SiliconDustHDHomeRun Flex 4K ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV: 2/4 Tuners HDFX-4K

My experience with this product began with a phone call to Silicondust tech support, pre-purchase. The call was returned quickly and all questions answered thoroughly and politely. Talk about not feeling rushed off the phone, I felt a little guilty for taking up so much time. But, I'm not the most tech-savvy and was looking to "cut the cord". The item was ordered within minutes of concluding the tech call.Setup was easy and intuitive. The unit works very well with the current gen Firestick, as well as a Vizio remote. Oddly enough, the LG app is nearly worthless, DVR menu and functions don't show up and the seasons change quicker than TV channels. The Firestick fixed those issues.A second call to tech support was needed to get the DVR capabilities working. Again, setup was quick and easy. I added a $50 Toshiba 1Tb HDD.This thing has a very good tuner. In direct A/B comparisons to the Vizio tuner, freception of marginal stations is far better and it pulls MORE channels, including the low-power channels 40-50 miles away. Oddly enough, when atmospheric conditions are favorable, I can get stations in excess of 80 miles away, some over 100(!). Where the television can pull 54 stations, the Silicondust tuner pulls 82, 74 of which are usable. I'm using a Televes 148383 Datboss antenna, in an attic location, approximately 22 feet elevation.Quite a few comments are at least somewhat critical of the user interface, especially the program guide. In my opinion, it's roughly equivalent to using a cable provider's DVR. There are tradeoffs but they are just different, not really better or worse than any other DVR. There's always a learning curve, no biggie. The lone criticism I have is the lack of ability to set recordings by channel/date/time; that would be a really nice addition. As it is, scrolling is reasonably quick, so no harm/no foul.The weakest aspect is the website and lack of instruction manual. It'd be good to have the option of a downnloadable .pdf.Coming up on two weeks in-service, I am still discovering capabilities that are undocumented and they're all good. Via computer and smart phone, the Homerun app is nice to work with, especially in terms of recording and FF/REW functions when playing recorded content.Overall, a satisfying purchase. Would recommend to anyone looking for a good OTA DVR.

My wife bought me this tuner for Christmas, and I added a 2 TB USB external drive for recording. The picture quality on live viewing and recordings is excellent on both the ATSC 1.0 and NextGen TV ATSC 3.0 channels. The user interface is not intuitive, not quite "user hostile" but also not fully user-friendly. Some comments on the tuner:- I had been using an Amazon Recast previously. The Recast connected to wi-fi wirelessly, and the HomeRun connects via ethernet cable. The hardwired connection is 100% reliable (no dropouts or disconnects), is faster, and the picture is significantly better.- Recordings in ATSC 3.0 have skips and dropouts in both video and audio that do not seem to be present in the ATSC 1.0 recordings.- The external drive is not formatted in NTSC, so it cannot be read directly if plugged into a Windows computer. It can be read from a Linux computer, or a dual-boot Linux/Windows device. Recorded programs also can be copied on the network from the external drive treating the tuner as a network device.- Audio in the ATSC 3.0 recordings, if copied from the external drive, does not play on VLC or Media Player. NextGen TV uses a codec called AC-4, which is not widely available. Playing back through the SiliconDust interface plays the audio properly.- I paid for the 14 day electronic program guide, but only a day or so was displayed at a time. I found out from SiliconDust Tech Support that it is necessary to go to the maximum extent of the guide, exit the app, and restart it to get more future listings. They admitted this needs more work.- Overall navigation in the SiliconDust app is awkward when moving between Live TV, the guide, and recordings.As a result of my dissatisfaction with the SiliconDust interface software, and to provide a more intuitive interface, I investigated Kodi, Plex and Emby as media servers. The AC-4 codec is not available on Kodi and Plex, so there is no audio on ATSC 3.0 playback. I eventually went with Emby, which works well and does play ATSC 3.0 audio from the NextGen TV channels. I installed the Emby server software in Windows on a CTONE mini PC (available from Amazon) and this makes for a much more user-friendly setup. The mini PC has low power consumption, so it can run 24/7 at lower cost than a traditional laptop or desktop. Recorded content can be copied treating the mini PC as a network device, and edited if desired (e.g., to make a personal copy of a major movie that may be broadcast only on rare occasions).Overall, this is a great tuner, best used with a third-party interface.

I am using the HDHomerun Flex 4K with optional $35 DVR service to stream local channels to 3 Roku Ultras connected to TVs and iPad. Initial device set up is super easy if you have antenna connection and router co-located. The HDHomerun works flawlessly. Software is stable, no crashes and streams to multiple Rokus at the same time with four tuners. Picture quality is A++ (I watched multiple NFL games). Tuner pulls in over the air TV stations at 100% quality and signal for crystal clear picture and no pixelization; I have a modest Clearstream 1 Max antenna mounted in my attic connected to the HDHomerun. IMPORTANT: If you are using Roku, you will need a Roku Ultra 4800 (with Dolby Atmos) or newer to receive audio on 4K broadcasts; this is the only Roku model with the necessary audio decoder for 4K. HOWEVER, there is basically no 4K content and any Roku works fine for the high definition (i.e., 1080p) stations, which realistically is all you are going to receive in the near term. In other words, don’t worry about upgrading your Roku until there is 4K content being broadcast. The user interface for the HD app on Roku is (barely) adequate. Some settings must be manipulated on the iPad and are NOT accessible via the Roku app on the TV screen. There are no instructions and the app is not intuitive. You will eventually figure it out, but it will take a few days. The DVR requires you to connect a USB hard drive (not included) and pay a $35 annual subscription; you receive an activation code to enable the DVR. The DVR is adequate and must be programmed via the iPad; the on screen set up doesn’t always work. I used the TabloTV (competitor device) prior to HDHomerun and returned the TabloTV after a few days. The TabloTV has a great user interface and DVR, but the hardware is terrible. The TabloTV crashed several times per day and the does not work well with Roku. HDHomerun picture quality and software stability outclass the TabloTV significantly. The HDHomerun works fine with Roku. If TabloTV user interface software were integrated with HDHomerun hardware, you would have the perfect local TV streaming solution. Absent that, buy the HDHomerun and live with its clunky user interface.

This is kind of lengthy...Previously, for the past 6 years, our household used a “Tablo” as our in-home OTA DVR solution. For that purpose, it worked fairly well. I won’t go into any of the downsides, but the final deal killer was the inability to access it remotely using Roku devices. No matter how many router tweaks and settings such as port forwarding I tried, Roku just couldn’t access it. The only thing that worked was using a smartphone. All we wanted was the ability to access our local news broadcasts and sporting events when out of town. We thought we had found a solution by subscribing to “YouTube TV” which provides local channels as part of the package. Imagine our disappointment when on our first trip out of town, we could not get any of our hometown stations but instead those of where we were at the time.Upon our return, I resolved to finally replace the “Tablo” with a SiliconDust “HDHomeRun Flex 4K”. Operationally, much like the “Tablo”, you connect an OTA antenna to the unit, connect to your home network and then power it up. One of the nice things about the “Tablo” is that you can connect to your home network wirelessly. The “HDHomeRun” requires a wired ethernet connection. This meant we would have to run ethernet cable from our router to where the unit would reside. Fortunately for us this was something we did last year for different reasons but in the process, the “Tablo” was connected directly as well which greatly improved its responsiveness and stability.Unboxing the “HDHomeRun” and connecting it in place of the “Tablo” took only a few minutes. I used the “HDHomeRun” app on my android phone while connected to the same network to finish up firmware upgrades and channel scans. The “HDHomeRun”, when connected to our attic antenna, picked up 52 local ATSC 1.0 channels and 4 ATSC 3.0 stations. Now, the main reason we selected the “HDHomeRun” was its ability to integrate with our “Plex Media Server” which we have had operating for years. Within just minutes, the “HDHomeRun” was setup within Plex which, as part of our lifetime pass, provides a guide for all of the channels the “HDHomeRun” found. Plex also provides native DVR support so no additional storage devices or fees to SiliconDust for their DVR functionality. What Plex won’t do is decode AC-4 audio (blame FFmpeg) which is what the ATSC 3.0 broadcasts come with. Not a huge problem since all of the ATSC 1.0 audio channels work just fine. We anticipate that Plex/FFmpeg will provide the AC-4 decoder eventually as ATSC 3.0 adoption picks up, but the main thing is, since Plex is a server, we can access it remotely which means all of our local channels are available remotely as well.“HDHomeRun” also has a Windows 10 app which was downloaded to test. That worked great and after downloading a couple of drivers it said it needed, including a 99 cent one from Microsoft, I was able to play the ATSC 3.0 channels with audio as well. Some users have complained about channel changes taking a long time. For us this is 2-3 seconds. I challenge anyone to go from one YouTube or Roku channel to another much faster.All in all, to date, this change over has worked out well. It picks up all of the local free channels we could ever need. Subjectively, we also think the image quality is great. If I had a wish list, it would be that the “HDHomeRun” apps provided more native info and/or metadata about each channel such as the kind of audio track being listened to and the video resolution. Kind of like YouTube providing “Stats for Nerds” on each of its videos. We’re not sure if we are future proofed on the ATSC 3.0 roll-out but that was not the only or even main part of the reason for our purchase decision. What we wanted is what we got, and it works very, very well.

I bought this as I am transitioning out of now abandoned Amazon Recast - and into HDHomeRun + Plex for DVR functionality.So I received the box, it is very small and pretty flimsy looking, not that the RF shielding, etc. was any bad. But I wasn't expecting much from it - just another tuner to transition from fairly neglected and now abandoned Amazon Recast.Then I was blown away by this little box.1. This thing does 1080i properly. It does make a difference. Recast would down sample everything in 1080i to 720p. You do lose some fidelity and the image looks a bit soft after this conversion.2. Tuner sensitivity and digital signal error correction appears to be much much better than Recast. We're experiencing heavy rains in Southern California right now (bomb cyclone?), so the weaker station signals have degraded even more. I've noticed that Recast images are junk and will often tune out altogether. Even my Samsung Ttuner gives up after seconds of attempting to correct the signal. HDHomeRun device runs like a champ, able to tune in the weakest of the channels without dropping any pixels. These different tuners all share the same antenna in the attic. I've done my best to angle and position the attic antenna, but some stations just stay pretty weak. But amazing performance in the current weather condition.3. I'm able to tune in on ANY of my devices inside and outside the house. Having Amazon Recast pushed me towards consolidating the streaming devices around the house with the Amazon Fire TV Stick. In order to watch the Recast DVR content, I was forced to install the Amazon devices everywhere - including smart TVs due to forced limiting the ecosystem to only Amazon devices. Plex on the other hand could be installed on virtually any device - all my smart TVs, android phones, tablets, laptops, etc. I have no reason to install the Amazon Fire TV Stick in my smart TVs anymore, and it always felt a bit redundant. I just have to install Plex into those TVs, and I get everything I want there. This seems like a bit of an advertisement for Plex, but the advantage of HDHomeRun device is that you can pair it up with multiple solutions out there - Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, etc. It's fully open and supported by multiple software.4. I've paid the additional price premium on this device for ATSC 3.0 as part of future-proofing. I can get 3 stations with ATSC 3.0 where I am, but I'm skeptical that the source material broadcast on any of them to be true 4K - I believe they are 1080p material sent over the ATSC 3.0 protocol. It's hard to tell if anything is coming over the air with ATSC3, and also Plex does not support the audio yet, so no DVR or live watching. I'm hoping that at some point, this will become supported.My hats off to the hardware designers at SiliconDust - what a superb job!I think the software side is a bit weak - I turned on experiment features on the HDHomeRun app on my tablet, but it immediately locked up and wouldn't let me back in. I had to do a clean re-install to get the function back. Even when it's working, it's pretty stripped down and basic.Caveats: If you want DVR functionality, you will end up paying - Plex DVR functionality requires something called a PlexPass, which costs either monthly, yearly or lifetime. I chose the lifetime option for $90 when it went on sale during Black Friday sale. Another way to get DVR is from SiliconDust, but you have to pay for subscription for the guide and also connect a disk to the device - one option I know is the one sold by SiliconDust, but I did not explore that path as Plex is what I've always had and seemed cost efficient for now.