Can select which audio codec to use, which should suffice for most audio needs that a PC can offer. The hash checking is what makes this stand out. Added over 3TB of anime the last few months as I was converting my collection to HD. The ease of organizing it all, not having to rename a single file, made it an enjoyable experience. But it offers much more if check the link out. From seeing all the seiyus involved and which shows they took part in your anime collection, to viewing a shows relations with other anime. It even shows the fansub group.
But true, if I were to want 1:1 bluray rips of non-anime, this might not be the best. Also HTPC's can be loud. But can the CPH access over the network? Otherwise, all those bluray rips would require a lot of external drives, which would defeat the purpose of having a small quiet footprint. My next HTPC will be my current system, using the built in GPU (which I currently don't use) and may even downclock the CPU for less heat and less need for fans...while accessing my huge video collection from a server. It will be quiet. Smaller case too, if I wanted.
As for MadVR, I can do without. It's great for upscaling old small resolutions, but as we are starting to use 720p and 1080p sources it's superb rendering is less needed. I tried it awhile and it sometimes crashes when I do a lot of seeking, plus it feeling less responsive.
Using FFDShow adds a lot of flexibility. The simple deband filter does wonders, in which all anime viewers should have on by default. With it being able to use AviSynth, there's much you can do with post processing. For example, adding a script to interpolate it to 60 fps in real time for smooth animation, similar to what is offered with 120hz TVs.
Can also use the GPU's drivers for post processing, like sharpening and noise reduction.
In otherwords, can't get more flexibility and features than with a PC.
