Which do you think is better plex or emby

[Carlo 4330]

Yes, even though Plex claims they are not moving away from local media, many of the actions show otherwise. I personally don't have an issue in general with News, Podcasts, Web Views but I want to control if my users see them or not when they are connected to my server.  Even better would be the ability to have these appear to be libraries.  Podcasts is pretty decent for many people.  It's the funky integration and lack of control that bothers me the most about them.

 

Of course shutting down features that many people rely on is another story.

[Hitsville 37]

Yes, even though Plex claims they are not moving away from local media, many of the actions show otherwise. I personally don't have an issue in general with News, Podcasts, Web Views but I want to control if my users see them or not when they are connected to my server. Even better would be the ability to have these appear to be libraries. Podcasts is pretty decent for many people. It's the funky integration and lack of control that bothers me the most about them.

 

Of course shutting down features that many people rely on is another story.

Yeah I disabled news, podcasts and web shows straight away.

It was only when I explained my reasons for wanting to switch to Emby that Iearned that though I personally had disabled them they still showed up on their clients.

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Carlo 4330]

Yes that's the part a lot of admin's don't realize is that EVERY user has to turn it off if you don't want it.  Lack of control, New UI and crappy Live TV/DVR implementation is why I'm no longer a Ninja and why I ran kicking and screaming.  Well actually I've been running Emby for years but that was when I considered Plex to be a solid 2nd class citizen. 

 

I really hope they fix things because I like having multiple apps to use but I'm not to hopeful as they seem to be moving in a different direction than I'd like (obviously you guys as well). However they would have to really kick things into gear as I really like Emby and the apps just work.

Edited October 19, 2018 by cayars

[Volfan6415 17]

Never used plex, think I may have inhaled once back in college though. :-) but in all seriousness have been using Emby solely for years now. Long time windows media center user and I used to run remote potato for my outside streaming before I discovered Emby. I had heard about media browser but was at the time was using my movies for my movie management so never really looked into it. Now my Emby server has moved from its humble benginings on my htpc to its own Linux VM on my homelab server.

 

I still run wmc in the house as my daily driver for live tv for two reasons. (I use Emby for wmc for movies and archived tv)(If Emby added these I would switch completely)

 

1.The picture slideshow screensaver. This is 100% mg wife’s favorite thing about our media center. I swear she likes watching our pictures scroll by more than anything else and many a conversation has been had with friends and family over this picture or that picture as it came up on the tv.

 

2.Audio on one fast forward. I can watch an entire football game in 1.5 on one fast forward and still heard the audio playing in wmc. The player in Emby theater to my knowledge doesn’t do this.

 

But love the community here and the response from the devs and the fact there is an api that is useable and open. Keep up the good work guys.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chyron 221]

One thing I really wish Emby had is a Youtube channel like Plex does in Byte My Bits.

 

A Youtuber to review Emby features (more than comparing responsiveness of various streaming boxes); explain how to set up a server in layman terms; et al., in a format that is appealing. Someone who, if comparing Plex to Emby, doesn't ignore app instabilities or gloss over unnecessary features Plex has.

 

 

I know Emby probably has little influence over that, but it would be really nice.

Edited October 20, 2018 by chyron8472

[Carlo 4330]

Never used plex, think I may have inhaled once back in college though. :-) but in all seriousness have been using Emby solely for years now. Long time windows media center user and I used to run remote potato for my outside streaming before I discovered Emby. I had heard about media browser but was at the time was using my movies for my movie management so never really looked into it. Now my Emby server has moved from its humble benginings on my htpc to its own Linux VM on my homelab server.

 

I still run wmc in the house as my daily driver for live tv for two reasons. (I use Emby for wmc for movies and archived tv)(If Emby added these I would switch completely)

 

1.The picture slideshow screensaver. This is 100% mg wife’s favorite thing about our media center. I swear she likes watching our pictures scroll by more than anything else and many a conversation has been had with friends and family over this picture or that picture as it came up on the tv.

 

2.Audio on one fast forward. I can watch an entire football game in 1.5 on one fast forward and still heard the audio playing in wmc. The player in Emby theater to my knowledge doesn’t do this.

Screensaver from picture library is a good idea.  Should be an option of course.  You should open a FEATURE REQUEST for this.

 

I too would love 1.5 or 2X playback speed.  This is great for things like sports and podcasts. I'm sure I've seen this requested previously.

[Carlo 4330]

Lon has a pretty decent channel and gets a lot of hits.  Plex does get a lot of customers from this which of course is why they sponsor him.

I've thought about doing something similar and just "Media Servers" in general with lots of tips and tricks and ways to set things up but it's a lot of work and my really good camera's and video stuff got stolen.

 

The PR is really good and if there were tutorials as well as demonstrations of the product that would be a very good thing.  It could both help existing customers and well as help bring in new customers.

[Chyron 221]

One (maybe) equal comparison between Emby and Plex, for me, is:

• Plex has relays, so I can access my family's Plex server at the lake while remote from it even though its ISP is currently using double-NAT, but can't with Emby (until I fix that);
• but Emby either has a US-based IP or directly connects to my server even with EmbyConnect (or both? idk) so I can access my home Emby server from my office, whose firewall blocks IPs assigned to foreign countries, but can't with Plex unless I use a VPN like Windscribe since their IP is assigned to Ireland.

I know that's situational, and I could probably fix the former issue, though haven't yet. But it's still a thing.

Edited October 20, 2018 by chyron8472

[Carlo 4330]

Yes, Plex has a tunnel feature for those with a double NAT situation.  It however is limited to 1 Mb though put for free users and 2 Mb for for Plex Pass users.

Fine for music or maybe mobile but not very good for watching on a TV.  2 Mb just isn't enough bits.

[Hitsville 37]

Thus something I have been meaning to ask, cos I'm far too tired to make a dedicated topic.

 

I have seen Emby on a lot of clients and for me the bonus is they look similar eat your heart out Plex.

 

When I started switching everyone to Emby I was explaining "favourites"

One person uses a roku and it's the only device I personally haven't seen. They are saying they don't see favourites on the home screen.

So if any of you guys use a Roku could you let me know where to access them and I can pass the info on.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Luke 37068]

One (maybe) equal comparison between Emby and Plex, for me, is:

• Plex has relays, so I can access my family's Plex server at the lake while remote from it even though its ISP is currently using double-NAT, but can't with Emby (until I fix that);
• but Emby either has a US-based IP or directly connects to my server even with EmbyConnect (or both? idk) so I can access my home Emby server from my office, whose firewall blocks IPs assigned to foreign countries, but can't with Plex unless I use a VPN like Windscribe since their IP is assigned to Ireland.

I know that's situational, and I could probably fix the former issue, though haven't yet. But it's still a thing.

 

Yes everything is direct and not routed through any of our domains. Most users usually like that. I do not think we are going to be developing any kind of relay feature.

[Chyron 221]

Yes everything is direct and not routed through any of our domains. Most users usually like that. I do not think we are going to be developing any kind of relay feature.

 

That's fine. I'm not saying you should. If anything it would just mean more constant financial overhead for Emby to deal with.

[Luke 37068]

Not to mention liability of running data through our servers. Couldn't you just do some kind of vpn? 

[Chyron 221]

Couldn't you just do some kind of vpn? 

 

I'm not sure. I imagine the two options are: a) VPN-tunneling; or b ) static IP. I suppose I should call BOLT Fiber (the ISP) and ask them about it but haven't yet, primarily because I'm not the account holder.

 

If I used a VPN though, I imagine that would bork with local network traffic talking to the server. I have no experience getting a VPN to interact with only WAN traffic from only that port, if that's even a thing.

Edited October 20, 2018 by chyron8472

[KarlDag 25]

Honestly, Plex is dead to me. Devs are arrogant and just don't care, as shown recently when plex.tv was down and the ninja answer was "they're out for a conference so nothing will get done"... So none of them uses Plex regularly?

 

F* it.

 

Emby has its own issues, many of them, but devs are listening and not spending time on stuff no one wants... That gets my vote. I'll get premiere again as soon as I have the disposable income to do so.

[Chyron 221]

When I started switching everyone to Emby I was explaining "favourites"

One person uses a roku and it's the only device I personally haven't seen. They are saying they don't see favourites on the home screen.

So if any of you guys use a Roku could you let me know where to access them and I can pass the info on.

 

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/64277-favorites/

Edited October 20, 2018 by chyron8472

[Hitsville 37]

Honestly, Plex is dead to me. Devs are arrogant and just don't care, as shown recently when plex.tv was down and the ninja answer was "they're out for a conference so nothing will get done"... So none of them uses Plex regularly?

 

F* it.

 

Emby has its own issues, many of them, but devs are listening and not spending time on stuff no one wants... That gets my vote. I'll get premiere again as soon as I have the disposable income to do so.

That's pretty much where I am.

Plex is already gone from my local system.

Next up the online dedi. Then Plex and my lifetime Plex Pass will simply be a distant memory.

 

 

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[Carlo 4330]

I'm not sure. I imagine the two options are: a) VPN-tunneling; or b ) static IP. I suppose I should call BOLT Fiber (the ISP) and ask them about it but haven't yet, primarily because I'm not the account holder.

 

If I used a VPN though, I imagine that would bork with local network traffic talking to the server. I have no experience getting a VPN to interact with only WAN traffic from only that port, if that's even a thing.

Depends on what you are trying to do. You could use Emby Connect to establish the connection for you.  It doesn't sit in the middle like Plex does but just helps you to connect to your server when you don't know it's IP address.  Won't help with double NAT situations.

 

Check out your router to see if it supports any of the Dynamic DNS servers that are free or low cost.  They usually will allow you to pick a host name and use one of several domains they have.  So for example you could end up with something like "chyron8472.abcxyz.com".  Usually for a small yearly charge you can register your own domain and point it to your router "chyron8472.com".   This again won't help with a double NAT situation.

 

Depending on your router you could run a VPN CLIENT on it and use one of the VPN providers who will give you a dedicated IP/port that allows access from the outside.  You would then have to choose between SSL or non SSL connection for this port mapping.

You could also setup a VPN client directly on the machine running Emby as well but sometimes the router approach is easier.

If you're tech savvy and don't want to use a commercial VPN you could also get a cheap or free VM plan and install something like OpenVPN on it and control this whole process yourself and have both SSL and non SSL support.  You essentially create your own tunnel this way.  Unlike Plex's solution you won't be limited to 1 or 2 Mb connections!!!

 

Double NAT is always an issue and pain and is best avoided if at all possible.  Are you sure this is the issue you have on your server network?

BTW if you are in a double NAT situation it could be on your side and the provider has nothing to do with it.  This can happen when you have a provider router and then your own router connected to it each using NAT.  This is usually easy to fix by changing the provider router to bridge mode thus allowing your router full control.

Edited October 20, 2018 by cayars

[Carlo 4330]

Honestly, Plex is dead to me. Devs are arrogant and just don't care, as shown recently when plex.tv was down and the ninja answer was "they're out for a conference so nothing will get done"... So none of them uses Plex regularly?

 

F* it.

 

Emby has its own issues, many of them, but devs are listening and not spending time on stuff no one wants... That gets my vote. I'll get premiere again as soon as I have the disposable income to do so.

You would be surprised (maybe not) at what some of them run. Not every dev even runs Plex at home.  One of the project managers is even a board member for Kodi so there is probably no surprise what he uses mostly at home.  Others have some files for testing and others download/record stuff, watch it then delete it.  They don't have systems of any size to run into the same problem we did.  I don't believe any of them use advanced feature often either so they have no idea how bad some things are like sync or cloud issues. I suppose this does show as no one would let things continue to be broken for long periods of time if they were actually using said features.  I spent over 9 months trying to explain and show why their DVR was a mess with sports (many reasons) and why the 4pm game would overwrite the 1pm game (yes it did this) and then the 8:20 pm game would overwrite the 4pm game since the EPG title was the same (different subtitle).  It actually functioned exactly how it was designed because a dev thought it was a good idea to overwrite content with the same name because he would only have the "latest" news show.   Something as simple as that was like pulling teeth to get fixed, painful.

 

When PMP2 was introduced to the Ninjas for testing before the public got it Ninja's universally except two kiss-asses did not like it and pointed out issue after issue after issue (like user's are doing now) and they were ignored with "you have to get used to it" type comments.

 

None of the devs have anything remotely the size of what I'd consider even a medium size system or very complex.  Ninja's on the other hand typically do have larger systems and do most of the testing but often have their comments and complaints ignored because "it works" when they test things on a small scale.  So frustrating (it was)!

 

Venting over.

Edited October 20, 2018 by cayars

[Perplexed 25]

Ah, yes, the tired old "you are just afraid of change" put down... I see that pass by almost every time I visit those forums. Anyway, enough of all that.

 

I think we all agree both products have their plusses and minuses... But there is simply no comparison between the two communities and/or leadership

[shawie60 0]

only just installed Emby but initially id say plex. i have a large library and the display on the main screen is 'cluttered' compared to Plex.

The layout doesnt seem as nice or as clear to navigate. Maybe thats down to how its installed but ive played with the settings and it doesnt improve things much if at all ..

my only grip with plex is that sometimes its slow on a firestick (which choose me to try emby)

glenn

[Luke 37068]

only just installed Emby but initially id say plex. i have a large library and the display on the main screen is 'cluttered' compared to Plex.

The layout doesnt seem as nice or as clear to navigate. Maybe thats down to how its installed but ive played with the settings and it doesnt improve things much if at all ..

my only grip with plex is that sometimes its slow on a firestick (which choose me to try emby)

glenn

 

Hi, which Emby app do you feel is cluttered? The fire tv app? Or are you talking about the web app? Thanks.

[KarlDag 25]

You would be surprised (maybe not) at what some of them run. Not every dev even runs Plex at home. One of the project managers is even a board member for Kodi so there is probably no surprise what he uses mostly at home. Others have some files for testing and others download/record stuff, watch it then delete it. They don't have systems of any size to run into the same problem we did. I don't believe any of them use advanced feature often either so they have no idea how bad some things are like sync or cloud issues. I suppose this does show as no one would let things continue to be broken for long periods of time if they were actually using said features. I spent over 9 months trying to explain and show why their DVR was a mess with sports (many reasons) and why the 4pm game would overwrite the 1pm game (yes it did this) and then the 8:20 pm game would overwrite the 4pm game since the EPG title was the same (different subtitle). It actually functioned exactly how it was designed because a dev thought it was a good idea to overwrite content with the same name because he would only have the "latest" news show. Something as simple as that was like pulling teeth to get fixed, painful.

 

When PMP2 was introduced to the Ninjas for testing before the public got it Ninja's universally except two kiss-asses did not like it and pointed out issue after issue after issue (like user's are doing now) and they were ignored with "you have to get used to it" type comments.

 

None of the devs have anything remotely the size of what I'd consider even a medium size system or very complex. Ninja's on the other hand typically do have larger systems and do most of the testing but often have their comments and complaints ignored because "it works" when they test things on a small scale. So frustrating (it was)!

 

Venting over.

worse than what I could have imagined for sure. Thanks for that, had a good laugh!

[Hitsville 37]

[emoji38] worse than what I could have imagined for sure. Thanks for that, had a good laugh!

Yeah it's pretty eye opening for sure.

Any niggles I encounter with Emby are now just that. We know they will almost certainly be looked at and our opinions to do seem to matter here.

It kind of makes you see some of the Plex ninjas in a different light though. Imagine having to try to defend against some of the more hostile posts, whilst knowing they're actually thinking "I agree with you 100%."

 

It does however confirm that feature requests etc... are just eye candy!

 

Meanwhile MovieFans thread on the Android UI and by default everything that now runs that UI is just a PR stunt. It will probably just run and run (so Plex can give us their we do listen propaganda) and then eventually they will state that there were not enough valid reasons to change anything at all.

If they don't listen to ninjas they certainly won't listen to users...but I guess we have known that for a long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Carlo 4330]

Yep but I'm having fun with it.

He knows very well everything I've said in that thread anyway since they heard it all 2+ years ago.