Purchase advice on Vero 4k+

General Discussion
1

I have my eyes set on this as it looks very promising. Before I do though, I have a few questions and use cases. If any of you can help me out that’ll be great.

  1. I also want to use this for music listening as well. Is this a suitable device for such?

  2. I can’t see any RCA nor audio outputs for this, how does the audio get out? I have a receiver which has RCA outputs. Or I suppose a wireless way would also work.

  3. Can I control audio via my android phone? Such as making a playlist, playing, pausing?

  4. Extra storage: I have an external USB which, unfortunately depends on the computer to give it power, will this be a problem? Or will I have to get an external hard drive which gets its power from the wall?

Thanks!

2

Hi,

  1. Yes – you can listen to music and a music library is supported. But it would be good to know how you plan to listen to music (which is covered in 2.)
  2. There’s a CVBS output which could be used for 3.5mm audio out. Otherwise you can get audio out with SPDIF or HDMI.
  3. Yes – there are a few Android apps for Kodi, and there’s also a web interface you can access from your browser on your phone.
  4. Is it a USB hard drive or USB stick? If it’s a hard drive, we recommend powering it via a USB hub.

For audio: you may benefit from a USB DAC if you need high quality analogue audio out. The Vero 4K + primarily focuses on digital audio outputs.

Sam

3

Hi Sam,

Thanks for your quick response.

That’s great, so I do like the sound of having an Android app for it.

The way I plan on listening to music is with my bookshelf speakers which are connected to my receiver. The quality does mean a lot to me. So you would recommend having the SPDIF -> DAC and then analogue to the receiver? If so, I think that is doable.

A CVBS connection out can also be split into two RCA cables and into the receiver, right?

Another question: If let’s say I have my video (movies/series/what not) output via HDMI that will output the picture and audio. What if I also have the SPDIF -> DAC setup, which path will the audio in the movie take? HDMI or via the SPDIF? Likewise, how will my audio get outputted?

4

Check out Yatse https://www.yatse.tv/

Depending on your “audio quality needs” you might want to look at bluetooth as an alternative especially with future high quality codecs

5

What receiver do you have?
The make and model might allow us to advise you better.

You can split it in to L, R and composite video. But in honesty, our analogue audio isn’t the greatest.

HDMI and SPDIF are outputted simultaneously by default. We understand this can cause issues if you use other sources on your TV however, so you can mute the HDMI audio output under system settings. You’ll then only get audio via SPDIF

Hope this helps

Sam

6

Thanks Sam,

So you would suggest I have an intermediate layer between the receiver and the Vero.
To be honest, I don’t have one yet, as I’m planning out this entire chain of gear, so it is hard to for me to say.

For the CVBS I can just choose to use the L and the R for analogue out right, and completely skip the video component, right?

7

To determine the best fit for the AVR, it’d help to know what make and model it is (so we can check the specs of it).

Yes, that’s right.

8

Perhaps I’m missing something but if your receiver has HDMI input, which I presume it does, then I don’t see any need for any other connection than HDMI. No need for an additional SPDIF (or USB) > DAC > Analog > Receiver connection. The audio quality will be the same or better via HDMI.

9

I don’t think his bookshelf speakers are connected to a receiver which accepts HDMI.

But it would be good to know what’s connected to what, including make and model.

10

I’m surprised Sam said that. I think you’ll find the analogue better than any current BT solution. Your ears may vary.

12

It’s definitely better and more reliable than BT. But there is no proper DAC - so avoiding analog and going for SPDIF or HDMI would be a better option.

@sunmoon could always try the analogue out and see if it’s sufficient before making further changes to his setup or buying additional peripherals.

13

I think you meant @sunmoon …

15

Indeed, apologies.

17

I guess a TV is in the chain? Do you have a compatible output on the TV to your amp?
So Vero>TV->amp. The TV should remains ON even for music but nowadays it’s common and maybe acceptable

18

I’m planning on getting one of these receivers, I hope this gives it more context.

@shamael ideally, I don’t want to leave the TV on for when I listen to music.

@sam_nazarko I would like to connect my bookshelve speakers to my receiver. I also agree with you, that it would be a great idea to try it first with the analogue.

My solution would like to have the video and audio going into the receiver. For movies and audio it both goes out to the bookshelves which are connected to my receiver.
If I do choose the HDMI out from the Vero, the DAC which is used is the one in the Vero and not the one in the receiver, right?

19

If you get this receiver then every thing you wrote is not relevant.
You would connect the Vero via HDMI to the receiver and the receiver via HDMI to your TV.

Then the audio would be transported from the Vero as digital signal to the receiver and the DAC in the receiver will translate it into analog signals for your bookshelf speakers.

1 Like
20

@fzinken

Thanks. So the the DAC is the one in the Yamaha, right? And the then the audio will be outputted via analogue to my bookshelves?

Second question, if I were to just listen to music, do I still need the TV to be on?

21

If the Vero is plugged into that AVR via HDMI then it will use the DAC inside of it to convert the signal to analog before amplifying it and sending it to the speakers. It does not require a TV to be on for audio output but you will probably have to disable or adjust CEC options to allow for the AVR to be on with the TV off.

22

Thanks @darwindesign

One other thing, can it play youtube, provided that I hook it up with a wireless keyboard/mouse to browse

23

As of today Kodi (which is the mediacenter part of OSMC) supports youtube. But as youtube increases limitation you currently need to configure your own API keys which is a onetime manual process.
Also this function depends in the long run on the updates between the addon and youtube which could be blocked so it can not be considered a “given feature”.