Author Topic: What happened to Mede8er?  (Read 24755 times)

Offline vvuuren

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What happened to Mede8er?
« on: January 16, 2017, 09:08:03 AM »
So Mede8er shows up, brings out a few great products, then just disappears! No more Mede8er products, WTF?

Wouldve been nice to atleast know what is going on but we didn't hear anything, just BOOM gone!!

I feel abit sad and sickened by this   :'(
« Last Edit: January 16, 2017, 09:18:25 AM by vvuuren »

Offline jer1956

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2017, 09:35:07 AM »
They only make Media Players. The Media Player has had it's day. During the testing of first gen ARM based chips, 4K Smart TV's arrived. 4K TV without 4K media is a pointless exercise. Every 4k TV has to be Smart, and offer 4K vod. All the last few generations of HD TV's have also been Smart. The niche for external media players has shrunk to virtually nothing.  No point saying they are not as good an external device is they satisfy the needs of 99.9%. Not finding a decent first gen ARM chip, and they tested lots, saved them from having unprofitable product. To them it wasn't Boom, that would have been the sound of going bust. They where not going to do an A C Ryan, seeing themselves as Media Player makers first, and a business second.

You can never say, never again. When they started Smart TV's didn't exist. The likes of Popcorn (sigma) and Mede8er(realtek) identified something was missing and filled it. It is no longer missing, it comes built in. So what's needed is another missing feature to be supplied by small companies.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2017, 09:47:51 AM by jer1956 »

Offline vvuuren

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2017, 09:50:01 AM »
Thank you for that,

however , not everyone can afford a 4K tv and everything that goes with it.

I enjoyed the simple setup of the mede8er, that I have a small player connected to my (gigabit) network which is connected to a NAS with al my media on. I haven't found any other product that meets my needs as the mede8er did.

So basically, there will be NO more mede8ers ever?

Now what am I supposed todo, plug a laptop into my tv to enjoy my multimedia?

Offline jer1956

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2017, 09:53:44 AM »
Has your current play stopped working? You can find lots of ARM based clones on line for next to nothing. That's a big part of the problem. Mede8er are squeezed by dumped ARM players at the bottom end, and Smart TV's at the top. The new Realtek Android TV chip everyone is raving about has no market segment to fi in. It's too expensive to compete with the bottom end, and those with 4K TV's don't need an external box.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2017, 10:06:14 AM by jer1956 »

Offline vvuuren

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2017, 10:01:52 AM »
The 'optical' sound output is not working anymore, and I require a second one for the bedroom.

I have looked around online and shops, but can't find anything that meets my needs like mede8er.

For example, other media players I find don't have gigabit network and they don't have the function where you can view movie details on screen such as, movie cover photo, cast and description.

If you can send me a link of a good media player that has the above mentioned functions I will gladly have a look at it.

Offline jer1956

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2017, 10:09:48 AM »
The problem is Mede8er where testing the fundamentals when testing ARM chips. It was all about clocks and HD sound.  They did a lot of work to get 23.976 working with earlier models, and where not keen to repeat the process, especially with a smaller market and more competition. The never found one they where happy with....

Offline jer1956

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2017, 10:31:38 AM »
Companies do re-invent themselves to keep up their Standards. I used to buy Meridian Hi-fi in the late 70's and eighties. They where incredible good value, because the Japanese and Koreans dodn't see the need to push the boundaries. They soon did....
So Meridian said good bye to good value, and shot off into the stratosphere. Now you need thousands, and they fly in Russian Oligarchs to visit the show room.

Offline Nodscene

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #7 on: November 14, 2017, 04:04:25 AM »
Sorry but I think it's a load of crap. People are buying Android boxes by the truckloads (sure part of that is for streaming free TV shows) but the trend now is that smart TVs aren't going the smart route anymore (ie Vizio and even Oppo dropped smart apps from it's Blu Ray player). The biggest problem with Kodi based boxes is a lot have trouble with 4k hdr, hd audio passthrough and being able to stream 4k uhd from Netflix etc. Try to find one box that can do all of that. There is still a need for devices like you make or something along those lines.

It feels like as soon as things got a little tough and didn't exactly fit your business model you guys gave up instead of thinking ahead and taking advantage of other potential avenues. Frankly there is still opportunities in the streaming market for things like Netflix, Amazon. Vudu, HEVC, object oriented audio, DAC's etc etc. Even Dune put out a new player last year or so which is essentially in the same market as you albeit more expensive.

I personally think a lot of assumptions were made and while the next generation of chips may not have had what you needed at the time things change and there was always the possibility of changing to even an Intel processor like they have in NUC's as an example.

I'm still looking for a replacement for my 1000 but haven't found anything that covers all the bases adequately. Especially when it comes to he audio passthrough and Netflix HDR. True the Shield may be close but it has its own issues which don't work for me. Considering how far along they are compared to most Android boxes I truly believe if Mede8or truly desired to create solid hardware and worked hard on the software side of things they could have come up with something new and stayed in the game until either a better choosey came along or they came out with different products to keep the company alive instead of bailing as soon as they did.

Not to mention the lack up software updates on their current models which seemed to dry up pretty quick. There were a lot of excuses which looked more like let's take whatever money we made and run because things got hard and the landscape wasn't as cut and dry and when they started making these devices instead of trying to innovate and look for other possible solutions. I bought one of your products because there were rave reviews on the support you provided for your products. Maybe I came to the game to late because I experienced a completely different company

Offline jer1956

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #8 on: November 14, 2017, 08:31:53 AM »
Yes you did. It took a lot of effort to get both 23.976 and 24 hz out of the X3D. It didn't work out of the box using the Realtek SDK. But that was when there was a handful of companies and the effort was justified by good sales. If too many buyers are now happy with cheap rubbish running Kodi, return on effort doesn't  get rewarded. When that happens you end up like A C Ryan. Even the start up The Little Black Box had to throw in the towel. This market had enthusiasts running it when it started. They get no satisfaction from putting a logo on an off the shelf box anyone can make.

If Mede8er had created a new player firmware upgrades for the X3D would have stopped when they did anyway.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2017, 10:53:00 AM by jer1956 »

Offline chelsea4023

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #9 on: January 03, 2020, 02:28:48 AM »
Hi,
A lot of time has passed since the last post from jer1956 but I'll just give you an update on the way it works for me.
I have an LG65E6V 4K TV (it's the last 4K LG Oled TV that does passive 3D). I keep all my 1080p movies on the Mede8er hard drive along with the 3D ones. When I watch them, the LG upscales the 1080p signal providing a beautiful image. If I have any 4K programmes or movies, I simply place them on a large USB stick (128 or 256 Gb) and put it directly into the TV. I'm currently working my way through Seven Worlds, One planet in 4K.
I agree that this is not perfect, but it works well for me and the family.
Chris

Offline Harry_993

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2020, 08:27:09 AM »
i was thinking about getting rid of my MED too, because i thought having a 4K Smart TV makes the med an obsolete device and i wanted to reduce hardware and remote controls in the living room. So i searched for other solutions and testet a few apps, but still havent found anything yet that can provide all the features and comfortable functions that comes with the med. So i keep using my old school media player even more recently and i hope it will keep on working fine for many years....

And with the remote andriod app its much more fun to control the med compared to the buggy original RC, which means one less RC on the living room table
Mede8er  MED800X3D, FW V3.0.4
Synology DS215j, Samsung UE65JU6450UXZG

Offline jer1956

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2020, 10:43:37 AM »
My interest in upgrading would be driven by the ever expanding sources for Internet TV. Netflix now has competition. Amazon Prime have the Picard series.  Apple Tv has the Mandalorian. 

Offline jer1956

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2020, 03:52:59 PM »
I have finally found an Android Tv Box worth testing. The new Beelink Mini V2.
it is using Mobile Android. And youtube channels have demonstrated that VLC will passthrough DTS-MA.
They are hoping that TrueHD will follow with an upgrade.
The more powerfull Beelink King....is stuck with Standard AndroidTV, and SD audio. The same is true of others using the Amlogic 905x3 chip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFcPhlLU8Pc

« Last Edit: January 27, 2020, 04:00:39 PM by jer1956 »

Offline jer1956

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2020, 09:35:11 AM »
I now  have the beelink. its working in principle....but this is the first of their players to ditch androidTV in favour of mobile android. So its very much a work in progress.

So i have got VLC running with autorefresh rate change, and DTS-MA output. And the picture looks much clearer than the X3d. 

I wouldn't recommend it to  those who  want it to "work out of the box".   

It should  be treat as a little Android HTPC..with all the messing those take to get working.

Now have Kodi  working...using VLC as the player.

Found another issue. VLC is crap at deciding the best audio. Its PCM more often than not...then you have to manually pick what  should be the best surround. 
« Last Edit: January 29, 2020, 01:54:57 PM by jer1956 »

Offline chelsea4023

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Re: What happened to Mede8er?
« Reply #14 on: February 05, 2020, 02:42:05 AM »
Hi,
This original thread was about what's happened to Mede8er.
Sadly they did not produce a 4K player and changing markets have moved in different directions.
That said, I personally feel a huge bond with all my Mede8er's.
Anybody that say's the Mede8er's days are over honestly don't know what they are saying.
The Mede8er in my lounge (1000X3D) has well over 1,000 movies on it with more added every week.
They are 1080p movies but not all have Master or H.D. Audio soundtracks.
My 4K T.V. (LG E6V) has a pretty good scaler on it so watching a movie is a near 4K experience.
Sorry if I have repeated myself in posts, but if anyone is not getting satisfaction from their Mede8er
now will you please P.M. me as I may be able to help.
Chris