What are the benefits of the Zidoo UHD3000 compared to the other media boxes?

[manley]

I noticed that most of the media boxes now being sold by Futeko use the Realtek 1619 chip, so if you are mainly interested in picture quality will the cheaper boxes using the same Realtek chip have the same picture quality as the more expensive UHD3000 box using the same chip?

[Nice Monkey]

UHD3000 has the additional Audio Panel and will improve Audio when using Analog Audio output.
In theory the far better PSU improves everything but I don't think that it will be really visible for PQ.

[manley]

When comparing the Zidoo Z9X £190 to the UHD3000 £800 both using the 1619 chip it seems you are paying around 4 times in order to get better audio (which is debatable when using the Z9X with a usb connected dac of good quality) and the  use of internal hard drives which I don't need and I suspect most other users of these boxes also don't use.

[futeko.com]

The ESS 9068 DAC chip in UHD3000 costs ~ $500 in a standalone DAC. It produces superior audio quality for those who want the best. Clearly it's not for everybody and the 1619 chipset in cheaper Zidoo products has a good DAC itself.

Other benefits of UHD3000 are 2 x SATA HDD bays, 2 x HDMI ports (vital for some HDMI 1.4 audio setups), more RAM, MQA support via the DAC, and the linear PSU.

[Nice Monkey]

When comparing the Zidoo Z9X £190 to the UHD3000 £800 both using the 1619 chip it seems you are paying around 4 times in order to get better audio (which is debatable when using the Z9X with a usb connected dac of good quality) and the  use of internal hard drives which I don't need and I suspect most other users of these boxes also don't use.

The answer is simple. There is no obligation to buy more expensive models. In fact I do like the line up with the various model choices. But PQ and (almost all) FW features are the same for all models.

For UHD3000 additional goodies read this one.
http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/practical-experiences-using-the-uhd3000.86061/

[clueluzz]

Does the DAC in the UHD3000 (or Neo X) affect the audio quality of HDMI Bitstream passthrough as compared to Z9X? I know that the quality PSU and components improves the picture quality. Please advise.

[futeko.com]

Does the DAC in the UHD3000 (or Neo X) affect the audio quality of HDMI Bitstream passthrough as compared to Z9X? I know that the quality PSU and components improves the picture quality. Please advise.

No. It only affects the XLR and RCA audio outputs.

[Nice Monkey]

Does the DAC in the UHD3000 (or Neo X) affect the audio quality of HDMI Bitstream passthrough as compared to Z9X? I know that the quality PSU and components improves the picture quality. Please advise.

The Neo X uses high quality components and a Linear PSU also for the mainboard. The quality of the Clock is specifically important as it affects HDMI clock jitter and tolerance. That affects the sound quality for movies and music in my perception using the same AMP via HDMI (compared with Z9X and also UHD3000). 

So the Neo X is better here than my Z9X/UHD3000 which is audible for me. Obviously subjective like hell.

[clueluzz]

So the Neo X is better here than my Z9X/UHD3000 which is audible for me. Obviously subjective like hell.

Noted. Thanks for the info. At least now I understand what I have to lookout for and which one I should get.