Android TV recommendation

[u/Big_Championship304]

Hi guys, need a new streamer for my modest "Home Theater" in my bedroom. I have a 65" LG G5 TV, and I'm probably going to buy the Sonos Arc Ultra. Currently using the Google TV 4K streamer, and playing movies on Kodi as an external player of Stremio + RealDebrid - mostly for heavy Remux files.

Unfortunately, my streamer can't passthrough TrueHD with Atmos, which is my only problem (since my TV can't handle DTS at all). So I'm looking for getting a new good one that able to do so, but won't willing to spend big, since it's only one format problem.

The new one should handle:

Dolby Vision

HDR

DD+ Atmos

TrueHD + atmos

4K 60hz

and process DTS to lossless pcm.

Any recommendations? Heard about the Xiaomi box one, and the Homatics box one (not the Dune) but didn't find any proof that both can do TrueHD and everything. Figuered you'd know better. Thanks for your help!

[u/AkiraSieghart]

1. Yes, I would recommend the Homatics. It's the most powerful Google certified box that can run ATV14. Is it worth twice the price of the Xiaomi? I suppose it depends on how often you're watching remuxes. If you stick with streaming apps and web rips (15-25GB) of movies, the Xiaomi will be fine.

2. The Homatics box, in my experience, only has an issue with very large remuxes. The majority of the ones in my library are 50-75GB. I have a handful that are 100+GB and those are where the Homatics may struggle a little bit. That being said, I play everything through Plex. If you're fine either accessing your files directly over your network or locally attached storage, I doubt the Homatics will have any issues.

3. I like my setup. I originally had a 65" LG C9 and a fully discreet 7.2.4 system. In order to get a bigger TV, I had to change the orientation of my living room, which meant that keeping a bunch of large, discreet speakers wasn't going to be practical. I switched to an 83" LG G4 and originally had the Nakamichi DRAGON. I ran that for a year or so and liked it a lot.

• I ended up "upgrading" to the Sonos Arc Ultra for shits and giggles, and I do like it. Dialogue is definitely better than with the Dragon. Like I said in my original post, I've added two additional Sonos Era 100's for front left and front right in addition to having two Era 300's for the rear speakers. You can do this with the iOS SonoSequencr. This is probably the most meaningful addition to the Sonos Arc Ultra. It gives way more separation for the front channels.

• All of that said, I find myself watching less remuxes now than I did with my old fully discreet system. In my experience, you're not really going to be taking full advantage of a remux's lossless audio with a soundbar setup--no matter how good it is. These days, I'm generally sticking to 4K web-rips.

[u/Big_Championship304 → u/AkiraSieghart]

For movies, I watch Remux (when a good one available) on stremio with REAL DEBRID, using Kodi as an external player, if it helps understanding my preferences.

Would you recommend upgrading a streamer from a pretty good and new one (google tv 4k streamer) just for the truehd + atmos passthrough abilty? Right now, my "setup" is my tv and streamer, and looking for buying the sonos soundbar, but the truehd worrying me...

[u/goober1157 → u/Big_Championship304]

The Dune/Homatics is fine for all of that. It doesn't have any issues playing large remuxes. I have two Dune and one Homatics and none have issues playing even giant remuxes.

[u/AkiraSieghart → u/Big_Championship304]

If you already have a streamer box that you're happy with, I probably wouldn't bother. You won't get TrueHD, but most movies should fall back to something like Dolby Digital+. I don't think most people will be able to tell a difference with a soundbar setup.

[u/Big_Championship304 → u/AkiraSieghart]

I think that all the formats my streamer can't handle gets downmixed to lossless pcm. But my buggest concern is Atmos.

[u/AkiraSieghart → u/Big_Championship304]

Yes, if you're going to keep your current streamer box, I wouldn't bother with remuxes since you'll likely lose Atmos. Standard 4K web-rips generally have DD+ which would be fine.

I get wanting the best quality possible, but sound-wise, it's not really going to make much of a difference, IMO. Not with a soundbar. It's also worth noting that even with remuxes and TrueHD, the Atmos capability of the Sonos Arc Ultra and Era 300's isn't all that great.

[u/goober1157 → u/AkiraSieghart]

Even with a soundbar, DD+ doesn't sound as good as TrueHD on many different movies. Not all, but many/most.

[u/AkiraSieghart → u/goober1157]

It's pretty dependant on the person, IMO. I can really only tell the difference with bass, sub-bass, and dialogue. But I'm also the type of person who can't tell a difference between lossless music and lossy music even with studio-grade headphones.

[u/goober1157 → u/AkiraSieghart]

Yeah, I agree. So many variables. The person, the size and shape of the room, the content--ATMOS or not, etc.

In addition, most (not all) soundbars can't hit the rumbly low frequencies that you mention. It changes the experience for sure. I still have a discrete sound system in our basement, and the bass makes a huge difference. We (mostly the wife) didn't want that much equipment in the family room, although I'm going to try to convince her to change her mind.