This HIFI Media Player Does EVERYTHING! ZIDOO NEO α(Alpha) Signature Edition Review

[@kriswingert1662]

@ 1:12, so hi quality the badge logo is coming off the front of the unit.

[@dragonmandragonman]

I've got the cheapest Zidoo now (Z9X) connected to my NAS and it uses the same UI. I will say if someone is on the fence for one of these, your missing out. I really like mine, coming from a Shield and Emby, this was a better option for me as someone who simply wants the best experience with 1:1 movie rips. I still use the shield for streaming video apps. But I am going to be honest using Plex or Emby with the shield is prob the better streamer out there, but it has it's downfalls trying to play large files and various file types. I have had some 90gb rips lock up on Plex, and will play in Emby but you can't resume the movie or FF, always starts at the beginning. I have had zero issues with playing files using the Zidoo and it acts and behaves like a disc was inserted and just plays the movie. Let's be honest, PLex sucks, especially after it became commercialized and started throwing free movies in the mix. It's also a cluttered UI. Same with shield when it started putting ads on it's home screen. You don't have this with zidoo.

[@greatwhiteevox1008]

things like it's logo already coming off agitates me, lol I don't trust it to be reliable. I wish Sony would make a Legacy player that did Cassette/ CD/MD/SACD/ and Maybe even one that did Digital/ Hi8/ VHS with modern processing you may be able to find some quality lost in the hardware of old mediums. Would just like to see something modern to play and record legacy stuff to preserve what I got. With the resurging nostalgia, maybe there would be a market for a legacy player that matched a modern setups.

[@Youthman]

I agree the logo could have been installed more secure so that it wouldn’t be able to shift during transit or boxing/reboxing but I certainly would not equate a shifted logo to equal unreliable electronics.

[@jesselong69]

Lol it's a logo they just need a stronger glue on it

[@greatwhiteevox1008]

@@Youthman just surprising to see something like that show up on a seemingly premium product. I hadn't heard of the brand prior to the video so I could be way off is assumptions.

[@pedrotski]

@@jesselong69 "It's just a PCB they just need stronger solder on the joints"

[@andrewskaterrr]

@@pedrotski sticker glue that came with a batch of stickers they prolly had made in China, is a LOT less of an issue than solder joints on a PCB. A sticker falling off doesn’t effect the performance, bad solder joints do. Acting as if they are equal is laughably stupid. You’re making yourself look bad.

[@danielwander605]

I’ve been using the UHD3000 for a few months now as my first media player. Overall I’m pretty happy with it and I am enjoying the media player/NAS combo more than I expected. It’s definitely not perfect and there are some minor annoyances but I’m definitely not going back to just a blu ray player. Also, I’m pretty sure that some of my issues are solvable with some effort on my part if I get motivated enough to look into it. The Z1000 Pro is probably the better overall fit for me but I was set on something that was normal rack width for a nice clean look so I paid a bit extra for that. I do wish it came with rack ears though, but I just couldn’t let that be the reason to not get it. Besides giving myself a new project and a new toy, the main reason for getting into this was to be able to pack away all my discs. I know some people collect discs and like them on display but I have never been a fan. They take up so much space and I don’t like the look of shelves of discs, so I’m looking forward to packing that all up and reorganizing my room with all the extra shelf space. Lastly, For years I have been in a constant position atop the Kaleidoscape fence. Tried to talk myself into buying into it a number of times but never able to pull the trigger. Buying the Zidoo seemed to push back to the sane side of the fence and I am so happy I never made that purchase. This type of setup gets me 80% of the way their at a much lower cost. The two features that I’m missing out on are being able to download the movies and getting access to the movies 4 weeks earlier than the blu rays. IMO, that is not worth all the extra money, and when I really thought about it being able to download the movies was not something I really needed.

[@elysiumcore]

Likewise i bought a Uhd3000 plus using the Smb / Nas combo. it works but in the end i decided to use the Nas as just a back up solution for my ultra4k rips. I dont like the noise that the internal Hd makes, I replaced that bay with a 4TB SSD- now i get zero drive noise, just clear and silence super important especially when playing music. The player is fantastic

[@danielwander605]

@@elysiumcore Nice! Still loving mine also.

[@andrebradley1924]

How did you hook up the ssd to the zidoo uhd3000

[@deshawzn79]

Another device I don’t need my denon, Brennan B2, Qnap, Nvidia Shield, VRRoom 8K hdmi splitter, and Optoma ust pair nicely together controlled by my Harmony elite. Thought this could do more but lack of apps is a killer.

[@anthonyjackson1177]

Hey Youthman, you mention that you are only using one HDMI to connect this unit to your Marantz. What are your thoughts on splitting the audio and video? is there a real benefit?

[@marvinlpassmorejr.8460]

Your reviews are excellent, the question that I have is about your personal home theater. Your power in electricity, is your room wired with 15 amps or 20 amps or do u think the difference in power will make a difference.I only plan on getting a 5.2.4 system. Thanks

[@Youthman]

Great question Marvin. I have a dedicated video answering it here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/anbQomuZib6EabM

[@victorpulos823]

How is sound quality and video quality on this

[@justinparkkyung4287]

Hi, where can you buy this ?

[@philstevens9914]

So, there is no problem downloading android apps that can live stream TV?

[@m4nc1n1]

Ziddo is a Plex replacement, not a streaming box replacement. My biggest issue is trailers NEVER work. I liked it enough to keep it, because it has better audio and video than Plex and Kodi IMO, but when looking at the whole picture the Sheild Pro is still king.

[@Youthman]

My Shield connected to my hard drive is sluggish and sometimes movies don’t load. It’s maybe a Knight, but definitely not a King lol

[@pedrotski]

@@Youthman You have other issues then such as whatever codec the movie is in, hard drive speed or more. If you're using plex then the shield wont be able to handle burning in subtitles on a 4k remux either. You would need something stronger to host your movies, and then use the shield as a client.

[@mephInc]

You can side load kodi(zdmc) on the zidoo and have kodi use the zidoo player. Best of both worlds.

[@vaux_manvv7520]

I think apple TV could be the best for streaming as it's just incredibly smooth. You can use infuse to load up your bdmv or iso files too. The shield is very versatile but not as smooth or fast as the apple 4k tv although it has so many more features.

[@brandonparker7183]

Hey Youthman I wonder if the upcoming DMP-A6 would be a sonic upgrade at all? Now that I have my Anthem AVM90 I am just too frustrated with using Audirvana on my mini PC to play my DSD files as it cannot output native DSD. I love the idea of the NEO Alpha as I also have a 30TB NAS with not only 4K movies ect plus all my Hires 2.0 and 5.1 FLAC and DSD files. To be able to send the native DSD over HDMI into my AVM90 is exactly what I am missing and looking for. I also listen to Tidal and am using my Gustard X26 Pro DAC via the analog outputs to my Anthem. I wonder if the upcoming DMP-A6 would be as good as my Gustard for MQA playback. One device for my Movies and HiRES audio is very appealing. If I wait for the DMP-A6 I would need a separate player for the movies.

[@larsv6144]

Can I connect a Apple TV4K to the Zidoo Neo and use the dolby vision VS10 to hdr10+ conversion for movies and series with dolby vision instead of HDR10(+)? I have the JVC NZ8 projector that can handle HDR10(+), but not dolby vision, so I am looking for a way to convert DV to HDR10+. Other option is the HDFury Vvroom. However, I would prefere the Zidoo, as it will let me add a movie library on hard drive later.

[@RonG-d4f]

Hi and thanks for such good review. Have you since tried Tidal on the unit? and how does it sound?

[@marcgil256]

Does it have a shuffle/auto play feature?

[@mimo_prohodil_]

HDMI (audio) 2.1? or 2.0b?

[@jimhimesjr]

Why/how would this be better than a networked gaming HTPC with Kodi or something similar? Just curious

[@Youthman]

Not to say this is better, but certainly way easier to setup. Plug and play.

[@mephInc]

Zidoos hardware(and in turn software) for playback is far superior to kodis. With that said you can side load kodi and have it use zidoos player.

[@D8099.]

Will it work without internet after setup and metadata updates? We don’t really own our media if an internet connection is required.

[@hunggiatran]

Hello, do we have to turn on or off every time using the machine?

[@maxjonak6742]

How do you get your 4k and blu ray films into Plex?

[@mephInc]

You have you to rip them onto a storage device.

[@Scott-DJ]

For all you wondering why this is 3 grand, it's basically for the audio powess. If you just want to run video, get a $300 Z9X...but this one is for the audiophiles (where actually this is pretty low cost in that world!). It contains (among others) one of the best DACs on the planet in the Sabre 9038 PRO, multiple power supplies for the different components, a preamp function with balanced analog out to run directly into an amp, split HDMI to optimize audio and video sends... and some of the best Japanese audio circuitry available. THAT'S why its so much $$.

[@aamarrahman8631]

we need player without UI in projected screen, UI only on the unit display ...

[@alejandrocervantes4981]

Does this do Ai upcaling to 4k like the Shield Pro?

[@jondoe9510]

Ahh I see this is making the rounds now. First techno dad and now youthman. Wonder who is next.

[@justchilling4491]

Probably sparechange

[@Youthman]

I’ve had it for a mont. not sure who else has one in for review. Good thing about multiple content creators is we all have different perspective and style. I just finished watching Channa’s review as I don’t like to see what other people have to say before posting my own thoughts.

[@daeejon3100]

Can you put all the streaming apps on this, like Netflix, Hulu and so forth? thank you.

[@vamp366]

Nope

[@danieldelgado8153]

How would you compare the Zidoo Neo Alpha with the Rose 150? Thank you Dan. Albuquerque.

[@Youthman]

Hi Dan, this is the first high end media player I have reviewed.

[@andrebradley1924]

Good Afternoon which zidoo media player would be best for me all I want to do is play my movies that I have on my external hard drive

[@christianbui]

Z9X

[@adamjj85]

Since you have a Shield, how would you compare the experience between that and the Zidoo? The Zidoo touts a lot of audiophile and videophile features, did any of those actually produce better quality playback? I've been struggling to see the benefit of Zidoo and Zappiti when you can just do Shield and Plex on an existing NAS.

[@pedrotski]

There is no benefit. "Audiophile" outputs are irrelevant when it comes to digital audio. Digital data will always be digital data until its decoded by your AVR. If for whatever reason you needed the stereo outputs off this for whatever reason, you're already doing it wrong. This is just some cheap shit media player built to make money off people who have no idea what they are buying. Heck at 1:16 you can even see the badge literally melting off the front of the unit already and its straight out of the box. Devices like this made sense 15 years ago, but not today.

[@crazydwarfer]

@@pedrotski Ziidoo is a well established brand, and it has all the capabilities of Shield Pro BTW. Some of it's models have more capabilities than the Shield. If you have Shield, there is no need to use that though, as you have rightly stated.

[@mephInc]

You can use a zidoo player to connect to your nas natively, or side load their version of kodi (zdmc) and then the sky is the limit. Their player uses way better hardware than most other players and has no issue with lossless rips in hdr10+ and DV. It will even redo the color palette for movies if you so desire. You can recode SDR to DV or HDR10 or DV to HDR10.

[@georgepopescu1327]

@@pedrotski that is not correct. I can spot easily differences between a cheap DAC and a good DAC. Digital it's digital but not all units are able to handle the data flux properly.

[@pedrotski]

​@@georgepopescu1327 You're wrong. This isnt a DAC. Its kind of in the name. Its not converting anything, it should be passing through to your AVR. If you're having dataloss your audio will simply drop out. There is no inbetween. Look at a digital signal to understand why.

[@kennethhenry7509]

how would you import a Blu Ray disc into the player?

[@Youthman]

You don’t. This is a media player only. You would need an external 4K / Blu-ray burner and software to RIP your disks to a media file format that the Zidoo can read.

[@anthonyjackson1177]

Hey Youthman have you upgraded from one model to another, even with Zapitti? I'm curious how to transfer the data from one to another so you don't have to remap the content. Is that in the back up and restore options?

[@Youthman]

I have the Zappiti Reference to inbox and review.

[@scotttild]

How do you get media into the shield ? I have an apple mac and ever time I try a program to copy disc onto my external hard drive I get an error message with the program that it can't be verified. I would like to get all my TV media onto a server of some kind.

[@Youthman]

Mac OS trying to protect you. I transfer files from my PC in my home office to the HD that is connected to the shield in my theater room over my LAN

[@scotttild]

@@Youthman I have not found a DVD program that works on Apple yet. I have a burner and external hard drive just stuck getting the media someplace. I have a boatload of old TV shows I would like to get into a media device.

[@billb6685]

What would be a good alternative solution if I just wanted to stream my self made HD and 4K travel and home videos from my NAS to mynmain system? Just want good quality 4k playback and ability to handle various formats back to SD days... I have an old android box but it kind of chokes on the 4k.

[@Youthman]

PLEX and KODI are free. Zappiti and Zidoo are stand-alone players.

[@billb6685]

@@Youthman Thanks. Yes I used Kodi on my last basic android player. I am looking for new hardware/all in one box solution. I don't want to use a PC, but want an upgrade of what I have which is a Minix NEO U1 but more affordable than this which is overkill. Thanks!

[@anthonyjackson1177]

How do you get the subtitles to default to OFF?

[@mephInc]

In the home page you go to the settings and it will be in one of the sub menus. You can have off, forced subs(and pick your language), or default

[@hdtvkeith1604]

Nice review. Been looking for a media play with a better UI than my Oppo 203. Does it support embedded metadata? I hope they have built upon native Android TV BS that devices like the Shield now have. The 2019 Shields are getting well overdue for a refresh and an improvement PQ.

[@dragonmandragonman]

For me the zidoo has a similar android UI like the sheild, but it has a ton more settings and features than the shield. Hometheater 4.0 and posterwall was a gamechanger.

[@hdtvkeith1604]

@@dragonmandragonman I reached out to Zidoo on this Neo Alpha and there is like one distributor in US and they have not returned my requests for info or pricing. What Zidoo do you have? I suspect the Alpha will be pricey as it has an SSD in it.

[@dragonmandragonman]

@@hdtvkeith1604 but looking at that facebook group the admin is being real secret with the price or they may not just have it ironed out yet

[@hdtvkeith1604]

@@dragonmandragonman They need to have a model without a SSD and if it lives up to expectation they need a price poi not to go much over $500 as they are not a known name that people will be willing to drop serious coin on. I might go $500 on this unknown, but not much more. Since I can do a lot of what they offer on the Shield with Kodi, Kodi is just junk lately.

[@extremesound3785]

For $3k I'll stick to my Plex server with a nas. I can play my movies perfectly with no problems. Love your videos keep up the great work.

[@Youthman]

Appreciate the kind words. Yes if you’ve already got it set up through your PC, keep rocking what you have. The Zidoo is for those that want turnkey solution

[@BendikHallstensen]

How is the Zido Player for playing other than movies, like TV shows?

[@mephInc]

It does great for tv shows as well.

[@webberfan1234]

I wonder if I could use this as a preamp into some amplifiers

[@Scott-DJ]

Yep...sure can. He completely didn't mention this thing has a built-in top-line Sabre 9038 PRO DAC (along with other audiophile parts) that sounds pretty darn good from what I hear. That's the same one that's in the still-king Oppo 205.

[@masudkabir9214]

What about the PQ?

[@Youthman]

Image quality comes from things like your projector, not the source. The source is digital, which is all 0’s and 1’s. You can’t improve a 0 and you can’t improve a 1.

[@masudkabir9214]

@@Youthman Thanks, why then Oppo is still very popular for PQ and SQ.

[@Youthman]

SQ is analog. PQ is digital. Oppo is a rock solid built component with a robust feature set, a loyal fan base and some models will play virtually any format.

[@masudkabir9214]

@@Youthman So, you are saying, if I am not wrong, that a player has nothing to do with PQ.

[@jamescampbell3110]

Michael Happy 4th to you, I have a bunch of movies, DVD, BRDVD and 4k options. None of which are actually saved on my computer, I have them either on hard disk and or accounts such as Vudu etc. How do I get these into a movies' library to add to the Zidoo? Music wise, this is easy I have everything saved via multiple hard drives Like to ensure everything would work before I consider purchasing one, even though it would be in the far future.

[@Youthman]

Hi James, Trchno Dad has several videos on his channel how to rip your movie collection. Once you have them on a hard drive, my review shows you how to map to that folder on your hard drive to load them into the Zidoo

[@exovitae]

Can do everything? Can it play BDMV folders with duable layered Dolby Vision movies like Oppo 203 and its clones can do? I dont think so!

[@Youthman]

If you need that feature, this may not be for you. Enjoy the Oppo while it lasts

[@exovitae]

@@Youthman so it dosent read dual layer dolbu vision profile? Why should not the Oppo last, its a solid device, have your Oppo failed on you?

[@Youthman]

I’m just saying if you have an Oppo 203, enjoy it while it lasts. No electronic component lasts forever, regardless of how well built it is. No need for you to look for another device if it does everything you need it to do and is still in good working condition.

[@exovitae]

@@Youthman well it could have been nice to have something that can do everything, for example Oppo 203 cant read Dolby Vision remuxes in mkv container or other dolby vision profiles in mkv.

[@fernandoceruso1784]

hi, i have a zidoo z1000 pro, but mi projector is not 4k, and when i play some 4k movie the blacks levels destroy de image, you cannot see well in dark scenes, the blacks levels are like over exposed, this happen to you or maybe the problem is the convertion from 4k movies to hd for my projector

[@Youthman]

I did not see an issue with black levels being crushed

[@dayak1286]

I need a shoutout ! I recommend this player on August 24th 2021. And you reached out to them. Love how you commit with your followers

[@Youthman]

I do my best.

[@anthonycastro2411]

What’s up with these high end names

[@MJamesIII]

What’s the price tag?

[@Youthman]

It’s stated within the first minute of the video

[@brucemarmelstein]

How much is this Device? I live in The U.S. Florida does it sell here? Please let me know as soon as possible ok? Thank You.

[@Youthman]

The price is shown in USD at just 37 seconds into the video.

[@michaelwyckoff7593]

Hey Michael I haven't been seeing you lately on the Hi Fi podcast in the morning. Hope all is well buddy.

[@Youthman]

I’m doing fantastic! LOTS going on with MWAVE, Road to 100K giveaway, preparing for CEDIA, Sunday Night Live streams on my channel, plus all of the reviews and the Florida Home Theater Tour. Yeah, I’ve been quite busy lately 🤣 Last week we were at my daughter’s cheer event. Today we are all taking off for 4th of July.

[@michaelwyckoff7593]

@@Youthman happy to hear you are having fun and are doing big things.

[@glengatt3941]

I use the apple 4k TV box and Netflix Atmos sounds good but Disney plus not so much it's like the volume is down don't know why

[@Youthman]

Streaming has a long way to go before it will be able to come close to physical media

[@glengatt3941]

@@Youthman it's not bad Netflix Atmos there is a scene in the TV show godless with wind and dust it is so realistically that the only thing missing was me rubing my eyes from the dust, sound coming from everywhere and I have nothing high end a 7.2.4 with separate power amps,the subs are ok for moves but not good for music

[@georgepopescu1327]

still it doesn't have dynamic tone mapping for HDR ...

[@Youthman]

My JVC NX7 handles that

[@georgepopescu1327]

@@Youthman well so far only JVC has this technology inside a projector

[@Youthman]

It would be a great feature for Zidoo to consider adding in a future product.

[@chrisburney9555]

I would like to see the new Zappiti comparable unit reviews.

[@Youthman]

It’s in the works. Just waiting for one to become available for review.

[@mediaserver8265]

Not sure I see the value proposition here, for me. I run an Emby server which catalogs and indexes all my media centrally. On client devices such as Firetvs and Shields, I run Kodi, and all watched and progress statuses synch across all clients automatically, plus I have full bitstream support for all audio formats and a skinable UI. I also have Netflix, Amazon Video and any other streaming app I need. Plus my remote activates on pick up! All for a lot less €€€ than this device. What am I missing?

[@mediaserver8265]

@Let's talk about it... Thanks for that primer. The zidoo website does a poor job comparing the various models (that I could see), so this short overview is helpful! I see the benefits of the product, its just that, for me, it wouldn't offer much above and beyond my much better value set up. Unless there are significant improvements in video and / or audio quality. Reviews Ive seen to date seem to focus on features, not output quality.

[@halim9680]

Great review/ tutorial. ... im waiting for some competition with the kaleidescape - I dont know why its so expensive? Surely its not the hardware... i wonder if its because of licensing rights etc. Either way, when someone comes out with a similar product, downloadable, lossless audio and video, im in!

[@Youthman]

You are correct, Kaleidescape is so expensive due to the licenses

[@boukeelsinghorst4848]

It looks like the Zidoo logo on the front of the machine has shifted, probably caused by frequently packing and unpacking of this demo unit

[@Youthman]

Yes, it likely shifted during transit.

[@jeffpeterson5564]

I have a question about speaker placement. I have a simple setup,consisting of a 3.1 soundbar with a wireless 10" downward firing sub woofer. My question is what is the best location for the sub...front,mid or rear? Thanks...i Love your videos.

[@ascendav]

Ideally you want the sub to be placed at the thirds of the room, meaning 1/3rd of the way into your room from the front or rear. However, depending on the room, that isn’t always possible, nor is it always the best due to room variance. Because of that, it’s best to do what’s called the sub crawl. I believe Youthman has a video on this.

[@mephInc]

Put the sub on your chair then literally crawl around your room and listen for the best response. That is where you'll want your sub.

[@jeffpeterson5564]

Thank you, and also my floor is hardwood, and the sub is a 10" rear ported downward firing one. Should i put the sub on its side with the port firing up? Or leave it in the original config? Thanks again so much.

[@Youthman]

Hey Jeff, the sub crawl is a good starting point. It’s just difficult to know the best location in your room without seeing the frequency response in REW using a calibrated mic. But as stated, place your sub literally in your main seat and crawl around the edges of your room until you hear good bass response. Then place your sub on that location and see how it sounds. You can leave your sub positioned the way it was designed. Hardwood floors are going to reinforce the bass so it might sound a bit boomy.

[@jeffpeterson5564]

@@Youthman thank you so much...my room is pretty small...14 wide by 12.6" long. I will do the sub crawl and let you know how it works out. I assume HDMI cable is better then an optical one. Thanks for all your help.

[@jastorino]

I just got a z2000 and I find match frame rate and auto resolution to not work at all. If I set match frame rate only and leave resolution on auto, the zidoo should handle 4k upscaling, but send the frame rate to my Epson LS12000 based on the source, which is what I want. Sadly, this doesn’t work at all. Their UI seems to be 4k/60 which is fine, but when I playback any DVD/BD/UHD rips that are 23.976 fps, it doesn’t work - I get a long pause which is totally normal when frame rate changes, but no matter what I do, the end result is it outputs 4k/60 to my AVR. Super disappointing. I tried hard setting resolution to 4k/30 as well, but frame rate matching is still broken

[@rv112xy]

1:17 It was that much protected but the logo is broken.

[@Youthman]

The logo is only held on by glue.

[@Ghosty0909]

I have the zidoo z1000 not bad actually. But thinking to upgrade the 'pro' model that come with DOLBY VISION HDR10+. Great review 👍!

[@Youthman]

Thank you kindly

[@RenePolster]

Why should i use a 2800 USD Device if my Shield does the same for under 300. Is it so much better?????? I dont think so......

[@Youthman]

“You” shouldn’t. If your shield does everything you need, there’s no reason to change.

[@jimdowell1729]

hey @Youthman, do you also have a video on how to rip physical media to digital? i know Techno Dad does, but i'd love to see if you had anything on it and it anything differs. i take it this unit here is most suited for people that have already ripped data, which is not me... yet! thanks man!

[@Youthman]

Due to the controversy over ripping media, that is not a subject that I have provided on my channel. Zappiti offers players with NAS that does all of the work for you but is now only available outside the US due to recent changes in the law.

[@jimdowell1729]

@@Youthman gotcha. thanks for the quick reply. great vid! got a thumbs up over here!

[@Youthman]

Appreciate it

[@dbiagas210]

I use the z9x and love it 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@Youthman]

Nice David

[@terrylockwood9176]

You sure that Netflix, Hulu, etc apps can't be installed on this? I mean, I have a old model Zidoo Z9s and they can be installed on it. At this price range, that would be a definite deal breaker for me. I'll stick with my new Dune lol.

[@Scott-DJ]

There's no question you can sideload onto this. Just get X-Plorer going and then use their web server function to grab anything else you want.. including all the great underground Android apps that would go quite well with the video capability.

[@CharloBagis]

I cannot really justify the cost of this unit, especially when I already have an Nvidia Shield Pro connected to a NAS at home, which do the same thing this unit does and at a much cheaper price. Still, thanks for your review Michael.

[@halim9680]

How do you rip your 4k discs to a nas and is it losless video/audio? Thanks in advance 😊

[@Youthman]

Techno Dad has several videos on how to RIP disks

[@jebo4jc]

Shield pro is a good buy compared to this

[@andrewskaterrr]

@P T it really doesn’t. My 4k player takes ~30min to rip a 4K disc. You literally click “start” and go do something else. I have 2 more Bluray drives, so I can rip 1 4K + 2x 1080p at the same time on my Plex server. I just do things on my gaming pc or other things while they rip. MakeMKV plays a ding when it’s finished. Do you have your speakers on and you can hear it, and go put the next one in. Very easy.

[@andrewskaterrr]

@P T it seems like you don’t understand how a Blu-ray Disc is made. There majority of the disc is the movie itself, but there are extra files like trailers, behind the scenes, and even the menus itself that takes up space. That MKV file is 100% the same quality as the disc. You would have to convert/transcode the video to a lower quality to make it worse. When ripping, it’s just copying the files from the disc to the file on the computer in a MKV container, no converting.

[@hatoraidcowboy]

Another great video. Love the new editing. 👍🏻

[@Youthman]

Thanks. Trying to improve with every video

[@hatoraidcowboy]

@@Youthman Same. Gotta always keep improving. Great job. Always love your content and inspiration.

[@HTtimperry]

I see it’s smart, recommending Auro demo as the first recommended! 🤔🤔 😂

[@Youthman]

I only a few AURO demos.

[@boedilllard5952]

I'd love a HT piece of equipment that looks it belongs in a HT - not a happy meal prize - this one fits the bill. I need it for just two things - Plex and Pluto - should be able to handle atmos, DTX:X and voice e.g. play ironman from plex.

[@Lior1973]

I can do this with Plex and Nvidia pro under 200$.. In the digital world assuming the content is the same, There is no advantage to buy such an expensive device

[@vaux_manvv7520]

I know what you are saying but it all depends on what you want. I personally like the audio capability of my NEO S. I also use it as a dac and stream my music on it using my high end headphones throigh the balanced headphone input. At night it turns into a great movie player. I do also have a Shield and Apple 4k tv for streaming stuff, I use the shield for experimenting with apps and it can also be a great server. I got the apple 4k tv to check if it provided a better experience than a shield. If that is the case I will keep it as well. I think the shield is very versatile for the price though, you can use it to stream stuff and you can also use it as a file server and a gaming device. You can't really go wrong with the shield.

[@housbinpharteen7445]

@1:12 ALL THAT FOAM AND SOFT COVER DID NOT SAVE THE ZIDOO LOGO ON THE UNIT ..LOL

[@Youthman]

For sure

[@johnsmith-qz4bv]

that would be awesome to add to a system ....

[@DynamteKid316]

I will stick to physical disc dvd's & blu ray disc. Thank you!

[@Youthman]

Nothing wrong with that.

[@paulmardis1512]

It looks loike they took the eversolo dmp-a6 and combined it with the uhd3000 and made one box.😀😀

[@Scott-DJ]

That's because they basically did. Eversolo & Zidoo are basically the same company... But ES is audio only. The Neo Alphais pretty much just as proficient in audio but adds state of the art video also.

[@hdtvkeith1604]

Wow, just got pricing from the dealer, $3999 Canadian or about $3K USD. While the unit is nice, it is not worth anything near that cost.

[@pinarellorider9023]

I really wish my LG UQ8000 4K UHD had the capability to display a still image while giving me the option to update the color settings. Such a pain!

[@m4nc1n1]

I have the Z9. It's good. Not great, but worth it. But when you get up in this price range I would look at the Zappiti Neo instead. I'll be grabbing one soon

[@Youthman]

I will be reviewing the new Zappiti player and NAS.

[@m4nc1n1]

@@Youthman nice! Hopefully soon

[@jjchmiel78]

@@Youthman I know you have international viewers, but technically you and the rest of the US buyers can't purchase their NAS. So why review something so much of your audience can't purchase?

[@Youthman]

Only 46.7% of my audience are in the US. So that’s 95,000 people that can buy their media players and 50,000 that could buy their media players and NAS.

[@jjchmiel78]

@@Youthman WOW! Then it makes perfect sense the majority of your audience can buy. Looking forward to your thoughts. Not much solid info is out there about Zidoo, Zappiti and Dune

[@flamesbasketball]

Very hard to get beyond that front logo with any level of quality talk.

[@Youthman]

There are other options available if this product isn’t a good fit for you.

[@mephInc]

Got the z9x after another KZbinr recommended it. My PI4 got demoted to bedroom tv immediately. To anyone wondering, you can side load kodi and still use zidoos media player to get the best of both worlds.

[@DA-bc8wg]

How do you do that? Explain?

[@mephInc]

@@DA-bc8wg Zidoo has their own port of xbmc known as zdmc. Once you finish setting up the zidoo, you can install zdmc and set it to automatically run on startup. Once you've set up xdmc(kodi), you can set it to use the zidoo player instead of kodis player. I recommend the aeon knox skin for xdmc as you can customize literally everything. This gets you the best of both worlds. You get to use the amazing zidoo player while avoiding their clunky ui. As far as the nitty gritty, you'll have to do your own research. There is a LOT of material out there and too much too explain here. Good luck

[@DA-bc8wg]

@@mephInc Thanks for the info. I will do the research!

[@BUZDRIFT]

LOL Kodi does all of this plus the UI options like AEON series of skins (especially the modded versions) are far superior to this Box! Not to mention Yatse Remote! So much more functionality and attention to detail vs this!

[@BUZDRIFT]

@Let's talk about it... You are right, I wasn't thinking about the people who just want an easy PNP device without the need for any scripting and other PC skills...Too true!

[@Youthman]

I would agree. This box makes it simple, plug and Play for those that do not want to build a PC and configure it as a media server.

[@mephInc]

I run a zidoo z9x with kodi(zdmc) side loaded. Like you, I love the full on customization of the aeon nox skin. This way I use zidoos superior player while having the beauty of kodi.

[@mephInc]

@Let's talk about it... What functionality are you talking about? AFAIK it's same.

[@nagumaninagu9368]

Good system. Hi sir

[@Steeleroneify]

I have the Zidoo Z9X. How come this unit only lets me load 18 of my three hundred plus movies or tv shows and then locks up and asks for a username and password, which neither do I have or require? Yes, it does some cool things but if you’re using it to stream your movies on hard drives, will not allow or load all your movies. Furthermore, if you use your computer to stream movies on your Wi-Fi, do not move your hard drives over to this streaming device because it doesn’t work correctly and then when you move your hard drives back to the pc, Zidoo marks the drives and makes it difficult to go back. Whether or not this unit suffers the same sort of problems, I do not know.

[@Youthman]

That’s exactly why I did not disconnect my hard drive from my shield but mapped to the files over my network. A friend of mine told me it’s always best to leave your hard drive connected to a device or the device it’s connected to could reassign a different IP address and goof things up. That’s not an issue with any media device. That’s just how things work.

[@Steeleroneify]

@@Youthman This discussion inspired me to turn my Zidoo on and try and fix this problem. So I did a hard reset and I am now able to load movies past the 18 movie threshold. However, each time I scan a new movie I have to enter the default password 123 and go through a process before the next movie can be entered. As long as this is a one time deal, it’ll be worth it. The artwork in the poster section is amazing. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. I just made it to 20 movies and now it is locked at 20. There cause seems to be that there is limited RAM memory and it is unable to hold more movies. It would be interesting to see if we can upgrade the memory.

[@Youthman]

Glad it helped!

[@mephInc]

@@Steeleroneify It's asking for user name/password because of your network. If you are using SMB for sharing, add the actual IP address, NOT the name of the server. SMB is really funny that way. Edit: if it still requires a user name/password, it should be whatever the login is for your server.

[@brucemarmelstein]

$2,999.00 U.S.?? Wow that’s A Lot of money!!! Can’t afford that, guess I’ll just have to stick with watching Physical Media? At least until this Device becomes More Affordable? Thanks for letting Me Know.

[@Youthman]

Yes it’s not cheap. Neither is the new flagship Zappiti. I don’t think these are designed to reach the masses.

[@mephInc]

If you're up to ripping your media and building your own nas/server, a z9x will serve you well.

[@jonathan9506]

And what about the Zappiti Players from France? Excellent stuff in 4k.

[@DriveupLife22]

I have never understood why all this setup stuff needs to go into a "review". Most of the runtime of this video includes no review at all.

[@Youthman]

Simple explanation, I want to provide as much value as I can to my audience. My reviews are from a consumer's perspective so I want someone to be able to see, touch and feel (through video) any product I review so they can get a good idea of what to expect and also how to set it up, should they feel it is a good product for their setup. Likewise, if I were to make a 3 minute review, many would complain stating I didn't share enough. I shared everything I know, like and dislike about the NEO Alpha. If you are expecting me to use poetic words that describe the sound of the DAC's, that will come from other channels. Hope that helps.

[@Thomas-us4wq]

Badge is peeling off already !! How disappointing..

[@gerardstroh9970]

Gerard Stroh**** Hi Michael Stevens Youthman**** I Started Another KZbin Channel Called STARLIGHT G HOME THEATER!!!!! I Will Still Use Starlight G Recording For My Music**** Bye From Gerard Stroh****

[@wooster1173]

I stopped when I saw the brand logo getting away straight out of the box.

[@Youthman]

Im curious how a glued logo on the outside that got bumped during shipping effects the internal components?

[@wooster1173]

@@Youthman This is about attention to details. If a brand is not able to have proper quality standards when it comes to glueing their logo on the front panel, can you really trust they have higher quality standards regarding, for instance, soldering components on PCBs ?

[@Youthman]

I actually can. But that’s me.

[@senseitrain1972]

First comment!

[@paulcarroll627]

I can’t believe some of the naïve comments on here. If you have a great system, it’s only as good as it’s weakest link. I went from a Shield pro with plex & Kodi to a Zappiti Audiocom 4K model and the difference was immediately noticeable- for both audio and picture quality. Having a decent file player is even more essential when you’re using a large screen, say 85” and above. Just my thoughts -

[@mephInc]

I side loaded kodi(zdmc) on my zidoo. Now I can have a fully customized UI while still using the zidoo player.

[@KCWolfPck]

It seems as though this reviewer has no clue of who would purchase this product. The majority of his review would apply to all of the new Zidoo products as he pretty much only went over the poster wall stuff which is in all of their products. He seemed confused of what the touchscreen is for. As this is primarily a high end music source, it is so you can listen to music without having a display on. So many face palm moments in this video. He barely touched on any of the features that a prospective buyer would really care about. His review was aimed more towards a Z9X buyer. 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@Youthman]

I’ll be waiting on your full review then. 😉

[@KCWolfPck]

@@Youthman My apologies. I don’t mean to come off as harsh, but you clearly are more of a home theater nut and true audiophile type gear is out of your realm. Nothing wrong with that. I just need to find someone that can give this a proper review. Cheers. 🍻

[@Youthman]

No offense taken. You are correct, I’m probably 90% home theater and only 10% music and that’s the type of content that I share on my channel.

[@Scott-DJ]

Yes this has a state-of-the-art DAC (same one that's in the still-king Oppo 205) and state-of-the-art audiophile chips (complete with true balance output with a preamp function so you can connect it directly to an amp)...which make it much more potent than just your typical streamer. But I actually appreciated the deep dive into what you normally *don't* hear about it (like the poster wall and music server) . If I didn't already have an 205 (which would be repeating a lot of functionality), I would get this in a heartbeat because I love my Z9s.

[@chewieone1064]

too much promotion

[@Youthman]

Ok

[@bingdong8571]

Cool, but made for the 1%ers. Meh

[@Youthman]

What makes it meh?

[@bingdong8571]

@@Youthman the price, but these things will be replaced with something else soon anyway, or the prices will drop significantly

[@Youthman]

I’m not sure these are designed to reach the masses.

[@bingdong8571]

@@Youthman it's one of those expensive devices that strikes a nerve if your not super wealthy. How hard is it to change a disc? 3000 dollars hard? Hecknaw but I can definitely see the purpose in a super high end automated theater room.

[@chadbrick67]

Zidoo 9x is where its at same chipset same playback

[@10BucksNUdder]

If one did not need all the other connections, wouldnt it just be cool and better in a way to use a say, LG V20 for it has a dac, and DTS X built in, with web browsing, tons of apps from the store, and a 30 ft 3.5mm to rca? I do that and hocked the other end to my Marantz AVR_5010. You do not need phone service, for you can do all the "phone" does but make calls. PLUS the V20 was the last model to have the IR Blaster so rather then the one remote for everything, the phone, sorry "phone" has become ur media play, can hold storage as well, and as mentioned I know the V20 has the IR blaster in it, so with a app, one remote to rule them all, in a tinny tiny living space, how then do you go wrong? OH and if just talking price of said media player and a LG V20, is about a $400 savings, and its portable to take on the go with a battery, also last LG to sport a removable battery, so will last you forever. Total win win by just using a $100 phone, sorry, "phone", and a 15 foot cord. OMO ;) OH, and if really wanna go all out, buy a cheap ass MS Surface, anything over a Surface 3 Pro, for anything before it cannot put windows 10 on, just 8 and 8 sucks.

[@thorbampougias311]

Νοpe 3000 for what? Nas, plex, nvidia, hdd You can not connect a 3.5 hdd external with power The best way with no money Play your 4k hdr from you TV usb for 2'5 hdd And for mkv, m2ts, from you pc that you have all you hdd external using servioo I have 40 tera on my pc, streming with eternet Music? A USB stick on your amp, or cd That's it