On another site Emby vs. Plex lively discussion.

[Riggs 300]

I agree with @@Gilgamesh_48. Plex can work offline (after the first setup) without internet. You can play on home network without issues. 

 

The problem is that most people do not know how to set this up properly or that it even exists. They try it once and give up thinking it does not work. There is nothing needed on the router. Just disable authentication for local network using IP/netmask format (IP/netmask.....no other format).

 

It works in weak setups. In this season of the century, you can not have that luxury in your security.

 

My point is.

 

Plex do not have not even an option to check (because they not allow that kind of use) Is in the license agreement, and is mandatory. So, not legal use Plex offline. I know people that lost their license for use that cheap "trick"

 

Emby do not have option to check because... is not needed!! 

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

It works in weak setups. In this season of the century, you can not have that luxury in your security.

 

My point is.

 

Plex do not have not even an option to check (because they not allow that kind of use) Is in the license agreement, and is mandatory. So, not legal use Plex offline. I know people that lost their license for use that cheap "trick"

 

Emby do not have option to check because... is not needed!! 

I consider my setup about as strong as it can get. I NEVER allow Plex or Emby to directly expose itself to the outside world and I NEVER allow any remote connections and I use a VPN that randomizes my external IP.

 

Connecting to Plex without internet is not a cheap trick nor is it a trick at all. It is simply good compartmentalized networking and if you "think" that using Plex locally is any reason for losing a license then you are simply delusional. Plex knows I use my Plex that way and Plex has even provided support for getting it going. You are making stuff up to support your indefensible position.

[Riggs 300]

I consider my setup about as strong as it can get. I NEVER allow Plex or Emby to directly expose itself to the outside world and I NEVER allow any remote connections and I use a VPN that randomizes my external IP.

 

Connecting to Plex without internet is not a cheap trick nor is it a trick at all. It is simply good compartmentalized networking and if you "think" that using Plex locally is any reason for losing a license then you are simply delusional. Plex knows I use my Plex that way and Plex has even provided support for getting it going. You are making stuff up to support your indefensible position.

 

Thanks for your kind words.   

 

Well if you like Plex, be my guest, be part of the telemetry. Yeah, no matter what you do in your router they always get all the information they need about you and your libraries.   

 

I use dedicated pfsense computer router with VPN and etcetera. I use my server closed too, in my LAN only. But you always need outside communication to get artworks, etc...

    

So, Plex take that info for the same reason Facebook, Google, Amazon akamai, Microsoft, etcetera... they take all info they can of you. So... Plex is part of that monopoly, and if you are not aware about privacy, is your free choice and i respect you.   

 

I bought my "Plexpass" around 5 years ago. I know their forums, the answers to the "offline" situation and what Plex think about it.   

 

One reason only to understand that Plex is not designed to be used offline:  They do not want that their software can be used in the way you want, it is the same policy than Microsoft, you pay for what they want give it to you.

 

Check their privacy on Plex, do not fight with me. I'm not the  Plex owner.     

 

IF, and only IF, Emby start using my data in the same way that Plex or Microsoft do, i will stop using Emby.   

 

You have to be clear. Plex is not made for use without a connection to their servers, you need to be logged, and if you "trick" your router is up to you, but is not a "feature" included in Plex. In fact, require an advance user to do that.   

 

Can be tricked/hack? Yes.     

 

Is legal? No, is not.

 

Companies like Plex take serious their monopolistic status, especially if they sell your data.   

 

Plex is under the same laws / copyright protection of United States government. It is an American Company.

 

You pay for Plex, but is not yours. You pay for Windows license, but is not yours. The examples applied to any software under GPL 3 license and up. Emby is in the limit today.

 

Have a nice day.

[cutamutta 0]

I do not disagree that Plex collects and uses your data. 

 

However, it is NOT illegal or hack to use Plex without internet connection. It is an "official" setting on Plex and by no means wrong to do that. 

[mgworek 121]

 

Just saw on Firecores site that they have begun working on adding Emby/jellyfin to Infuse.

 

6.4 (in progress)

• Emby/Jellyfin
•  

 

 

 

Knowing their cycle a little, that will take another 3 to 4 months seeing 6.3 only came out yesterday... think that's great though!!!

 

I just starting playing with there new Infuse beta version that adds Emby support. Still learning the app. I haven't had time to test it that much. So far Emby integrates perfectly and the couple of things played that I wanted to. I haven't had a chance to try HDR content yet or anything. My receiver broke so I can't test any audio formats.

 

They seems to be open for suggestions. I made a couple, one they said maybe and the other they said was a good idea.

Edited April 30, 2020 by mgworek

[Dibbes 431]

...

They seems to be open for suggestions. I made a couple, one they said maybe and the other they said was a good idea.

 

Luke does that a lot too... lol

[Chyron 221]

The major problem I have with Emby is lack of audiobook playback support. I do have an audiobook library in Emby, but I sync books to my phone and use Sirin or Voice Audiobook Player to play the files.

 

I have been bugging the Emby devs for literal years to use the "Play all from here" album function when selecting a track from Continue Listening, but I only ever get a canned response.

[Chyron 221]

That isn't to say that the Plex devs are any better. Most times, if there's an issue in Plex, the devs are completely silent altogether and don't respond to those threads.

 

Granted, Plex is technically slightly better at handling audiobooks than Emby is, but when I reported over a month ago about an issue where Plex stutters during audiobook playback, and there still has been no response to that thread---nevermind fixing the issue---then it's unusable anyway.

 

So yeah, in general I feel that the Emby devs are head and shoulders better than the Plex devs. They're just really dragging their feet on this one feature.

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

The major problem I have with Emby is lack of audiobook playback support. I do have an audiobook library in Emby, but I sync books to my phone and use Sirin or Voice Audiobook Player to play the files.

 

I have been bugging the Emby devs for literal years to use the "Play all from here" album function when selecting a track from Continue Listening, but I only ever get a canned response.

I have pretty much given up on either Plex or Emby correctly supporting audio books. I have set up an inexpensive computer that just runs MediaMonkey and I have its sound pumped throughout my house and control it with wireless keyboard placed strategically and I also us my Echo devices to control that computer. It works and does not have the problems of Emby or Plex and I can be anywhere and hear and control my audiobooks.

 

While there "might" be advantages to having either Plex or Emby playback my books I have found that neither can be set up to be even half as good for that purpose as MediaMonkey for me.

[Jdiesel 1114]

I have been using Plex with the Audible scraper and the client Prologue (iOS only) and it is the best audiobook experience I have seen yet. Prologue essentially accesses the Plex library directly and isn't limited by the issues of treating audiobooks like music. It works very well and was enough reason for me to start running Plex again after a 2 year absence.

[Chyron 221]

I have been using Plex with the Audible scraper and the client Prologue (iOS only) and it is the best audiobook experience I have seen yet.

 

It is not reason enough for me to buy Apple. 

 

As an Android user who has had to contend with relatives' iPhones (since I'm tech savvy), just no. It's too limiting in features/customization. You can't even so much as change the look of icons/folders on an iOS homescreen. Don't get me started on what it takes to rollback app updates.

 

I have pretty much given up on either Plex or Emby correctly supporting audio books. I have set up an inexpensive computer that just runs MediaMonkey and I have its sound pumped throughout my house 

 

Do you like the mobile app?

[WilhelmStroker 96]

That isn't to say that the Plex devs are any better. Most times, if there's an issue in Plex, the devs are completely silent altogether and don't respond to those threads.

 

Granted, Plex is technically slightly better at handling audiobooks than Emby is, but when I reported over a month ago about an issue where Plex stutters during audiobook playback, and there still has been no response to that thread---nevermind fixing the issue---then it's unusable anyway.

 

So yeah, in general I feel that the Emby devs are head and shoulders better than the Plex devs. They're just really dragging their feet on this one feature.

 

Over a month is nothing....There's a buffering issue on the xbox client where they have been silent for a lot longer only for Elan to quickly pop in and say it's  a Microsoft issue. No apologies on how long it is taking and what they are doing, nothing. And let's not mention the clusterfck that was the windows store app. 

Even though Emby are a small team, it's really good to see them responding to pretty much every topic here. 

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

...

Do you like the mobile app?

I do not use the mobile app for audiobooks. I am a bit of an old guy and I try to avoid tablet/phone things that connect together. I find them a bit too clumsy to use.

 

When I want to have audiobooks on my phone I simply copy the books I want to an SD card and put that in my phone and listen via an app called "Simple ABP" I do use the MediaMonkey app on my phone for music but that is a very simple application. I do not try to sync applications between my desktop and my phone or tablet.

 

I suppose it is easy enough to do but I just do not bother as I am not able to get around very well and so spend most of my time at home. There is no point for me to go to much trouble just for the rare times I might need it.

 

For music stored on my phone I do find the MediaMonkey app quite good but for audiobooks I find Simple ABP much easier to use than MediaMonkey.

[Jdiesel 1114]

Smart Audiobook Player on Android is very good and is the best I have come across.

 

I wish there was a good Android Audiobook player that could connect directly to Google drive. iOS has a few but for some reason nothing like that exists for Android. I would be ok with maintaining an online drive with audiobooks and having my family members direct access the drive.

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

Smart Audiobook Player on Android is very good and is the best I have come across.

 

I wish there was a good Android Audiobook player that could connect directly to Google drive. iOS has a few but for some reason nothing like that exists for Android. I would be ok with maintaining an online drive with audiobooks and having my family members direct access the drive.

I agree that "Smart Audiobook Player" is a very good app. I tried it and it just would not quite do what I wanted in the way I wanted. In the vernacular it was "close but no cigar."

 

I believe that is why there are so many choices on Android. Not every app works exactly like everyone wants. Choice is a good thing! After all there are still people using Plex by choice.

[Chyron 221]

I agree that "Smart Audiobook Player" is a very good app.

 

I disagree. If there is not a folder.jpg file for a book, Smart Audiobook Player does not display any art for an individual file that doesn’t have art embedded. So, if only Chapter 1 has embedded art, all other chapters show no art at all when playing them. Also, book and author fields show folder names, not ID3 tags. And switching to Library view pauses the current book.

I prefer Sirin or Voice Audiobook Player.

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

I disagree. If there is not a folder.jpg file for a book, Smart Audiobook Player does not display any art for an individual file that doesn’t have art embedded. So, if only Chapter 1 has embedded art, all other chapters show no art at all when playing them. Also, book and author fields show folder names, not ID3 tags. And switching to Library view pauses the current book.

I prefer Sirin or Voice Audiobook Player.

I do not and have never cared about the visuals of audiobook players. For me special visuals are just complications I do not need. All I need is a good way to browse audiobook files by filename and a good solid playback with resume/ff/rw abilities and reasonably smooth interactions in the user interface. Everything else is just fluff and unnecessary for my enjoyment of audiobooks. I listen to audiobooks I do not watch them. That is why "Simple ABP" is my audiobook app of choice. I do NOT like complications getting in the way of playback.

[Chyron 221]

I listen to audiobooks I do not watch them.

 

Meanwhile, I have taken the trouble to improve the included cover art for all of the audiobooks that I deem to suck--whether that be because they're low res, have poor artwork, are pillarboxed, or have a yellow "Only from Audible" ribbon superimposed on them (that often covers the author's name).

 

 

 

Saying "don't judge a book by its cover", in the literal sense, is an excuse to skimp on marketing costs. Artwork is marketing, and hiring a good artist should be worth it.

 

I mean, look at this:

 

 

That is ridiculously lazy. Almost all of Recorded Books' artwork has that same stupid letterboxed border which obviously took someone 30 seconds in Paint to create.

Edited May 13, 2020 by chyron8472

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

Meanwhile, I have taken the trouble to improve the cover art for all of the audiobooks that I deem to suck--whether that be because they're low res, have poor artwork, are pillarboxed, or have a yellow "Only from Audible" banner superimposed on them.

...

That is why we have choice. Many people do care about that sort of thing but I don't.

 

BTW: English is such a peculiar language. That post can be read two ways:

1. You change the cover art where you deem the art sucks.

2. You change the cover art where you deem the book sucks.

 

Most other Romance languages do not allow constructions where what is being modified is so ambiguous. That is one of the reasons that many poets love English. After all one definition of poetry is, "The art of obscuring meaning with language" and English makes that even easier.

[Chyron 221]

That is why we have choice. Many people do care about that sort of thing but I don't.

 

BTW: English is such a peculiar language. That post can be read two ways:

1. You change the cover art where you deem the art sucks.

2. You change the cover art where you deem the book sucks.

 

 

I should say "I have taken the trouble to improve the cover art for all of the audiobooks whose art I deem to suck."

 

Is that better?

 

 

In any case, I would change crappy artwork regardless of whether the story is or isn't crappy.

Edited May 13, 2020 by chyron8472

[Perplexed 25]

I'm surprised no one brought up the size of the database, but maybe it's more of an issue for me being on a VPS.

 

Plex and Emby, same libraries, same settings.

 

Plex database: 39GB (and counting).

Emby database: <1GB (and staying that way).

 

Plex literally has millions of files which makes backups a pita, Emby only a few thousand.

 

Emby FTW in that respect!

[yasuno 7]

I never liked Plex for 2 primary reasons:

 

1.) Forced centralized account system.

2.) Stupid Cryptic API that is not documented very well (hidden end points on purpose), and is WAY to restricted for what I like to do with the API.

 

If Emby ever took features away from the API I would probably abandon it. I use so many features from the API to integrate with my website.. Not only accounts creation but also permission management, statistics monitoring and watch data stats connected to user profiles.

 

Also I absolutely hate that you can not turn off transcoding / encoding on Plex. All of my files are pre-converted before appearing in the Emby portal and I do not want to offer the option of going to different bit rates. At least with Emby I can allow direct play only.

 

My only wish for Emby would be the ability to restrict the API keys to only allow certain functions so they are not just a super admin by default.

[ebr 14910]

My only wish for Emby would be the ability to restrict the API keys to only allow certain functions so they are not just a super admin by default.

 

If you were to use our authentication instead of an API key, you would be able to do this via users.

[yasuno 7]

If you were to use our authentication instead of an API key, you would be able to do this via users.

 

Wow.. that is so obvious and yet I completely did not even think about that lol. I forgot that API type keys are also generated for user logins and some user actions (like seeing the embyserverlog.txt file). Hmmmm now to see what sections of my integration need rework. I was mainly afraid of the key some how being exposed and since it is a API key with super admin the deletion feature was making me wary.

 

Still though, I would think it would be useful to give the API Key section a basic checkbox / uncheckbox permission list though. Like... do not allow Deletion at the very minimum lol.

[Mkilbride 76]

In regards to things Plex does better:

 

PGS Subtitle support (proper display of anime subtitles)

 

Decoding FLAC as PCM (For some reason, Emby chooses 192Kbps AAC...a massive downgrade).

 

I ran away from Plex because it started getting annoying. UI Wise, it had little information on screen and kept getting less. It was a laggy UI.  When my internet would cut out due to Comcast issues, I couldn't access my server regardless of what settings I configured. That was obnoxious.

 

And yeah ,I looked at my Emby server database VS Plex database...Plex's was nearly 26GB to Emby's 5GB. Big ol difference.

 

 

Emby's UI is clean, usable. You can get the stats for nerds pop up by holding down the OK button on the NVIDIA shield, which I find useful.  Logs are easy to access and read.

 

Also it's fast. Faster than Plex and better at compression as well.

 

Let me use an example. My "Get Out" 4K BDRemux. When trying to stream it to my sisters TV, Plex would "Direct Play" it, like Emby...but for some reason Plex would send like a 140Mbps bit-rate file. Her TV couldn't handle that.  I tried the same file in Emby and it was Direct Playing with the normal bit-rate of like 72Mbps.  It played fine, no pausing or stuttering or "not fast enough" bullshit. Was almost reason alone to switch when I saw that.

 

Emby would be the perfectapp for me if it just:

Fixed it's PGS Subtitle support

Somehow implemented Hi10p support.(I mean, not even Plex has done this, but it's a media standard that's been around since 2005 and got really popular in 2011).

Somehow keep SSA / ASS subtitle formatting without burning in.

 

Big ask on two of those I know.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Mkilbride