Guest AndrewC Posted August 26, 2016 Posted August 26, 2016 http://hometheaterreview.com/kaleidescape-to-close-its-doors/ Kaleidescape to Close Its Doors HomeTheaterReview.com, August 22, 2016 http://www.cepro.com/article/kaleidescape_is_shutting_down_interview_with_ceo_cheena_srinivasan August 20, 2016 Kaleidescape, the icon of high-performance movie players, lossless video downloads, elegant home automation integration and beautiful user experiences, is shutting down. ... Pity. For me personally, fortuitously, the Kscape journey somewhat ended with their failure to support high-resolution audio a couple of years ago. :-\
crazysurfer Posted August 27, 2016 Posted August 27, 2016 Heard about it from Clarity Audio last week. Seems that they are looking for a White Knight to buy over and have pledge to continue to service their existing customers.
Guest AndrewC Posted August 27, 2016 Posted August 27, 2016 My hardware is still connected, but I hardly touch it these days.
Spizz Posted May 15, 2021 Posted May 15, 2021 (edited) Hi, Just wondering if any Australian owners can via VPN, or otherwise purchase movies and download them from the US KScape store as I am looking at importing a Strato S and don't want to be stuck with something I can't use locally. I saw a post over on AVS with an Aussie owners saying he could neither purchase nor download movies here in Australia, however a Swiss user says he has no issues doing either. Any feedback, even privately, would be appreciated. Edited May 15, 2021 by Spizz
brodricj Posted May 23, 2021 Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) Yep. That was me. I have a K-store account but I just can't download any content. They know I'm in Australia, whether I use a VPN or not. And if they didn't know I was in Australia, and I VPN'd myself into the US, I'd still need a credit card on record with the K-Store issued by a US bank. This is a screenshot of my K-store account. The only stuff listed there are digital download Ultra Violet copies of movies that came for free when purchasing a blue ray movie. As you can see, some cover art is missing because those local market pressings are not known to Kaleidescape. If you want to own a Kaleidescape system your best bet is to buy a used Premiere system, but make sure you check you're getting a grandfathered version server. Your content will be limited to discs which you own and can import. A new Premiere will set you back about $35K, if you could find a dealer to sell you one. And it won't be able to import DVD's unless you buy an old server, send it to Kaleidescape and they transfer the copy-protection licence to the new server. Kaleidescape will then scrap that server, whether it's working or not. That was the deal they struck with the movie studios. Edited May 23, 2021 by brodricj
Guest Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 This is the reason we've never promoted or published news for this brand in Australia. There is just no legal way to use Kaleidescape locally. A shame, as it's a great product that I have used and enjoyed. A shame the distributor and/or manufacturer can't go through the appropriate processes to make it work legitimately here.
Scratcher Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 54 minutes ago, Marc said: This is the reason we've never promoted or published news for this brand in Australia. There is just no legal way to use Kaleidescape locally. A shame, as it's a great product that I have used and enjoyed. A shame the distributor and/or manufacturer can't go through the appropriate processes to make it work legitimately here. How strange that this OZ store is advertising still? https://lifestylestore.com.au/product/kaleidescape-cinema-one-movie-server/
Guest Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 Not strange at all really. It's still the pinnacle of video servers - and not illegal to sell it.
Scratcher Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 Ah I don’t know much about it but they are advertising that it downloads from the kaleidoscopes store
brodricj Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Conch said: How strange that this OZ store is advertising still? https://lifestylestore.com.au/product/kaleidescape-cinema-one-movie-server/ The Kaleidescape cinema one is a long discontinued product. And it's not 4K. I would be very surprised if they had one to sell, unless it was a store demo or very old stock. There was a dealer on the east coast demonstrating a Kaleidescape Strato in store last year. When I put it to them nobody here could download any content I think they were a little surprised, and when they looked into it they agreed with me. You can buy one with pre-loaded content, but once it arrives in Australia you won't be able to download any more content. Nothing wrong with Blue Ray quality on the Kaleidescape Premiere system with M-class players. If you have a large collection of DVD's and BR's the Premiere system is the way to go. Of all my A/V hardware I put Kaleidescape at the top of the list as the most indispensable part. I've been a Kaleidescape user for 15 years. When people visit my home to listen to my system, without exception, they are impressed by the Kaleidescape above everything else.
brodricj Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 Just now, Conch said: Ah I don’t know much about it but they are advertising that it downloads from the kaleidoscopes store It downloads from the Kaleidescape store ONLY if you live in the UK, Canada, or the United States. That owner in Switzerland had some crack he used to access the K-store, but he somehow had a payment method that didn't alert the K-store he wasn't in a supported market. I can access the K-store from Australia, but I can't download any content.
brodricj Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 2 hours ago, Marc said: ...There is just no legal way to use Kaleidescape locally... To be clear, you can legally use any Kaleidescape product in Australia. What you can't legally do is download content to a Kaleidescape server in Australia from the Kaleidescape store in the United States. You can certainly import content that you own into a Kaleidescape Premiere system (except for 4K). There is a fundamental difference between IMPORT and DOWNLOAD. Import requires a physical disc, download you don't have a physical disc.
Guest Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 But then it's just a glorified Zappiti or Zidoo at thousands of dollars more. IMO, take away the access to the movie store it just lost all its appeal (at the asking price).
cwt Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 On 15/05/2021 at 12:09 PM, Spizz said: Hi, Just wondering if any Australian owners can via VPN, or otherwise purchase movies and download them from the US KScape store as I am looking at importing a Strato S and don't want to be stuck with something I can't use locally. I saw a post over on AVS with an Aussie owners saying he could neither purchase nor download movies here in Australia, however a Swiss user says he has no issues doing either. Any feedback, even privately, would be appreciated. Hi Spero ; yes was looking at something similar due to the lower entry price than the old cumbersome vault solutions and the way they rejuvenated the original masters as well as downloading rather than streaming but if they couldnt be bothered to give access to the store Ile soldier on with my zappiti
AFB Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 2 hours ago, Marc said: But then it's just a glorified Zappiti or Zidoo at thousands of dollars more. IMO, take away the access to the movie store it just lost all its appeal (at the asking price). It may be a glorified Zappiti or Zidoo - not that I have looked at either - but I would not be able to enjoy my collection of music/concert discs without it. I have just bought a new Premiere server to ensure that it remains available as the core delivery system in my home theatre. I do not really care for or miss the movie store. 2
cwt Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 9 minutes ago, AFB said: It may be a glorified Zappiti or Zidoo - not that I have looked at either - but I would not be able to enjoy my collection of music/concert discs without it. I have just bought a new Premiere server to ensure that it remains available as the core delivery system in my home theatre. I do not really care for or miss the movie store. There are some very good cheaper options if no interest in the store AFB , the latest handle 4k/2k etc with video oriented circuitry like linear power supplies and nice ESS dacs for analogue . Its quite easy to convert your discs into mkv or a lossless iso among others . Heres the latest Zidoo as an example Zidoo UHD3000 HIFI 4K UHD Media Play (a1futureshop.com.au)Zidoo UHD3000 HIFI 4K UHD Media Play (a1futureshop.com.au) Zapitti have a similar model
AFB Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 2 hours ago, cwt said: There are some very good cheaper options if no interest in the store AFB , the latest handle 4k/2k etc with video oriented circuitry like linear power supplies and nice ESS dacs for analogue . Its quite easy to convert your discs into mkv or a lossless iso among others . Heres the latest Zidoo as an example Zidoo UHD3000 HIFI 4K UHD Media Play (a1futureshop.com.au)Zidoo UHD3000 HIFI 4K UHD Media Play (a1futureshop.com.au) Zapitti have a similar model Hi CWT, I am not that fussed about 4K or 2K - most concert discs struggle with poor lighting at 1K. The key with Kaleidescape is the video bookmarking. This allows the server to be used like a jukebox, skipping over the disc non-standard menu system, FBI warning, studio logos etc. I have not seen anything like it on the other systems.
brodricj Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 Once you have experienced the Kaleidescape experience everything else is just half-baked. Whilst I would like to be able to download 4K movies from the Kaleidescape store, I'm not missing much by buying BR discs and playing those instead. I tend to watch concert video's more so than mainstream movies and the video-bookmarking of the Kaleidescape system has no competition. I have 18TB storage capacity on my 1U server and an M-class player in each bedroom so I have quite a bit of skin invested in the game, and have had so for a long time.
cwt Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 1 hour ago, AFB said: Hi CWT, I am not that fussed about 4K or 2K - most concert discs struggle with poor lighting at 1K. The key with Kaleidescape is the video bookmarking. This allows the server to be used like a jukebox, skipping over the disc non-standard menu system, FBI warning, studio logos etc. I have not seen anything like it on the other systems. Was wondering about the efficiency of Kscapes searching [ just the thing for a large collection] . I like using dvdfab to convert ' and eradicate the FBI warnings etc not to mention any region coding crap - main movie profile is my go to .. My use case is different though i have a lot of 3d compared to 2d files so am caught out somewhat anyway
brodricj Posted May 24, 2021 Posted May 24, 2021 (edited) You can search within your Kaleidescape movie/music collection in all the ways you might expect. Either from whatever control system you are using, or a computer web browser. FBI warnings and the top menu are eradicated from the experience, although if you feel inclined you can choose to "play disc" in which case the behavior is exactly as per putting a disc in any old disc spinner, viewing the FBI warning and landing in the top menu. Once imported into a grandfathered system DVD region codes do not apply any more. For BR playback you need the specific region M-Class player somewhere in the system to playback that content on any other player. For example, if you have a B region BR and an A, B and C player, you can play that movie on any player. If you don't have a B player, you can't play that movie on any player (but you can import it into the system on any player). Edited May 24, 2021 by brodricj
tkubey Posted February 2 Posted February 2 (edited) On 15/5/2024 at 4:33 PM, brodricj said: ....stay tuned....watch this space. I just came searching interested in kaleidoscape from Australia and found this topic. You posted this almost a year ago and just wondering if anything had changed? Or if you know what/when at all? thank you Edited February 2 by tkubey
Administrator StereoNET Posted February 3 Administrator Posted February 3 As I understand it, currently, it won't change. Would be super happy to be wrong though.
Hydrology Posted February 5 Posted February 5 On 03/02/2025 at 9:00 AM, StereoNET said: As I understand it, currently, it won't change. Would be super happy to be wrong though. I heard from a little birdy that this is under review and their is effort to make it happen again in this neck of the woods. Unfortunately I know no more at this time so can't elaborate past a very confident whisper in my ear from a knowledgeable associate!
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