Just Add Power vs Snap Binary MoIP

[ILoveC4]

I've got a Just Add Power system now, but it only does 1080p and I'm wanting to make the jump to 4K content. I'm wondering what everyones thoughts are on Just Add Power versus the new Snap A/V Binary MoIP stuff.

Cost and compatibility aside, does anyone have an opinion on if one product is simply better than the other? Factoring cost in, does the cost change the value equation for you at all?
 

I would love any thoughts and opinions from someone who has experience with both products. I've absolutely loved our Just Add Power system - it's been flawless, and continues to be. I've also got a Snap A/V HDBaseT balun going to the projector in my theater room, and it works flawlessly as well. Looking forward to your thoughts.

[chopedogg88]

Personally I would recommend upgrading to something that can support 4K HDR @ 60HZ.  Currently that list does not include J+P or MOIP unfortunately.  As such, I would recommend AV Pro Edge.  If you prefer an AV over IP solution, look at this-

https://www.blackwiredesigns.com/cat/avpro_edge_hdmi/mxnet_avoip/

Let me know if interested, I can source you what you need.

[ILoveC4]

Not familiar with AV Pro but it looks great and pricing seems similar. You’d prefer that over the other 2, eh?

[Control4Savant]

1 hour ago, ILoveC4 said:

Not familiar with AV Pro but it looks great and pricing seems similar. You’d prefer that over the other 2, eh?

What do you plan to have thats 4K?  Centralized distributed video is a 10 year old sales pitch in a world of media players if you are focused on 4K.

[Neo1738]

Eh I have a basement bar/billiard/game area w 3 TVs it's nice to sync a game to it and audio. Or sometimes we just use the bar TV but down mix the audio to the other areas speakers. There are definitely use cases for it. Also you can pause on one TV go into the bedroom and pick up where you left off without any hitches. Not as easy to do if you're loading a new Roku/ShieldTV/AppleTV etc. It's definitely more of a convenience than requirement. That being said our theater we have dedicated Roku/Shield into the AVR to get full surround sound.

[chopedogg88]

I tend to disagree.  Lots of reasons to have distributed video in 4K, and lots of my clients are doing it as we speak.

-4K NVR/Cameras

-4K Roku/Apple TV/Shield/Google TV/Fire TV/media player of the day

-Kaleidescape Player

-DirecTV, Comcast, Tivo, etc (live TV, OTA)

Of course its not for everyone, but its a much more elegant way to share/manage/maintain your video sources rather than trying to stick these devices behind large TVs which are flush mounted to walls.  When the new media player of the day comes to market, simply swap out the old one in your rack in 5 minutes, and instantly all of your 10 TVs have the new media player as a watch option.

[Control4Savant]

29 minutes ago, chopedogg88 said:

I tend to disagree.  Lots of reasons to have distributed video in 4K, and lots of my clients are doing it as we speak.

-4K NVR/Cameras

-4K Roku/Apple TV/Shield/Google TV/Fire TV/media player of the day

-Kaleidescape Player

-DirecTV, Comcast, Tivo, etc (live TV, OTA)

Of course its not for everyone, but its a much more elegant way to share/manage/maintain your video sources rather than trying to stick these devices behind large TVs which are flush mounted to walls.  When the new media player of the day comes to market, simply swap out the old one in your rack in 5 minutes, and instantly all of your 10 TVs have the new media player as a watch option.

It's really not more elegant...for any decent installation its 100% the same quality and Its likely freeing up excessive cost considering the few people utilizing Kaleidescape, Traditional Satellite TV, regular 4K NVR viewing but if you are selling shelves of set top boxes still more power to you. 

[J to the D]

9 hours ago, ILoveC4 said:

I've got a Just Add Power system now, but it only does 1080p and I'm wanting to make the jump to 4K content. I'm wondering what everyones thoughts are on Just Add Power versus the new Snap A/V Binary MoIP stuff.

Cost and compatibility aside, does anyone have an opinion on if one product is simply better than the other? Factoring cost in, does the cost change the value equation for you at all?
 

I would love any thoughts and opinions from someone who has experience with both products. I've absolutely loved our Just Add Power system - it's been flawless, and continues to be. I've also got a Snap A/V HDBaseT balun going to the projector in my theater room, and it works flawlessly as well. Looking forward to your thoughts.

Not sure where you are based but I would think twice about a MOIP system. Having installed a J+P 3G system recently for distributed 4k video I have unfortunately had to take it back out and send it back. 
 

I am in the UK and despite J+P claiming they can deal with 4k60 it’s actually not the case. The receivers can only receive a maximum of 4k30. In the UK things like sky boxes do not allow you to reduce the frame rate below 50hz which is the PAL standard. The same goes for other sources too. This results in a terrible image on things like football/soccer which is the majority of what I watch. Standard 1080p output worked fine but the moment I tried to watch something in 4k the ball would ghost across the screen. I expect this is because the source was outputting at 50hz but the J+P was only using 24hz which resulted in 50% the frames disappearing. 
 

For me, the J+P concept is far better than a traditional matrix but for now it’s just not suitable for 4k. I will say, if you don’t watch 4k sport, you may never see an issue but for me it just wasn’t working. The solution for me was the HDA MHUB Pro 2.0. So far the system has been great and worked flawlessly. 
 

For others saying they don’t see the point in these systems, I am a little confused. Maybe the UK market is different but I have numerous 4k tv’s but satellite providers such as sky only allow one 4k compatible box which means an av distribution system is the only way to get 4k content to all tv’s. 

[pkkaiser]

The HDA system looks awesome...how much is the 8x8 in US? 

[BraydonH]

Yea I would definitely want something with 4K 60 4:4:4 18 GBPS capability.

Ive uesd the AVProEdge HDBaseT stuff with great success, and I would probably Guinea pig using the AV Pro Edge IP system. Its basically brand new so I doubt many dealers have experience with it, but AVPro has a proven track record and I do have a great deal of faith in their products performing as advertised.

https://www.avproedge.com/mxnet.html 

[ILoveC4]

Thanks guys. I LOVE video distribution. Maybe I’ll stick with my 1080p stuff for a while longer, maybe I’ll try the AV Pro stuff. Sounds like I won’t be doing either JAP or Snap MoIP. 

[eggzlot]

5 minutes ago, ILoveC4 said:

Thanks guys. I LOVE video distribution. Maybe I’ll stick with my 1080p stuff for a while longer, maybe I’ll try the AV Pro stuff. Sounds like I won’t be doing either JAP or Snap MoIP. 

I agree - its been great for me.  I have 6 Tvs and its easy to manage only 2 cable boxes, 1 roku and 1 shield and I can get any content I want on any TV, in sync when needed, etc.  I can also pull off the audio and play it in audio only rooms like my kitchen, patio, etc where I do not have a TV.  great for super bowl parties, MMA fights, etc when people move about the house they can still hear what is going on.  I only have 2 of 6 Tvs that are 4k, so I play some native apps on those if I really want 4k content and I know I am not streaming around the house in multiple rooms, but its good to have the option to pull up 4k netflix (on the tv) or netflix (on the roku that is not in 4k due to the distribution method).  My household still watches mostly cable TV service which is 99% 1080p at best, so I haven't had to rip out my system yet for a 4k overhaul.

the other small features like PiP with front door camera, text messages on the screen when the laundry/dryer cycles end, etc are all icing on the cake

It is certainly a luxury item and not a required system for home automation.

[ILoveC4]

10 hours ago, AVNeeds said:

What do you plan to have thats 4K?  Centralized distributed video is a 10 year old sales pitch in a world of media players if you are focused on 4K.

I have to imagine you've not actually had proper video distribution with that mindset. If you have a bunch of TV's it's incredibly nice. You have a minimal number of sources to replace/swap out when you want to upgrade, you can easily distribute the same thing to multiple TV's, you can pause in one room and pick up in another...it's really a phenomenal experience.

[Control4Savant]

7 hours ago, ILoveC4 said:

I have to imagine you've not actually had proper video distribution with that mindset. If you have a bunch of TV's it's incredibly nice. You have a minimal number of sources to replace/swap out when you want to upgrade, you can easily distribute the same thing to multiple TV's, you can pause in one room and pick up in another...it's really a phenomenal experience.

You are right... in my home I don't havea proper video distribution system. I just happen to sell, install and program the variety of AVIP systems we discuss on here.  I'm not on here as an end user and btw... if I pause a movie or TV show on one AppleTV... I can pause it and resume it at the same spot on a different AppleTV. It's really a phenomenal experience. 

[videostorm]

Just to add more options to the table

I definitely agree that the choice between full video distribution verses "distributed players" isn't a clear cut as it used to be.  For most people it is really a choice of how you want to allocate your limited budget.  For those without a budget, well we should talk  

Our NetPlay system is built to be flexible so that you only distribute what you need to  (usually sat cable boxes) while everything else streams locally at the TV mounted player (usually a fire stick 4K, Shield, or other).  Even your 4K cameras are direct streaming (because they are already IP anyway).

We have a white paper that talks about different levels of distribution:  https://video-storm.com/Downloads/why_netplay_c4.pdf

Also, NetPlay can do TRUE 4Kp60 HDR using the best h.265 encoding.  This is true for HDMI sources (sat boxes) as well as everything else.

[ILoveC4]

14 hours ago, AVNeeds said:

You are right... in my home I don't havea proper video distribution system. I just happen to sell, install and program the variety of AVIP systems we discuss on here.  I'm not on here as an end user and btw... if I pause a movie or TV show on one AppleTV... I can pause it and resume it at the same spot on a different AppleTV. It's really a phenomenal experience. 

I assumed based upon your user ID that you aren't here as solely an end user. I'm just sharing my thoughts. While you're right - within certain scenarios moving from one Apple TV to another can provide a good experience, but you're too reliant upon the specific end media player(s) to support that functionality. The services (Netflix, Hulu, etc...) are getting better at providing this, but I still think without question video distribution is the way to go (if you can fund it - it's not inexpensive, but worth it in my opinion).

[JSTRONG]

We just did an all day demo on the Moip system and its seems really good.

Very simple to setup. Of course they recommend an araknis or Package switch using a vlan. 

You can have a mix of 4K and non 4k displays and still share the same source while maintaining the 4k. You setup each receiver to match the TV resolution

Switching takes about 3 seconds. Does IR, rs232 both ways. Video walls

 

[cdepaola]

I've not heard much good about Snap's Moip but haven't used it, mostly because of what I've heard from other dealers I'm friends with.

Just Add Power is solid and their Customer / Tech Support is the best I've ever experienced.  We just had a small issue on a large install, called tech support who answered the phone without a wait time, remotely logged into the system, pulled the logs from receivers, found what looked like an issue and passed it on to the developer. Within 5 min the developer had confirmed the issue and pushed a patch to our project.  They seriously are amazing, can't rave about them enough. 

Looking to try out an AVpro MX system, just waiting on a customer but our experience has been super positive with AVpro. 

 

 

[Control4Savant]

11 hours ago, ILoveC4 said:

 While you're right - within certain scenarios moving from one Apple TV to another can provide a good experience, but you're too reliant upon the specific end media player(s) to support that functionality. The services (Netflix, Hulu, etc...) are getting better at providing this, but I still think without question video distribution is the way to go (if you can fund it - it's not inexpensive, but worth it in my opinion).

I'm hope your argument for trying to justify additional $1000's of cost isn't really because you think media players don't properly support pause/play/resume...

You still haven't given me any real reason to think that in your circumstances there reason for upgrading besides because you want to... which is always valid. 

btw go with JAP (or AVpro)... MoIP is not great quality.

[ILoveC4]

2 hours ago, AVNeeds said:

I'm hope your argument for trying to justify additional $1000's of cost isn't really because you think media players don't properly support pause/play/resume...

You still haven't given me any real reason to think that in your circumstances there reason for upgrading besides because you want to... which is always valid. 

btw go with JAP (or AVpro)... MoIP is not great quality.

I already explained the big things for me are far fewer sources to manage, and the ability to view one source on lots of different screens at the same time. 

[lippavisual]

7 hours ago, ILoveC4 said:

I already explained the big things for me are far fewer sources to manage, and the ability to view one source on lots of different screens at the same time. 

And everything in sync.  Clearly, he’s probably never installed such a system, otherwise he would know the benefits of it.