Dune HD Max -The OFFICIAL Thread

[Andrew Robinson]

We've all lusted after the king of all media servers, Kaledescape, and its sexy user interface, bit-for-bit compression and seemingly endless array of peripherals that extend one's media room to room. The problem with K-Scape is that you're going to pay a premium for the level of automation it provides, making it largely unobtainable for those who's last names aren't Gates or Buffett (though I don't see ol' Warren buying K-Scape).

A few years back HTPCs began to emerge and while they've largely been relegated to me too status there's still very much an underground following for the home theater computer platform. Companies like LifeWare thought to endeavored to bring HTPCs to the masses, however, like K-Scape, they failed to do so at an affordable price point. This is merely one example of how and why HTPC remain somewhat a cult-like product, relegated to the DIY'ers and forum crowds.

Apple entered the fray initially with their Mac Mini, which ran a back end program called Front Row. Front Row used iTunes for its content management and so long as you were willing to playback nothing but iTunes compatible files it seemed Apple had cracked it. Later they put this same usability into their AppleTV product, which took the idea a step further but was still hindered by its iTunes dependency. Since AppleTV there have been a number of new streaming devices on the market, ones designed to access files on a home network or via the Internet using services such as Netflix, but none have the same out of the box capability as K-Scape.

As an avid Apple enthusiast and a AppleTV fan for years I grew tired with its dependency upon iTunes, though while convenient lacked in overall audio and video quality thanks to its invasive compression. With the release of AppleTV take 2 (the hockey puck shaped streamer) I longed for something more. Not that there is anything against Apple or other streaming devices that are geared towards user interaction versus overall quality, but I grew tired of maintaining two libraries -one of physical media and the other compressed down converts for streaming purposes.

As they say in infomercials, there had to be a better way.

Enter Dune-HD and their Max HD Blu-ray/HDD/Streaming player, which at $599 (I believe that's right) is the perfect backbone to a true DIY K-Scape system that can go toe-to-toe with the big boys for much, much less. I feel so strongly that I can replicate without compromise the K-Scape experience that I'll be taking you step by step through the process on just how to do it. This is going to be a lengthy thread for I have only just received the Dune-HD products and am in the process of familiarizing myself with their capabilities. Still, if you're interested in taking a journey with me I invite you to come along for the ride, share in my success and learn from what I'm sure will be many a mistake. If you're ahead of me on this topic give me tips so that I can try out new methods and perhaps expand upon them. Also, please understand that this may be a slightly slow moving thread as I'm going to be coming out of pocket here and there as I beef up my network, storage capability etc. things that aren't always able to be done at a moments notice. Regardless, it should be fun and I welcome all who are willing to learn along side me to please do so.

Here we go...

[Jerry Del Colliano]

I am an Apple fan too but Dune could be a total game changer.

Think K-Scape for $500 - not $25,000.

[KennyT]

I am eager to see what you think Andrew, I want one already just from what I've heard!

[Andrew Robinson]

Please make no mistake, what I will be attempting is very much DIY, I just hope that by documenting it here on HTE the process will be easier for those who wish to follow in my footsteps. I am by no means the first, however I have yet to find a thread that details the process from start to finish, which is what I will attempt to do.

[Tracy Rainwater]

Looks like the price is $499.95, marked down from $599.95.

So what is your ultimate goal Andrew. Are you wanting to stream music and DVD quality video or are we talking about streaming full resolution Blu-ray as well?

[Andrew Robinson]

Streaming full res music, DVDs and Blu-rays while enjoying a K-Scape like interface for both. Am also looking into 4K possibilities too. I know the first three are possible via Dune-HD, the 4K option may require a separate box/server build. This may take a several weeks but having ripped my library once before for Apple -I only want to do it again once more, so I'm making sure I do it right.

[Jerry Del Colliano]

I am SO IN on this.

[Tracy Rainwater]

It would be nice if the Blu-ray industry would work out a "fair use" strategy so it would be easy to rip legally owned Blu-rays to the hard drive.

[Andrew Robinson]

Today was an eye opening experience as I first dove into the realm of PCs for the first time in 12 years followed by a lengthy education in true network storage, special thanks to RayJr and the folks at Dune-HD. I have a better understanding (note I did not say grasp) of what this experiment is going to entail but never the less I will continue -lets just say that connecting Dune-HD products to your network is NOT plug-n-play (even if it appears to be at first blush).

I need a few days to digest what went down today but will be sharing all that was learned shortly, much of it has little to do with the Dune-HD product itself. Before I can go any further I have to beef up my setup just a bit in order to serve true 1080p content.

If you're planning on doing any sort of network video serving keep in mind the following...

• Use Western Digital drives (at least not the ones aimed at what I'll call auto-NAS)
• Direct Ethernet connections are required, you WILL NOT be doing this wirelessly
• Power line Ethernet adaptors will also NOT WORK for HD video serving/streaming (SD yes, HD no)
• Need to think about hard disc space not in single digits but multiple terabytes (like 20+)
• While no where near as expensive as K-Scape the Dune-HD rig can get costly (few thousand) when taken to 11.
• Don't even bother with Mac or Apple products, you'll drive yourself crazy and make yourself want to quit before you've even started.

More to come...

[RayJr]

oh....it wasn't that bad...hehehe

RayJr