Media Server Reviews

The Kaleidescape system in general, is fantastic, although the lack of a full library and some immersive soundtracks are definitely issues that need solving.

It's unfortunate that providing this type of service while meeting all the laws and keeping Hollywood happy results in this kind of pricing. Luckily for those of us mere mortals, Plex server on a Shield with a NAS or attached hard drive and a UHD drive for ripping, get us most of the way there. I am concerned about the lack of UHD (or even BD) discs going forward though.

I will say the $3k upcharge to go from 6TB to 12TB is pretty egregious.

When Kaleidescape and ReQuest first launched I was the owner of a small A/V business and not one of "means" that could get a Porsche or Ferrari priced server to watch movies. I built many media servers hoping that Microsoft would come around to "legalizing" DVD ripping. It never happened of course or we wouldn't be discussing the new Kaleidescape. Yes I have known people how used Handbrake on a mac. I want tech that is ready to cross the chasm, not in alpha or beta. This coming from a guy who's latest app can't escape the alpha tests. I see the irony as I type.

Eventually the business grew and I had a choice to make. Become a dealer for ReQuest or Kaleidescape. Honestly it was a budgetary decision. The dealer package from ReQuest was 1/3 of Kaleidescape's. Better yet I could order a second unit at that price for my home. I still have that unit and four more I found on eBay that I bandaid together.

The ReQuest as a movie server has been flawless. The only errors have always been with the QNAP NAS. For a while QNAP decided to do it's own "transcoding" and it lost all of the movies from "T-Z" before I figured out how to turn it off.

I am intrigued to say the least about the Kaleidescape pricing, but then reading about the cost of the movies, suddenly it makes sense. Why they haven't gone the route of razor blade marketing like Roku, Amazon and AppleTV is a bit baffling. Yes Trynberg $3k upcharge for 6TB is ridiculous.

In 2009 I got out of the A/V retail business and went on a new adventure that kept me plugged in. My home is a fully integrated home with five Amazon echo's listening in to everything I say. The advantage of this is that I have audio streaming to every room in the house. Since I downgraded in my new home from ReQuest multi room to A-bus, the headphone out of the echo dot's lets me play music in any room. The CD storage part of my ReQuest is useless but it is still there if the internet goes down for some reason or if Amazon decides to charge for Amazon music instead of including it with Prime.

Finally the thing I didn't see in the new Kaleidescape is the ability to store the 200+dvd's and blu rays I already have. This is where I have to say I love my ReQuest and I like the Kaleidescape. With the ReQuest I can buy that $1.99 bargain movie at Wally World, record it and I own it. No worry about the company going under or the internet going down. If I buy a Kaleidescape am I starting my collection over with their full retail pricing?

Yes streaming in convenient but I don't get compression blooming or artifacts when I watch a movie on the ReQuest. That is the only thing I see as a benefit to the Kaleidescape. But for the price? How many times can I really watch Cars or Smokey and the Bandit? It clearly is a luxury purchase.

I'll stop now, the sun is rising and the surf is calling.