[hammerhead69]

pilluli - just my opinion - avoid the boxee box at all costs !
i got one this December after waiting 9 months for my "dream machine" what a let down,
i only wanted it for playing my local content, mixed formats hd/blu ray 720p and 1080p , but i'm now on this forum getting advise on a new machine to run xbmc on, i've been told about the asrock vision 3d also, and will probably get one in the next week or 2, i'm just waiting to hear back on a few set up questions i have as my knowledge of linux or ubuntu is zero,
i dont know how to attach the link but if you search for "i don't mean to be lazy but" you'll find my post
i just wanted to warn you about the buggy opps boxee box, navigating through local media is hard work, playback of all formats i've tried is brilliant, but navigation is slow, music playback and gui is like im using an atari, and it'll freeze if you pause for 5 minutes or more meaning re-boot
if you are used to the slick interface on xbmc the BB is def not for you
good luck hope we both get what we desire soon

[icrf]

^^ what he said ^^

If the majority of your content is local, and you're used to XBMC, I'd avoid the Boxee Box. I am an XBMC fan and owner of a Boxee Box, and while very capable hardware, the experience is severely lacking. It is quiet, nice remote, plays anything I've thrown at it (which includes high-bitrate BD rips, but no 3D), but the UI for getting to my content is wanting to say the least.

[SpectreX]

Thanks for the answers, micro-atx is definitely too big for what I had in mind (and the shelf I've got under the TV! I could trade 3D performance but not size ... :-(

I guess there is only one option then, asrock vision 3D. I don't like it to come with a 500gb and optical drive as I won't use it, otherwise, seems to be a fine machine. I guess soon enough other brands might start using the GT425M chipset in their machines and might provide it without optical/hdd.

I've checked some threads but haven't really see that HD audio through HDMI works fine in the asrock vision. I'll do some digging to see if everything is working fine.

What I would love to see is an official "recommended hardware" for XBMC. Or even some devs that say, "look, we use this specific hardware for testing". I'd buy that thing in a instant :-)

Thanks,

If you can get without 3D, you can get a Dell Zino for 500$ which comes with a HD5450 (HD audio bitstreaming but no 3D, passive cooling), and a small form factor. Or you can build your own mini-ITX if you want.

What works? Basically most stuff that doesn`t include the Intel HD Graphics as a GPU for decoding works. Those have issues with open-source decoders like the XBMC ones, MPC-HC ones, and i think the ffdshow ones. They work fine with PDVD/TMT3/5/Windows Media Center

And i agree with the others about Boxee, the hardware (intel CE4100) is fine, playback is also fine, but the GUI (features/speed/looks/customization) is a patetic joke compared to XBMC

Oh, and before i forget, there is the upcoming AMD Zacate platform. dual core 18W CPU, HD5xxx series GPU integrated in one mobo : http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=9B...templete=2
The price should be around 100-150$, so you can basically build a very good/small/silent sub-300$ HTPC with it

[pilluli]

Thanks for the answers, I will definitely avoid the boxee box then. I guess the asrock vision 3D looks very nice for what I had in mind but I'd love it to ship without hdd & bluray drive. I will wait for some comments of people using it with xbmc to see if everything works as expected.

The mobo wiseguyworks commented looks also very good! Don't know when we will be able to buy it though...

SpectreX, I am not used to ATI cards as I've been using linux for as long as I can remember (both work machine and htpc) and nvidia is the only real option there. How does ATI work in terms of hdmi audio passthrough and hardware video decoding? (I guess using windows). Are people happy with them?

[maxinc]

What I would love to see is an official "recommended hardware" for XBMC. Or even some devs that say, "look, we use this specific hardware for testing". I'd buy that thing in a instant :-)

Thanks,

I may be wrong but I think the whole idea of XBMC is to be compatible with as many HW combinations as possible.

The way I figure it out is that you need CPU power for the navigation experience, GPU power to playback capabilities and accessories like SSD, optical drive, silent PSU as enhancements.

GPU is by far the most important so if you take a GT430, which is about the only one that can do 3D and HD audio over HDMI, combine that with a Mini ITX i3 with a PCI-E slot (my favorite but amd will do just fine), an SSD, some RAM and a nice wife compliant case of your choice, you pretty much get what you need.

[froggit]

Not sure about the 3D so you'd have to check, but the Shuttle XS35GT ticks all your boxes - completely silent (no fans inside), damn fast with an SSD (silent) and has wired network for streaming content from your NAS etc (and wireless too).

Here's the hardware:
http://breden.org.uk/2010/09/22/shuttle-...nter-htpc/

And installation using XBMC 10.0 Live:
http://breden.org.uk/2011/01/15/shuttle-...ve-dharma/

Hope it helps.

[pilluli]

Not sure about the 3D so you'd have to check, but the Shuttle XS35GT ticks all your boxes - completely silent (no fans inside), damn fast with an SSD (silent) and has wired network for streaming content from your NAS etc (and wireless too)

Thanks for the info. I am ready to drop 3D from my "wanted" list and this looks like a nice alternative to the expensive asrock vision 3d and the not-here-yet zotac gt430 motherboard.

One question I can't seem to find in any threads, does the XS35GT supports audio passthrough with HDMI (specially HD audio)

[froggit]

Thanks for the info. I am ready to drop 3D from my "wanted" list and this looks like a nice alternative to the expensive asrock vision 3d and the not-here-yet zotac gt430 motherboard.

One question I can't seem to find in any threads, does the XS35GT supports audio passthrough with HDMI (specially HD audio)

Yep, I think 3D is just a marketing gimmick to sell new TVs etc.

As an owner of a Shuttle XS35GT myself, I can thoroughly recommend it.

Regarding audio passthrough, I think it does support it using HDMI.
I think in the XBMC settings at System->System->Audio Output, if you enable the 'Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver' and/or 'DTS capable receiver' then as far as I know, this allows audio passthrough to the AV Receiver so that it can process the audio streams and send the output to the relevant surround speakers. Someone correct me if this is wrong.

[pilluli]

Regarding audio passthrough, I think it does support it using HDMI.
I think in the XBMC settings at System->System->Audio Output, if you enable the 'Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver' and/or 'DTS capable receiver' then as far as I know, this allows audio passthrough to the AV Receiver so that it can process the audio streams and send the output to the relevant surround speakers. Someone correct me if this is wrong.

Thanks froggit, I was more interested in HD audio passthrough (truehd and dts-hd) although dolby and dts are also needed :-)

I've done some googling and there seems to be different opinions whether an ION2 (I think the XS35GT has that) is able to passthrough hd audio through hdmi.

This mythtv wiki page says it should be able to do it:

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/User_Manual:H...assthrough


However, this other two forums argue that ion2 has problems with highbitrate audios and incompatibilities with some AV receivers:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showpost...stcount=48

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/94097...ageIndex=4

So, has anybody with an XS35GT (or a ION2) tried HD audio?

[eskro]

looks like ION2 supports HBR but you'll have to use LINUX....

[pilluli]

looks like ION2 supports HBR but you'll have to use LINUX....

You sure about that eskro? Last time I checked current XBMC/linux (dharma stable) was unable to bitstream HD audio (truehd + dts-hd) in linux so you had to use windows + dsplayer. I can't find any thread with hd audio passthrough working directly in linux...

[PatrickVogeli]

In Dharma you can only bitstream Dolby digital (AC3) and DTS, not True-HD or DTS-HD. And I believe it won't be that easy to get that done..

[pilluli]

In Dharma you can only bitstream Dolby digital (AC3) and DTS, not True-HD or DTS-HD. And I believe it won't be that easy to get that done..

Yep, that's what I understood from some threads in forums. Some people got it working with windows + xbmc + dsplayer though.

I wonder if anyone have managed to stream hd audio using mini-pc hardware (such as zontac,asrock,shuttle...)

[eskro]

Bitstreaming Dolby True-HD & DTS-HD Master works, but under these conditions

windows + xbmc + DSplayer + GeForce GT430/Radeon HD5xxx
or
windows + xbmc + MPC-HC + GeForce GT430/Radeon HD5xxx