R_Volution (Zappiti successor)

R_Volution takes over the hardware from Zappiti and adds their own software. This software will be available to Zidoo and Dune HD later for a fee (TBD).

R_Volution PlayerOne is a Zappiti Neo clone but borrows the power supply section from Zappiti Reference. It retails for $899 (free shipping for US). It doesn't include any HDD but you can use any 3.5" SATA HDD with capacity up to 16TB. Please note that R_Volution NAS will not be available in the US due to legal reasons.

R_Volution

PlayerOne

NAS

I tried the new R-volution app for my Zappiti Neo. Unfortunately I have to pay either a monthly ($5.99) or annual fee ($50) now but it's better than forking out another $900 for a new player. My Zappiti Neo is just a year old. My thoughts? I love it! They made significant improvements on the software. But this is a Kaleidescape forum. Just to give Kaleidescape some ideas to modernize their software. What I love about the R_volution app? Well, grouping movies by series isn't new but now they were smart enough to group them by release dates rather than title. Makes it easier to know the chronological order of movie series like James Bond which have different title names (e.g. Spectre, Casino Royale, etc.).

And the cream of the crop is that when you browse for the movie it has the "moving art" with their background soundtrack. Plex has the ability to play the background soundtrack too but lacks the moving art function which I know that they can add.

I still buy physical media (4k bluray if possible) and rip the 4k to my server for my Zappiti player. I still maintain my Plex servers for just about everything else that's not 4k. And I buy movies from K whenever there's a sale. I recognize the redundancy here, but I just love the UI for both Plex and now the R_volution app.

Kaleidescape's inability to modernize their UI is what bums me out. But they made strides in other areas in 2023, which I am thankful for. I mentioned it many times, I don't mind paying a monthly premium (or lifetime pass) so that K can hire the resources to improve on their UI. For those unwilling to pay, they can just keep the bare-bones UI.

what I’m told by a distributor of Zappiti is an “investor” said he loved the product so much, he bought the company. Then as the new hardware came out he took deposits on lots of orders, then absconded with the money and name. Research said he’s done that to other companies as well. Argh.

so the main programmer/tech guy, Rapheal is trying to keep his baby alive, hence the R_volution name and product. I was happy to support him and purchase an annual membership for 50€. Although a little buggy, I still use and very much enjoy the Neo and NAS. Copying is very easy and slick, playback sometimes has its issues. I have lots of concerts.

I am however thinking I need to spring for a Kaleidescape system as well. best quality, sooner availability. A menu that househol members can easily use. And the ability to put together a concert play list is intriguing.

mrjimmystewart said:

what I’m told by a distributor of Zappiti is an “investor” said he loved the product so much, he bought the company. Then as the new hardware came out he took deposits on lots of orders, then absconded with the money and name. Research said he’s done that to other companies as well. Argh.

so the main programmer/tech guy, Rapheal is trying to keep his baby alive, hence the R_volution name and product. I was happy to support him and purchase an annual membership for 50€. Although a little buggy, I still use and very much enjoy the Neo and NAS. Copying is very easy and slick, playback sometimes has its issues. I have lots of concerts.

I am however thinking I need to spring for a Kaleidescape system as well. best quality, sooner availability. A menu that househol members can easily use. And the ability to put together a concert play list is intriguing.

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Not sure how much truth in that. How much money can he get from deposits? But I’m happy with the R_volution app and glad to pay my monthly fee.

I rip my 4k to my Zappiti (now R) so quality is the same. K is available sooner but I tend to wait until the price drop before I buy so it usually happens months after release. So availability is a non factor unless it’s a movie I cannot wait and is priced reasonably. Top Gun Maverick was $25 I believe which I purchased. But for a $50 Barbie or Flash? Can’t justify that!

And K’s menu is horrible and you have to download all your movies to view your titles in the player’s UI. Something I hope they will fix.

I like R better but know that eventually physical media will be dead. So I am building my K movie collection a little at a time. I have amassed close to 800 titles so far. Mostly due to D2D offers.

For K, if you want another player in another room you have to spring for another $3k. With R, you can fork out $900 which is a third of the price.
K is just more convenient but the UI is so dated that it doesn’t feel premium. Now when I show people the UI for R or even Plex, people are just impressed.

I respect your opinion but I like the Kaleidescape interface. It is very fast and very reliable. It can display your movies in list view or in tiles. You can search for movies by name, release year, actors, directors, length and genre. You can make your own favorites lists and collections. It comes with full integration to all major automation systems including Josh ai which allows you to call for any film in your library by voice. There is a really good mobile app that doubles as the remote control. The interface gives complete control over audio and video parameters. You can set your Kaleidescape player to be a transport (source direct) and handle all a/v processing externally. What else do you need? I hope they never change it.

Plex, R_Volution and others do many things but they do neither of them perfectly. I understand a more polished user interface on the front end will impress more people. The backend is still subjected to all the limitations of the Android OS. The main objective of these players must be the ultimate playback of the content in the most faithful way, rapidly and reliably. Do these player accomplish these as well as the Kaleidescape system? I don’t think so. I also don’t like it that they come with a ton of clutter like other irrelevant apps. I like it that my Kaleidescape player is only a Kaleidescape player.

Substance said:

I respect your opinion but I like the Kaleidescape interface. It is very fast and very reliable. It can display your movies in list view or in tiles. You can search for movies by name, release year, actors, directors, length and genre. You can make your own favorites lists and collections. It comes with full integration to all major automation systems including Josh ai which allows you to call for any film in your library by voice. There is a really good mobile app that doubles as the remote control. The interface gives complete control over audio and video parameters. You can set your Kaleidescape player to be a transport (source direct) and handle all a/v processing externally. What else do you need? I hope they never change it.

Plex, R_Volution and others do many things but they do neither of them perfectly. I understand a more polished user interface on the front end will impress more people. The backend is still subjected to all the limitations of the Android OS. The main objective of these players must be the ultimate playback of the content in the most faithful way, rapidly and reliably. Do these player accomplish these as well as the Kaleidescape system? I don’t think so. I also don’t like it that they come with a ton of clutter like other irrelevant apps. I like it that my Kaleidescape player is only a Kaleidescape player.

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I can fully confirm this from practical experience. I use Kaleidescape, Zappiti and Plex. Kaleidescape is always my first choice for the reasons mentioned.

Agree with the last two posts, but understand some folks may see it differently, it's just personal choice.

Jim

Agree with everyone that it is a personal choice. Which is why I continue to use K, Zappiti and Plex. They each have their strengths and I support all three. I use K when I am watching by myself in my home theater room. When I have guests, I have them navigate using Zappiti or Plex as the UI is similar to what they are accustomed to with Netflix, Amazon, etc. with their cover arts. I don't want to create an argument on which is better. If I hated K, I would not have invested in the system and purchase 800 movies and TV shows.

mrjimmystewart said:

what I’m told by a distributor of Zappiti is an “investor” said he loved the product so much, he bought the company. Then as the new hardware came out he took deposits on lots of orders, then absconded with the money and name. Research said he’s done that to other companies as well. Argh.

so the main programmer/tech guy, Rapheal is trying to keep his baby alive, hence the R_volution name and product. I was happy to support him and purchase an annual membership for 50€. Although a little buggy, I still use and very much enjoy the Neo and NAS. Copying is very easy and slick, playback sometimes has its issues. I have lots of concerts.

I am however thinking I need to spring for a Kaleidescape system as well. best quality, sooner availability. A menu that househol members can easily use. And the ability to put together a concert play list is intriguing.

Click to expand...

Hi. Can I ask how your R_Video software installation completed? My install was fine on my Neo, but upon reboot, the Zappiti Video software loaded? So far, Tech support is no help. Any thoughts? I have done what tech support has suggested (go to Zappiti Video app. and CLEAR DATA).

All that did was a factory reset, that took me to the Zappiti Inital Start up screen (set Language, log in..etc.).

TIA

Dwayne

Jonnymariah said:

Hi. Can I ask how your R_Video software installation completed? My install was fine on my Neo, but upon reboot, the Zappiti Video software loaded? So far, Tech support is no help. Any thoughts? I have done what tech support has suggested (go to Zappiti Video app. and CLEAR DATA).

All that did was a factory reset, that took me to the Zappiti Inital Start up screen (set Language, log in..etc.).

TIA

Dwayne

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I purchased a R_volution One Media Player prior to the R_video app being available for the Zappiti players, so I was already comfortable with the new R_video interface before I installed it on my Zappiti Reference Player.

My installation went without any issues. The only thing that I didn't do (which I later corrected) was setting it up using the R_Share feature.

I actually find myself using my R_volution One Player and Zappiti Reference Player with R_video more than my Kaleidescape.

While the ease of use of Kaleidescape is incredible, the UI needs a MAJOR overhaul. I love the R_video feature that plays the movie's/TV Show's theme music when you hover over the thumbnail (which really gets you hyped for the movie). Not to mention adding demo trailers before the movie plays which is awesome!

regowens said:

I purchased a R_volution One Media Player prior to the R_video app being available for the Zappiti players, so I was already comfortable with the new R_video interface before I installed it on my Zappiti Reference Player.

My installation went without any issues. The only thing that I didn't do (which I later corrected) was setting it up using the R_Share feature.

I actually find myself using my R_volution One Player and Zappiti Reference Player with R_video more than my Kaleidescape.

While the ease of use of Kaleidescape is incredible, the UI needs a MAJOR overhaul. I love the R_video feature that plays the movie's/TV Show's theme music when you hover over the thumbnail (which really gets you hyped for the movie). Not to mention adding demo trailers before the movie plays which is awesome!

Click to expand...

Wow. Thanks for responding. As a former Kaleidescape Dealer and Owner...I have NEVER heard of anyone who doesn't love the Kscape UI? That's what they are known for? As for my R_Video on my Zappiti player....well...it's still a bit kludgy to me. Once they have a Windows interface and I can add my own cover art and all (like I could with Zappiti), then I will like it better. The interface needs some tweaks...like the ability to skip up/dwn by pages, etc. It's also still very slow. I may purchase a player to see if the experience is better. Once they tweak it to at least offer the same functions as the Zappiti interface; I will like it more.

Jonnymariah said:

Wow. Thanks for responding. As a former Kaleidescape Dealer and Owner...I have NEVER heard of anyone who doesn't love the Kscape UI? That's what they are known for? As for my R_Video on my Zappiti player....well...it's still a bit kludgy to me. Once they have a Windows interface and I can add my own cover art and all (like I could with Zappiti), then I will like it better. The interface needs some tweaks...like the ability to skip up/dwn by pages, etc. It's also still very slow. I may purchase a player to see if the experience is better. Once they tweak it to at least offer the same functions as the Zappiti interface; I will like it more.

Click to expand...

Jaremy at Techthusiasm posted a video where he and two others talked about some of the weaknesses of the Kaleidescape platform on his YouTube channel. He talks about the need for a UI overhaul at about the 5:24 second mark. BTW, Jeremy is a HUGE Kaleidescape advocate.

Jonnymariah said:

Wow. Thanks for responding. As a former Kaleidescape Dealer and Owner...I have NEVER heard of anyone who doesn't love the Kscape UI? That's what they are known for? As for my R_Video on my Zappiti player....well...it's still a bit kludgy to me. Once they have a Windows interface and I can add my own cover art and all (like I could with Zappiti), then I will like it better. The interface needs some tweaks...like the ability to skip up/dwn by pages, etc. It's also still very slow. I may purchase a player to see if the experience is better. Once they tweak it to at least offer the same functions as the Zappiti interface; I will like it more.

Click to expand...

Jaremy at Techthusiasm posted a video where he and two others talked about some of the weaknesses of the Kaleidescape platform on his YouTube channel. He talks about the need for a UI overhaul at about the 5:24 second mark. BTW, Jaremy is a HUGE Kaleidescape advocate.

regowens said:

Jaremy at Techthusiasm posted a video where he and two others talked about some of the weaknesses of the Kaleidescape platform on his YouTube channel. He talks about the need for a UI overhaul at about the 5:24 second mark. BTW, Jaremy is a HUGE Kaleidescape advocate.

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Lots of people on the forums would like to see a platform overhaul. I'm personally not one of them.

I'd guess the percentage of folks on the forums compared to the folks not on the forums is about 15% on the forums and 85% not on the forums, which means there are a likely a much larger number of owners who are perfectly content with the UI as it exists.

@Jonnymariah You can add your own cover art to Kaleidescape via the browser interface.

I may be the small minority that don't like Kaleidescape's UI. But Kaleidescape's UI is what it is. What I am bummed about is the fewer and fewer special features they have. Oppenheimer has an entire Blu-ray disc devoted to Special Features and K's file has none. And worse, very few movies have a downloadable trailer. Which is odd because you can view the trailer with your app. Just not on the player.

alexbeans said:

Oppenheimer has an entire Blu-ray disc devoted to Special Features and K's file has none.

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Not sure which special features the BR disc has(I do not have it) but there are Special Features(at least some) in the HD version which you can download and watch. As already discussed many times in this forum, you can sometimes find them at a separate file that downloads as soon as you launch the HD download(hence no need to dowload the whole movie in HD) or they are embedded in the HD file.

In this case there is a separate file(supplement so I guess same as the BR disc you are referring to) and the following SF are included:

BLU-RAY QUALITY

• Now I Am Become Death
• The Luminaries
• The Manhattan Project
• The Devil of the Details
• Walking a Mile
• Can You Hear the Music?
• We Can Perform This Miracle

Kostas said:

Not sure which special features the BR disc has(I do not have it) but there are Special Features(at least some) in the HD version which you can download and watch. As already discussed many times in this forum, you can sometimes find them at a separate file that downloads as soon as you launch the HD download(hence no need to dowload the whole movie in HD) or they are embedded in the HD file.

In this case there is a separate file(supplement so I guess same as the BR disc you are referring to) and the following SF are included:

BLU-RAY QUALITY

• Now I Am Become Death
• The Luminaries
• The Manhattan Project
• The Devil of the Details
• Walking a Mile
• Can You Hear the Music?
• We Can Perform This Miracle

View attachment 4376

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This is the exact same set of extras included with every digital distributor.

Hmmm. Didn’t see it before when I first purchased it which was why I bought the physical media in the first place. Mainly because when I buy a movie I download the highest quality in my server. This case being the 4k HDR version and not the HD. There’s more special features on the Oppenheimer disc of course but happy that the K version has some. But that doesn’t change the fact that many other movies are lacking special features. Some movies I don’t really care and I’m not going to cry a river over it. Would love the option to play the trailer in the player for movies I purchase and not just in my app. Some movies have that option but not all.

They just released a new model called Player One 8K.


At first glance, it does seem like a Dune HD Pro One 8K shoved into a larger R_Volution chassis with built in power supply and a 3.5" HDD bay.

Looks like there is an upgraded version of the PlayerOne 8K now. I don’t see it in the US store but the EU store has it for €1799.