Recently we looked into pricing comparisons in Australia and even we were surprised how Kaleidescape was not only cheaper to purchase, but provided far greater value for money!

Now Imerge do produce an audio only server (Imerge Sound Server S2000) which Kaleidescape doesn’t but the new Kaleidescape Mini System provides video as well as audio for only $ 2,800 more!

So let’s look at the comparative pricing:

Imerge S3004B-400 – 4 zones audio only, 400 Gig of storage, No RAID support.  $11,300.00 inc GST

Kaleidescape Mini System with 2 drives – 1 x movie / music zone, 2 x additional audio only zones, 500 Gig of Storage expandable to 1.5 TB, RAID K, additional cascading of mini systems and servers, additional player support up to 15 additional simultaneous movie or music zones.  $14,129.00 inc GST


As you can see, value for money there really is no question that Kaleidescape provides you with flexibility and future proofing of your investment.

Now let’s look at the Imerge Media Servers against the Kaleidescape 1RU Server:

Imerge MS-5000 Media server – 1 x movie zones, 4 x music zones (2 digital only), 3TB storage, RAID 5, non expandable. – $ 29,650.00 inc GST

Kaleidescape 1RU Server with 4 1Tb drives – 3TB of storage, RAID K, Cascade server design
Kaleidescape 1080p Mini player – 1 x Movie zone
Kaleidescape Music player – 4 x Audio zones (both analogue and digital) $ 28,965.00 inc GST

Additional Media players

• Imerge MP-1000 $9,430.00 inc GST

VS.

• Kaleidescape 1080p Movie Player $5,244.00 inc GST

Or

• Kaleidescape 1080p Mini Player (No drive for loading content)  $3,561.00 inc GST

Not only is Kaleidescape cheaper and more flexible on the original purchase, additional media zones can be added at less than half the price of an Imerge Media player!

One of the most important things is that all Kaleidescape platforms are interoperable, something that Imerge haven’t been able to achieve.

Purchase a Mini System with the intent to catalogue your CD collection and maybe a couple of DVD’s. In a year or two you might find that you now have an extensive DVD collection that you wish to add to your Kaleidescape system and it is as easy as adding an additional server or mini players to increase your storage requirements.

Regardless of how many servers or players on your system, to the user it is one big system and dependant on configuration it can store up to 1800 DVD’s or 19,800 CD’s on a single 3RU server and support up to 45 simultaneous zones!

Makes you feel sorry for all those people who bought an Imerge doesn’t it?

The problem is that due to their popularity, we now have so many to choose from. Escient Fireball, Axonix Media Max, Imerge, AMX Max & Kaleidescape to name the major players but only one stands out from the crowd.

Almost all DVD servers or Digital media servers have an operating system because essentially they are a computer with a large amount of storage space. The majority of manufacturers resort to using Microsoft or Linux as an OS. Out of the two, Linux has been proven to be more stable in this environment but the limitations of using an OS from another provider is that you are at the mercy of the OS.

Kaleidescape is one of the only manufacturers who have its own operating system called KEAOS which stands for ‘Kaleidescape Entertainment Appliance Operating System’. What this equates to is a product that compares to the reliability of a mission critical, enterprise grade server.

They like to call it “The Kaleidescape Experience” and that is exactly what it is, an experience!

We can talk about all the Digital Media Servers, DVD Media Servers or Jukebox players and the different manufacturers like Escient, Axonix, Imerge & AMX but it would be no different to talking about backyard cricket versus the Ashes.

There is no comparison other than the importing of content to allow it to be played back. Much the same as backyard cricket uses a bat and a ball similar to that used in the Ashes or a test match.

Kaleidescape is in a league of its own and yes once upon a time with the price tag to match. Now with the release of the mini system we can deliver systems for less than $ 15,000, considerably less than the $ 30,000 entry level price tag we once faced.

It is the ‘Kaleidescape experience’ that provides management & storage of over 1800 DVD’s and 19,800 CD’s on a single server. It has the ability to cascade servers in minutes creating a virtually infinite collection (Not quite possible because Kaleidescape won’t let you import the same disc twice.) and simultaneous content streaming to 45 players from the same server.

It has a User interface that other manufacturers attempt to copy and it exists on a future proofed and backwards compatible platform unlike some manufacturers who have discontinued their platforms in the past, leaving the customer with an obsolete and non-upgradeable piece of equipment.

In fact, the very first Kaleidescape system produced more than 6 years ago is still in service and runs on the same KEAOS as new systems purchased today.

If there is any negative side to Kaleidescape it would only be that it does not support the ability to copy photos to the server for slide shows or let you dump your dodgy MP3 music collection to it.

But Kaleidescape is not really a digital media server, it’s an ‘Entertainment System’ used for watching your purchased DVD’s or listening to your vast CD collection in its original & intended format.

Untouched, just how the producers and composers wanted you to see and hear it…

The Mini System is the first Kaleidescape product to integrate a complete multi-zone Kaleidescape System into a single component, and the first to include a remote control.

Its elegant industrial design is beautifully suited for a living room, and it installs as easily as an ordinary DVD player. Priced about 40% less than the current Kaleidescape System, the Mini System is affordable and well-suited for a variety of projects.

The Mini System can be expanded by adding Players so you can enjoy your entertainment collection in other rooms of your home, by adding Servers to accommodate your growing collection, or by adding other Mini Systems to do both. The Mini System has a movie zone and two additional built-in music zones to provide “whole-house entertainment” out-of-the-box.

Browsing your collection on a Mini System is simple and rewarding. With the press of a button, your movies or music are sorted by title, actor, artist, director, genre, year-of-release or run time. Kaleidescape’s Movie and Music Guide Services automatically cross-reference your entertainment collection to help you rediscover your favorites and share them with family and friends. High-resolution cover art provides an endless panorama to help you quickly identify the movies and music that are “just right” for the occasion.

“The Kaleidescape Experience makes choosing a movie, television show, or album interesting and fun for the entire family,” said Michael Malcolm, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Kaleidescape, Inc. “The frustration of rummaging through discs and mediating between siblings is replaced by leaning back and enjoying your entire entertainment collection with your family. Our customers spend more time being entertained, and ultimately derive more value from the DVDs and CDs they already own.”

“The Kaleidescape Mini System installs quickly and easily, without the need for structured wiring and complex control system programming,” said Brian Hudkins, President of Gramophone, a leading home theater installer in Maryland for over 30 years. “It’s a perfect and complete entertainment solution at a price point that is well within the budget for most of the projects we deliver.”

The Mini System is available immediately at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price starting at $17,495 in Australia, and includes a standard one-year limited warranty.

Also being sucked into the fight are Companies like Control 4, AMX, Escient and Crestron all consumer electronics companies that have recently released DVD storage or ripping technology.

You can read the full article here
Source: Channel News