That perception have now changed with the HEVC hardware accelerated encoding support in the newer chipset generations. Plus the release of Plex Media Player* last year with Embedded Platform app.

* Plex Media Player is currently only available for Plex Pass users.
UPDATE November 30, 2016: Plex Media Player is now available for all Plex users

UPDATE October 21, 2017: Intel has released a newer generation of NUC series (identifier: NUC7XXXXX). They no longer support booting from (micro) SD card, as shared by one of the readers. Read Brian’s notes here.

A little background

For over a year, I had been using Minix Neo Z64 running Plex Home Theater as client to browse and play media library from my Plex Media Server on my TV. It had served its primary purpose well but I started to find some limitations from it:

1. It could only be installed with 32-bit version of Windows (or any other x64 based operating system) due to limited BIOS and drivers support. This means, I couldn’t install the next generation Plex Media Player which unfortunately required 64-bit MacOS or Windows.
2. No hardware accelerated for HEVC (H.265) video format. Its Quad Core Intel Atom processor were choking to handle 1080p H.265 encoded videos.
3. Even though it had built-in IR receiver, there was no Windows driver for it. I had to use Flirc USB to control it from my Logitech Harmony remote.
4. No gigabit ethernet port, only 100 Mbps.
5. No HD Audio (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA) passthrough when using PHT on Windows.

So the search was on to find a hardware that would be able to fill those gaps. There is one extra requirement though: it needed to be in the sub $200 budget because I only wanted it as Plex client, not server.

The hardware: Intel NUC5CPYH

A few options came into consideration, including NVIDIA SHIELD TV and AsRock BEEBOX N3150, but I finally decided to go with Intel NUC NUC5CPYH. Primarily because of the price point, at less than $130 (barebone, no RAM, no drive) it was still quite an amazing price. While some people might doubt its processing power because it is still running on Celeron processor, but it’s already based on Braswell chipset and Braswell comes with HEVC hardware acceleration support.

Here’s the list of components to get it up and running:

• Intel NUC5CPYH Barebone Kit – $128 [link]
• Kingston HyperX Impact Black 4GB 1600MHz DDR3L SODIMM – $25 [link]
• SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive – $10 [link]

You could go with SDXC or even hard drive/SSD instead of using USB flash drive, that one is completely up to your preference. For me, the SanDisk Ultra Fit just offered the best bang for the buck.

In addition, you also need a spare USB drive with around 1GB of storage and USB keyboard to copy and install the Plex Media Player for embedded platform image.

Plex Media Player for Embedded Platforms installation

To download Plex Media Player (PMP) for the Intel NUC, just follow these steps:

1. Go to Plex Downloads page
2. Click on Get an App button
3. Make sure Plex Pass Downloads is checked on
4. Under Choose your app, select Plex Media Player > Embedded Platforms
5. Click on Download button, then select Intel 64-bit

Plex Downloads Page (click to zoom)

Next step is to create the disk image for the USB stick by following the official tutorial.

After plugging both USB sticks (one with the disk image and another that will act as the computer’s drive) and keyboard to the Intel NUC, turn it on. The NUC should try to detect a bootable drive, in this case the USB stick with PMP disk image. Then you need to follow the on-screen installation process and select the other USB stick as the destination drive to where app will be installed.

After the installation is complete, you can unplug the disk image stick and reboot the NUC. It should load PMP and you can start using it immediately.

Setting DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD passthrough

Plex Media Player’s Audio Configuration Guide is a little bit vague in explaining how to enable HD audio passthrough. But for Intel NUC, the key is to select the right Device type and Device under Settings > Audio panel.

• Device type: HDMI
• Channels: 7.1 (depending on your audio receiver’s input/output capability)
• Device: HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0/HDMI Audio Out
• Normalize Downmixed Volume: No
• Show Advanced Settings: Yes
• Dolby Digital (AC3): Yes
• DTS (DCA): Yes
• Dolby Digital Plus (EAC3): Yes
• DTS-HD Master Audio: Yes
• Dolby TrueHD: Yes

Maximizing control from Logitech Harmony

If you own a Logitech Harmony IR remote*, Intel NUC5CPYH already has its own profile on MyHarmony application. Just add a new device and put these values:

• Manufacturer: Intel
• Device Model Number: NUC5CPYH

MyHarmony Add A Device screen

* Logitech remotes based on Harmony Smart Control hub such as Harmony Elite or using RF signal may require different configuration.

You should already be able to use the remote for basic commands. However if you really want to have more control, you need to create your own inputmap. To save you the trouble of capturing each of the Button Name from the default NUC5CPYH profile, you can refer to my notes below from my Harmony One remote.

Button Name     Harmony Button
==============================
KEY_SLEEP       Power Toggle
KEY_RED         Red
KEY_GREEN       Green
KEY_YELLOW      Yellow
KEY_BLUE        Blue
KEY_TUNER       LiveTV
KEY_TV          MyTV
KEY_VIDEO       MyVideos
KEY_AUDIO       MyMusic
KEY_CAMERA      MyPictures
KEY_RADIO       MyRadio
KEY_DVD         DVDMenu
KEY_INFO        Info
KEY_EXIT        Exit
KEY_EPG         Guide
KEY_VOLUMEUP    Vol+
KEY_VOLUMEDOWN  Vol-
KEY_UP          Ch+
KEY_DOWN        Ch-
KEY_MUTE        Mute
KEY_REWIND      Rewind
KEY_FASTFORWARD FastForward
KEY_RECORD      Record
KEY_OK          OK
KEY_LEFT        Left
KEY_RIGHT       Right
KEY_UP          Up
KEY_DOWN        Down

Now that you know which buttons are recognized as which by PMP, all you need to do is to create a custom inputmap file to your preference and upload it using SSH/SFTP to the NUC under /storage/.local/share/plexmediaplayer/inputmaps/ directory. By the way, the remote is recognized as LIRC.

Here is how I set mine:

{
 "name": "LIRC IR",
 "idmatcher": "LIRC*",
 "mapping":
 {
     "KEY_LEFT": "left",
     "KEY_RIGHT": "right",
     "KEY_UP": "up",
     "KEY_DOWN": "down",
     "KEY_MENU": "unknown",
     "KEY_DVD": "home",
     "KEY_SELECT": "enter",
     "KEY_OK": "enter",
     "KEY_BACK": "back",
     "KEY_EXIT": "back",
     "KEY_PLAY": "play",
     "KEY_STOP": "stop",
     "KEY_PAUSE": "pause",
     "KEY_SEEKFWD": "seek_forward",
     "KEY_FASTFORWARD" : "seek_forward",
     "KEY_SEEKBCK": "seek_backward",
     "KEY_REWIND": "seek_backward",
     "KEY_CAMERA": "step_backward",
     "KEY_RADIO": "step_forward",
     "KEY_SUBTITLES": "cycle_subtitles",
     "KEY_INFO": "host:toggleDebug",
     "KEY_NEXT": "step_forward",
     "KEY_PREV": "step_backward",
     "KEY_HOME": "home",
     "KEY_NUMERIC_([0-9])": "%1",
     "KEY_SLEEP": "host:suspend",
     "KEY_RECORD": "toggle_subtitles",
     "KEY_RED": "cycle_subtitles",
     "KEY_GREEN": "cycle_subtitles_back",
     "KEY_YELLOW": "increase_subtitles_delay",
     "KEY_BLUE": "decrease_subtitles_delay",
     "KEY_TUNER": "cycle_audio",
     "KEY_TV": "cycle_audio_back",
     "KEY_VIDEO": "increase_audio_delay",
     "KEY_AUDIO": "decrease_audio_delay"
 }
}

Once you done that, restart PMP. The final step is to reflect the changes on your Harmony devices and activities settings. You probably want to change the labels on the screen buttons.

Performance

This tiny device works like a charm! Thanks to hardware acceleration available on Braswell and newer chipsets, the NUC handles all video format I have been throwing at it like a boss.

It has no problems in handling 1080p HEVC (8-bit) videos. Over a dozen videos, only one which had one dropped frames occasion, but I think that was caused by network hiccup and not because the CPU/GPU was out of breath. Since this is an embedded app, I could not measure the hardware usage. What I can tell is the NUC never gets hot, or even warm, so it is certainly not stressed when decoding those movies.

The NUC Blog says that it should be able to handle 4k HEVC videos. My TV is not 4k yet, so not something I wanted to try, but good to know that it has some future-proofing.

Audio passthrough is perfect also. I can finally see the HDSUR. icon showing up on my Yamaha YSP-2500 Soundbar.

Mission accomplished. The Intel NUC5CPYH is a wonderful upgrade from Minix Z64 for a small budget dedicated HTPC.

Reader’s tip: Stuttering Issue

In case you are seeing stuttering with during video playback, and not related to audio output configuration, you may want to try enabling Allow Display Mode Switching under Settings > Video. Thanks for the note, Joe!

Shop for your Plex Media Player setup

The post Intel NUC as Plex Media Player Client: Setup Guide appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

These speakers are considered as one of the best with their price range. They are only slightly more expensive than AE A2+ but comes with a subwoofer. In fact it’s a super solid subwoofer, but more on that later. Does that mean their sound quality below A2+? Many people would disagree. There are also many other 2.1 speaker systems from more recognized brands in the same price range that ended on my shortlist. The reason why I chose M50W in the end is because the brand comes from SQ-centric customers compared to more generic market. The design and finish define it as you can see below.

Unboxing photos

Early impressions

It could be because I had read so many rave reviews about the speakers prior to ordering them, but when I heard them for the first time, I felt they had been a bit overrated. They produced good sound, but still a tad below my expectation. However the local rep constantly reminded the customers to give them a burn-in time of minimum 100 hours before they will truly spark. Fair enough.

One thing that already caught my admiration was the subwoofer. Even though it can be considered compact with only 6.5″ driver, it pushes solid and round bass. It is surprisingly very heavy too, most of the 17kg packaging weight is from the sub. This alone concluded that I had made the right decision to picking this set over the A2+.

I am now in around 20 hours of burn-in time and have already been noticing the sound improvements. Even with low volume, I can hear most of the frequency ranges, an indication of high quality speakers. Can’t wait to hear when they have unleashed their true potential. I plan to write a full review after spending (a lot) more time with them. But for now, I am very happy with the Swans HiVi M50W and would recommend them to anyone looking for 2.1 multimedia speaker system in $200-$300 range.

The goods

• Superb finish, every piece uses high quality material
• Excellent subwoofer built and performance
• Looks awesome
• Can go really loud

The bads

• Initial listening might not show the true potential, require burn-in and some tweaking
• The satellite is just a tad big for a multimedia speaker at 14 x 14 cm, may require extra space on your desk
• Not easily obtainable in some countries

The post Swans HiVi M50W unboxing and early impressions appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

For years, my Mac minis had been the primary device for both Plex Media Server and Plex Home Theater (the player). Started with the old 2010 Mac mini with 2.4GHz Core2Duo processor which served me well for over 3 years. Then as Plex functionality grew, C2D processor no longer held up to directly convert my movie files and stream it to mobile devices. I then upgraded it to Mac mini 2012 with 2.3GHz Quad Core i7 processor, which has been able to handle multiple devices without breaking a sweat.

A dilemma was faced when I needed a better working station as my Macbook Air was no longer enough to serve for web development jobs I had been doing in my home office. Initially I was thinking to buy an iMac with Fusion Drive, but then I had an idea to use my i7 Mac mini instead since it actually had a superb processing power. The idea was, it would still run Plex Server since I would not watch movies and working at the same time. The challenge was to find a suitable device to replace the Mac mini for the player as I had to move it out from the bedroom. The simple solution would be to buy another Mac mini, but was very uneconomical and unpractical because I did not need another server. So the search began…

Requirements

Considering Plex’s excellent multi-platform adoption, I could easily buy a Chromecast for less than $40 and install Plex app there. But I needed more than just a video streamer. It would be playing high definition media files and connected to my Yamaha YSP-2500 soundbar, so certain requirements were needed:

• handles 1080p movies
• supports Dolby Digital and DTS encoding
• good design
• space saving
• silent

There were a few contenders at the time, including Intel NUC, Roku and Raspberry Pi 2. All seemed like good options, but did not qualify to all the specifications.

Enter MINIX NEO Z64

After a thorough market research, I discovered about MINIX NEO Z64 and it was the closest one to meet all my requirements. It comes in two flavors: MINIX NEO Z64A which is basically an Android TV box and shipped with Android Kit Kat 4.4 and MINIX NEO Z64W is actually a micro PC shipped with Windows 8.1 Bing Edition. The MINIX Z64A retails at around $130 and came with and IR remote, while the Z64W is slightly more expensive at $160 due to the Windows 8.1 license and it does not come with IR remote.

The MINIX NEO Z64

The coolest thing is, you can install Windows on MINIX Z64A and vice versa, following the instructions provided by user Gadget Friendly on MINIX forums.

Under the hood these models have the same hardware specifications:

• Intel Bay Trail (Intel Z3735F, 64-bit) CPU
• Intel HD Graphics GPU
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB eMMC ROM
• 2 x USB 2.0 ports
• MicroSD slot
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.0
• 1 x Headphone jack
• 1 x HDMI port
• 1 x Ethernet jack

First Impressions

I decided to order Z64A because I wanted to try Plex for Android first. I had only known Plex on Mac OS X and iOS environments, but both Android and Windows versions were new territories for me. I was not sure if there would be limitations as Plex player compared to my Mac mini.

MINIX NEO Z64 Box Front

In addition, I also bought the MINIX NEO A2 Lite which is a wireless keyboard and air mouse. This was necessary for me and is highly recommended to make your life easier when required to type during inital setup, browsing or searching for anything. Otherwise you would be stuck with the on screen keyboard. The A2 Lite works on both the Android and Windows OS versions.

Some sellers sell both MINIX NEO Z64A and A2 Lite in a bundle which could save you some bucks.

The Z64A came with the following inside the box:

• 1 x MINIX NEO Z64
• 1 x Remote controller (remember: the remote is not included on Z64W)
• 1 x AC power charger
• 1 x HDMI cable
• 1 x USB cable
• 1 x user manual

MINIX NEO Z64 Box Content

The main device is well built with very compact form and is have strong resemblence with the Apple TV, except for the wi-fi antenna. At its price point, there was nothing to complain about the build quality, if not better than I had expected. I had seen Android TV set top box with ugly casing and finish.

MINIX NEO Z64A with Plex for Android

Installation was very straightforward: just plug it to a power source and TV, some initial setup then I was ready to go. As a standalone media player, the Z64A came with Kodi which is another excellent multi-platform media manager and player so you could easily use it independently. However my quest was to make it work with my Plex Media Server and I did not want to bother migrating years of media collection to a different system, so the next step for me was to install Plex for Android from the Google App Store.

Plex for Android TV Interface

Unfortunately Plex for Android did not really work well for me because of the native support of the media formats. Many of them could not direct-play and had to be transcoded by Plex Media Server on-the-fly. This lead to one very particular problem: it lost the original media file’s quality in particular the surround audio encoding (DD/DTS). I could not accept this.

Then for a short time, I managed to live by using Kodi by adding the PleXBMC plugin. It allowed me to connect to my Plex Media Server while using Kodi’s media player which supports more formats including Dolby Digital and DTS. But this set up was not meant to last also. First I had to settle for losing the nice Plex interface, then it took extra few steps to open up my media library, finally the plugin had few bugs which prevented me to connect to Plex Server from time to time for no obvious reason.

The time came to test the Windows version of MINIX Z64.

MINIX NEO Z64W with Plex Home Theater

Following the instructions given, I have to say anyone who have done clean install of Windows on their PC before should not face much problem. Just a reminder that you need to purchase your own Windows license when upgrading from Z64A and while the CPU is 64-bit, MINIX NEO Z64 only supports Windows 32-bit version. MINIX also officially provided the BIOS conversion files and Windows drivers.

Next step is to install Plex Home Theater for Windows (32-bit version). Nothing special about it, just like installing other Win application. Upon first launch, I was asked to connect to Plex account and it detected my Plex Media Server immediately. Happy to say, PHT has very consistent interface between the one for Mac OS X and one for Windows.

Plex Home Theater Interface

The tricky part is with the hardware setup. PHT requires you to set the right hardware support in order for it to work smoothly. In particular the audio, you want to make sure your audio system actually supports any of the preferences options, whether it is for Dolby Digital, DTS, DTS-HD and so on. Failing to do this and you might get stuttering playback. It took a few attempts for me to got this part right.

Movie Playback

Once all set, I played some of my favorite movies. The MINIX Z64 + PHT were able to play all the movies on my media library. Most of them are in MKV format with DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 or 7.1 audio. Surround channels were distributed accurately and it had no problem handling up to 1080p resolution.

Some other reviewers mentioned that the Z64 was able to handle 4K videos. I haven’t tried this myself because I do not have 4K TV and while the CPU is able to decode 4K video, it would be pointless if the HDMI port is not version 2.0 which is required to deliver the output to UltraHD TVs.

Another interesting subject is the latest buzz in digital video format: HEVC h.265 support. H.265 format allows even better compression for HD movies. Unfortunately it is hardware dependant and Intel Bay Trail does not have the hardware support. It would be awesome though if MINIX could release future products with CPU that is compatible with HEVC H.265. They have the NEO X8-H Plus, but it only comes with Android OS option therefore no PHT.

Drawback: Networking

Since my Plex setup relies so much on good networking to stream from my home office upstairs to my bedroom, this is the only element that I am quite disappointed with MINIX NEO Z64. The wireless connection is not that good despite the external antenna. I ended up having to buy TP-LINK RE200 AC750 Wi-Fi Extender and connect it to the ethernet port to get the best and most consistent network connection.

IR Receiver on Windows

You would probably interested to know that the IR receiver is not working when running under Windows. I still cannot understand why MINIX has not created the driver to support it. But the A2 Lite keyboard works flawlessly, so it is not a deal breaker.

Using It as Plex Media Server

While NEO Z64 has just the right hardware to play common media formats, I would not recommend it to use it as Plex Media Server. Particularly if you are planning to use it to serve multiple devices that require transcoding. It does not have enough beef and you still need to invest on a better machine for the server.

Conclusion

Getting into the third month with the Z64W + PHT setup, I am very happy with it. It is a solid replacement for the player. Compared to $500 Mac mini, it is a huge money saver with only 1/3 of the price plus it uses less energy. The concept of releasing a product that allow customers to select between Android and Windows is very interesting. I hope MINIX will continue the development of this product line and improving a few shortcomings mentioned above.

Update November 2015:

Late October 2015 Plex officially introduced Plex Media Player as the successor of Plex Home Theater. Currently it is only available for PlexPass users and in 64-bit version for Windows 7+. Since MINIX NEO Z64 only allows you to install Windows in 32-bit version, unless Plex Media Player will be available for the 32-bit OS, you may not be able to install it ever. However I am going to keep my fingers crossed. Besides, Plex Home Theater is still a very solid and mature application and I have no doubt it will still be able to play most files served from Plex Media Server for many years to come.

Gallery

The post Geek Review: MINIX NEO Z64 for Plex player appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

My previous soundbar was LG HLB54S with Blu-ray player built-in and it had served me well before I decided it was time for an upgrade. After looking at many options available in the market at the time, I finally put my eyes at two soundbars by Yamaha: the YSP-1400 and YSP-2500. Yamaha calls these line as sound projectors instead of soundbars, a marketing term which I find is not an exaggeration. The reason will be described as you read through more details below.

Generally the YSP-1400 and YSP-2500 have all the requirements I looked for my next soundbar:

• 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound – many (lower-end) soundbars do not actually have this and sometimes only offer 2.1 or 4.1 output
• Bluetooth connection to wirelessly stream the audio from smartphone
• Optical input to connect my Mac mini as the primary source of media
• iOS and Android app which always a nice thing for any geek

At around $1,000, YSP-2500 costs over twice of YSP-1400 which is sold at between $300-350. In my opinion this is a worthy investment if you have the extra budget for it. For me the added values were:

• A separate wireless subwoofer unit – YSP-1400 has built-in woofers which has its own selling value if you are looking for something that is very minimal
• 16 sound beams vs 8 sound beams on YSP-1400
• LCD display to see the status of your playback
• Brushed aluminium finish – YSP-1400 only use glossy plastic for its casing
• Included Intellibeam microphone for easy sound calibration
• 3 HDMI input in addition of the optical input
• Supports HDMI 4K Ultra HD 50/60p Pass-through and 3D

All you ever need from a soundbar: 3 HDMI input, 1 HDMI output, 2 optical input, Dolby True HD, DTS-HD.

Set-up

The biggest challenge with any soundbar is room layout. It may not work anywhere as it requires solid walls to bounce the side and rear channels to create that surround effect. My room is far from ideal for this to be honest, the TV can only be hung on the right side so it is not centered and on the right of it are windows with blind curtains.

Here is where I feel Yamaha truly excels compared to the rest of competition. They are not only selling you drivers boxed in a single case and call it a soundbar, you are buying their famed digital sound projector technology that allows you to calibrate the settings to meet your room environment.

Included within YSP-2500 box is an Intellibeam microphone. You plug it into the main unit and then place the mic on the spot where you would watch your movies and it will automatically calibrate the angles of channels to get optimized result with minimum efforts. It does not stop there though, you can later tweak the setup using the on screen display or smartphone app. For each channel you can modify the angle degree and volume.

Take your time very carefully during the initial setup as it will define a great or only mediocre experience. In my case, I run the automatic calibration 3 times, saved each on different memory preset, run a test from its iOS app to find one closest to my preference then play the settings a little bit more.

My home theater setup: 42″ LG LED screen, Yamaha YSP-2500, Mac mini with Plex, Samsung Cable STB.

Performance: Movies

I have been using YSP-2500 for almost a month now, well through the holidays where I had good amount of time enjoying many movies from my collection. My impressions have been overwhelmingly positive with my new audio setup. I can finally be able to experience a very close to true surround sound again in my “far from ideal” room layout.

Few of the movies I tested it with:

1. Mission: Impossible III
2. The Avengers
3. Star Trek: Into Darkness
4. X-Men 2

YSP-2500 passed all with flying colors. Whether it is a scene with train or helicopter passing by, battle with explosions, or only background sounds during a dialog, I could hear the sound fill out the room and channels coming from different directions. I was hoping to upgrade a step or two switching from my old LG soundbar, but what I am getting is a whole new level to a point where I believe a soundbar can replace dedicated home theater. It will not be better for an obvious reason, but for its simplicity it may become more popular in the future.

One thing that I love the most is, even in smaller volume I can feel the surround sound. When you crank up the volume, you will enjoy it even more although do not expect to feel the entire room vibrating but in my case it is just perfect.

Performance: Music

Listening to music is probably not the main reason you are planning to purchase a soundbar and even though YSP-2500 is great for watching movies, it is still no exception. While you can enjoy good sound from all frequency range, it is not a music hi-fi system. Just to listening casually you would not complain much though.

One thing that is pretty nice is “Target Mode” where you can adjust the location of your listening position so you would still hear a decent stereo sound even though you are not in front of the speakers.

Features

The YSP series is an excellent line of products from Yamaha. They are not your typical soundbars, or every soundbar should have what they offer in addition of enclosing drivers into a single wide casing. Here are some features and technologies I would like to highlight:

Sound Beams
I am not really sure how it actually works, but sound beams allow you to calibrate the direction of the sound coming from each individual driver to meet your room layout and preferences.

iOS and Android Apps
The ability to control your console from a well-built app is a nice added functionality. Even though you can do it using a remote and on screen display, it is particularly convenient to tweak the calibration from an app. From my iPhone, connecting the app to the soundbar is pretty straightforward: connect the device using Bluetooth, open the app, and I can control it using the navigation on my iPhone screen.

IR Repeater
Most of soundbars are placed right in front of the flat-screen TV which means they could block access of the TV’s remote. In anticipation to this, Yamaha incorporates a smart feature with an IR repeater that will “rebroadcast” the signal at the back of the unit. At least YSP-1400 and YSP-2500 have this built-in.

Clear Voice
Have you ever had a dilemma when you need to watch you movies in low volume but then you cannot hear the dialog? With Clear Voice feature activated it will boost frequency of human voices so this problem is solved. It actually works in the situations I have had to switch it on.

Conclusion

For sub-$1,000 budget, I would highly recommend Yamaha YSP-2500. It packs the features most home theater enthusiasts, who want to have clutter free setup, ever need. If you compare with a dedicated home theater package with 6 or even 8 individual speakers, you would most likely get better results. But you can forget about setting it up on your bed room or having to argue with your spouse for her permission to install in the living room.

If you think that is too much to spend, then you can also consider the YSP-1400 as a lower-end alternative. It may not be as good and feature packed, but should be better than other soundbars on the market.

Gallery

The post Geek Review: Yamaha YSP-2500 soundbar appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

Background

First of all, this is not an audiophile’s review. My ears are not that well trained to be able to recognize the “sound colors” using different setups. I can only share a subjective conclusion and a little bit story of how they are set.

Here is my setup:

• Laptop: Apple Macbook Air 13″ (Mid 2012)
• DAC: FiiO E10K Olympus 2
• Headphones: Philips Fidelio X1
• Cable: 3.5cm Custom Connector Cable – Canare Aluminum Foil Shield (L-2B2AT) + Rean NYS231BG
• Music Player: VOX

What is a DAC?

DAC stands for digital-to-analog converter, or a component that converts digital data into analog signal so you can hear the audio through your speakers or headphones. Basically it is a sound card or sound chip that is integrated into almost all computer motherboards to produce audio output. However not every on-board DAC has the same quality, caused by many factors which I am not going to discuss here.

In fact, Macbook Air already has a very good built-in DAC according to this article. So why do I need to buy an external DAC you say? Well to be very fair, the main reason is because I am a geek and need a reason to spend money to make my computer looks cooler. But behind that, I am also hoping I can get a different experience when listening to music from my laptop.

FiiO E10K

In case you never heard of FiiO, it is a Chinese brand that has been making a reputation for making very good audio products with reasonable pricing. Their product ranges include portable players, portable amps, DACs and cables. The E10K (Olympus 2) is one of their latest products released this year, an update of their popular E10. It is a USB DAC, so you need to plug it into your computer’s USB connector for it to receive the ‘digital data’.

FiiO E10K box and unit

First Impressions

I have to say, gone are the days when Chinese brands create so-so products in not-so-exciting packaging. This was my first FiiO product and I was quite impressed in how they try to give a wonderful customer experience when unpacking their product. Fiio E10K comes in a very well designed box. Inside you will find the unit, USB cable to connect your computer, and a set of rubber feet which I decided not to use.

The unit itself is a lot smaller than I imagined. The build quality is good, the volume knob has some resistant which makes it feel like turning on a bigger device. In overall, nothing about it is cheap. If this is sold by a bigger brand, they can easily double the price tag and still get lots of customers buying.

Connecting to the Macbook’s USB slot, the device was immediately detected and can be checked under Mac OS X’s System Preferences > Sound. Although surprisingly it was shown as FiiO USB DAC-E10 instead of E10K. I do not think that would be an issue though. If you want to use it as the main output for all system sounds, you can select it instead of the Internal Speakers. In my case, I do not want this which I will explain further down.

Setting the volume at 6 (out of 8), you can already get louder sounds from the built-in output. So if you do not find your Macbook’s sound through the earphone jack is loud enough, that is more than enough reason to buy an external DAC or amp. I set the Bass to on and it delivers the extra punch in the lower frequencies that meets my taste.

Philips Fidelio X1

When talking about good headphones, the first names that comes to mind are probably Sennheiser, AKG, Sony, and so on. Philips had been making headphones and earphones for a long time but had never been considered as a serious player. That was until they introduce the Fidelio line with X1 as their flagship product.

Great sound, uber design, nice build quality, all packed with a reasonable price, what else could you ask for? I am going to hand the in-depth reviews to be masters and other references which in majority agree that these are good pair of cans in their price range:

• Head-Fi – Philips Fidelio X1 | Review & Comparison
• Headfonia – The Fidelio X1 by Philips
• Pocket-lint – Philips Fidelio X1 headphones review

Philips Fidelio X1 with custom cable

I have been using my X1 for almost 6 months now and really enjoying them even by connecting directly to my Macbook without the FiiO E10K. I got a very sweet deal on Amazon when they put them as Today’s Deal for only $150. With Amazon offering global shipping on select products, even with International delivery and customs, the amount of money I had to pay was still less than its suggested retail price of $300.

Quick facts regarding the X1:

1. They are open-back headphones, which means the music you are hearing is leaking out but gives a bigger staging feel. I personally love open-back cans. They are obviously not the choice for commuting.
2. X1 comes with detachable connector cable and the most popular suggestion from many owners of the set is to replace the one that comes with the box to get better sound quality.

VOX Music Player

iTunes had been the only music/media player I needed for over a decade, until I discover VOX by Coppertino. Is it just another music player for Mac OSX? I have to say no. Here are few reasons to love it:

1. It is a seriously developed app with pleasant interface. Kudos for the awesome guys at Coppertino.
2. Supports additional music formats including FLAC.
3. I can split my music libraries in case I do not want to sync to my iOS devices, or want to listen to a new album without permanently adding it to my iTunes library.
4. You can choose the Output Device under the preferences which works really well in my setup and only use FiiO DAC to output the music for VOX. Other system sounds will go through the internal speakers or phones if plugged in to the laptop.
5. More EQ presets.
6. Last.fm and SoundCloud intergration.

VOX is available as free download from Mac App Store or direct download on Coppertino website.

Final Thoughts

I am happy with my music setup? Yes, very much. I can honestly say that I am truly enjoying it. The idea that I can have two completely separate setups on my Macbook Air is very exciting. Now I can use my good headphones to enjoy good music, while preserving the built-in mic/output for my headset for Skype. No longer I need to switch the phones and adjusting the volume every time I get incoming call.

Gallery

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