Blu Ray Player/Streamer for Playing MKV Audio Dolby Atmos Files Over Network?

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Steve Bruzonsky

600 Club - QQ All-Star
QQ Supporter
Joined
Jun 2, 2021
Messages
662
Location
Gilbert, Arizona
My dedicated theater upgrade/renovation will finally be done in a few months! I also have a basement theater. I have a Kaleidescape system for movies, etc which includes a DV-700 Disc Vault (300 blu rays/DVDs) and currently I have lots of Dolby Atmos blu rays in the vault, which I play via my Kaleidescape system both in my basement system and my soon finally done dedicated home theater. Everything is hardwired ethernet. However, I have been ripping the music Dolby Atmos blu rays to mkv files. I do have an Oppo 103 blu ray player which will play them via USB (having files on a flash drive), and although it apparently can play the mkv files over the network, LonTV did a review a few years back and advised that the 203 is a poor over network performer for mkv files (very slow loading, audio interruptions, etc), so the Oppo 103 (or a 203) is out for network playback of mkv files.

The IAA site lists devices which will play mkv files at least via USB:

List of confirmed devices:
  • Windows PC
  • Oppo 103
  • Neumi Atom 4K Lite
  • Nvidia Shield
  • Dune TV-301 HD
https://immersiveaudioalbum.com/about/

What device are you using to play mkv files (including mkv of blu ray movies and blu ray audio)? Are you using an attached USB flash drive/USB drive - or over network?
If over network, is your ethernet hardwired, and do you have issues with slow loading times or audio and/or video interruptions? Thanks.
 
I use a windows pc (fanless, mini form factor), running Kodi. I stream over a wired network using a NAS. The wiring for the network was installed over 15 years ago, so it's hardly SOTA. No slow load times, no buffer issues. The only time there is any interruption is if some other device accesses the network. That sometimes causes a tiny dropout.

If you need to access files from multiple locations, a network is really the only logical choice.

Regardless of what streaming device you use, you will also need a software player. Kodi, Foobar, JRiver, VLC are the most popular. A big issue right now seems to be gapless playback of Atmos tracks. The best solution I've found is ripping the Blu-ray to a single MKV file and use a .CUE file for playback in Kodi. This allows a tracklist to appear and allows for track selection, but will play gapless. I believe JRiver can do much the same thing. Not sure about the others.
 
Back
Top