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MediaCentral
 
We talked about using a Mac Mini as a Media Center on a previous podcast. Apple developed a nice piece of software called Front Row brought all the A/V on your Mac into one place and it was good. However, Frontrow was not a total solution. It did not recognise DVDs that are backed up on your network nor did it have support for a TV tuner just to name a few. Today we are reviewing an application that almost get's us the rest of the way. We are talking about MediaCentral by equinux. Like Frontrow the $30 MediaCentral will find and play your DVDs, Movies, Music, and pictures but it takes all this to the next level.

Movies - MediaCentral will play all movies your mac will play including DivX, Xvid, AVi, mpeg1,2,&4 and DV files. It will play DVDs in the DVD slot as well as backed up files on the network. Just drag an alias to the backed up DVDs into the "MyDVD" folder and its available in DVD section of the application. This alone makes MediaCentral a must for Macintosh owners. It will find and play any unprotected video in iTunes as well. Like Frontrow there is a Movie Trailer section that in our opinion is a better presentation. A nice touch is that a synopsis of the movie is displayed on screen while the trailer is buffering up. To play

Music - All your music is available in one interface whether its in iTunes or not. Another important feature is that if your computer is activated for iTunes MediaCentral will play songs purchased from the ITMS. If you have a networked drive that has a bunch of audio files on it you can create an alias to the drive and put it into the "My Music Folder" to get access to the music through MediaCentral.

Photos - Same as Frontrow, all your iPhoto pictures are available plus you can add pictures that are not in iPhoto by dragging them to the "MyPhoto" folder.

TV/IPTV/Internet Radio - There is support for live TV as long as the tuner is DVB-T compatible. Great for Europe and Asia, not so good for the US. They are working on getting support for El Gato. So we ere not able to test this feature. They documentation also claims that MediaCentral also supports an Electronic Program Guide. We'll keep you posted when this support is available for ATSC tuners. The application also supports IPTV from around the world and it has top videos from Youtube and Google video in a nice interface. You need to have RealPlayer and Windows Media Player installed to watch IPTV. There is also support for Internet radio.

Remote Control - MediaCentral supports the Apple remote or any remote that comes with your DVB-T tuner. You can even control it with a PDA or Cell phone if you have the Salling Clicker application installed on it. Over 100 devices are supported via bluetooth and WiFi.

MediaCentral takes what's good about Frontrow and improves on it but its still not the ultimate. Very close but not quite there. The only real issues we have are:

No support for AC3 audio on DVDs - they are working on this but its a disappointment for us. Sound is too important to leave this out.

No iTunes video support - We find we am downloading more and more TV programs from iTunes and the movie store has to be around the corner so this has to be included for it to be a must have application.

No support for an ATSC tuner - again they are working on this but its critical to be considered a Media Center Mac.


Our recommendation is if you own a Mac this application is a good addition at $30. They are working on the short comings. If you run this on your laptop or a computer that does not have a audio system connected to it it won't matter anyway.

 

Back to Basics
(in response to email, esp. one from listener Pirooz in Cincinatti)

How difficult is it to set up a Home Theater system?
That depends on two major factors: your level of expertise and the complexity of the home theater.  We are both very comfortable doing any kind of home theater installation, from mounting a Plasma on a wall, to running rear channel speakers.  But not everyone is.  For some people even connecting the cables between all the components seems like a daunting task.  Forget about setting up inputs on a receiver or programming a universal remote.  So depending on what you know, what you're comfortable doing, and what needs to get done, you may want to hire some professional help.

Let's look at the major steps involved in setting up a home theater.

1. Installing components.  This involves finding a place for all of your equipment, plugging each one in to a power outlet (hint: use a surge protector), and connecting them all together using some kind of audio and video cables.  For our example, let's assume you have a Television, a Receiver, a Set Top Box and a DVD Player.  The easiest way to connect everything is to use the Receiver as a central "hub" of information.  Not everyone likes this route, but it simplifies the discussion.  To do that, you need to run Audio and Video from both the Set Top Box and the DVD player into the Receiver.  You then run the video output from the Receiver to the Television.  If this isn't possible because your Receiver doesn't support your video connection types, you'll have to run the audio from the DVD and STB to the receiver and then run the video from those two units directly to the TV.

Things to consider:
A. Are you using the optimum connection methods between all your components?
B. Have you allowed enough space/ventilation for proper heat dissipation?
C. If it doesn't work right, do you know how to trouble shoot the problems?

2. Installing the speakers.  Now that the components are connected, you need to add the speakers.  You'll have to run speaker wire from the Receiver to all five or six of your surround speakers.  This might involve running cables inside the walls to reach your rear speakers, or finding another way to hide the cables.  Then you'll run an RCA cable from the Receiver's LFE output to the Subwoofer.  This step is pretty straight forward, but may require some handyman skills.

Things to consider:
A. Speakers need to be wired properly, black to black and red to red.  Make sure you know which side of the speaker wire is which.
B. Right speakers are always on the right when you're facing the screen, no the speaker.  The rear right speaker should be over your right ear.  Likewise for the left.
C. Speakers are directional, subwoofers are not.  Subwoofers, can however, do very strange things based on where they're placed in a room.

3. Configuring the system.  Once you've made all the connections, you need to get things configured.  Most of the settings are in the Receiver, but a few are in the DVD player, STB and TV.  You may need to map the inputs and outputs on your receiver to the correct devices in the selection menu.  You need to tell the receiver how many speakers you have, what sizer they are, whether or not you have a subwoofer, etc.  The DVD player needs to know the aspect ratio of your TV; the STB may want to know your TV's native resolution.

Things to consider:
A. If it doesn't work right, do you know how to trouble shoot the problems?

4. Calibrating the system.  Out of the box your TV won't look its best, and your speakers won't sound the best they can.  You'll need to adjust a bunch of settings to optimize the theater for your unique room and conditions.  This involves using a calibration DVD or system, and possibly a sound pressure meter for speaker adjustments.  It's not as complicated as its sounds, but can be very overwhelming to many people.  This is where a professional really comes in handy.

5. Programming a universal remote.  This is where things get a little tricky.  We have some listeners who do this for a living, but for a lot of us, programming anything seems like a daunting task.  We'd rather learn a new language or pull out our own fingernails than program a universal remote.  If that's you, you can either try a Harmony remote control, or hire a professional.  It's not really as hard as it sounds, but remember that it won't be right the first time, so you'll need to spend some time troubleshooting and adjusting the programming before it's dialed in.

If any of those items seem overwhelming or you want something much more complicated or involved, you probably want to hire a professional.  Look on Cedia's (www.cedia.net) website for an installer in your area.  Most of the big box retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City offer installation services as well, but they don't tend to be as knowledgeable or detailed as a private home theater company.  Some custom dealers will install equipment that you bought somewhere else, but that eats into their profit margins, so expect to pay handsomely for it.  When you use a custom installer, you'll be locked into buying the brands they carry.  If you have a specific brand you want to purchase, check the manufacturer's website for a dealer in your area.

Speakers are your best investment.  If history tells us anything, TV technology will be drastically different in 3 to 5 years, but speakers will be mostly unchanged.  It's important to invest in good speakers.  You may want to buy just the front speakers first, maybe even just the stereo (right/left) speakers, and add the surround on later when you can afford it.  Or another option is to buy really cheap speakers to get some sort of surround sound while you save your money for the speakers you really want.  Most of the speakers available at the big box retailers aren't very good.  They tend to carry the lesser quality lines from the manufacturers they stock.  Those manufactures reserve the higher quality lines for custom installers.  When you're ready to upgrade your speakers, you might not be able to find what your looking for at the local superstore.

No matter what you decide to do, make sure you're happy with everything you're buying.  Don't let pushy sales people or so-called "experts" dictate what you need or what you should have.  You're the buyer, you should be making all the decisions.  And if you go the custom install route, don't be afraid to shop around.  Get a few quotes, check out your options, and then make you move.