Newbie Needs Some Help with Hardware

[seaninde]

Great to be here! Been a Kaleidescape lurker for years and it was always out of my range.
But now I would like to delve in and need some advice because it is confusing on all the equipment, what works with what and what I can do.

My main goal is to be able to have my Blu-ray collection (and a few older DVD's not available on Blu-Ray) available in the Kaleidescape system on the beautiful Kaleidescape GUI. I have some old TV shows like "Lost in Space" on Blu-Ray you can't get in the Movie store otherwise I would probably just start with a Strato 6.

Based on how I think it works.

Would it be logical to get the following and it would give me what I want?

1. A Kerver-1500 or Kserver-5000- grandfathered.
2. A M500 Player.
3. A DV700 or M700 Disc Vault.

Would that be all I need to get started for what I want?

1. If I got an M700 Vault, would I need the M500 player?
2. If it is grandfathered does that mean it will rip and store Blu-Ray's & DVD's also? I guess I'm confused on what it means to be grandfathered, in relation to the Disc Type (DVD or BluRay).
3. Could I add a Strato 6 or 12 in the future to the system and it would be seamless?

Thank you so much for bearing with me as I learn about this system.

Excited to be part of the Forum

Sean

 

[cinelife]

The answer to the first part of your question is "yes", if #3 is a DV700. You are correct that an M500 is not needed if you have an M700.

Grandfathered status applies to Servers only, and to DVD only. You must have a Grandfathered Premiere server to be able to import DVD's. You do not need a Grandfathered server for BR discs because those are already required to be present during playback, which is why they are stored in the Vault. DVD's, in a grandfathered server, do not need to be present, so after importing to the server, you can remove them from the Vault.

Jim

 

[seaninde]

The answer to the first part of your question is "yes", if #3 is a DV700. You are correct that an M500 is not needed if you have an M700.

Grandfathered status applies to Servers only, and to DVD only. You must have a Grandfathered Premiere server to be able to import DVD's. You do not need a Grandfathered server for BR discs because those are already required to be present during playback, which is why they are stored in the Vault. DVD's, in a grandfathered server, do not need to be present, so after importing to the server, you can remove them from the Vault.

Jim

That clears a lot up. When you say if #3 is a DV700 what were you referring to?
My thought was I could get a Kserver-5000 and an M700 Vault and I could use the Vault as a player, ripper and storage device? or is that not true?

What's the difference between the DV700 and M700 Vaults?

Also what would be a reasonable price to pay for a Kserver-5000 with all 14 drives

Thanks so much! Appreciate it a lot. Trying not to make a big financial mistake. HAHA.

Sean

 

[cinelife]

Sorry, answered quickly, I was watching the Notre Dame / Wisconsin game, was crazy at the time!

The answer to your first question is Yes. What I meant to say when I mentioned the M700 is that you don't need the M500 if you have the M700.

The DV700 can import and store your discs. The M700 can import, store, and playback imported content. It has a built-in KPlayer, the DV700 does not.

Value of a 3U depends on many factors. Size and number of disks, age of the disks, age of the Server, warranty status (there are not many still under warranty, but they're out there....and of course the demand and availability in the marketplace. Recent range tends to be $2000 to $5000 based on those factors.

I'll send you a PM.

Jim

 

[cinelife]

I just sent you a PM. (Check the "envelope" to the right of your name (upper right of screen).

Jim

 

[Substance]

How many Blu-rays discs do you have?

Since you said these are mostly TV shows, figure 50GB for each Blu-ray and 9GB for each DVD. You can estimate the storage space you need.

HD content not available in store will need to have the discs present in the M700 Disk Vault which can take 320 discs. You may need multiple Disk Vaults. For TV shows, you need every disc in the set in the Disk Vault. For example, the Lost in Space seasons will have 18 discs in the Disk Vault and roughly a TB in the server.

If you don’t have many more discs than a single Disk Vault can handle, consider a 1U server. 3U server is significantly louder and uses a lot more power. You can also do 1U+ server with 30TB which has enough room for 2 Disk Vaults and some more. (Figure 12TB for each Disk Vault).

Cinelife can help you with all of these.

 

[Transepoch]

The answer to the first part of your question is "yes", if #3 is a DV700. You are correct that an M500 is not needed if you have an M700.

I would add the one caveat to Jim's answer that there are some disc-in-drive actions you would need an M500 to do, which cannot be done from a vault. Those would be cataloging to Premiere and playback without import. Whether the cost of the extra device is worth it to do those things (in addition to the second playback zone, which is more handy as you move to Costar, and having a "second opinion" for import issues) would be up to you.

As to your last question, you would also need a Costar (or compatible processor with license) to handle the Strato/Premiere integration. This makes it basically seamless.

 

[Substance]

I would add the one caveat to Jim's answer that there are some disc-in-drive actions you would need an M500 to do, which cannot be done from a vault. Those would be cataloging to Premiere and playback without import. Whether the cost of the extra device is worth it to do those things (in addition to the second playback zone, which is more handy as you move to Costar, and having a "second opinion" for import issues) would be up to you.

As to your last question, you would also need a Costar (or compatible processor with license) to handle the Strato/Premiere integration. This makes it basically seamless.

I was under the impression that if you had a Disk Vault in your Premiere system, you lose the catalog function.

 

[Transepoch]

I was under the impression that if you had a Disk Vault in your Premiere system, you lose the catalog function.

No, just requires an M500 connected to a display (it is an on-screen-only option.)

 

[cinelife]

We had already spoken about those things (cataloging, etc.), but that's not obvious in these posts. He plans to import all of his content, and will use the Vault for BR only.

Jim

 

[seaninde]

Thanks for all the replies. With Jim’s great advice I already saved myself from a large costly mistake buying something. I inventoried all my BR movies and every one is in the store, but the TV series are not or most only on DVD, some not in print anymore and some will never be remastered in BR. I’m all in on encore and digital but I love my old TV shows and have around 400 discs on DVD. But if I am jumping in the K world I want one stop place to watch DVD, BR and 4K. So I need a hybrid. Premier and Encore. A 1u and M700 would be perfect for premier half, and 12 tb strato for encore side.
‘My budget is probably a lot less than most people who buy these.
‘But due to availability on secondary market, may be forced into 5u Since 1u’s grandfathered seem hard to come by.

one big question I have is - if I got a 5u, could I use all that extra space to do upgrade D2D for my BR’s from store but load them on 5u, instead of Strato?
that would leave strato for the 4K UHD movies. Plus then vault would just be for TV series on BR not available on store.

Thanks!
Sean

 

[Substance]

I assume you mean a 3U server. 5U servers are older and much less capacity. I would wait for a 1U to show up. They aren’t that rare.

 

[seaninde]

I assume you mean a 3U server. 5U servers are older and much less capacity. I would wait for a 1U to show up. They aren’t that rare.

HAHA, yes thank you I meant a 3u. They seem more available just because they don't move as fast.

If I got one would I be able to use that storage space for BR movies from the store, so I could save the space on the Strato for 4K movies?
Thanks
Sean

 

[Kevin D]

HAHA, yes thank you I meant a 3u. They seem more available just because they don't move as fast.

If I got one would I be able to use that storage space for BR movies from the store, so I could save the space on the Strato for 4K movies?
Thanks
Sean

Yes! Once you pair your Strato and Premier together with a Co-star, you will have new options in the store on where you want the HD and SD downloads to go (Strato or Premier).

Another benefit, with the not so great D2D pricing on Disney titles, you can also use the vault to store your Disney Blurays if you don't feel the need to upgrade.

Kevin D.

 

[JohnJ]

HAHA, yes thank you I meant a 3u. They seem more available just because they don't move as fast.

If I got one would I be able to use that storage space for BR movies from the store, so I could save the space on the Strato for 4K movies?
Thanks
Sean

This is exactly what I do - HD, BR and DVD‘s on 3U with 4K all on Terra servers. Also, if you have a CD collection, you can load all of these on the 3U.

John

 

[Transepoch]

Yes! Once you pair your Strato and Premier together with a Co-star, you will have new options in the store on where you want the HD and SD downloads to go (Strato or Premier).

Potentially except for the Disney content, depending on your opt-in status. Either you cannot import Disney, which lets you download to the 3U, or you maintain the ability to import, in which case all Disney downloads stay on the Terra/Strato.

 

[seaninde]

Thanks for the info. I think I got my plan.

I managed to find a fully functioning 3U, 14 drives, all tested, unregistered, grandfathered, just updated yesterday and is NOT opted in for Disney, which also comes with an M500 player.

I plan to get a CoStar, Disc Vault, and then Strato S 6TB to start with the Encore system.
That should allow me to get the following if I have it straight.

1. Import my DVD TV shows/Movies not available on the store.
2. Import my BR's not available in the store, but must be in the Vault.
3. Import BR's and then get D2D offers on the ones that are available in the store. If I take an offer I can download to the 3U and then remove my BR from the vault.
4. Download 4K Movies to the Strato and also get the latest GUI interface.
5. Add on to the Encore system in future if needed with another server.

Only piece I am not clear on is the Disney Opt In.
Currently the 3U is NOT opted in. So what does that mean I can do and not do with Disney.

Do I finally have that all correct?

This forum is great I have learned so much
Thanks!
Sean

 

[Mark H]

You got it all correct. The fact that your 3U is not opted in means you can only store Disney movies on the 3U ripped from physical DVD or BluRay disks, you can't download them from the store to the 3U but you can download to the Strato and and then watch downloaded disney material and ripped material in zones where you have a Strato or Strato / M300/M500/M700 combination with a Co-Star.
My Premier line 3U's are not opted in and I store my Disney DVD & BluRay material on them and my downloaded material on the Encore hardware. A M700 which contains a player and the vault may suit you better than just the vault option alone.

 

[Transepoch]

You probably want to keep the vault on the Premiere side of the system, but otherwise looks fine.