Stereo, yes, no problem, but not Mch.

I also think you have to spend a bundle on a prepro to get comparable sound to a decent PC/DAC combination. Only the most expensive prepros have DAC/analog output stages that might possibly be comparable to an Exasound or several other PC Mch DACs. Most are not. And, some of those pricier prepros do not have decent DSP Room EQ built in, sometimes none at all.

No doubt, if I had the budget for it, I would seriously consider a Datasat or a Trinnov prepro in the $20-$40k range. In the mean time, I am sonically considerably ahead, to my ears, of prepro sound that is within reach for me.

I have also seen no improvement in video quality afforded by prepros. The pricey ones are just video pass through, with no video processing, for the most part.

So, yes, it is a performance quality vs. convenience/flexibility trade off. I have opted for the HTPC route to get the quality at much lower cost than is possible with a prepro, in my view. My eyes were open about the loss of convenience, flexibility and stability at the outset. I have no regrets.

Incidentally, the only true prepro function I use JRiver for is bass management, since my Dirac Live EQ software does not have it. Volume control is in the Exasound. Speaker distance correction and room EQ is in Dirac. Yes, JR is a library manager and player, TV tuner interface, format/sampling rate/codec converter, etc. via the really good JRemote iPad interface. My main beef with JR continues to be full support for the video library/player functionality, but I find it terrific for hi rez Mch audio, which is my main interest.

Nyal Mellor said:

It's not that easy for most people, and JRiver could do with much better documentation. There are multiple pieces of software to figure out (JRiver plus the Blu-Ray decryption software), the video card driver settings, and if you turn on RO HQ the MAD VR settings. Now, I admit, my project was looking at replacing pre-pro with a HTPC, but even just using it as a movie server there's a lot of work to be done. It's for that reason many don't use JRiver and use other pieces of software like Plex.

Here was my project: http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/201366how-to-replace-your-home-theater-pre-pro-with-a-htpc/.

FWIW I've pretty much given up on the PC as movie / music server. The cost of well designed and engineered products like Aurender N100 and the K-Scape servers approaches that of a silent, custom PC with vastly better user interface and reliability.

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Wow! I'm using mine as a music and movie server (although I no longer use it as prepro). I've actually gone on to build a dedicated NAS server for my content and I never have a hiccup with it. I had more trouble out of a Panasonic BD player than my server/htpc combo.

I will agree that setup can be tedious for someone that's not a tech-head, but I enjoy it more than anything I've ever done. I've just helped a friend set his up. He called me over about three times, but once it was set-up, he's had no problem. He states there's no turning back now...and I tend to agree with him.

My JRiver is set up for different zones and several DACs (one HDMI, one PCI Soundcard, and one Asynchronous USB DAC for music only). Both computers are silent from the seating position. I'm actually building a new one, as I have taken advantage of SVP (smooth video project) and would like the extra horse power my new machine will give me.

audioguy said:

I know this is primarily a music forum but I am sure there are a few closet videophiles lurking around.

I will have a spare MacBook Pro soon and wanted to investigagte using it to rip and playback my most frequently viewed Blurays.

So, if anyone has tackled this, I would love to hear about your experiences, best ripping and viewing software and anythng else that might assit me in moving forward.

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Can't help with the specific BR rips as I have yet to do that with my BR collection. However, I do have an HD videophile setup on Mac OS and use it with my rips from DVD done with MakeMKV and some downloads.

I use Kodi (ex XBMC and actually started with XBMC) for the main library, navigation but not playback. For playback, I opted to have XBMC automatically defer the playback to VLC which itself is set up to default to surround sound output and full-screen.

Kodi is set up to find my new rips, automatically fetches thumbnail covers and additional fan-art. I also have set it up to that TV shows have all the same covers and fan-art and additionally, play the show's theme on browsing/selection.

When VLC is playing, Kodi is unavailable, so it's on exiting from VLC that control comes back to it.

You could use VLC to play BR as well but this necessitates some setting up.

The thing with Kodi/XBMC is that once you've set it up properly, it's very beautiful to look at and use.

However, be prepared for quite a big learning curve for the initial set up - things like where to go in the various menus, how to install repositories, how to install plugins, where to go to configure these plugins, etc...

The fun thing is that you can also use it to browse your whole music library, and mine with Kodi works much the same as the movie one: it scans, retrieves covers, artwork and also displays artist information when browsing, and I did at one point transfer playback to Audirvana.

YashN said:

I use Kodi (ex XBMC and actually started with XBMC) for the main library, navigation but not playback. For playback, I opted to have XBMC automatically defer the playback to VLC which itself is set up to default to surround sound output and full-screen.

Kodi is set up to find my new rips, automatically fetches thumbnail covers and additional fan-art. I also have set it up to that TV shows have all the same covers and fan-art and additionally, play the show's theme on browsing/selection.

When VLC is playing, Kodi is unavailable, so it's on exiting from VLC that control comes back to it.

You could use VLC to play BR as well but this necessitates some setting up.

The thing with Kodi/XBMC is that once you've set it up properly, it's very beautiful to look at and use.

However, be prepared for quite a big learning curve for the initial set up - things like where to go in the various menus, how to install repositories, how to install plugins, where to go to configure these plugins, etc...

The fun thing is that you can also use it to browse your whole music library, and mine with Kodi works much the same as the movie one: it scans, retrieves covers, artwork and also displays artist information when browsing, and I did at one point transfer playback to Audirvana.

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I use JRiver for audio and Kodi for movies. JRiver is difficult to set up and awkward to maintain. Kodi is much simpler to set up and easy to maintain and use. I am surprised that more people have not discovered Kodi, it works quite well in a NAS environment too.