Need setup info

Channels Android TV
#21

I posted a reply in the Hulu Live thread. There's no cost benefit for me to drop Verizon in favor of Hulu Live and only being able to record in stereo is a deal breaker for me so I'll be sticking with FIOS.

I may try to see if I can get Channels DVR and WMC to play together nice on Windows 10. I had a problem trying to use JRiver Media Center on a Windows 7 HTPC running WMC, which is why I installed JRMC on a separate HTPC. They did not seem to play well together in Windows 7 so I'm hoping maybe they will in Windows 10. The fly in the ointment here is with Verizon flagging the Fox network channels. I'd switch over to Channels DVR in a heartbeat if I could access those channels. That would finally give me the one box solution I have been seeking for years. Here's how it stacks up for me:

Pros -
Channels DVR can be installed on my Nvidia Shields
Latest Shields can do HDR
Channels DVR server can record shows from FIOS and OTA and share them with any other device running Channels DVR; DVR server can share same PC running JRMC
Shields can stream from all services I subscribe to (Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, and Hulu basic)
Shields can stream media from my unRAID server using Plex

Cons -
Channels DVR can't view or record DRM content on Fox network channels
Shields can't run madVR
Hulu Live not cost effective vs my current Verizon FIOS lineup
Channels DVR can only record from Hulu Live via TVE and only in stereo; can record up to 50 hours in the cloud with Hulu Live, but I'm not sure if it's in stereo or 5.1; can't skip or FF thru commercials unless I pay even more for Hulu Live
WMC gets me everything, including all DRM channels

I'm disappointed because Channels DVR has a lot of things going for it. It is sooo much better than the SD HDHR DVR app. I will probably continue to use it, especially after the new SD HDHR Quatro tuners are released since that's the whole reason behind trying out Channels DVR.

#22

All their Live TV, no matter how you access it, will probably be in stereo for a very long time. See: Hulu | Help Center | Audio quality on Hulu

Glad to hear you'll probably continue to use it. I'm sure you'll find more reasons to like it as time goes on.

#23

I had been wondering about the audio on Hulu for quite some time. I had been watching The Handmaid's Tale that I acquired from "magical" sources and the soundtracks were always in stereo. I just assumed that they had been ripped from the internet while streaming to a PC. You can only get stereo audio when doing that regardless of the source. I would never pay for a streaming service that didn't offer 5.1 audio on all of it's content. I only got Hulu Basic because they were offering a special deal on it for only $1.99 per month for the first year and they have a vast library of old TV shows that my wife likes to watch and none of them had anything other than monaural soundtracks anyway, with maybe a few exceptions that were broadcast in stereo. I plan on canceling it anyway because we never use it. In fact, we hardly ever watch anything on the streaming services I get.

Oddly enough, I've had the Channels app on my iPhone for probably a year now, but I hardly ever use it. I can't stand watching anything on a screen that small, especially since I can only use it when I'm within range of my wi-fi at home and I have several big screen TVs that I'd rather be watching.

#24

Old TV shows is one thing, but that's really sad if even one of their top original shows does not have surround sound. Wow. I hope it's available in 5.1 from at least one source. But as they admit on that support page, most of their content is in stereo only.

Channels actually does offer remote access. I have never tried it, because — call me paranoid if you want — I don't open ports on my router, but there's a lot of discussion about that feature on this forum.

#25

I've the Channels app installed on both my iPhone and my iPad. I use it on my iPad sometimes to look stuff up, add/delete/modify passes, etc. while we're watching TV. I've used the app on both my iPhone and iPad when I'm in a waiting room or whatever away from home. With either my Air Pods or my Plantronics over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones I actually get a pretty satisfying viewing experience.

I bought an Amazon Fire TV Stick to be able to plug into hotel room TVs in case we ever want to watch home TV, live or recorded, when we're away. (Haven't tried that, yet.)

Among its many other advantages, remote access, to me, is one of the strong points of the Channels product suite.

The DRM stuff we don't care about. Don't have, never have had, subscription TV (cable/satellite). We've tried Hulu before. For us, anyway, Hulu provides little we care about we can't get OTA. And the OTA stuff is in 5.1 digital :slight_smile:

If you do it right, the access will be only to your Channels server on the port Channels' DVR uses. Should be relatively safe. (The key word there being "relatively.")