This article is targeted at people wanting
- to play back video files with DTS audio in them
- know how CineXPlayer fares against the competition.
I've frequently posted on the generic video player “CineXPlayer” (iPhone version / iPad version; both $3.99). While I haven't really recommended it as an all-in-one player (unlike, say, nPlayer ($4.99; last review)), I still did emphasize its main strengths. They're as follows:
- it has runtime image sharpening without any impact on the video playback speed. If you like sharpening, this is the player you should go for. Nevertheless, don't forget the sharpened video images it produces suffer from exactly the same effects as in photo/videography: sharpening halos and the like. I myself dislike sharpening and never use it.
- it's one of the very few iOS split-window apps to offer the capability to browse the web while watching a video. As iOS is – unlike Windows RT or Samsung's 4.7”+ / LG's Android - not able of true split-window multitasking and Quasar, the only jailbreak tool to offer multi-window, was only compatible with iOS5, this is the only way of split-window video watching. (Dedicated article on the split-screen functionality.)
- it has 3D support.
Now, (only) the iPad version, as of version 4.5, has also received a fourth major strength: official DTS audio support. This will be great news for video buffs wanting to play back their direct DVD or even Blu-ray rips without having to convert or even remux them in any way.
(Note that the iPhone version, still at v3.5, doesn't support DTS. It'll surely be updated some time in the future. A year ago, it took the devs some two months to migrate the then-current changes of the iPad version to the iPhone one.)
So far, it has been pretty much impossible to play back video with DTS audio on iOS. After the developers of every single AppStore app with DTS support had to remove DTS, very few DTS-capable players remained in AppStore. Generally, the ones that could play back DTS aren't really recommended because they have an, otherwise, weak playback engine. A perfect example of this is VLC for iOS ($free), which, as of the latest version (review) still has a much worse engine than the best players (for example, nPlayer) out there. That is, while VLC still can play back DTS audio, I still don't recommend using it for playback.
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(tha main video title list view of the app. I've annotated one of the “DTS” lables denoting videos with a DTS label. Click for original.)
The case with jailbroken iDevices, of course, is diametrically opposed to that of AppStore. Both XBMC and RushPlayer+ (two jailbreak-only players; hence the lack of AppStore links) have excellent DTS support. The latter, in addition, has a very fast MKV playback engine.
Is the player worth it?
- If you don't want or can't jailbreak your iPad
- If you don't want to can't remux your video files (albeit it's VERY easy and I have written several tutorials explaining it...)
- If you need the extra features of the app: split-screen Web browsing & sharpening & TV channels,
then, it may be a good choice. However, I'd still stay away unless absolutely necessary. DTS audio is mostly in MKV files, and, for MKV playback, CineXPlayer is in no way recommended. (MKV are the standard output of MakeMKV; the most widely used app to rip one's DVD's or Blu-ray discs. iOS-native MOV / MP4 / M4V files, on the other hand, very rarely have DTS audio as it's, per standard, not allowed, but still playable by some players like VLC.)
How come I don't recommend CineXPlayer for MKV playback?
It's, speed-wise, just far inferior to decent (albeit non-DTS-capable) MKV players like nPlayer or AVPlayer(HD). If you can't jailbreak, you really should consider remuxing – it's, with the right tools like “mp4tools”, much-much faster than you might think. And, if you have a jailbroken iDevice, RushPlayer+ offers waaaaaay better image quality – for free. (As has been pointed out in several of my past articles, you don't need to purchase RushPlayer+ for playback. It's only the media list options and settings that requires unlocking; playback doesn't. That is, the free version will do just fine.)
Let me show you I'm right. The following video shows playing back a DTS-only MKV file - the standardized "Monsters" test video HERE. RushPlayer+ (current, tested version: 1.6.1-1) is on the black iPad 3 on the right, CineXPlayer is on the white iPad 2 on the left. (iPad 2's and 3's are of exactly the same computing power / video playback speed; this is why I'm using these two devices in this test.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uamq9s4tgwE
As you can see, RushPlayer+ is orders of magnitude better: it doesn't drop a single frame, unlike CineXPlayer, which is pretty awful with regards to fluidity.
What about the AppStore reviews?
If you check out the AppStore reviews of the current, reviewed version, you'll see they're complaining about two things:
- crashes under iOS7
- In-pp Purchase can't be restored and will be billed again.
A screenshot of some of these complaints:
![]()
As usual with AppStore user reviews, neither are true. (Actually, noone should trust user reviews at AppStore. Generally, they aren't reliable.) I've very thoroughly tested the app on three iPads, among them, an iPad 3 running on 7.0.2. (Actually, the screenshots in this review have also been made on this iPad – hence the iOS7 look-and-feel.) No iOS7-specific crashes with my usual test files. I really don't know what these people are talking about.
BTW, I had no problems in my iOS 6.1.x tests (on an iPad 2 and 3, both jailbroken) either.
I had no problems with restoring my DTS in-app purchase (IAP for short) either. I've tested restoring (re-purchasing) it on two iPads (an iPad 3 running on 7.0.2 and an iPad 2 on 6.1.0): no problems at all. After accepting the billing request of $0.99, I was presented the usual “You've already purchased this [...]” message:
![]()
That is, it seems you can safely purchase it even if you have iOS7. (Whether it's really worth it is another question...)
Incidentally, as soon as you tap a video with a DTS audio track as its first audio track, you'll be offered the chance to purchase the DTS IAP:
![]()
Absolutely no multitrack support
Note that I've emphasized “first audio track”. CineXPlayer only accesses the (physically) first audio track in a file. There is no way you can make it play back a non-first audio track. This is one of its major disadvantages – after all, all top players (nPlayer, AVPlayer(HD) etc.) support switching between audio tracks.
This also means if you don't want to purchase the DTS IAP but would like to play back a video file in which a DTS audio track is the first, you won't able to do so: you'll always be presented the (previous) “This file contains DTS audio” dialog. With the previous version, at least the video was played back – without audio, of course.
Verdict
In the (very unlikely) case of you having to play back DTS on a non-jailbroken device, you can give it a try. Of course, should you want to use the 3D feature, you may also want to try it. Otherwise, I'd avoid it – it just doesn't have as good an MKV decoder engine as top players like nPlayer or AVPlayer(HD).
- to play back video files with DTS audio in them
- know how CineXPlayer fares against the competition.
I've frequently posted on the generic video player “CineXPlayer” (iPhone version / iPad version; both $3.99). While I haven't really recommended it as an all-in-one player (unlike, say, nPlayer ($4.99; last review)), I still did emphasize its main strengths. They're as follows:
- it has runtime image sharpening without any impact on the video playback speed. If you like sharpening, this is the player you should go for. Nevertheless, don't forget the sharpened video images it produces suffer from exactly the same effects as in photo/videography: sharpening halos and the like. I myself dislike sharpening and never use it.
- it's one of the very few iOS split-window apps to offer the capability to browse the web while watching a video. As iOS is – unlike Windows RT or Samsung's 4.7”+ / LG's Android - not able of true split-window multitasking and Quasar, the only jailbreak tool to offer multi-window, was only compatible with iOS5, this is the only way of split-window video watching. (Dedicated article on the split-screen functionality.)
- it has 3D support.
Now, (only) the iPad version, as of version 4.5, has also received a fourth major strength: official DTS audio support. This will be great news for video buffs wanting to play back their direct DVD or even Blu-ray rips without having to convert or even remux them in any way.
(Note that the iPhone version, still at v3.5, doesn't support DTS. It'll surely be updated some time in the future. A year ago, it took the devs some two months to migrate the then-current changes of the iPad version to the iPhone one.)
So far, it has been pretty much impossible to play back video with DTS audio on iOS. After the developers of every single AppStore app with DTS support had to remove DTS, very few DTS-capable players remained in AppStore. Generally, the ones that could play back DTS aren't really recommended because they have an, otherwise, weak playback engine. A perfect example of this is VLC for iOS ($free), which, as of the latest version (review) still has a much worse engine than the best players (for example, nPlayer) out there. That is, while VLC still can play back DTS audio, I still don't recommend using it for playback.
(tha main video title list view of the app. I've annotated one of the “DTS” lables denoting videos with a DTS label. Click for original.)
The case with jailbroken iDevices, of course, is diametrically opposed to that of AppStore. Both XBMC and RushPlayer+ (two jailbreak-only players; hence the lack of AppStore links) have excellent DTS support. The latter, in addition, has a very fast MKV playback engine.
Is the player worth it?
- If you don't want or can't jailbreak your iPad
- If you don't want to can't remux your video files (albeit it's VERY easy and I have written several tutorials explaining it...)
- If you need the extra features of the app: split-screen Web browsing & sharpening & TV channels,
then, it may be a good choice. However, I'd still stay away unless absolutely necessary. DTS audio is mostly in MKV files, and, for MKV playback, CineXPlayer is in no way recommended. (MKV are the standard output of MakeMKV; the most widely used app to rip one's DVD's or Blu-ray discs. iOS-native MOV / MP4 / M4V files, on the other hand, very rarely have DTS audio as it's, per standard, not allowed, but still playable by some players like VLC.)
How come I don't recommend CineXPlayer for MKV playback?
It's, speed-wise, just far inferior to decent (albeit non-DTS-capable) MKV players like nPlayer or AVPlayer(HD). If you can't jailbreak, you really should consider remuxing – it's, with the right tools like “mp4tools”, much-much faster than you might think. And, if you have a jailbroken iDevice, RushPlayer+ offers waaaaaay better image quality – for free. (As has been pointed out in several of my past articles, you don't need to purchase RushPlayer+ for playback. It's only the media list options and settings that requires unlocking; playback doesn't. That is, the free version will do just fine.)
Let me show you I'm right. The following video shows playing back a DTS-only MKV file - the standardized "Monsters" test video HERE. RushPlayer+ (current, tested version: 1.6.1-1) is on the black iPad 3 on the right, CineXPlayer is on the white iPad 2 on the left. (iPad 2's and 3's are of exactly the same computing power / video playback speed; this is why I'm using these two devices in this test.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uamq9s4tgwE
As you can see, RushPlayer+ is orders of magnitude better: it doesn't drop a single frame, unlike CineXPlayer, which is pretty awful with regards to fluidity.
What about the AppStore reviews?
If you check out the AppStore reviews of the current, reviewed version, you'll see they're complaining about two things:
- crashes under iOS7
- In-pp Purchase can't be restored and will be billed again.
A screenshot of some of these complaints:
As usual with AppStore user reviews, neither are true. (Actually, noone should trust user reviews at AppStore. Generally, they aren't reliable.) I've very thoroughly tested the app on three iPads, among them, an iPad 3 running on 7.0.2. (Actually, the screenshots in this review have also been made on this iPad – hence the iOS7 look-and-feel.) No iOS7-specific crashes with my usual test files. I really don't know what these people are talking about.
BTW, I had no problems in my iOS 6.1.x tests (on an iPad 2 and 3, both jailbroken) either.
I had no problems with restoring my DTS in-app purchase (IAP for short) either. I've tested restoring (re-purchasing) it on two iPads (an iPad 3 running on 7.0.2 and an iPad 2 on 6.1.0): no problems at all. After accepting the billing request of $0.99, I was presented the usual “You've already purchased this [...]” message:
That is, it seems you can safely purchase it even if you have iOS7. (Whether it's really worth it is another question...)
Incidentally, as soon as you tap a video with a DTS audio track as its first audio track, you'll be offered the chance to purchase the DTS IAP:
Absolutely no multitrack support
Note that I've emphasized “first audio track”. CineXPlayer only accesses the (physically) first audio track in a file. There is no way you can make it play back a non-first audio track. This is one of its major disadvantages – after all, all top players (nPlayer, AVPlayer(HD) etc.) support switching between audio tracks.
This also means if you don't want to purchase the DTS IAP but would like to play back a video file in which a DTS audio track is the first, you won't able to do so: you'll always be presented the (previous) “This file contains DTS audio” dialog. With the previous version, at least the video was played back – without audio, of course.
Verdict
In the (very unlikely) case of you having to play back DTS on a non-jailbroken device, you can give it a try. Of course, should you want to use the 3D feature, you may also want to try it. Otherwise, I'd avoid it – it just doesn't have as good an MKV decoder engine as top players like nPlayer or AVPlayer(HD).
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