CFUG Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I have never been serious with my media and only touched-down for a brief period with the Control4 Media Player and even shorter time with a 9150. Can anyone (ILoveC4 are you there?) give me a short description of how XBMC and the AC driver (or anything newer) can make my experience nicer than Media Player did? I'm talking of integrating rips, photos and music using my existing server(s) and NASs. I have remote KVM capability but it doesnt work well. Does IP control of XBMC work as of today?Sorry for coming to the party late on this subject as I know it's kinda old news. I read the July 2010 stuff on XBMC build issues and it didn't sink in too much. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Ok. Let me refresh what I have done. I abandoned XBMC for the same reasons..I've split music away from movies and now TV shows away from those. I've done this because (as you are hinting...I think) there is way too much hassle getting the media INTO a system. The problem is not playing the media. It's scanning it in and "dealing" with it...For music (as you prob know by now) IMHO there is nothing better than Sonos. Direct tracks bought off itunes or CD's ripped from itunes can be scanned into Sonos and up and running with coverart in less than 30 sec's...and Rhapsody and internet radio with Sonos... well this has got to be instant multiroom music heaven :cool:For movies, I am using a Dune Base. Once I have the digital file, I just copy it over to the Dune via my network from my iMac (or in your case it would be onto your the NAS). I then run DuneX on the imac which does all the cover art thing. So all the movies sit on the Dune with their embedded coverart. I'm waiting for the IP Dune driver, but IR control is real robust.For "purchased" TV shows, well I'm using itunes and it's store for those and letting this just deal with the multitude of seasons/episodes etc. To play these I'm now using a WIN7 HTPC...For IPTV, I'm using Kylo, Hulu, Netflix, Clicker.com and occasionally Boxee via WMC plugins on the HTPCI know the media is "split" on different players doing it this way, but my goal is actually to bring this altogether and "integrate" it using Control4 I think Dan is onto something to help on this front... so I'm really looking forward to what he has to say on this thread.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I wish I had more to offer here. I have an EVA9150 that I use, but you've already been through one of those.XBMC works great, although I am not currently using it in my project. XBMC is just like the EVA9150, except XBMC is more powerful. It integrates fully to the point that if you want to watch a movie you can select via C4 GUI and it just plays, or if you want to just pick XBMC as a source you can use its GUI and do everything else XBMC is capable of (IE: Internet radio, etc...) using the C4 remote to navigate the XBMC GUI.I've been doing some work in Flash CS5, and I have a great little program for cover art selection, I just haven't found the confidence to pony up the $300 for the C4 SDK to complete the integration and publish it. I am time starved already, and I just don't know if the ROI is there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tebery Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 What is wrong with the EVA9150? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoonman56 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 In our case the EVA9150 is perfect. It's still a pain to rip DVDs to my NAS, but once its done, the EVA integration with C4 is great. I don't watch a lot of movies but the fact my wife and kids can do it without getting me involved tells you how simple it is.The only thing that bugs me about the EVA9150 is that it won't play home movies edited in iMovie (.mov) files.Just my 2 cents. I know my dealer uses the EVA9150 exclusively now because of its reliability and simplicity.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I really like mine, I have no problems with it. I don't know what problem controlfouruserguy had... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted December 18, 2010 Author Share Posted December 18, 2010 Thanks for the info feed! I actually didn't have any problems with the 9150 as long as I stuck with certain file types (just like the Media Player). My dealer was nice enough to lend me a few different pieces so that I could test-drive some options. They all had to go back at some point so I'm without a solution except for a HTPC that I just completed. Since completion of the i7-950 I felt compelled to actually use it hence the interest in XBMC. I can't figure out, is Alan's driver one-way or two-way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgenikols Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Alan's driver is 1 way IP. in the last version he added the ability to select and View streaming TV as well.I find XBMC to be the best of the bunch. We install it on Asrock Mini PC's that cost about $400ea and are small enough to hide.The Cover art flow is best on XBMC. Netgear is a nice unit but the Netgear Gui is terrible. Not an issue if you only want to use the C4 GUI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Alan's driver is 1 way IP. in the last version he added the ability to select and View streaming TV as well.I never actually got his driver because of all "the carry on" with changes etc. But I don't get this...Since when can XMBC stream TV? The lack of a livetv plugin is one of it's faults and a constant source of frustration on their forum. And I thought the driver was 2 way. That is, the movie selected, appeared in the menu on the remote. Now I'm confused......? Dan. Alan. Well Armed. Cody. 3FB..anybody?..... Helppppp.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Internet tv. Not broadcast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therodog Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 I have mine kind of split as well. I'm using a Dune player to do video. I haven't had a video file it won't play. That's awesome. The interface is much improved recently, and honestly, it's something I like to show people when I'm demoing the system here 'cuz people think it's sweet.For music I'm using Sonos and Control4 together. For Rhapsody I'm using Control4 just to keep things simple, and for Pandora, streaming Sirius and everything else I'm using Sonos through the Extra Vegetables driver, which is awesome as well. Controlling the Sonos S5 through Control4 is pretty bad*ss. I'm using a Control4 keypad in the bathroom to turn on Sirius radio stations through the S5 - the integration is really cool. It's always a good thing to be impressed by your own gadgetry.I'm anxiously awaiting the Dune IP driver, but like was previously said, the IR driver is robust and I've had no problems with it.My wife uses all these things, and while she's computer savy enough, if this was too complicated, she wouldn't have let me buy it. She even asked if we were going to buy more Dune players for other rooms in the house. That's the best endorsement I can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 For IPTV, I'm using Kylo, Hulu, Netflix, Clicker.com and occasionally Boxee via WMC plugins on the HTPCAnd you are in Aus? Don't pretty much all of these services restrict themselves to US based IP addresses? How do you access these services - via a VPN? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 For IPTV' date=' I'm using Kylo, Hulu, Netflix, Clicker.com and occasionally Boxee via WMC plugins on the HTPC[/quote']And you are in Aus? Don't pretty much all of these services restrict themselves to US based IP addresses? How do you access these services - via a VPN? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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