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Can Emby use an external player such as VLC ?


M Smith

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I have some flac files that check out good but seem to either not play at all or freeze part way through and always at the same spot. This happens with Plex, too. But every one plays just fine under VLC so I'm guessing it has to do with libraries. This occurs when transferring across gigabit LAN so it's apparently not a buffering issue. Can Emby be forced to use VLC for playback?

 

The post I found describes how to set it up for video under Emby Theater but does not say if it works on audio files, also. I'll give it a try but if anyone knows of extra steps that need to be taken for audio...

 

Emby web app does not give the same options under settings. In fact, I see no options for an external player at all under settings.

 

BTW, I only use Emby (and Plex) for audio. I'm not a movie person so I don't care about video features. I use both servers to give my users the choice of the one they prefer.

Edited by M Smith
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I meant what platform for the player. But if that's the same, then just use Theater for Windows desktop. That'll play everything.

 

https://emby.media/emby-theater.html

Isn't this just a frontend to the server? How will it help my issues accessing Emby remotely, via phone etc. for my users? When I said some flac files would freeze, or not start, on gigabit LAN I meant even on gigabit LAN so no one would think it was a buffering issue. It happens with Plex, too. On the same files only. But the occasional file plays fine, all the way through, using VLC. It, and flac tester, is how I know it's not an issue with those specific file(s). That's why I want to push audio out through VLC. FWIW, this problem never happens with mp3 on Emby nor Plex. And it occurs in probably less than 1% of flac files. Also, both servers run on a dedicated FX-8350 so that can't be the reason either. After all, the problem never occurs with VLC, at least not across LAN. I've not tested the files with VLC remotely. Oh, the issue also occurs even when playing the files directly on the server box through Emby & Plex. That's why I suspect it might be a library or DirectSound problem, whatever the servers use. It seems both Emby & Plex us the same playback library code.

 

Maybe I'm the only one with this issue? If that's the case, maybe I have bad ram.

Edited by M Smith
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Guest asrequested

You're making some wrong assumptions, and misunderstanding many things. As far as functionality is concerned, all the apps are independent. They all have their own player. So each one will have its own capabilities. The most capable app is Theater for Windows desktop. It uses mpv, which is better than VLC. Then there is a plethora of devices, with different OSs. Apple phones will have a different player than Android phones. Android phones will have a different player to Android TV devices, and so on. Most of them will allow the use of an external player. So you need to be specific in what your issue is and on what device.

Edited by Doofus
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You're making some wrong assumptions, and misunderstanding many things. As far as functionality is concerned, all the apps are independent. They all have their own player. So each one will have its own capabilities. The most capable app is Theater for Windows desktop. It uses mpv, which is better than VLC. Then there is a plethora of devices, with different OSs. Apple phones will have a different player than Android phones. Android phones will have a different player to Android TV devices, and so on. Most of them will allow the use of an external player. So you need to be specific in what your issue is and on what device.

Thanks for pounding some sense into me. It's really just a small problem for me as I have many ways to play a track locally so, practically speaking, it only affects remote use. My users will just have to live with the occasional file being unplayable. They can always pull up the mp3 copy and play that, if they really want to hear the track. I'm just not explaining the issue very well in the first place. No big deal.

Edited by M Smith
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  • 3 weeks later...
NiftieNev

M Smith you are wrong in my opinion, Every short video I play on Theater  jump and breaks up for the first 20 seconds or so. Long Movies that are complex IE. lots of action and high graphics. stop and start when getting well into the file. They will stop the video and sound for a short while, start the sound again then the video plays at high speed until they are in sinc. This is on Android and Windows10. Played through VLC on either they are perfect.

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Mr.Smith

M Smith you are wrong in my opinion, Every short video I play on Theater  jump and breaks up for the first 20 seconds or so. Long Movies that are complex IE. lots of action and high graphics. stop and start when getting well into the file. They will stop the video and sound for a short while, start the sound again then the video plays at high speed until they are in sinc. This is on Android and Windows10. Played through VLC on either they are perfect.

I thought that was what I said? VLC plays everything just fine. Emby & Plex, not quite everything... not even locally. FWIW, they have no issues with mp3, just with flac. I have no movies so can't comment on that.

 

I was forced to change my username and now can't login anymore under the name change... had to create new account. (I don't think it likes the space in the name but it should have warned me, if that was the case.)

Edited by Mr.Smith
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When you say emby what are your referring to exactly? You're not trying to compare the web app to vlc, right?

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Mr.Smith

Web app and phone apps, both Android and iOS. I can't remember the files offhand that gave me trouble. They were a relatively small number. When I do come across one, I'll test it under Emby Theater. If Theater is the only program that should be used then that's quite limiting. If I'm trying to access my Emby server from a computer that's not mine, I can't exactly install Emby Theater on it. So, I'm left with the web app.

 

Same issue with Plex web and mobile apps. That made me suspect both were using the same opensource libraries. Since there's no issues with VLC, I assumed it was using different playback libraries. Just guesses. I didn't go into the directories to see what's there.

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Web app

 

This is not a fair comparison with Vlc because browser video players are very limited. The Emby Theater desktop app embeds mpv which is a very robust video player.

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Mr.Smith

This is not a fair comparison with Vlc because browser video players are very limited. The Emby Theater desktop app embeds mpv which is a very robust video player.

Yes, I understand that now. I was originally asking if an external player (VLC) could be used instead but now I see that is not possible on a web browser. It now makes sense why the issue occurs with Plex, also. Mobile apps, I don't quite understand why they cannot use the same mpv code, however. I'm still left with the issue that Theater is only useful to myself, when I don't have the ability or permission to install it on others' computers, right?

 

Like I said, I don't really care and should probably not have started the thread. I didn't understand the differences between the apps, server, and theater. I don't use Plex or Emby to play files locally. It's just overkill. My users can choose the mp3 equivalent for any flac file that won't play or they can find something else to listen to.

Edited by Mr.Smith
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Mr.Smith

Our mobile android and ios apps also use mpv.

In that case, the issue must be with buffering. Like I said, the issue happens locally, as well as remotely, and only on a tiny fraction of flac files although I do have a large number of files; over 200,000. Is there a setting to increase buffering? My LAN is gigabit, both directions. WAN is 925Mb down by 241Mb up. Wireless is up to 500Mb down, depending upon the device. My weakest device is 72Mb down.

 

It's really not a big deal for me. I just thought it was a simple question with a simple answer otherwise I would not have asked. Emby and Plex are only conveniences for my 20 or so users. I don't use them for myself. My users aren't smart enough for FTP. I suppose I'm not your typical media server user.

 

Feel free to close this post.

Edited by Mr.Smith
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Mr.Smith

Ok. The simple answer I needed was simply to add the mpv extension to Firefox and force flac to use it.

Edited by Mr.Smith
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In that case, the issue must be with buffering. Like I said, the issue happens locally, as well as remotely, and only on a tiny fraction of flac files although I do have a large number of files; over 200,000. Is there a setting to increase buffering? My LAN is gigabit, both directions. WAN is 925Mb down by 241Mb up. Wireless is up to 500Mb down, depending upon the device. My weakest device is 72Mb down.

 

It's really not a big deal for me. I just thought it was a simple question with a simple answer otherwise I would not have asked. Emby and Plex are only conveniences for my 20 or so users. I don't use them for myself. My users aren't smart enough for FTP. I suppose I'm not your typical media server user.

 

Feel free to close this post.

 

It really depends, we'd have to go over an example. Sometimes, yes it is network buffering as you say. Other times it could be that the device just can't handle the content.

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