Page 2 of 70

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 1st, 2012 8:27 am
by audit13
EugW wrote: Not ICS.

Also, does it support file sizes over 4 GB?

I doubt the player wouldn't support files > 4gb. Players have supported ntfs and hfs+ for a while.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 1st, 2012 2:50 pm
by Clee
Can I install the PPS.TV app on it to watch Chinese movies?

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 1st, 2012 11:18 pm
by aasoror
shuffle wrote: Please do let us know what you think - review of this unit are hard to find.

Specifically, I want to know how it handles big high-res media (1080p with high frame rates / low compression).
I haven't gotten a chance to get to that yet (namely because all my higher bit rates files are ISO's which aren't supported any way), if you have any higher bit rate samples feel free to pass a link (I never rip MKVs past 20 mbps).
Mcklain wrote: Anyone know if it supports Dolby True-HD /DTS Master?
Apparently no go for the pass through, I have been also looking for reports about other android devices, and it seems people are just thrilled with the fact they can hear audio from DD/DTS rips (i.e. down mix), its a bummer honestly, but seems to be a limitation of Android as far as I can tell.

BTW, I was told that DD/DTS is supported by the hardware but disabled on the kernel level for licensing issues being currently worked out by AML.
WontonNoodle wrote: can't wait to see how it compares to aios and pbo, thanks!
If you don't mind the obvious limitations (most notably lack of multichannel pass through and no ISO support), its a purchase worthy serious consideration.
anon_s wrote: If this had optical audio out then I'd be all over this, sadly it doesnt hence I have to pass.
I hear you, I guess someone thinks its time for us to move on :( (I did last week with an HDMI receiver just to find I can only get stereo out of this box).
sbermunk wrote: I'd really like to know how good the apps support is. Full access to the android store? Does the Netflix app work properly for instance?
I didn't miss a single app of mine (I move the same set of apps on all my Android devices using Titanium Backup), the only "non-compatible" app (according to the market) was "CNN tablet edition" (but since side loading is supported I don't see the market availability being an issue at all).
arm2000 wrote: I've just realized you are now moderator. Congratulations!! And keep up the good work.
Thanks :)
bylo wrote: Note from their description, "Powered by Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and can be upgrade-able to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) via firmware update." I'm not sure if the underlined part is a grammatical error or an indication that they're not really sure if it can be upgraded.
I don't think they have a clue, but I do know .. the fact is I have been running ICS on the XIOS exactly 5 hours after it was out of the box.
sbermunk wrote: I saw a message on the Pivos forums stating that 4.0 isn't quite ready for release yet, but should be soon.
I need to do some minor tweaking but it should be ready by the next weekend.
Clee wrote: Can I install the PPS.TV app on it to watch Chinese movies?
Feel free to send me the market link, will report back.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 12:22 am
by andriykoua
I am waiting for the review as well. I am glad that I didn't buy the old version. This one looks so much nicer + Android 2.3 which is a big +

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 3:19 am
by sbermunk
Well, I picked one up to try today. So far, unfortunately, I have to say I'm not impressed one bit, and I will be returning it.
I think they just went with an underpowered CPU...

My tests were run streaming from my fileserver - I haven't tried playing from a memory card or whatnot.
Most of my high-res MKV files won't play at all. Given the other problems with the unit, I'm not motivated to figure out why. (Tried all the stock video players that came with the unit.)
One of my test 1080p/24 clips would load and play, but the poor little machine just could not keep up - the best player would play for a few seconds, then hang for a few seconds, and so on. A couple of random lower-res (DVD) MKV files I tried worked fine.

The Netflix app loads and runs, but actual video playback is pretty awful. Blocky and stuttery, at best. It did sort of work though. I wouldn't want to watch it, I'm afraid.

A lot of things just didn't seem to work with the remote. I had to plug a mouse in to accomplish much. For instance, I couldn't accept the Android Market terms and conditions without plugging in the mouse.

The quality of the remote doesn't give me much confidence that it would last very long.

Almost everything on the unit is pretty sluggish. The on-screen keyboard is rather painful to use.

Perhaps I will wait a week to see if ICS is released quickly - possibly the video acceleration support in ICS will make some difference, I don't know. But out of the box, my conclusion is that it is a great idea ruined by an underpowered CPU, sad to say.

Edit: check my post further on regarding ICS - it's a BIG improvement, though still not perfect.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 4:34 am
by Beradon
sbermunk wrote: My tests were run streaming from my fileserver - I haven't tried playing from a memory card or whatnot.
Most of my high-res MKV files won't play at all. Given the other problems with the unit, I'm not motivated to figure out why. (Tried all the stock video players that came with the unit.)
One of my test 1080p/24 clips would load and play, but the poor little machine just could not keep up - the best player would play for a few seconds, then hang for a few seconds, and so on. A couple of random lower-res (DVD) MKV files I tried worked fine.
Yikes. I do not like what I'm reading.
Perhaps I will wait a week to see if ICS is released quickly - possibly the video acceleration support in ICS will make some difference, I don't know. But out of the box, my conclusion is that it is a great idea ruined by an underpowered CPU, sad to say.
I really hope it's just an issue with video acceleration support rather than AIOS choosing an under-powered cpu for their first Android player. :(

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 8:54 am
by jm987
sbermunk wrote: Well, I picked one up to try today. So far, unfortunately, I have to say I'm not impressed one bit, and I will be returning it.
I think they just went with an underpowered CPU...

My tests were run streaming from my fileserver - I haven't tried playing from a memory card or whatnot.
Most of my high-res MKV files won't play at all. Given the other problems with the unit, I'm not motivated to figure out why. (Tried all the stock video players that came with the unit.)xp
One of my test 1080p/24 clips would load and play, but the poor little machine just could not keep up - the best player would play for a few seconds, then hang for a few seconds, and so on. A couple of random lower-res (DVD) MKV files I tried worked fine.

The Netflix app loads and runs, but actual video playback is pretty awful. Blocky and stuttery, at best. It did sort of work though. I wouldn't want to watch it, I'm afraid.

I've been looking at something to replace my current setup at home (SageTV with Sage HD300's) and had this in my NCIX shopping card ready to go and try out. Glad I saw your post before I pulled the trigger. I wanted to use it as a Plex Client and for Netflix access. Thanks for letting us know your experience.


JM

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 9:07 am
by audit13
sbermunk wrote: Well, I picked one up to try today. So far, unfortunately, I have to say I'm not impressed one bit, and I will be returning it.
I think they just went with an underpowered CPU...

My tests were run streaming from my fileserver - I haven't tried playing from a memory card or whatnot.
Most of my high-res MKV files won't play at all. Given the other problems with the unit, I'm not motivated to figure out why. (Tried all the stock video players that came with the unit.)
One of my test 1080p/24 clips would load and play, but the poor little machine just could not keep up - the best player would play for a few seconds, then hang for a few seconds, and so on. A couple of random lower-res (DVD) MKV files I tried worked fine.

The Netflix app loads and runs, but actual video playback is pretty awful. Blocky and stuttery, at best. It did sort of work though. I wouldn't want to watch it, I'm afraid.

A lot of things just didn't seem to work with the remote. I had to plug a mouse in to accomplish much. For instance, I couldn't accept the Android Market terms and conditions without plugging in the mouse.

The quality of the remote doesn't give me much confidence that it would last very long.

Almost everything on the unit is pretty sluggish. The on-screen keyboard is rather painful to use.

Perhaps I will wait a week to see if ICS is released quickly - possibly the video acceleration support in ICS will make some difference, I don't know. But out of the box, my conclusion is that it is a great idea ruined by an underpowered CPU, sad to say.

Too bad you had such difficulty with the unit.

Were you streaming via wired or wireless? What playback were you using before getting the Xios? How is the speed of the UI compared to your previous player?

I have the Aios right now and I really like it. All I use mine for is 1080p/24 playback with HD audio and flacs.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 9:15 am
by EugW
audit13 wrote: I doubt the player wouldn't support files > 4gb. Players have supported ntfs and hfs+ for a while.
Has anyone tested this on this particular unit? The reason I ask is because Android doesn't natively support either NTFS or HFS+, or exFAT for that matter. It has to be added in via 3rd party support. Consequently, most Android devices don't support files greater than 4 GB in size.

Mind you, the fact that it's Android 2.3 would be a deal killer for me anyway, even if sbermunk's review weren't so negative.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 9:38 am
by audit13
EugW wrote: Has anyone tested this on this particular unit? The reason I ask is because Android doesn't natively support either NTFS or HFS+, or exFAT for that matter. It has to be added in via 3rd party support. Consequently, most Android devices don't support files greater than 4 GB in size.

Mind you, the fact that it's Android 2.3 would be a deal killer for me anyway, even if sbermunk's review weren't so negative.

Good point. I should have thought about that too since I also use a Mac.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 2:10 pm
by aasoror
OK hold your horses guys, I can't make that much comments on GB as I am running ICS now (will release it shortly).

- I was never able to get smooth wifi playback for 1080p contents on any of my devices EVER, if you still want to go for it might want to get wifi analyzer and see if your wifi channel isn't that crowded.

- Make sure that whichever playback app you is using HW acceleration.

- I will make demos and benchmarks for ICS version shortly.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 2:21 pm
by Beradon
aasoror wrote: - I was never able to get smooth wifi playback for 1080p contents on any of my devices EVER, if you still want to go for it might want to get wifi analyzer and see if your wifi channel isn't that crowded.
+1 WiFi streaming is more than likely a culprit for most video problems. Please do your tests over wired LAN.
- Make sure that whichever playback app you is using HW acceleration.
Agreed. Can someone try MXplayer from the Google Play store? Also install the appropriate codec pack for hardware accelerated playback.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 8:04 pm
by sbermunk
Sorry, I should have specified that I was using a wired connection, not WiFi.
How can you even tell if your selected video player is using hardware acceleration, anyway? I tried all the players that came with the shipping firmware. ('MX player', is one of the preinstalled ones. I don't know if that is the specific one you are talking about Beradon, I will have to check.)
I have an Aios, which isn't perfect, but it runs pretty decently. Naturally it can't do Netflix (without something like Plex at least? but that sounds... messy), which was a primary reason I was interested in the Xios.
It's possible Plex might work better than direct-streaming, since if I understand correctly Plex re-encodes everything on the server end. What it encodes to, I have no idea however. I haven't played with Plex.
I didn't properly test any large video files since I was having such poor luck with playback, but I am pretty sure the 1080p/24 file that I had limited success with (play/pause/play/pause.....) was greater than 4GB (streamed off a windows share). I probably never accessed anything in it past the actual 4GB point, however.
I wasn't aware that codec packs of any kind existed on Android. When I get a chance I will check that out, thanks.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 9:15 pm
by dracula
This is way overpriced. A comparable device, Mini X on dx is just 77.50...

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 9:50 pm
by bylo
dracula wrote: A comparable device, Mini X on dx is just 77.50...
One problem is that there's quite a few Android 2.x media players for $70 to $80 on DX so choosing the "best" one is hardly easy or safe. A second problem is the hassles you'll have should what you get prove to be defective or, as the XOIS appears to be, not yet ready for prime time.

I need another media player. I was so hoping that the XIOS would be the answer. Now it seems we're destined to another multi-month wait while Pivos gets the bugs out of XIOS, just as we had to wait for Patriot to get the bugs (we hope) out of Alpine.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 9:56 pm
by aasoror
dracula wrote: This is way overpriced. A comparable device, Mini X on dx is just 77.50...
Isn't it based on the Mali200 ? there is reasons these boxes are dirt cheap.
bylo wrote: I need another media player. I was so hoping that the XIOS would be the answer. Now it seems we're destined to another multi-month wait while Pivos gets the bugs out of XIOS, just as we had to wait for Patriot to get the bugs (we hope) out of Alpine.
ICS on the XIOS is going good so far, limitations now goes straight down to Android ..

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 2nd, 2012 9:58 pm
by aasoror
sbermunk wrote: Sorry, I should have specified that I was using a wired connection, not WiFi.
How can you even tell if your selected video player is using hardware acceleration, anyway? I tried all the players that came with the shipping firmware. ('MX player', is one of the preinstalled ones. I don't know if that is the specific one you are talking about Beradon, I will have to check.)
There should settings to favour HW decoding (or enable/disable it) on each individual app.

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 3rd, 2012 3:38 pm
by zero64
Anybody know how good Youtube is on this thing? Will it do 720p or 1080p decently?

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 3rd, 2012 8:44 pm
by dracula
aasoror wrote: Isn't it based on the Mali200 ? there is reasons these boxes are dirt cheap.

I don't think it's Mali 200 based in any reasonable sense - Allwinner A10, Mali 400?
http://dx.com/p/mini-android-2-3-hd-108 ... 79?item=10

Re: XIOS DS Media Player Owners Thread

Posted: Jun 3rd, 2012 10:49 pm
by aasoror
dracula wrote: I don't think it's Mali 200 based in any reasonable sense - Allwinner A10, Mali 400?
http://dx.com/p/mini-android-2-3-hd-108 ... 79?item=10

Sorry, you didn't provide a link in your OP so I looked for the comparable one with LAN port (as this one doens't have one) and it was a Mali200.