Home Theater PC

[Audioseduction]

How many of you use a HTPC and what is the make up?

[o0OBillO0o]

-Apple Macbook Air
-Amazon Basics Mini Displayport to HDMI Cable
-XBMC
-LG Blu-Ray USB Drive
-1TB USB Drive

total cost was around $1250, this is because I repurposed the Macbook Air. You can do the same for about $750 if you are an Apple User and purchase similar Apple Hardware.

[doggiehowser]

I use a quiet PC - 4771 i7, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD, fanless CPU cooler. Fanless PSU. Intel mini motherboard.

[bsandovalb]

I use a mac mini, 16gb ram, with audirvana plus, to bel canto reflink (usd-spdif converter), to audio aero capitol cd player mkii....

[jdandy]

George.......Are you asking how many of us use power conditioners with our home theater gear?

[Audioseduction]

George.......Are you asking how many of us use power conditioners with our home theater gear?

No, just description of their HTPC setup. I have been using my HTPC for about 2 years now. :thumbsup:

HTPC Description:

Dell XPS 8500 i7-3770 CPU @ 3.4GHz with 16GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 set @ 1080p, 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz, HL Blu-Ray Internal Drive, 1TB HD

OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit

JRiver Media Center v19
Video Mode: Red October HQ
Audio Mode: Bitstreaming

Both Blu-Ray and HD DVD files are stored on a 15TB RAID 5 storage which is backed up by a identical unit.

[o0OBillO0o]

^ that is a very nice set-up.

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[antipop]

I use a mac mini with Plex. I have a NAS (using freenas) with Plex Media Server installed on it that holds all my music, tv shows and dvd.

For Blu-Ray's, I'm using my Oppo 93.

[o0OBillO0o]

PLEX is great, XMBC has ISO support and can script tons if things.. Cinema trivia, trailers, your own sound test, etc. With ISO format I back up all my DVDs in their raw format. Blu-Ray, 50 GB size, have to be local (USB, thunderbolt, internal etc..) big files, big stream. Still, like DVD you retain all the goodies/extras.

Users can convert BR using MakeMKV and use PLEX at a smaller file size with almost no perceivable loss in quality.

BTW, I use Aurora Blu-Ray Copy.

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[-E-]

BD does not have to be local.

[o0OBillO0o]

Really? Cool, what is the requirement?

[-E-]

Any decent infrastructure. I've been successful over WiFi, but GigE is by far the preferred method (speed of start and seek is noticeably different).

[o0OBillO0o]

off to investigate, thanks!

[-E-]

GL. If you need help I am always available for remote consultations.

[o0OBillO0o]

Emile, I appreciate it.

[Audioseduction]

I use DVDFab to rip my Blu-Rays and DVDs. Works great!

[Audioseduction]

I use a mac mini with Plex. I have a NAS (using freenas) with Plex Media Server installed on it that holds all my music, tv shows and dvd.

For Blu-Ray's, I'm using my Oppo 93.

If you have a 2012 or later mac mini you should be watching ripped blu-rays via your mac mini for better play back quality than any stand alone player like your Oppo. The mac mini has a more robust CPU and GPU than your stand alone players. That's why I watch my ripped blu-rays via my PC using JRiver.

[Pider]

If you have a 2012 or later mac mini you should be watching ripped blu-rays via your mac mini for better play back quality than any stand alone player like your Oppo. The mac mini has a more robust CPU and GPU than your stand alone players. That's why I watch my ripped blu-rays via my PC using JRiver.

How much time to rip a blu-ray, I wonder?

[Audioseduction]

How much time to rip a blu-ray, I wonder?

About 1HR. I do it in the background and watch FIOS TV during that time or I just go do something else and come back to it later.

[Pider]

About 1HR. I do it in the background and watch FIOS TV during that time or I just go do something else and come back to it later.

I'm a dinosaur, I know, but I didn't even think you could rip a BD? I know and have ripped DVDs, which seemed to take forever, not an hour. IIRC, it was a two stage process. I stopped doing it because of the time involved. It's a good bet I have no clue.

[Audioseduction]

With DVDFab it's a piece of cake, just 1 click and it's done.

[Pider]

With DVDFab it's a piece of cake, just 1 click and it's done.

Thanks. Nice system, btw.

[Audioseduction]

Thanks. Nice system, btw.

Thanks!

[antipop]

I did it for my DVD as they don't weight a lot. BD is different once you have a good library.

At 50GB a piece, I could barely fit 50 on the NAS (plus I'm using it over wifi). I stopped counting the number of BR I own but I believe it's closer to 100.

[Allan W.]

I have a Late 2012 Mac Mini w/16 gigs of RAM. The monitor is a 75” Samsung, not 4K. Disc playback is performed the following ways, depending on format. Blu-ray is thru a cheap Panasonic DMP-BD 605, the slowest loading beast but what did I expect from Costco. DVD playback is mood based, Esoteric DV-50, (best sound and vision), a Apple USB superdrive w/ Mini Mac or ripped files from a QNAP NAS server. The DVD’s are ripped with MDRP software. The NAS device is also used for DVD playback in our bedroom with a older MacBook Air connected to a Samsung 46” monitor.

Blu-ray movies are outstanding but over priced, so we only have a very few. Funny we use our old Laser Disc Player more than Blu-ray. It take a few minutes to dust it off and get it connected.

We do not have subscription TV/Satellite and only have cable for internet. These days we use an antenna for the local stations. Amazon Prime is our current streaming service.