Practical-experiences using the UHD3000

Thank you very much, and great to see you again, Netmask! (My friend from the A500 forums; wow I had no idea you're 82, my man!)

Oh yes, I do covet the two HDD bays.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that it's not just video playback I value, I also value video library management; are Zidoo players top choices in that regard?

 

I'm going to be contraversial now - given my experiences I'd consider the Z1000 Pro (no difference in video quality) and buy a separate DAC. My guess is that this will provide better audio quality.

Don't all jump on me at once but consider that all models run from the same SOC and I've yet to see anywhere out there a review of say the UHD3000 or a NEO vs what I'm suggesting. My DAC is the Gustard X-16 and it's superb in every way - add the cost to the cost of a Z1000 Pro and I'll bet the result will be better and cheaper. And @Nice Monkey , before you say anything, the audio quality is not all about the DAC chip.

 

Most quality external DAC's are relative expensive. The Gustard series is an exception here and offers as far as I can judge (as subjective like hell) a similar performance/price ratio than Zidoo the various build-in DAC's with UHD3000 and Neo models. So a valid choice.

For convenience a build-in DAC plus Front Panel display has it advantages above all when used multipurpose for Movies, Stereo Music and MCH Music. Now that MP has improved on the basic music album playback I don't use additional Music Players like UAPP anymore. A single solution then is convenient but others may use their setup differently. Always good to have choices.

 

Interesting @Nice Monkey , an answer that I wasn't expecting I use UAPP primarily for TIDAL. The Zidoo, it's said in many posts, is not a player for streaming. Well UAPP does a brilliant job in streaming TIDAL - it's just fab. As far as MP is concerned, I'd be interested in learning (before I compare) how MP has improved as UAPP for local playback doesn't do a bad job with no scraping - thanks. I ask due to my post about HT.4 which has moved along considerably during past 12 months.

 

In fact I like how the Neo X deals with music streaming services as it includes HD BT audio input (next to USB) which interworks with any Smart Phone. As all those music streaming services are developed with Smart Phone's as their prime target that works just great. Interested readers may have also a peak at my updated Neo X review.

No I am not using scraping/library with MP yet. Also that got improved but for my needs I need:
- MP to add an Album-Artist view (not just an Artist view with all artists of collection albums included).
- Library function with multiple Libraries (per album type like MP3, CD, DTS-CD and SACD) including artist/track searching selectable within a library or over all libraries.
- Using Media Center for album selection has the big advantage of being a standard file browser with all standard file handling features included. Use those regularly for deleting/renaming/moving etc. This next to PC remote access using SMB.

 

So not much change then. UAPP serves my needs excellently and I'll stick with it, other than storing files correctly named, it requires no work. I don't play much MCH audio though, although I'm getting into some BD and DTS stuff, which my Zidoo passes to my amp, which plays them just fine.

Thanks for your responses.

 

I've ordered a UHD3000 and am wondering about firmware. I presume it auto-updates. I see posts regarding beta firmware. Has the beta firmware historically been reliably stable, or do most users wait until firmware is out of beta?

 

No idea what the average user does? The people on the forum typically enable also beta version auto-updates which are released for all models including UHD3000.
These are in general improvements but something specifically may not work which did before.

The tryout versions for Z9X only is a different story and only meant for testing and for those who really can't wait. Going back isn't easy with Zidoo.

 

I’ve used all updates including beta versions and so far no problems on my UHD3000.

 

Hi. I have now installed my new Zidoo z1000pro and loaded it with MKV films on 2 HDD. I took the settings from Mark Swift. At this point, thanks again to you. Everything works, my movies (2K or 4K) are played without any problems. Unfortunately, what I noticed is the poor image quality of the colors, everything seems somehow dull and unsaturated, regardless of whether it's 2K or 4K movies. After trying and checking the settings for a long time, I came across the Color Settings/Deep Color Compatibility Mode option. I had to set it to "On" to finally get a good color image now. I didn't have to do that with my previous Zidoo X20 because the image quality was great right from the start. What does this "Compatibility mode" option do?
My picture is rendered by a Panasonic HZ2000 Oled TV and I've never had any problems with compatibility. My next question would be which option should I take "TV Led or Player Led (LLDV)" ? I would also like to let my TV do the upscaling and the output of the picture quality, is this guaranteed with the settings from Mark Swift or do I have to set it to "HDMI mode auto"? thank you for your help

 

Deep Colour Compatibility Mode, despite the name, doesn't affect the actual colours. All it does is allow the player to force higher bandwidth HDMI modes even if the EDID does not allow it. Some early displays may have for example only HDMI1.4 modes defined in the EDID (up to 300MHz, 8.9Gbps) but in fact they will support HDMI2 modes (up to 600MHz, 18Gbps).

I don't know why turning that on would result in a colour change and your description of dull and unsaturated colours is what happens if you play HDR BT.2020 content in an SDR Rec.709 mode and certainly shouldn't affect 2K content unless you are forcing an HDR mode in the Zidoo and the display doesn't recognise it as such.

 

Th

Thats intersting Enable for Pioneer Plasma Kuru owners that are Hdmi 1.4 etc or
Mine supports Deep Colour 36bit

Enable Deep Colour Compatability Mode on the Zidoo Mark ?

 

No - Firstly you wouldn't gain anything - the files you play will generally be 8-bit 2K or 10-bit 4K and upping the output to 12-bit does nothing to the image.

But more importantly, it's 1080p, so won't accept a 4K signal which is what this switch is for.

 

Thanks Mark for the explanation .
Still saving for a affordable 4K Monitor when one comes out .

 

Thank you for your prompt reply. My next question would be which option should I take "TV Led or Player Led (LLDV)" ? I would also like to let my TV do the upscaling and the output of the picture quality, is this guaranteed with the settings from Mark Swift or do I have to set it to "HDMI mode auto"? thank you for your help

 

Chose whichever DV mode looks best.

Make sure Frame Rate Mode is set to "Frame Rate and Resolution". HDMI mode doesn't have to be Auto.

 

That is extremely simple: If your TV supports both then try them out, the one you like most is the best. Results are subjective like hell so you may do it with the whole family.

 

thank you for your help...oh yes, my wife will be very happy for sure

 

Hello Nice Monkey! Question: When you have the icy box connected to you zidoo uhd3000, can you see each individual drive on your network? So, i am for instance, i can see them with my desktop computer in network as disk icons on my screen? And copy files to them? O, and a second question; we are about a full year further and Dune has the hd ultra vision 4k media-layer on the market. What is your opinion; the zidoo uhd3000 looks still alive and kicking when compared with the dune? thanks in advance for answering!

 

Yes the 5-slots of the Icy Box show up as 5 individual drives. These can be powered On/Off individually and if desired be ejected/unmounted and swapped per unit as one likes too real time. This with Dune or Zidoo.

A Dune HD Ultra sits somewhere between a UHD3000 and a Neo Alpha regarding HW features and Audio Quality on paper. As I don't such a Dune model it remains a bit of guesswork. My experience from judging specifications before getting my hands on a unit and trying it next live is mostly very close. Seen and tested enough of them by now.