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Forums › Home Theatre (incl HTPC) › xbox 360 slim medic center extender and mkv files


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Topic # 64350 13-Jul-2010 22:00
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i was under the impression that the MKV container wasnt supported for playback on the xbox.  today i connected a brand new xbox slim to my win 7 mce and, so far, it appears all my mkv files that i have created from dvds, and from recorded tv, are working ok.




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  Reply # 351270 14-Jul-2010 10:08
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Yeah it works well. I did have to change my Media Center to use Divx as covered here rather then the splitter I was using but now does a great job.

Overall have been really happy with the purchase of the slim as an extender. I did not think it would work with plugin software like Media Browser but it does. There is really no difference between using the media center itself and using the extender.
I was even able to have a 720p mkv movie playing on both the media center and the xbox without any issues.

Big thumbs up from me!Cool







Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64



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  Reply # 351286 14-Jul-2010 10:44
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Nety: Yeah it works well. I did have to change my Media Center to use Divx as covered here rather then the splitter I was using but now does a great job.


are you running 64bit or 32bit for MCE?

I have matroska and ac3 filter installed and thats it...




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  Reply # 351405 14-Jul-2010 14:39
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64bit. I had matroska and ffdshow but found that HD movies were not quite smooth. Now with Dvix codec pack they run 100% smoothly. My understanding is that it is due to the DXVA support.







Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64



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  Reply # 351659 14-Jul-2010 23:40
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i'd been thinking of a 64bit OS upgrade and a motherboard/cpu upgrade. Its good to know that the divx option works in that environment, thanks :)




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  Reply # 351686 15-Jul-2010 07:46
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Are you guys streaming wirelessly or over ethernet?




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  Reply # 351755 15-Jul-2010 09:54
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i have ethernet in the wall so havn't tested out the built in wireless




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  Reply # 351783 15-Jul-2010 10:54
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Nety: 64bit. I had matroska and ffdshow but found that HD movies were not quite smooth. Now with Dvix codec pack they run 100% smoothly. My understanding is that it is due to the DXVA support.


Are you saying that you're using just the divx codecs from divx.com, and everything runs fine?



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  Reply # 351814 15-Jul-2010 12:06
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rvangelder:
Nety: 64bit. I had matroska and ffdshow but found that HD movies were not quite smooth. Now with Dvix codec pack they run 100% smoothly. My understanding is that it is due to the DXVA support.


Are you saying that you're using just the divx codecs from divx.com, and everything runs fine?


i can confirm that with the divx codecs i was able to run mkv containers with h.264 content OK on my win7 laptop a few months ago.  i didnt test any freeview h.264 files though - so not sure about the audio support.  i had already set up matroska on my main htpc though, and it was working ok, so never tried on there




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  Reply # 351839 15-Jul-2010 13:04
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I'm just a bit tired of ffdshow and matroska. i get lip synching issues, and want to try an alternative.
That I'm also considering one of these slim 360s makes the choice clearer.



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  Reply # 351889 15-Jul-2010 14:01
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rvangelder: I'm just a bit tired of ffdshow and matroska. i get lip synching issues, and want to try an alternative.
That I'm also considering one of these slim 360s makes the choice clearer.


i've not really experienced any lip syncing issues using matroska and ac3filter.  I dont have ffdshow installed though. 

I have seen, in the past, that you get lip sync problems when you do post processing in the ac3 filter (make it passthrough instead) or when you send video to a screen at something other than its native resolution (the screen scaler slows down the video a bit).




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  Reply # 351929 15-Jul-2010 15:09
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According to pricespy, $445 is the cheapest I could find one of these new. Is there anywhere to get one cheaper?

http://pricespy.co.nz/category.php?k=401&t=151

Alternatively, is there any advantage in getting the slim 250GB one over getting the Elite 120GB model (apart from the obvious that the HDD is bigger and it's slimmer)?

Is there any additional functionality? Is it quieter? Does it work better?

Cheers



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  Reply # 351931 15-Jul-2010 15:12
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check the thread over in gaming for pricing: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=64&topicid=62803&page_no=3

btw: noel leeming are doing the arcade for $199 this weekend/week (limit 5 per store) if you just want a cheap extender.

The slim is pretty quiet - i'm told the others are particularly noisy. I've never owned one before so I have no idea on the functionality. there is wireless built in, 250gb hdd and its "kinect" compatible...




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  Reply # 351990 15-Jul-2010 16:59
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Not to mention the other biggie which is that they have completely redesigned the mobo and cpu/gpu which is now on the same die.
All of which one hopes means and end to RROD.

As to the earlier question I am now using Divx and AC3 however I need to work out how to set AC3 correctly because it is not passing though DTS/DD to re receiver to decode.







Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64



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  Reply # 351995 15-Jul-2010 17:07
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actually now i recall, i think i actually *removed* ac3 filter recently. i literally found the ax files and unregistered them and just let MCE do the ac3




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  Reply # 351998 15-Jul-2010 17:15
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here is a tool that shows you what codecs and filters are installed, and allows you to endable/disable them:
http://nirsoft.net/utils/installed_codec.html

i dont see ac3filter on my list




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