5.1 / AC3 surround sound with Tablo

General Discussion
41

According to Channel Master Support it does indeed support 5.1

42

The hdhomerun software is the one that I am holding out hope for. Iā€™ve got a silicon dust network tuner that I have used for probably a decade now and itā€™s been flawless.

There PVR software is still beta, though you can pay 60 bucks and get in on the beta program now (initially it was a Kickstarter). The main reason that I havenā€™t yet is partly because I didnā€™t feel like fighting through beta software issues but also because I donā€™t think that my old tuner is supported by the software so I really want to know that the package is solid before replacing my otherwise perfectly functioning tuner.

43

Which Silicon Dust tuner? Is it the Simple.TV 2 by Silicon Dust? Or one of their other products?

The new HDHomeRun DVR software only supports the HDHomeRun Connect, Extend and Prime models.

44

This is the one that I have:

45

That is the older generation HDHomeRun hardware, it wonā€™t work with new HDHomeRun DVR software.

46

This feature in and of itself will be the reason I return my Tablo. After hooking it up, so far so good, until we get to sound when watching on TV. This should be a requirement.

47

What are you going to replace the Tablo with? There is no substitute that does the exact same things as the Tablo.

48

You can ask at their forums if your older hardware is supported by the newer software but from everywhere Iā€™ve read the answer is unfortunately no.

https://www.silicondust.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=119&sid=5f87da098124863a73a151ff3b7f7535

49

Do you have a receiver? If so, try switching it to Dolby Pro Logic II while watching Tablo. Itā€™s not perfect, but itā€™s far better than default stereo sound. It simulates surround sound.

50

Yeah, when i saw the kickstarter i noticed that they called out specific models and i did a little research which made it sound like their PVR will use hardware that the my version doesnā€™t contain. That kind of raised the bar on how great their PVR app would have to be to get me to switch to it because all of the other pvr apps that iā€™ve ever tried work with the old hardware. Itā€™s not like the tuners are super expensive, i think that i could get a CONNECT for half of what i paid for my old one but, it does make the switch more expensive so i want to feel like it will be worth it. So far, iā€™m not convinced, from reading the forums. I have faith that they will get there.

51

The two HUGE deficiencies for me with the new HDHomeRun DVR software is the lack of support for Roku and Apple devices. I want native support for these devices, no transcoding of the video through a Plex Media Server.

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52

Exactly, streaming through plex just adds a level of quality degradation that I couldnā€™t accept.

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53

Yeah, their lack of apple support is troubling for me too. Even though, i do have a fire tv at the moment. Their native support is via Kodi isnā€™t it?

54

Kodi can be side loaded on to a Fire TV, but I wouldnā€™t call that native support for Fire TV. Side loading is something for the technically endowed.

55

Canā€™t argue that.

56

It supports Plex

57

I already explained I do not want to have to run a separate computer running Plex Media Server (PMS) to transcode the MPEG2 video to h.264 video to get playback on the Plex channel on a Roku.

The HDHomeRun DVR software will run on the NAS. Yes, it will accessible by the Plex channel on the Roku, but the recorded stream is MPEG2 video which cannot be played back by any Roku player. So for the Plex channel on the Roku to play a recording, the PMS will have to transcode the video.

This is why I like my Tablo, native Roku support.

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58

The HDHomeRun is going to be a lot like SageTV as far as I can tell. I used HDHomeRun tuners for my SageTV setup before I de-commissioned that system.
I also bought into Tablo because it was much more a DVR appliance - with no server to run 24/7, as in SageTV or HDHomeRun. And while Tablo has had its performance ups and downs, it has been pretty reliable, and is currently working great for me.
That said, Dolby 5.1 should really be part of the package IMHO.

59

I didnā€™t catch that. Iā€™m sorry. Anything I would run the HDHomeRun DVR on would likely be able to run Plex (which I already have up and running with a movie library anyway) so this would likely simplify my setup.

60

Agreed if youā€™re planning on running the HDHomeRun DVR software on a Computer, but I would run it on a NAS so it could be a standalone device like the Tablo. While most NAS devices can run a Plex Media Server, they do not have the CPU power to do transcoding of video from MPEG2 to h.264.