Egreat A11...Review

[OlivierQC]

[Nice Monkey]

Please include also pictures of the interior. That is where the real differences should be.

[OlivierQC]

Hello Nice Monkey,


Here are the pictures, I'm not a pro.


Egreat A10











Egreat A11

















see you

[Nice Monkey]

Thanks a lot! Nice detailed pictures. These confirm the higher quality build of A11.

What I see as differences just by having a visual peak:
- The PSU is earthed. This not trivial as detailed earlier by me. Looking at the physical size it probably indeed has been sized generously also.
- The PSU is fully shielded which is the perfect thing to do. It avoids impact on audio/video signals both analog and digital.
- The output of analog video and audio use discrete HQ components. Very relevant for people using specially analog audio out for discrete AMP's and headsets. For HDMI there is less impact.

The cooling concept was not changed as far as I can see. I was not impressed with the cooling of the A10 as the casing did not absorb the heat of specifically the HDD very well, cooling mainly depended on the airflow. Only temperature measurements can reveal if this chassis does a better job?

[bolkebear59]

[bolkebear59]

sorry my internet line just  went on strike

What I want to ask Olivier......if I read your review about the Zidoo X10 you prefer that one over the A10.......considering the lower price would you still go for the Zidoo X10 ?. I know it will be me to make the final decision but I would appreciate your view.

Thanks....I am no newbie to Kodi but to Android I am.

[Nice Monkey]

@Bolkebear59
I am using my A10 with my media centre setup and my X9S in my bedroom. I have a slight preference for my A10 mainly for the menu/command structure using the standard players. Regarding PQ and features they are very much on par with minor differences. Each has different shortcomings but as both products already came a long way one can definitely live with those. The Egreat A10 needs some tuning to get the best PQ as OlivierQC mentioned, overall we are very much inline with our mutual views. If price is a serious factor I would go for a bargain offer as both are excellent choices. The A11 is really for the guys who just want the best.  If one spends many thousands on a 4K TV/Projector plus expensive audio equipment then I would go for the A11 for sure. Feature wise even an A5 offers the same as an A11.

For KODI-only users the choice is between Vidon and ZDMC. Vidon has a problem as development seems to be frozen, ZDMC is probably the best choice? No idea what Egreat plans here? For pure KODI only I would personally buy another (cheaper) media player not being based on Android but Linux instead.

[OlivierQC]

Hi Bolkebear59

I agree with Nice monkey.

both are excellent player, but the Egreat A10 with Vidon is really excellent, I will choose the A10 at this price (160Euros)


what I like about Egreat is stability with vidon, unlike zidoo / ZDMC sometimes I have an error message.

but without forgetting what Nice Monkey says above

Vidon has a problem as development seems to be frozen, but if it is to play movies only, the version 16.1 is enough

see you

[Charles01]

Does that mean My A5 is not good enough to show my blu ray on the big screen then. I brought on the understanding that the picture and sound  where on par with the original Blu Ray  or have I got that wrong

[futeko.com]

Does that mean My A5 is not good enough to show my blu ray on the big screen then. I brought on the understanding that the picture and sound  where on par with the original Blu Ray  or have I got that wrong

Internal hardware is very similar between A5 and A11, the difference is the quality of some internal components (plug, cables, better shielding). Nice Monkey is correct that A11 will give better image quality, but the difference is very marginal.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with the image quality of A5.

[futeko.com]

can buy  A10 now for around 6.290 Baht/ 160 Euro.

I'd be very surprised if Egreat A10 is available anywhere at that price. It's way below cost price and Egreat A10 is not being discontinued.

[bolkebear59]

At first...thanks Olivier and Nice Monkey for both your advice. I I will go for the A10 then.  And will get me an Egreat A5 for the bedroom too. Still cheaper then one A11.
Sorry for Futeko.com but  yes the Egreat  players are cheaper here in Thailand. I just made a quick stroll around 4 shops  in Bangkok (I could give ythe names but as you have a shop too I in no way want to undermine your business) and mentioned below are the prices  I found Egreat A5 and A10 for here . Mind you it are not the Chinese models . One shopkeeper showed me a running Egreat A5 and it had all its software available in both Dutch and Danish. He told me mostly expats buy them.  Thai customers preferred the plug and play players and reading here and on other forums as well that both Zidoo and Egreat are not.  He also told me that Egreat is selling the A10 at a reduced price to get ridd off their stock. True or false I do not know but if i were Egreat I would do the same if I really wanted to push the A11.
I also checked on internet and  at the big shops I know in Chiang Mai and Udon Tani prices are near the same as ones you see below.
The A11 is at the moment only available at a very very upmarket shop near the Emporium shopping center and for a price that made me fastly run away.  Thai Baht 19.895,--...about 458 UK Pounds and they have to order it  for you if you want one.

Egreat A5 can be had here for between 4.290 Thai Baht and  4.990 Thai Baht...available all over the Bangkok. So between 95 and 115 pounds UK.
Egreat A10 is only available at 2 of the shops I know in Bangkok and at the two big electronic shops in Chiang Mai between  6.290 Thai Baht and 8.990 Thai baht (but then  with a free 500gb harddrive included). So in UK pounds between 145,-- and 205,--.

Today I will go get me the Egreat A10 and start to "play"with it. Should I run into any troubles I know where to go: this forum.
Thanks.

[OlivierQC]

Hello,

I just made a small test with the 2 output HDMI of the Egreat A11.



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1st test
With a pioneer Elite SC81 which does not support the DTS X, ATMOS and the HDR, with a Sony TV 4k 850D compatible HDR.

Second test
With a Onkyo 656  which support the DTS X, ATMOS and the HDR, with a Sony TV 4k 930C compatible HDR.

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I did the test with a video UHD HDR that has a DTS HD soundtrack, because it seems to me to have seen that the hdmi 1.4 supports HD sound 7.1

----------------------


With the Pioneer I have DTS sound (but no HD), it is not catastrophic because it allows me to enjoy movies in UHD HDR with the dual HDMI output of Egreat A11 on my TV 4k HDR







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With the Onkyo TX-NR656 I have DTS HD sound compared to the pioneer who only has DTS sound





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Does this mean that a receiver not compatible with DTS-X and Atmos will not have HD sound with the hdmi 1.4 output of the A11,
despite the fact that the receiver is DTS HD compatible.

-------------------------

thank you in advance

OlivierQC

[Nice Monkey]

All current audio standards including ATMOS and DTS-X should work via HDMI 1.4 as far as I know. It works in combination with HD video and some UHD modes only because of HDMI 1.4a bandwidth restrictions. As UHD Video is stripped with the splitting over 2 ports it should work then with any Video mode on the other port.

Obviously the AMP needs to support all advanced HD Audio modes too. ATMOS and DTS-X typically come with HDMI 2.0a capable receivers only. Some older receivers will be capable to strip the HD DD/DTS signal and still play the so called core as standard DD or DTS. My Onkyo older TX-NR609 receiver does so for ATMOS and DTS-X. Other HD audio modes are supported by it natively. Should work like that also using dual ports.

[Nice Monkey]

Q: PSU type? Egreat A11 has an IEC C14 power socket. We ship an IEC C13 power lead suitable for the country the order is being shipped to. Europe - 2-pin Europlug, UK - fused 3-pin UK, USA/Canada - 2-pin US, Australia/New Zealand - 2-pin Australian. If you have a request for a specific power lead type please email us.

Sorry Futeko but you should be shipping 3-pin power cords for all countries not just UK to make the box Earthed as it is designed for. I am aware that this requires multiple types of cords for various countries within Europe. Obviously a 2-pin cord just works but the better design advantage is lost.

The socket on the box is the most common standard for professional equipment and finding an obsolete matching power cord should be very easy. This for those wanting to swap it for a quality cable. Desktop PC power cables are good examples.