Media player recommendations?

[stwd4nder2]

It will passthrough any type of Dolby or DTS I've thrown at it, and it can do ac3 conversion for setups that require it. It'll also do frame rate matching for displays that support it. Plus the upscaling for DVD and 720p content is pretty good.
I'm still annoyed at the constant amount of ads on the homescreen (that were patched in and didn't exist when I bought it), and I could write a book on why I wish NVIDIA would die in a fire, but as a media player you could do a lot worse.

[PDB]

I've been reading how the Shield cannot play Dolby Vision Profile 7 FEL layers, which affects the playback of ripped discs. What from I've read it drops the FEL layer and effectively converts it to Profile 8. Anyway I've just ordered a Ugoos AM6B+ from Aliexpress, which is one of the few devices that can play Profile 7 FEL. You need to install Coreelec on it but it seems simple enough. How much real world difference it will make I don't know, but it will be more accurate.

I just saw this video on the subject

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kviwN0KKRgQ&t

Myself, I still have a shield but have also been rocking a Zidoo lately

[Hitcher]

It will passthrough any type of Dolby or DTS I've thrown at it, and it can do ac3 conversion for setups that require it. It'll also do frame rate matching for displays that support it. Plus the upscaling for DVD and 720p content is pretty good.
I'm still annoyed at the constant amount of ads on the homescreen (that were patched in and didn't exist when I bought it), and I could write a book on why I wish NVIDIA would die in a fire, but as a media player you could do a lot worse.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...u&hl=en_GB

[stwd4nder2]

It will passthrough any type of Dolby or DTS I've thrown at it, and it can do ac3 conversion for setups that require it. It'll also do frame rate matching for displays that support it. Plus the upscaling for DVD and 720p content is pretty good.
I'm still annoyed at the constant amount of ads on the homescreen (that were patched in and didn't exist when I bought it), and I could write a book on why I wish NVIDIA would die in a fire, but as a media player you could do a lot worse.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...u&hl=en_GB

I know, I'm just too lazy to do this when all I do is hit a button to launch kodi anyways.

[ThePipes]

Thanks for the replies! I think I'm going to take a chance on the Shield. I share the same reservations about NVIDIA, and the bombardment of ads, but at least I can install a custom launcher.

[alleycat]

Ok so I purchased the Ugoos AM6B+ from AliExpress. First one arrived and was dead after a day which was concerning. However they replaced it and I just finished setting it up. Everything seems to be working great and I now have profile 7 FEL, tested using the Power Rangers credits.

Installing CoreELEC was really simple and there is a guide for recommended settings. I also used to get micro stutter on the shield for certain movies while subtitles were playing and can confirm that no longer seems to be an issue.

So all in all I’m pretty happy with it. I’ll still keep my shield as a backup. I’ll be honest I can’t tell any difference with FEL at the moment but at least I know what I’m watching is accurate.

[ThePipes]

Ok so I purchased the Ugoos AM6B+ from AliExpress. First one arrived and was dead after a day which was concerning. However they replaced it and I just finished setting it up. Everything seems to be working great and I now have profile 7 FEL, tested using the Power Rangers credits.

Installing CoreELEC was really simple and there is a guide for recommended settings. I also used to get micro stutter on the shield for certain movies while subtitles were playing and can confirm that no longer seems to be an issue.

So all in all I’m pretty happy with it. I’ll still keep my shield as a backup. I’ll be honest I can’t tell any difference with FEL at the moment but at least I know what I’m watching is accurate.

I'm curious, alleycat. Are you using the Ugoos strictly as a local media player? I was reading that it doesn't have the licenses for Netflix and other streaming services. Or are you able to sideload these other apps onto the Ugoos? It sounds like overkill, but I'm wondering if I should use the shield for streaming apps, but get the Ugoos for my Jellyfin (which I use mostly anyway) to obtain Profile 7. Like you, I probably won't see a difference but I'd know I'm watching as it was intended.

[alleycat]

Ok so I purchased the Ugoos AM6B+ from AliExpress. First one arrived and was dead after a day which was concerning. However they replaced it and I just finished setting it up. Everything seems to be working great and I now have profile 7 FEL, tested using the Power Rangers credits. 

Installing CoreELEC was really simple and there is a guide for recommended settings. I also used to get micro stutter on the shield for certain movies while subtitles were playing and can confirm that no longer seems to be an issue.

So all in all I’m pretty happy with it. I’ll still keep my shield as a backup. I’ll be honest I can’t tell any difference with FEL at the moment but at least I know what I’m watching is accurate.

I'm curious, alleycat. Are you using the Ugoos strictly as a local media player? I was reading that it doesn't have the licenses for Netflix and other streaming services. Or are you able to sideload these other apps onto the Ugoos? It sounds like overkill, but I'm wondering if I should use the shield for streaming apps, but get the Ugoos for my Jellyfin (which I use mostly anyway) to obtain Profile 7. Like you, I probably won't see a difference but I'd know I'm watching as it was intended.

Yes I'm using it solely as a local media player, with coreelec all you see is the Kodi interface and I'm not aware of any way to sideload streaming apps. 

The good news is over the last few days I have noticed a significant difference with certain movies, DV playback pops in a way it never did on the Shield. However it does seem to depend on the movie, even those that are verified as FEL.

[ThePipes]

That's awesome news! I just might have to invest in one...

[ThePipes]

Resurrecting this old thread just to say, I finally bought a Ugoos AMB6+ and installed CoreELEC. Works perfectly and I'm now watching my remux content in Dolby Vision, and I couldn't be happier.

Personally, I've been able to see a difference in many of my 4K movies. Dark City immediately jumped out to me with more vibrant colors. My partner happen to walk by as I was testing it, and unprompted and unprimed, she remarked, "This looks even better." And she doesn't even care about these sorts of things lol

Back To The Future also looked more vibrant. I always felt the HDR was too dark for me, but Dolby Vision improved it significantly for me.

Installing CoreELEC was fairly straightforward. It was adjusting all the settings to get it just right for me that was a bit of drag and took some time. But once it was all setup, everything has been great.

All this to say, if you've been on the fence about it, I can't recommend it enough. It is completely worth it!