n o v 2 0 1 2 54 av edia players have become as much a part of the audio video landscape as Blu-Ray decks and AV receivers. They provide a useful array of functions, the most important of which is to access, organise and play back movies and music (and images), stored in various formats on hard disc. Mede8er has been a prominent brand on the media player scene for some years now, and the brand’s reputation for user-friendly interfaces and top performance is well established. Another feather in the Mede8er cap is the very active role it plays in the ongoing development of its products, and the close dialogue it maintains with owners and developers around the globe. The result is an ongoing process of improvement, accessible via the regular firmware updates Mede8er issues. The Mede8er 1000X3D is the latest member of a burgeoning media player family. It’s also the new flagship of the line-up, and introduces a completely different, and very eye-catching, form factor. The ovoid, all-aluminium casework is radical by the black-box standards of the AV world, but represents a truly appealing and refreshing departure from the norm. The shape is die-cast and looks mildly alien, yet feels reassuringly robust, with top-panel switchgear and indicator lights. The aluminium casing acts as passive heatsinking, making the use of a fan unnecessary, and therefore ensuring completely noise-free operation. Clever! On closer inspection, the entire top panel opens up, clamshell-style, to reveal a snap-in hard disc drive bay that is compatible with both 2,5-inch and 3,5-inch SATA HDDs. The drive locates quickly and positively, but drives can’t be hot-swapped. Maximum HDD size is 3TB. The top panel switchgear consists of all the key buttons required to complete basic operations without the remote controller. Arranged in a circular configuration, they include a four-way navigation controller, a confirm button, and individual buttons for System, Menu, Setup and Return. The power button is on the front, directly below the cover release latch. The rear panel offers all the analogue and digital AV connectivity options one could wish for, as our stats panel indicates. Perhaps the key feature is the HDMI 1.4a socket, which is a first for a Mede8er unit, and facilitates the full 3D capability the 1000X3D offers. Also of note are the two USB 2.0 host ports, which will accommodate external storage such as flash drives and portable HDDs, while a fast USB 3.0 slave port speeds up data transfer between PCs and the 1000X3D’s internal storage. A card reader provides a further data source option. The remote controller is also new, and mimics the casing’s silver finish. Notably, it now offers full and effective backlight- ing, which previous Mede8er remote handsets did not offer. There’s also a programmable button on the opposite side to the backlight button, which can be set as a shortcut button for any of the buttons on the remote. As reviewed here, the 1000X3D relied on a Gigabyte Ethernet connection for its networking communication, but an optional Wi-Fi adapter can be fitted for those seeking wireless streaming capability. I’ve used the PCIe 802.11g/n kit on other Mede8er products, and it works well with both music and video content, but I generally prefer wired networks from both a stability and access speed perspective. Mede8er 1000X3D M MEDIA PLAYERS
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edia players have become as much a part of the audio video landscape as Blu-Ray decks and AV receivers. They provide a useful array
of functions, the most important of which is to access, organise and play back movies and music (and images), stored in various formats on hard disc.
Mede8er has been a prominent brand on the media player scene for some years now, and the brand’s reputation for user-friendly interfaces and top performance is well established.
Another feather in the Mede8er cap is the very active role it plays in the ongoing development of its products, and the close dialogue it maintains with owners and developers around the globe. The result is an ongoing process of improvement, accessible via the regular firmware updates Mede8er issues.
The Mede8er 1000X3D is the latest member of a burgeoning media player family. It’s also the new flagship of the line-up, and introduces a completely different, and very eye-catching, form factor.
The ovoid, all-aluminium casework is radical by the black-box standards of the AV world, but represents a truly appealing and refreshing departure from the norm. The shape is die-cast and looks mildly alien, yet feels reassuringly robust, with top-panel switchgear and indicator lights.
The aluminium casing acts as passive heatsinking, making the use of a fan unnecessary, and therefore ensuring completely noise-free operation. Clever!
On closer inspection, the entire top panel opens up, clamshell-style, to reveal a snap-in hard disc drive bay that is compatible with both 2,5-inch and 3,5-inch SATA HDDs. The drive locates quickly and positively, but drives can’t be hot-swapped. Maximum HDD size is 3TB.
The top panel switchgear consists of all the key buttons required to complete basic operations without the remote controller. Arranged in a circular configuration, they include a four-way navigation controller, a confirm button, and individual buttons for System, Menu, Setup and Return. The power button is on the front, directly below the cover release latch.
The rear panel offers all the analogue and digital AV connectivity options one could wish for, as our stats panel indicates. Perhaps the key feature is the HDMI 1.4a socket, which is a first for a Mede8er unit, and facilitates the full 3D capability the 1000X3D offers.
Also of note are the two USB 2.0 host ports, which will accommodate external storage such as flash drives and portable HDDs, while a fast USB 3.0 slave port speeds up data transfer between PCs and the 1000X3D’s internal storage. A card reader provides a further data source option.
The remote controller is also new, and mimics the casing’s silver finish. Notably, it now offers full and effective backlight-ing, which previous Mede8er remote handsets did not offer. There’s also a programmable button on the opposite side to the backlight button, which can be set as a shortcut button for any of the buttons on the remote.
As reviewed here, the 1000X3D relied on a Gigabyte Ethernet connection for its networking communication, but an optional Wi-Fi adapter can be fitted for those seeking wireless streaming capability. I’ve used the PCIe 802.11g/n kit on other Mede8er products, and it works well with both music and video content, but I generally prefer wired networks from both a stability and access speed perspective.
Mede8er 1000X3D
M
MEDIA PLAYERS
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The 1000X3D is not only the sexiest member of the Mede8er family, but also the most powerful, thanks to a latest-generation Realtek RTD 1186 processor, operating at 750 MHz. Combined with 512 Mb of DDR3 SRAM and 512 Mb of SLC Flash memory, the player has the processing oomph to run full-HD, Blu-Ray quality video at the correct frame rate without any sign of stutter.
In fact, in sheer performance terms, this is easily the quickest and most responsive Mede8er to date. Boot-up is rapid, and response to commands equally snappy.
SET-UP
Setting up the 1000X3D is child’s play, and an excellent step-by-step manual will assist those unfamiliar with AV systems, or network protocols. HDMI is very much the preferred interface between the Mede8er and a home theatre system (and also the easiest to implement).
While the player also offers Toslink and coaxial SPDIF options for digital audio signal transfer, neither allows for high-def surround sound formats such as Dolby TrueHD or DTS-MA, thus compelling use of HDMI for both audio and video.
However, the coaxial output is still useful for delivering high-def FLAC audio files to a compatible D/A converter.
Once connected, all the key settings of the 1000X3D are easily and quickly configured via its set-up screen, which covers all the obvious audio, video and networking categories. A fixed network IP address can be specified if required, but DHCP dynamic IP allocation is faster, more convenient and worked well, too.
I won’t cover all the set-up options here (download the 1000X3D manual from the Mede8er forum site at www.mede8erforum.com for a full run-down on set-up options and configurations), but suffice to say that the player is very intuitive to configure and set up.
Like all Mede8ers, the 1000X3D is
primarily a local content media player, in that it shines brightest when playing back content from its own HDD, external HDDs, or network sources such as NAS devices.
Its network connection does allow access to Internet-based content (given that the network it is linked to has Internet access), and it does provide interfaces for Shoutcast-based Internet radio, YouTube, Google, Picassa, Bing, Flickr and a Torrent client, as well as web browsing and video podcast access.
However, the Internet-based function-ality is heavily dependent on the quality and speed of the broadband connection employed, and I found video-rich content was simply too data intensive for the poor ADSL line quality in my area.
Internet radio worked fine at slower data rates, but the Mede8er’s radio interface is clunky and limited, compared to some of the apps on offer in the iOS and Android domains, TuneIn being one example.
Processor........................................................................ Realtek RTD1186Memory ................................................. 512 MB DDR3 SRAM, 512 MB SLC FlashVideo resolution ....................................................Up to 1080p (1920 x 1080)Video formats .................................AVI / BDMV Light / BDISO Light / MKV / TS / TP / TRP / M2TS / MPG / MP4 / MOV / M4V / VOB / ISO / IFO / DAT / WMV / ASF / RM / RMVB / FLVVideo codecs ................ MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 SP /ASP /AVC (H.264) / XviD / DivX / WMV9 (VC-1) / RealVideo 8/9/10 (up to 720p)Music codecs ........................ MP3 / MP2 / OGG Vorbis / PCM / LPCM / AAC / RA / Dolby True HD - DTS MA pass-through on HDMI only / Dolby AC3 downmix and pass-through / DTS downmix and pass-through / FLAC up to 24-bit/192 kHz, WAV, WMA Standard (DRM not supported)Video outputs ........................Composite, component analogue, HDMI 1.4a digitalAudio outputs ......................................................................... Stereo RCADigital outputs .................................... HDMI 1.4a, Toslink optical, SPDIF coaxialData ports ............................... 2x USB 2.0 host, 1x USB 3.0 slave, SD card readerNetwork ...........10/100/1000 Ethernet, NAS compatible. NFS Client. Optional Wi-Fi.
PRICE ................................................ R4 999,88 (including 3TB HDD, no Wi-Fi)
VERDICTThe best Mede8er yet. Fully 3D compatible, quick-swap HDD bay, superb all-aluminium construction, exceptional jukebox interface for movies and music. Best of all: snappy responses, and superb video and audio performance.
By comparison, the media file library of the 1000X3D is one of its major strengths, even if it does require some preparation and effort on the user’s part as far as file management and scanning is concerned.
The user interface on the 1000X3D is a major step forward from previous Mede8ers, and that also goes for the library and its jukebox functionality. That said, it takes a while to become familiar with some of the navigation aspects.
As much as I hate manuals, it’s worth keeping a copy at hand when you first
start using the player, until you’ve grasped the core operating protocols. They soon become second nature, but the learning curve is well worth mastering properly to fully exploit the potential of the Mede8er flagship.
Space precludes going into details of how to prep your movie and music files for compatibility with the media library and its movie and music jukebox functionality, but it effectively entails gathering the metadata, converting it to Mede8er standards, and then scanning the data to create XML database files.
If done properly, the result is a media-rich navigation experience that makes it easy, fun and intuitive to browse through even large movie or music collections. Not only that, but the XML databases make searches by title, genre, rating etc. a simple affair.
The interface is arguably one of the key attractions of the 1000X3D, but it is by no means the only one. As alluded to earlier, the player’s latest-gen processor and additional, faster memory make a substantial difference to its overall response times and performance.
It plays data-intensive Blu-Ray material with superior colour depth, clarity and close attention to fine detail, while smoothly rendering action scenes without any sign of judder. ‘Inception’ on BD remains one of my reference favourites, and the 1000X3D made the most of the movie’s complex backdrops, high- adrenaline action scenes and often perplexing visual effects.
In ‘Hugo’, the intricacies of the clockworks, the sheen of the automaton’s metal surfaces, the skin pallor of actors, and the bustling ambience of the Gare de Montparnasse were all faithfully and
MEDIA PLAYERS
SoftwareHugo (Blu-ray)Inception (Blu-ray)The Matrix Reloaded (DVD)Avatar (3D Blu-ray)Diana Krall – ‘The Girl In The Other Room (Apple Lossless)Acoustic Alchemy – ‘Roseland’ (WAV)The Eagles – ‘Hell Freezes Over’ (320 kbs MP3)Little Feat – ‘Rooster Rag’ (WAV)
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music source. While it is unlikely to ever reside in a dedicated stereo system, its superior interface and media manage-ment talents make it an attractive music player.
For starters, it copes with a wide range of music file formats, including the much-vaunted FLAC high-def versions, and when coupled with a decent D/A converter, does a sterling job of accessing and playing back music with a level of fidelity that is impressive.
Of course, much depends on the quality and file format of the rip, and the ability of both the player and the DAC to address clocking errors and jitter. Subjectively, WAV music files stored on my Seagate Black Armor NAS, and played in stereo through my home theatre system, with the Yamaha in Direct Mode, sounded quite superb, if a little too clean on
the upper trebles.Introducing a Musical Fidelity V-DAC
II to handle the D/A conversion brought greater depth, a more inviting soundstage, and improved bottom-end foundation to the performance, while the trebles were smoothed out, but without losing any attack or clarity.
The Mede8er 1000X3D finds itself at the top of the media player ladder, thanks to its mix of processing power, video performance (including 3D), a superior user interface and overall ver-satility. It’s also built like the proverbial tank, operates noiselessly, and breaks the mould in aesthetic terms.
It is, quite simply, the best Mede8er yet – and given the high standard set by the marque’s other media players, that’s high praise indeed.
Deon Schoeman
fascinatingly portrayed, making the most of this Scorsese masterpiece.
Even DVD-sourced material looked superb, if not quite as crisp and colour-balanced as the Blu-ray movies. The Realtek’s upsampling capabilities certainly came into play here, and I found myself engrossed in ‘The Matrix Reloaded’, with the vivid, clear treatment of the low-light scenes particularly impressive. Bear in mind that the Yamaha provides no upscaling of its own.
I don’t have a 3D-capable display at home, but I watched a few clips from the 3D edition of ‘Avatar’ on a demonstration system at the Sanji Electronics head office, and as much as I find 3D too contrived, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the Mede8er’s ability to create a sense of visual space, dimension and movement that was intriguing and believable.
The 1000X3D is fully compliant with BDISO 3D, as well as side-by-side, top and bottom, frame sequential and frame packing, and the 3D viewing experience was seamless.
With a Yamaha Aventage RX-A1010 providing the audio processing and amplification duties, the soundtracks were rich in effect and detail, with a wide-open, three-dimensional soundstage and loads of punch and impetus.
Talking of audio, the Mede8er is a very viable, and perhaps even underrated,
MEDIA PLAYERS
Associated EquipmentYamaha Aventage RX-A1010 receiverKEF KHT-3005 AV sat/sub AV speaker systemHitachi 50XR01E plasma Oppo BDP-95EU universal playerMede8er MED500X2 media playerMusical Fidelity V-DAC II D/A converter
The interfaceis arguably one ofthe key attractions
