Amazon Firestick 4K Max for Surround Music

[HomerJAU]

(Posts moved from another thread: Jan 1 2024)

The new Amazon Firestick 4K Max (2023/Gen 2 model) can play Atmos and MCH surround. I bought a couple for Christmas but haven’t gotten around to setting it them up (one is for my youngest daughter):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BP9SNVH9
They appear to be temporarily out of stock in US now but mine were $54 AUD before Christmas (about $35 USD including a remote control).

For another $15 you can buy a cable that supports a 2TB USB hard drive, otherwise it’s WiFi to access files from a server or PC or Mac etc. Of course the Firestick has apps for Amazon Music (Atmos), Netflix and Prime for Movies/ TV Series etc.

My plan is to install Kodi to play surround/Atmos music and 4K Dolby Vision/ HDR movies using its nice UI and media database.

I’ll do a How To setup tutorial in next week or so. EDIT: Go to this post for the install instructions:
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...x-for-surround-music.35316/page-7#post-749301

Check this out. How to connect a 2TB hard disc to the 4K max (for those without their media on a server)

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

The newest Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max certainly looks interesting.

Aside from its Atmos music playback capabilities (hopefully more than just accessing Amazon Music is possible), I would only get one of these if it's able to access and play media files stored on my network...

 

[HomerJAU]

I would only get one of these if it's able to access and play media files stored on my network.

It can do that via wifi. If you need ethernet then you’ll need usb to Ethernet adapter and the OTG USB cable mentioned in that video.

This USB to Ethernet (1GBE) adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/Ethernet-Adapter-ABLEWE-Gigabit-Chromebook/dp/B085DJLDBChttps://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B085DJLDBC
This OTG cable (Y type cable for power and usb device into the single Firestick micro usb port):
https://www.amazon.com/AreMe-Adapter-Powered-Android-Devices/dp/B0CKVKM7LM
I’ve read some users can’t get enough bandwidth via wifi for 4K video but wifi performance varies depending on location of devices (distance to wifi router and obstacles etc).

NOTE: A 1GBE USB to Ethernet adapter will be limited to 480kbps on the FTVs micro USB 2.0 port, but it’s still faster than many will achieve via wifi.

I mentioned the disc drive in my post as many potential users here on QQ don’t have servers but use hard drives.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

It can do that via wifi. If you need ethernet then you’ll need usb to Ethernet adapter and the OTG USB cable mentioned in that video.

I’ve read some users can’t get enough bandwidth via wifi for 4K video but wifi performance varies depending on location of devices (distance to wifi router and obstacles etc).

That sounds positive... Although I have WiFi I don't use it for any of my media playback devices

 

[HomerJAU]

Although I have WiFi I don't use it for any of my media playback devices

Same here. I had the house wired with Ethernet when we bought it. WiFi only for handheld devices. I do use my wifi iPad to control Kodi (select albums, tracks and playlists etc)

 

[DuncanS]

That sounds positive... Although I have WiFi I don't use it for any of my media playback devices

Same here. I had the house wired with Ethernet when we bought it. WiFi only for handheld devices. I do use my wifi iPad to control Kodi (select albums, tracks and playlists etc)

Same here too, it works. Wi-Fi is for the phones & tablet

 

[Marplot]

Nah wifi has more use than handhelds. ubiquiti cloudkey gen2 and a pair of their U6 Pro APs and I have max wifi6 speeds covering over 5k sqft of house on 3 levels.

You are 100% right though to cable if you need higher bandwidth.

 

[DuncanS]

We're quite crowded here in the UK, I can see 9 neighbours Wi-Fi!

 

[Marplot]

OUCH. Yeah, environmental concerns will dictate some of your choices. Probably hard to get a clear channel with that much in your area.

 

[DuncanS]

OUCH. Yeah, environmental concerns will dictate some of your choices. Probably hard to get a clear channel with that much in your area.

Yes. All-in-all though, if you can cable the house as I did, Ethernet is the better option as you get lower error rates and higher speeds. Plus like most UK housing I have internal brick/block walls which can effect radio propagation, Bluetooth is dire between rooms so I try not to wander too far when on conference calls!

 

[César]

Does it also play m4a and mp4 music files with Atmos? And regular 5.1 or 4.0 flacs?
It it does, it may well be my single player of choice for digital files.
Thanks!

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Nah wifi has more use than handhelds. ubiquiti cloudkey gen2 and a pair of their U6 Pro APs and I have max wifi6 speeds covering over 5k sqft of house on 3 levels.

A friend of mine has recently been given a replacement Virgin router with WiFi6... I only noticed because a dedicated symbol appeared on my phones screen!

We're quite crowded here in the UK, I can see 9 neighbours Wi-Fi!

Indeed... Currently I'm seeing four. And every so often I see unsecured printers popping up. I guess it's less now because the students have gone home for crimbo... Bless 'um!

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

The Amazon Firestick 4K Max can play Atmos and MCH surround. I bought a couple for Christmas but haven’t gotten around to setting it them up (one is for my youngest daughter):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BP9SNVH9
They appear to be temporarily out of stock in US now but mine were $54 AUD before Christmas (about $35 USD including a remote control).

For another $15 you can buy a cable that supports a 2TB USB hard drive, otherwise it’s WiFi for access files from a server or PC or Mac etc. Of course the Firestick has apps for Amazon Music (Atmos), Netflix and Prime for Movies/ TV Series etc.

My plan is to install Kodi to play surround/Atmos music and 4K Dolby Vision/ HDR movies.

I’ll do a How To setup tutorial in next week or so.

Check this out. How to connect a 2TB hard disc to the 4K max.

Hi HomerJAU,

How about splitting out all our Amazon Fire stick posts into a new 'Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd gen)' topic?

Cheers

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

For anyone who may be interested...

Here's a link to the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) specifications.

Cheers

 

[barfle]

And every so often I see unsecured printers popping up. I guess it's less now because the students have gone home for crimbo... Bless 'um!

My 96 year old mother’s ipad somehow connected to a printer instead of her home wifi. I was easily able to fix it, but I can understand her confusion when she was without Internet for several days.

 

[HomerJAU]

Does it also play m4a and mp4 music files with Atmos? And regular 5.1 or 4.0 flacs?
It it does, it may well be my single player of choice for digital files.
Thanks!

I've just set up a Firestick 4K Max this morning and installed Kodi.

Now copying a variety of surround/spatial music files and music videos onto a USB key to test. Standby for results...

 

[DuncanS]

My 96 year old mother’s ipad somehow connected to a printer instead of her home wifi. I was easily able to fix it, but I can understand her confusion when she was without Internet for several days.

My late mother (who was then about 89) rang me one day to say she had been on her iPad and she had been hacked as she heard a woman with a Northern (UK) accent speaking from it, and what should she do, I said it didn't seem likely. She then had an email from her old Uni friend who lived near Phoenix, Arizona (for over 50 years) saying she had been hacked, as she had heard a woman speaking.

Then they both realised they had been speaking to each other!

 

[humprof]

For anyone who may be interested...

Here's a link to the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) specifications.
View attachment 99834

Cheers

Dolby TrueHD (Atmos) and MPEG-H pass-through! That's great news, as it means (potentially, anyway) that Tidal and Amazon Music's Sony 360 RA files can finally be streamed to an AVR via FireStick. (Would love to have confirmation of this. Presumably Apple still has no incentive to make an Apple Music app for Fire Stick, however?)

@HomerJAU anticipated my next question, namely: how would one take advantage of that same capability to play Atmos mp4/m4a/mkv and/or MPEG-H files from a connected hard drive? I take it that there's a version of Kodi for Fire Stick, but is there a version of VLC Player and/or an MPEG-H 3D player for Fire Stick?

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Dolby TrueHD (Atmos) and MPEG-H pass-through! That's great news, as it means (potentially, anyway) that Tidal and Amazon Music's Sony 360 RA files can finally be streamed to an AVR via FireStick.

I thought that might peak some peoples interest

I'm a bit bemused as to why only 2-channel flac is supported. And it's only up-to 48kHz!

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I thought that might peak some peoples interest

I'm a bit bemused as to why only 2-channel flac is supported. And it's only up-to 48kHz!

I have an older fire stick I use for stereo in my bedroom. It used to stream high res stereo just fine. Then maybe a year ago, that stopped. Now it studders on high res but plays standard res stuff just fine. I wonder if it could have been updated with firmware that no longer performs with higher resolutions?