Helios X5000 HD Network Media Player Review

Consumer Electronics
#1

I just posted the article Helios X5000 HD Network Media Player Review.

HD Network media player with high quality components targetted at audio/videophiles. Supports up to 1080p content natively.

Read the full article here:  [http://www.cdfreaks.com/review/12964-Helios-X5000-HD-Network-Media-Player-Review/](http://www.cdfreaks.com/review/12964-Helios-X5000-HD-Network-Media-Player-Review/)

Feel free to add your comments below. 

Please note that the reactions from the complete site will be synched below.

Update 2nd Sept. '09

With Neodigits/Helios Labs appearing to have gone out of business, their US website has gone down along with all the firmware updates. :doh:

I would like to a big Thank You to mewanty for helping us find the firmware for the Helios X5000 and X3000 and to Hantz.com and Philip401 for providing some to mewanty. :clap:

These can be downloaded below:

Helios X5000 Firmware

[ul]
[li]X5000_20_Oct_2006.zip[/li][li]X5000_08_Jan_2007.zip[/li][li]X5000_10_Apr_2007.zip[/li][/ul]

Helios X3000 Firmware

[ul]
[li]X3061020.zip (20th October 2006)[/li][li]X3061222.zip (22nd December 2006)[/li][li]X3070410.zip (10th April 2007)[/li][/ul]

Notes:

[ol]
[li]These firmware files must be installed in sequence, i.e. Oct '06 first, then Jan '07 and finally Apr '07 for X5000. [/li][li]Do not attempt to load the X5000 firmware on the X3000 or vice versa![/li][/ol]

Other Downloads:

[ul]
[li]X5000 User Product Manual[/li][li]NeoLink V1.3[/li][/ul]

If anyone has NeoLink v1.4 or any other Helios/Neodigits related firmware or product manuals, I would really appreciate if they could send it to us, e.g. using SendSpace and PM me or post the links below. :slight_smile:

#2

wow! time really flies. didn’t know it was April already…!?

#3

My reaction to this was to get a hard boner. Did anyone else have the same problem ?

#4

yeah! ilove it. :g

#5

I would think twice about getting one of these units. The April 07 firmware has a serious sound skipping problem when playing DVD’s and Helios are dragging there heals when it comes to getting it fixed. People who have brought these players have basically been expected to do most of the testing and just today someone got a replacement player with the origonal firmware and confirmed everything works fine. It’s taken Helios 2 weeks and so far they have not even confirmed it’s and issue they are still ‘investigating’ MAJOR problem is it’s not possible to downgrade the firmware so lots of people are stuck with this bug until Helios finally fix it. I don’t think the level of support is worth the £230 price tag. :frowning:

#6

2 weeks? Big deal dude, you need to relax. Do you know how long I have been waiting from Apple for quad core support in Logic Audio (an ADVERTISED FEATURE that has never worked properly) - 6 months!

#7

I have an X5000, and can play 1080p over the LAN, but I can’t get 5.1 audio working Has anybody managed to get 5.1 audio working with either a WMV or DIVX or any other media streaming from a pc or NAS to the x5000? cheers, Paul
This message was edited at: 10-06-2008 19:54

#8

hi

#9

I have a Helios X3000 and I lost the NeoLink server software . NeoDigit site does not work anymore , they have be out of business. Any one of you guys have a spare copy of NeoLink Server would greatly appreciate.
Thanks

#10

Welcome to CD Freaks :slight_smile:

That’s a real pity to hear about Helios Labs (NeoDigits) gone, as I didn’t realise this until I saw your post and tried checking for myself. Then again, it has been several years since I carried out my review here.

I’m not sure what the latest NeoLink software version was, but here is NeoLink 1.3, dated December 2006:

http://upload.cdfreaks.com/seanbyrne/Software/NeoLink.zip

As far as I’m aware of, this works for the X3000.

#11

[QUOTE=Seán;2408718]Welcome to CD Freaks :slight_smile:

That’s a real pity to hear about Helios Labs (NeoDigits) gone, as I didn’t realise this until I saw your post and tried checking for myself. Then again, it has been several years since I carried out my review here.

I’m not sure what the latest NeoLink software version was, but here is NeoLink 1.3, dated December 2006:

http://upload.cdfreaks.com/seanbyrne/Software/NeoLink.zip

As far as I’m aware of, this works for the X3000.[/QUOTE]

Thanks A lot Sean,
I was using NeoLink 1.4previously, but 1.3 should work as well ( been running with TVersity for now) And yes that’s too bad they went out of business I actually was expecting more products from this company as I bought their NouNeo HVD player in the past.
Any recommendations for a replacement of X3000 ???

#12

The best alternative I can think of off hand would be the HDX 1000. This will play pretty much everything the X3000 and X5000 plays, as well as H.264 video. Like the Helios X3000, it is also plays from network sources and various services.

I have the HDX1000 and installed a 1TB SATA HDD in it, so mainly keep all my video content on it. As I get a few HD channels on satellite, this is where it has a big advantage over the Helios as I can play the recorded H.264 TS files without having to convert them to another format first.

You can find a list of its codecs and features on its website here (click the ‘Here’ link)

#13

Thanks a Lot this player looks awesome exactly what I was looking for , Will it up-convert non HD video too ???

#14

The HDX1000 will upscale and seems to do a pretty good job at it. :wink:

For video playback, it gives the following options:

[ol]
[li]Actual size - No upscaling[/li][li]Fit To Screen - Upscales, retaining aspect ratio[/li][li]Crop - Upscales to fill screen, but crops excess video (like DVD’s Pan & Scan)[/li][li]Full Screen - Upscales and stretches to fill the screen.[/li][/ol]

It also supports a wide range of HD modes. For example, when I select the video output mode in the menu, I get a choice of the following:

[ul]
[li]480p @ 60Hz[/li][li]576p @ 50Hz[/li][li]720p @ 50Hz or 60Hz[/li][li]1080i @ 50Hz, 59.94Hz or 60Hz[/li][li]1080p @ 23.976Hz, 24Hz, 25Hz, 29.97Hz, 30Hz, 50Hz, 59.94Hz or 60Hz[/li][li]Vesa mode choices (e.g. for DVI flat-panel displays and projectors): [/li][LIST]
[li]1280 x 768 @ 60Hz[/li][li]1360 x 768 @ 60Hz[/li][li]1366 x 768 @ 60Hz[/li][li]1440 x 900 @ 60Hz[/li][li]1680 x 1050 @ 60Hz[/li][li]1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]

For aspect ratios, it gives a choice of 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 and also supports audio over HDMI.

#15

Greetings!

Just starting w/ a X5000 now and I see it has old firmware on it. Firmware links on the Helios Europe Website are dead.

In order to get to the latest rev, it looks like I need to install 3 updates:
20th OCT 2006 Firmware Upgrade (X5000OCT.zip)
08th JAN 2007 Firmware Upgrade (X5000JAN.zip)
10th APR 2007 Firmware Upgrade (X5000APR07.zip)

If anyone happens to have this and could either U/L these on this thread or PM me, it would be super-excellent!

Best Regards,
mewanty

#16

Welcome to CD Freaks :slight_smile:

Unfortunately, all I have is the October 2006 firmware as I carried out the later firmware updates online from the player itself, not realising we would run into this issue. :doh:

Firmware for 20th October 2006: Download Link
X5000 user product manual: Download Link

#17

Awesome - thanks!

I now have the 1st & 3rd… just need the 2nd:
08th JAN 2007 Firmware Upgrade

Cheers!

#18

Hi guys,
want to sell my Helios X5000. It’s still like new, optical and technical in best condition. I bought it last year but I didn’t use all of the professional Funktion, exactly just for Musik-CD. It’s too exaggerated to have such equipment for me. I bought it because of the marvelous design.

Maybe someone interests? Pls Mail to: [edited out]
Price: 450€ inkl. Shipping (from Germany).

#19

Dear All,

Thank you mewanty for ferering me to this site…

I’m after the firmware for the Helios X3000 - Does any one have?

I DO have firmware for X5000 and Neolink, if any one needs.

PS I did try to load the X5000 firmware on my X3000 out of desperation, but I would say things are now worse as a result. If any one is thinking of doing the same - Dont.

Philip

#20

Philip, if you wouldn’t mind, could you send me these X5000 8th Jan '07 and 10th Apr '07 firmware? This way I can host the firmware here for anyone else who needs it. Thanks :slight_smile:

Originally I thought the X5000 and X3000 had identical functionality apart from the X5000 using higher end hardware components. But after seeing that the X3000 firmware links have different filenames to the X5000 firmware files, this indicates both appear to require different firmware. It’s a real pity they decided to just host the files on their (now dead) US website, as their EU website is still up, but with broken download links all pointing at the dead US host. I feel bad that I did the last two firmware updates online from the player, as I extremely rarely delete anything I download and thus would have still had these had I updated using the USB method at the time. :doh:

Also, if anyone reading this has any x3000 firmware files, could you send me these firmware updates?

You can use the free file hosting website www.sendspace.com (or any other method you prefer) to upload the files and PM me the links. Neolink is a huge package (~50MB from what I recall), but if you could send me version 1.4, I’ll be happy to host that also. :slight_smile: