Shield pro vs Zidoo media player

Could you please let me know how much of a difference with audio performance?
Audio also, I feel is much better @Love4sound. With the Shield, I feel surround effects are bit muted. I watched an episode of "The Last of Us" yesterday, and compared both players. Definitely better on zidoo, there was more presence in the surrounds, with the effects of leaves rustling etc. in the post-apocalyptic Boston scene. However the bigger impact is the picture, as I stated before. I feel the PQ is almost equal to Jriver's MadVR's red october hq setting without hardly any tweaking. I am regretting wasting so much movie watching time on the shield rather than the zidoo. There is an LLDV mode for which I need a HDfury device and it is supposed to be even better so I will get one soon.
Cheers,
Sid
 
Audio also, I feel is much better @Love4sound. With the Shield, I feel surround effects are bit muted. I watched an episode of "The Last of Us" yesterday, and compared both players. Definitely better on zidoo, there was more presence in the surrounds, with the effects of leaves rustling etc. in the post-apocalyptic Boston scene. However the bigger impact is the picture, as I stated before. I feel the PQ is almost equal to Jriver's MadVR's red october hq setting without hardly any tweaking. I am regretting wasting so much movie watching time on the shield rather than the zidoo. There is an LLDV mode for which I need a HDfury device and it is supposed to be even better so I will get one soon.
Cheers,
Sid
Thanks for the feedback. Shield does have a thin soundstage for ott. How about audio improvements for local HD play back?
 
Thanks for the feedback. Shield does have a thin soundstage for ott. How about audio improvements for local HD play back?
I compared only local hd playback on both (using kodi in shield). I haven't tried steaming on zidoo, there is a lot of feedback that it is not good for streaming. Streaming also, I am not very happy with shield - when I saw Amazon's Rings of Power, again I felt that dark scenes were not being rendered very well on my PJ and yes, I also felt audio could have been better. However I will continue Shield for streaming, I don't stream much anyways.
Cheers,
Sid
 
Last edited:
I compared only local hd playback on both (using kodi in shield). I haven't tried steaming on zidoo, there is a lot of feedback that it is not good for streaming. Streaming also, I am not very happy with shield - when I saw Amazon's Rings of Power, again I felt that dark scenes were not being rendered very well on my PJ and yes, I also felt audio could have been better. However I will continue Shield for streaming, I don't stream much anyways.
Cheers,
Sid
Zidoo for local playback only not for streaming.
 
I am regretting wasting so much movie watching time on the shield rather than the zidoo. There is an LLDV mode for which I need a HDfury device and it is supposed to be even better so I will get one soon.
Cheers,
Sid
I am able to watch dolby vision movies with the zidoo on my non DV projector with the custom EDID feature. Really excellent PQ with this mode.
Cheers,
Sid
 
I am able to watch dolby vision movies with the zidoo on my non DV projector with the custom EDID feature. Really excellent PQ with this mode.
Cheers,
Sid
Hi i got zidoo recently. Audio seperation is really excellent.i could hear Atmos sounds distinctly.definatly a worth upgrade over nvidia for hdd storage movies
 
If audio pass thru is enabled, irrespective of media player (nvidia shield tv / zidoo) theoretically, Dolby atmos should sound same depending on AVR processing & speaker set up.
I am I missing something ?
 
If audio pass thru is enabled, irrespective of media player (nvidia shield tv / zidoo) theoretically, Dolby atmos should sound same depending on AVR processing & speaker set up.
I am I missing something ?
Yes that’s what Audio pass through means but players from 5k-1lakh can do audio pass through and many who have checked different players that can do audio pass through have experienced differences. For example I had a ps4, nvidia shield, Sony Bluray player which can all do audio pass through and I have noticed differences with audio among these three devices. Must be something to do with the difference in hardware,software and how it does pass through.
 
Last edited:
Hi i got zidoo recently. Audio separation is really excellent.i could hear Atmos sounds distinctly.definatly a worth upgrade over nvidia for hdd storage movies
I am very keen on the audio performance on zidoo9x. I have no complaints with shield and it is excellent for its price. For surrounds and heights I find the shield to be sounding thin which i observed while watching movies from Tv apps through e-arc. Sid also gave similar feedback and if you can also confirm in detail on the audio performance it will be helpful for me to take a decision
 
With zidoo i feel the sound seperation from all the speakers is heard clearly and distinctly.with shield though it's good but the sound is little muffled. You need to crank up the vol little higher as it has low gain
Even if you listen at higher volume there won't be any ear piercing harshness and the sound will be smooth and pleasant.i never felt that I was listening at v high vol .it was at -2db on marantz processor connected to 5 ch anthem 225w per ch power amp.
If
I am very keen on the audio performance on zidoo9x. I have no complaints with shield and it is excellent for its price. For surrounds and heights I find the shield to be sounding thin which i observed while watching movies from Tv apps through e-arc. Sid also gave similar feedback and if you can also confirm in detail on the audio performance it will be helpful for me to take a decision
 
I am able to watch dolby vision movies with the zidoo on my non DV projector with the custom EDID feature. Really excellent PQ with this mode.
Cheers,
Sid
I recently tried the LLDV option and with native DV content, the picture quality is stunning, significantly better than HDR. The zidoo continues to amaze me.
Cheers,
Sid
 
I recently tried the LLDV option and with native DV content, the picture quality is stunning, significantly better than HDR. The zidoo continues to amaze me.
Cheers,
Sid
I agree with this.color reproduction is v natural and I'm v much impressed with audio especially the clarity with surround sound and height speakers.
Actually since a month i bought this i have stopped watching streaming Netflix and prime.just enjoying downloaded content.
 
well seems like zidoo is a good media player to consider. Only thing holding me back is kodi and real debrid. Can any one of you check if kodi and real debrid works with the Zidoo player?
 
I have been using Nvidia shield Tv Pro since 2020 for online as well as offline content and it works like charm for both. Never used zidoo so can not compare. Also never faced any issues with kodi too while playing any offline content.
 
It's pass through i believe.
The pass-thru device (Zidoo/STV) just reads the audio and passes to the decoder (AVR etc.), how is it possible for the device to influence the quality of audio being passed-thru? Unless the device is decoding the audio stream and re-encoding with some improvement thrown in (on the fly) and then passing-thru to the AVR?
 
The pass-thru device (Zidoo/STV) just reads the audio and passes to the decoder (AVR etc.), how is it possible for the device to influence the quality of audio being passed-thru? Unless the device is decoding the audio stream and re-encoding with some improvement thrown in (on the fly) and then passing-thru to the AVR?
Yes I agree, the pass through device should not influence the signal passing through it. However in reality it is entirely possible to degrade the signal passing through it, due to parts quality etc. In that respect the sound signal passing through zidoo z9x sounds significantly better to my ears than the one passing through the shield. For instance, the surround channels are more engaged, creating a better sound effect. I also feel subwoofer engagement is better, so whatever the zidoo is doing or not doing, the Shield is unable to do.
Cheers,
Sid
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
Back
Top