Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Evolve LifeStation

Hi,

I am hoping for some advice regarding using the Evolve LifeStation media server in a Meridian based system?

I am looking into setting up a media server and know that I need one that can decode the HD codecs internally for use with my HD621. I spoke to a guy at Evolve who is an ex Meridian employee and he assured me that the LifeStation can do this.

It can also playback Bluray files at 1080p24 (something else I would need).

I like the form factor of the unit and also the fact that the unit is able to do all the ripping internally.

Is anybody using this system?

I live in Jersey so getting a demo is not an option.

Thanks,
Justin

Lucky you, living in Jersey.

I was not familiar with Evolve and looked around their website. As they mention "British", it took me a while to ascertain that they appear to be in London SW17.

Is this "Dune" from the UK? The products certainly look interesting and they say they will directly support them from the factory.

I would also be interested to hear anyone's comments.

Not sure from the spec if it handles .iso or 5.1 FLAC.

But, otherwise it's in the Dune camp.

Jersey is great, but the downside is getting access to demo the kind of gear I like to listen to & watch!

It does seem to have some of the Dune features (internal HD audio decoding & 1080p24 Bluray output) but in a more integrated package.

This forum has been a great help to me with many of my purchases and advice on upgrades over the years & hopefully someone out there has some experience with the Evolve in a Meridian system (but it is quite a new product I think).

Justin

This is a Windows 7 64bit Machine with a 60Gb SSD Drive; an i3 DC Processor and 4Gb of Ram

It also has the MyMovies Client and Server App

As such it's going to be quite a bit different from the Dune machines, which are obviously very specific and have their own OS (likely Busybox / Linux)

The fact that it's a PC has both Plusses and Minuses........good for Techies.......possibly a lot of Installation and Ongoing support will be required if not technically minded

My guess is that this is at a significantly higher price point than the Dune options.........

Never heard or seen it out there before. But I will say this. It's hard to beat a Dune today bang/buck. And Dune is out there and is being supported actively. I'm not going back to the PC again for playback. Only for handling meta data catalogue (MyMovies).

As for interface the Dune already works with MyMovies and the 7$ iPad app of MyMovies support direct Dune playback from a tap on the MyMovies coverwall on the iPad. Just type in the IP adress of the Dunes in MyMovies iPad app and you're good to go!

I'm still considering a Dune-based type of system too for my DVDs mainly but haven't found a 'Dummy's Guide' to set up including MyMovies and my old hpMediaSmartServer which has 4Tbs of storage and which now only holds my Squeezebox music selections .

HDI Dune do actually seem to listen to their customers regarding requests for features too which is good.

~M~

The big sell for me on the Dune is that I can play all my DVD-A Ripped in full resolution 5.1.

That it also acts as a very nice photo browser on the big lounge screen and also plays practically every ripped DVD/Bluray format makes it a very versatile player. And it's a Bluray disc spinner too.

There's little learning to be done. It just reads the files from the HDD's wherever you have them in your network. Link to a HD621 and go.

As mentioned above.....look at the bang/buck on these. One of the best buys out there. (IMHO)

Hi Justin

I just got my LifeStation and I am very satisfied.


It can indeed decode the HD codecs internally for use with a HD621.

It can also playback Bluray files at 1080p24.

The LifeStation is really a nice system. DVD and BR playback from my QNAP NAS works great (after some tweaking of the setup). So no need to buy their LifeStore if you already have a NAS with your movies on it.

I bought my system from Rick at AudioImages who was a pleasure to work with (as always).

JPW,

Can it play FLAC 5.1 files?

Regards,
Carl

JPW,

Can I also ask how family friendly is it? I cannot imagine my wife being keen to use anything that has a windows front end no matter how disguised. Or does it have real ease of use?

Regards,
Richard

Disk Playback Supported :

BD-ROM (Bonus View; Profile 1.1), BD- ROM (BD-Live; Profile 2.0), BD-R/RE Playback, AVC-HD 8c/12cm DVD, DVD Video, Audio CD, VCD, DVD-R/RW,, DVD-RW (VR Format), DVD+R/RW CD- R/RW

Video Formats Supported :

H.264, MPEG-2,MPEG-4, AVC, VC1, AVCHD, WMV HD, Div X, MKV, DivX HD, Xvid, HDV, QuickTime HD, Adobe Flash, QuickTime*, WPEG, PNG, WMF, BMP, GIF

Audio Formats Supported :

AAC 16 to 320 kbps), MP3 (16 to 320 kbps), WMA (16 to 320 kbps), WMA Lossless, FLACMS ADPCM, WAV, Dolby Digital LPCM, MPEG-1 L2, 8ch Linear PCM bitstream out, Dolby TrueHD decoding,
Dolby TrueHD bitstream out, DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream out

Photo Formats Supported :

JPEG, TIF


[b][u]Product Specifications[/u] :[/b] (LINK)