bluegaspode
2013-09-22 19:32:28 UTC
Based on erlands question 'here'
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?87364-ANNOUNCE-Music-Playback-now-on-ANDROID!-SqueezePlayer-released-to-the-market&p=757032&viewfull=1#post757032),
I decided to start my own tests regarding Android TV sticks/devices
<=100$, and ordered two of them for a comparison. I hope that others can
share their experiences here as well, which is why I started a separate
thread.
Note that I cannot test those devices fully regarding their TV
capabilities, I'll focus here on Squeezebox stuff, you need to decide on
your own about the additional features they all provide.
First in this series will be the 'Minix Neo X5'
(http://georiot.co/2r1T), which is available for 96$/ 89 on
'Amazon.com/.de' (http://georiot.co/2r1T) (guess the US pricing is
without VAT?). The Minix is the little box to the right, on the left a
Squeezebox Receiver as comparison.
1519415195
It's a small little box, with many connection possibilities - most
important for us is HDMI, SPDIF (!) and a line-out/phones jack.
I hooked it up to the TV and booted it up, it started instantly and only
having connected an USB-Mouse I was able to setup WiFi and my Google
Account, went to the PlayStore and downloaded
- my 'SqueezePlayer App'
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.bluegaspode.squeezeplayer)
(to make this box a Squeezebox)
- 'AutomateIt'
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=AutomateIt.mainPackage&hl=en)
(free), to configure that SqueezePlayer starts up automatically after
booting.
No trouble here - 10minutes after starting up, my TV was available as a
Squeezebox :)
Remote controlled by my phone with 'Orange Squeeze'
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orangebikelabs.orangesqueeze&hl=en)
(my favorite Controller App right now, use whatever you prefer).
15193
One has to note that the Minix comes with an optimized UI for the TV
(big buttons) and also a remote. I guess this will come in handy, when
you want to also use it for it's actual TV capabilities.
The most interesting thing of course is synchronisation to other
Squeezeboxes. So I got two Squeezebox Radios into the same room and
started experimenting.
The very first experience was - not convincing. This is because HDMI and
Android imposes some delays that have to be compensated for. To our
rescue comes the Squeezebox-Server settings: for every player one can
configure synchronisation delays.
The first one should care for is "Player Audio Delay". You'll need to
start a playlist, wait about 30seconds (!) to have all devices
synchronized as good as it gets and then try to guess what delay your TV
has (it is typically behind your Squeezeboxes).
Then change the corresponding value in the settings, Apply, wait again
30secs (while everything is playing) and see how much improvement you
achieved. When you found a good value, one can also care for the "Player
Start Delay". Everytime you manually start the next track from a
playlist, you want to make sure, that all devices start in Sync as good
as possible, so that they don't need catch up to each other to get into
real sync.
In my scenario: Minix -> HDMI -> TV I arrived at the following values:
Player Start Delay: 180
Player Audio Delay: 270
Note that my TV might have imposed some delay, so the values might
differ for you.
With these settings I listened through a whole mp3 album (two Radios and
the Minix via TV in sync in one room). On rare occasions I could hear
the players drift a bit, but they recovered soon again. When those boxes
are in different rooms, noone would be able to hear a difference in my
opinion.
Next test was the SPDIF connector into my AV-Receiver. First it didn't
work, until I realized, that I had to activate SPDIF in the Android
Audio settings. When this worked, I removed the HDMI connector, to just
use the Minix just as a Squeezebox Receiver replacement.
Worked fine and looks great on the AV rack as well.
15196
(little black box on top is the minix - just two cables on the back -
power + SPDIF)
The settings for synchronization I needed this time were
Player Start Delay: 180
Player Audio Delay: 150
Again - this worked great for me and I happily moved between my living
room (Minix + 1 Radio) and bedroom (1 Radio) all the time to check the
sync.
Your values of course will differ again, as my AV-Receiver will have
some influence on the delays (I ran it in 'straight' mode though).
One little caveat remained for me: my SPDIF connector didn't properly
fit into the Minix for some reason - it didn't snap into position and
was in danger of removing itself when moving the device. Might be
different with other cables, but a little bit confusing definitely that
a digital connector doesn't fit.
All in all: I really like what I saw in this first test :)
Give me some more time until I have tested the second device.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: IMG_20130922_180318.jpg |
|Download: http://forums.slimdevices.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15196|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
Did you know: *'SqueezePlayer' (www.squeezeplayer.com)* will stream all
your music to your Android device. Take your music everywhere!
Remote Control + Streaming to your iPad? *'Squeezebox + iPad =
SqueezePad ' (www.squeezepad.com)*
Want to see a Weather Forecast on your Radio/Touch/Controller ? => why
not try my 'Weather Forecast Applet'
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=73827)
Want to use the Headphones with your Controller ? => why not try my
'Headphone Switcher Applet'
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=67139)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
bluegaspode's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=31651
View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=99865
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?87364-ANNOUNCE-Music-Playback-now-on-ANDROID!-SqueezePlayer-released-to-the-market&p=757032&viewfull=1#post757032),
I decided to start my own tests regarding Android TV sticks/devices
<=100$, and ordered two of them for a comparison. I hope that others can
share their experiences here as well, which is why I started a separate
thread.
Note that I cannot test those devices fully regarding their TV
capabilities, I'll focus here on Squeezebox stuff, you need to decide on
your own about the additional features they all provide.
First in this series will be the 'Minix Neo X5'
(http://georiot.co/2r1T), which is available for 96$/ 89 on
'Amazon.com/.de' (http://georiot.co/2r1T) (guess the US pricing is
without VAT?). The Minix is the little box to the right, on the left a
Squeezebox Receiver as comparison.
1519415195
It's a small little box, with many connection possibilities - most
important for us is HDMI, SPDIF (!) and a line-out/phones jack.
I hooked it up to the TV and booted it up, it started instantly and only
having connected an USB-Mouse I was able to setup WiFi and my Google
Account, went to the PlayStore and downloaded
- my 'SqueezePlayer App'
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.bluegaspode.squeezeplayer)
(to make this box a Squeezebox)
- 'AutomateIt'
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=AutomateIt.mainPackage&hl=en)
(free), to configure that SqueezePlayer starts up automatically after
booting.
No trouble here - 10minutes after starting up, my TV was available as a
Squeezebox :)
Remote controlled by my phone with 'Orange Squeeze'
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orangebikelabs.orangesqueeze&hl=en)
(my favorite Controller App right now, use whatever you prefer).
15193
One has to note that the Minix comes with an optimized UI for the TV
(big buttons) and also a remote. I guess this will come in handy, when
you want to also use it for it's actual TV capabilities.
The most interesting thing of course is synchronisation to other
Squeezeboxes. So I got two Squeezebox Radios into the same room and
started experimenting.
The very first experience was - not convincing. This is because HDMI and
Android imposes some delays that have to be compensated for. To our
rescue comes the Squeezebox-Server settings: for every player one can
configure synchronisation delays.
The first one should care for is "Player Audio Delay". You'll need to
start a playlist, wait about 30seconds (!) to have all devices
synchronized as good as it gets and then try to guess what delay your TV
has (it is typically behind your Squeezeboxes).
Then change the corresponding value in the settings, Apply, wait again
30secs (while everything is playing) and see how much improvement you
achieved. When you found a good value, one can also care for the "Player
Start Delay". Everytime you manually start the next track from a
playlist, you want to make sure, that all devices start in Sync as good
as possible, so that they don't need catch up to each other to get into
real sync.
In my scenario: Minix -> HDMI -> TV I arrived at the following values:
Player Start Delay: 180
Player Audio Delay: 270
Note that my TV might have imposed some delay, so the values might
differ for you.
With these settings I listened through a whole mp3 album (two Radios and
the Minix via TV in sync in one room). On rare occasions I could hear
the players drift a bit, but they recovered soon again. When those boxes
are in different rooms, noone would be able to hear a difference in my
opinion.
Next test was the SPDIF connector into my AV-Receiver. First it didn't
work, until I realized, that I had to activate SPDIF in the Android
Audio settings. When this worked, I removed the HDMI connector, to just
use the Minix just as a Squeezebox Receiver replacement.
Worked fine and looks great on the AV rack as well.
15196
(little black box on top is the minix - just two cables on the back -
power + SPDIF)
The settings for synchronization I needed this time were
Player Start Delay: 180
Player Audio Delay: 150
Again - this worked great for me and I happily moved between my living
room (Minix + 1 Radio) and bedroom (1 Radio) all the time to check the
sync.
Your values of course will differ again, as my AV-Receiver will have
some influence on the delays (I ran it in 'straight' mode though).
One little caveat remained for me: my SPDIF connector didn't properly
fit into the Minix for some reason - it didn't snap into position and
was in danger of removing itself when moving the device. Might be
different with other cables, but a little bit confusing definitely that
a digital connector doesn't fit.
All in all: I really like what I saw in this first test :)
Give me some more time until I have tested the second device.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: IMG_20130922_180318.jpg |
|Download: http://forums.slimdevices.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15196|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
Did you know: *'SqueezePlayer' (www.squeezeplayer.com)* will stream all
your music to your Android device. Take your music everywhere!
Remote Control + Streaming to your iPad? *'Squeezebox + iPad =
SqueezePad ' (www.squeezepad.com)*
Want to see a Weather Forecast on your Radio/Touch/Controller ? => why
not try my 'Weather Forecast Applet'
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=73827)
Want to use the Headphones with your Controller ? => why not try my
'Headphone Switcher Applet'
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=67139)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
bluegaspode's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=31651
View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=99865