Nixeus Fusion HD Review
by Ganesh T S on March 4, 2011 3:26 PM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Media Streamer
- Gadgets
The host of accessories, as well as the size of the main unit, make the Fusion HD package box pretty big.
Inside the box, we have the following components:
- Nixeus Fusion HD main unit
- 30W power adapter
- IR remote with batteries
- Wireless N USB dongle
- AV cable (3.5mm)
- Ethernet cable
- Screws for internal hard disk mounting
- Setup guide
The main unit has a length of 7.25", width of 5.375" and height of 3.125". The USB Wi-Fi dongle comes bundled with the unit. With support for Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) using Push Button Configuration (PBC), getting the device connected to the wireless network is a breeze. The remote is nothing to write home about, and is of the same quality as those found in other media streamers like the AC Ryan PlayOn HD2. The buttons on the remote feel cheap, but this is nothing out of the ordinary for almost 90% of the streamer units out there.
The front of the main unit has 3 LEDs to indicate the power status, hard disk activity and IR command reception. We have the IR receiver and 1 USB 2.0 host port along with the power switch on the extreme right. In addition to these, we also have eSATA and mini USB 2.0 slave ports which can help the media player act as a DAS (direct attached storage).
The two sides of the unit have ventilation slots and one of them also has a small fan behind it (made necessary due to the internal hard disk capability).
On the rear side, we have the power adapter connector, RJ-45 100 Mbps port, another USB 2.0 host port (best used for the Wi-Fi dongle), optical and coaxial SPDIF, 3.5mm composite video out and the HDMI 1.3 port.
Let us wrap up this section with a table summarizing the A/V and data connectivity options of the Nixeus Fusion HD
| Nixeus Fusion HD | ||||
| Feature | Nixeus Fusion HD Config | |||
| HDMI | Yes (v1.3) | |||
| Component | No | |||
| Composite | Yes (with Audio) | |||
| VGA | No | |||
| SPDIF | Yes (Optical and Coaxial) | |||
| Stereo | No | |||
| Optical Disk Drive | No | |||
| USB | Yes (2 x 2.0 Host, 1 x 2.0 Slave) | |||
| eSATA | Yes (Client) | |||
| LAN | Yes (100 Mbps) | |||
| Internal HDD | Supported (3.5", Not Included) | |||
| WiFi | Yes (300 Mbps Wireless N USB Dongle) | |||
| Card Reader | No | |||
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SlyNine - Saturday, March 5, 2011 - link
Thanks.I've read that Ciniava is part of the Sigma chips features. What I wasn't aware of is if it's something the OEM can turn on or off. I'm also worried that some firmware update could activate it. You know how the MPAA and RIAA types are with pushing there DRM on people.
Also correct me if I'm wrong please, but AACS is the protection of the content on the disk and it's unlocked/decrypted before it ever gets encrypted in HDCP, so I guess there is no risk of it being implemented on the HDCP/HDMI end (TV's AVR's) Does this sound correct?
ganeshts - Saturday, March 5, 2011 - link
Currently, Cinavia can be implemented on some of the Sigma processors, but not on the 865x ones because they are not meant for Blu-Ray playback.There will be no firmware update for this or the WDTV Live whch can enable Cinavia. On this one, I am pretty confident.
Currently, only BDA (Blu Ray alliance) requires Cinavia, and the player detects the watermark, checks if the file being played back is protected by AACS, i.e, it is from a protected disc, not a bootleg copy or a copy made after removing the AACS using AnyDVD or other similar software, and then allows the media to be played back. Cinavia doesn't extend beyond the actual Blu-Ray / media player.
However, this doesn't discount the fact that in the future there might be AV receivers which, when being used for HD audio bitstreaming, might implement a similar sort of muting or stopping of HD audio decode if the audio is not coming over HDCP. Currently, this is NOT happening, and this is admittedly a far-fetched scenario, but it is not implausible.
Chillin1248 - Friday, March 4, 2011 - link
Can you review the Argosy HV335T 2TB in the near future?I have purchased four such units (actually 3, and one wireless version), and they function amazingly well for their price point, $170. Has a 1073DD chipset and a Samsung 2TB 2040UI HDD.
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http://www.argosyusa.com/hv335t.shtml?DefaultTab=0
"A perfect companion in your home theater setup, HV335T can play contents from internal HDD (optional), USB HDD/flash drive, or stream contents from another server in your home network. The player also supports uPNP and can work seamless with DMS (Digital Media Server). With DMS software running on a PC, such as PlayOn, HV335T can display internet video/audio supported by DMS directly on the TV. Selected internet services (Picasa, Flickr, Weather, Youtube, Last.FM, MediaFly, Internet TV, Internet Radio, etc) are also available directly.
Audio video output include Composite A/Vand Component output, HDMI output, and Optical digital output. HDMI output support up to 1080p resolution. HV335T supports Dolby Digital and DTS downmixing as well as digital pass through.
Managing the contents on the inernal HDD can be done either with direct USB connection to a PC or over the SAMBA networking connection. The UI also allow copying from USB drives and SAMBA servers to internal HDD or deletion from internal HDD."
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The reason I bring it up is since they are very supportive of the product (constant firmware updates with new features) and are very responsive to support emails; I wish to see such a company succeed.
Discombobulated28 - Monday, March 28, 2011 - link
Ganesh recently reviewed a RealTek 1283 based media player here:http://www.anandtech.com/show/4212/tvix-slim-s1-bi...
Which performs similar to the RealTek 1073DD chipset, but the RealTek 1283 has a bit more features... from my experience with RealTek media players they almost have similar GUI and similar features or shortcomings due to RealTek's SDKs... with the exceptions of good known brands such as AC Ryan whom are known for better support/quality...
Schugy - Sunday, March 6, 2011 - link
Would also have wiped out most limitations.hohowan - Monday, March 7, 2011 - link
Bug # 11 on the list is and continues to be, the deal breaker for me for any streamer on the market.(ASS subs (stylized and karaoke effects) are not supported properly.)
It is frustrating that no one seems to be able to do these subtitles as well as a standalone PC.
I've pretty up given up hope for a streaming device that works correctly with these kind of subtitles.
I guess I'm going to continue with a spare PC hooked up to the TV for *proper* playback.
ganeshts - Monday, March 7, 2011 - link
Have you tried Boxee Box? With the latest firmware, all the ASS samples I have seem to play OK (with karaoke effects)CrapONez - Thursday, March 10, 2011 - link
I own the Viewsonic NexTV VMP75. It has the same interface and remote as this, without the built-in USB dongle, HD bay, or bittorrent, but it does have Netflix. I've got an external HD hooked up to it with eSata for local playback. Do me a favor and get your hands on one so that Viewsonic addresses some of your bug reports and gives me a firmware update?!?ganeshts - Sunday, March 13, 2011 - link
Would definitely like that, but the problem is that the big companies don't pay attention to our bug reports, while the startups like Nixeus pay more attention.If you take a look at TViX Slim S1, we reported a big set of bugs, but not all of them were resolved.
Destiny - Saturday, March 12, 2011 - link
We finally have a test suite/bench mark/ something concrete to compare media players...HQV 2.0 serves what testing purposes for SoCs and Media Players?