In use
Contents
In our test setup we connected the Shuttle to the Illusonic IAP8 which in turn controls the Optoma projector and power amplifiers. We use the DALI Phantom 280S in-walls as fronts and the Bowers 702 S2 as rear speakers. As operating system we use Windows 10 64 bit with KODI as media program. In the meantime we have reached version 18. The installation is done within half an hour from a USB stick. In our case, Windows will find all the drivers itself. Convenient.
Surprisingly
It’s amazing how well such a PC works in such a setup. Everything just works fluently. We have absolutely no idea that this is a regular PC: picture is razor sharp, sound is good – could be better, of course, but given the price and absence of custom filters, power supplies, software, etc, – it is surprisingly good. And the operation of this PC is much smoother than many blu-ray players. In short: this is certainly worth considering for those who are looking for a compact media PC and want to keep room for tweaks.
There is one but: there is no optical drive in this PC. Now we’ve got some blu-rays we use for our tests. But we ripped these – lossless – so we can stream them. That goes perfectly with KODI, but those who are less handy in it, or have a large collection, will still have to look for an external drive. By the way, KODI is not compatible with blu-ray. So you’ll have to search for other media software. Think Cyberlink PowerDVD. VLC doesn’t play everything either. This has purely to do with the pricey blu-ray codecs. By the way, ripping is fairly easy with MakeMKV.
Tweaks
Possible tweaks that could take this shuttle to the next level:
- Fidelyzer software
- J Play software
- Custom linear power supply
- Energy filters