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Considering switching to Emby - Questions


Disterio

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Disterio

Hey everyone

Long time Plex user here - getting sick of all the extra crap Plex are throwing into their product. So I'm considering a move over to Emby. 

I run a server for my family - with most of them not so great when it comes to technology - so have to tick a few boxes before moving over. 

Hoping I can get some help with a couple of queries:

1. I have Emby Premiere. Do users I share my library with get the benefits of Emby Premiere? Even if they have their own Emby Connect account?

2. When sharing my library, do I have any control over the user interface of other users? Ie. can I control how content appears in their UI? (ie order of Movies, TV Shows, Live TV etc?)

3. Can I control the default remote quality settings for users?

4. I currently have custom notifications setup through Tautulli - that allows me to create an email notification with the TVDB/TMDB ID when certain content is added (Movies with a 2020 Release Year, TV Shows Season Premier Episodes). Is this possible with Emby?

Are there any other advantages that Emby has over Plex when it comes to running a server for non techy users?

Thanks!

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vdatanet
1 hour ago, Disterio said:

1. I have Emby Premiere. Do users I share my library with get the benefits of Emby Premiere? Even if they have their own Emby Connect account?

In Emby, sharing with users is a bit different. You create an account on your own server and you define the content that the user can watch. As long as you have enough available devices in your Premiere licence (default is 25) users logged into your server can enjoy the Premiere features.

1 hour ago, Disterio said:

2. When sharing my library, do I have any control over the user interface of other users? Ie. can I control how content appears in their UI? (ie order of Movies, TV Shows, Live TV etc?)

You can control the content available for each user. Libraries, Live TV, parental controls...

1 hour ago, Disterio said:

3. Can I control the default remote quality settings for users?

Yes, you can configure maximum bandwidth for remote connections for each user.

1 hour ago, Disterio said:

4. I currently have custom notifications setup through Tautulli - that allows me to create an email notification with the TVDB/TMDB ID when certain content is added (Movies with a 2020 Release Year, TV Shows Season Premier Episodes). Is this possible with Emby?

There are some plugin for notifications, but I have never used them.

1 hour ago, Disterio said:

Are there any other advantages that Emby has over Plex when it comes to running a server for non techy users?

Emby's user support is much better than Plex support. Emby has an extensive gallery of plugins and more extensive Live TV features, such as IPTV support.

Edited by vdatanet
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Disterio
1 hour ago, vdatanet said:

In Emby, sharing with users is a bit different. You create an account on your own server and you define the content that the user can watch. As long as you have enough available devices in your Premiere licence (default is 25) users logged into your server can enjoy the Premiere features.

Thanks. And users can create an Emby Connect account and I can link a user to that account to make it easier for users to sign in?

That or provide a URL for users to type in when signing in?

1 hour ago, vdatanet said:

You can control the content available for each user. Libraries, Live TV, parental controls...

Can you determine in what order they appear in the users interface (ie if I want Movies to appear first, then TV, then Live TV?)

1 hour ago, vdatanet said:

Yes, you can configure maximum bandwidth for remote connections for each user.

Excellent!

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Riggs

Emby connect or an Emby account is only required for users accessing outside of your LAN network. 

User outside of your network need Emby account first, then you can add that user on your server server, that way your server can identify the user and add it safely.

After that ... Your server (you) is the one who sets the authorization for which libraries, or for qualified content, or whatever.

Each user can change the order of the libraries, themes, etc. If you are a premiere, no more than 25 users can use those functions.

There are many options in Emby to handle users. 

 

Edited by Riggs
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vdatanet
5 minutes ago, Riggs said:

User outside of your network need Emby account first

That's not necessary. You can create an acoount in your server and user can login remotely to your server without an Emby account.

5 minutes ago, Riggs said:

Each user can change the order of the libraries, themes, etc. If you are a premiere, no more than 25 users can use those functions

Premiere slots are occupied by devices, not users. A single user can consume all Premiere slots.

Edited by vdatanet
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10 minutes ago, vdatanet said:

A single user can consume all Premiere slots

That's not very likely.  They'd have to have 20-30 devices they use every single week :).

90%+ of our users get by with our normal license with no issues.

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vdatanet
3 minutes ago, ebr said:

That's not very likely.  They'd have to have 20-30 devices they use every single week :).

90%+ of our users get by with our normal license with no issues.

I agree. This is an extreme case to point out that devices are counted, not users.

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BAlGaInTl
On 8/26/2020 at 4:56 AM, Disterio said:

Are there any other advantages that Emby has over Plex when it comes to running a server for non techy users?

 

Looks like your other questions were answered.  My biggest advantage of Emby over Plex is the fact that it's my server and my users.  Even though you "can" use Emby Connect, you don't have to.  Other than a device being used, Emby doesn't really have any information on my users.  I've set up my own domain, secured it, and create my own users.

Plex on the other hand wants everyone to be a Plex user so that they can sell them on additional content and services.  I'm not saying that's inherently bad, it's just not the business model I prefer for my own media server.

 

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Gilgamesh_48
2 hours ago, BAlGaInTl said:

 

Looks like your other questions were answered.  My biggest advantage of Emby over Plex is the fact that it's my server and my users.  Even though you "can" use Emby Connect, you don't have to.  Other than a device being used, Emby doesn't really have any information on my users.  I've set up my own domain, secured it, and create my own users.

Plex on the other hand wants everyone to be a Plex user so that they can sell them on additional content and services.  I'm not saying that's inherently bad, it's just not the business model I prefer for my own media server.

 

That is pretty much how I feel but I feel that feeling is somehow incomplete. Using Plex is like driving a Hugo priced like a DeLorean while using Emby is like driving a old, well maintained, Rolls Royce. Emby is fully functional and smooth and comfortable. Sometimes Emby actually feels too easy and I feel like I should look for something more complex and buggy just to keep my interest up. 

Watching movies and TV with very few issues is great but solving problems is fun and, a lot of the time, Emby is just too steady to produce interesting problems often enough.

Of course Plex makes itself "interesting" by adding mostly useless features that really do littler more that bog down the system and they keep tinkering with the user interface. At one time a few years ago they had a pretty good useable interface but they just had to change it. Not it has evolved into a cluttered and difficult to use conglomeration of ideas. I have decided the Plex has been redesigned by committee in all the worst parts of the committee idea.

"Camel: A horse designed by committee"

"An elephant is a mouse designed to government specifications." (or to Plex's theory of program design.)

A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done." Fred Allen

Mitchell's Law of Committees: Any simple problem can be made insoluble if enough meetings are held to discuss it.

It also seem that Plex tries to cater to the majority and include every feature that the majority might want. That pretty much ensures failure.

"Truth is not determined by majority vote."- Doug Gwyn

And for those that believe I am crazy to believe the way I do: "You’re Just Jealous Because The Voices Only Speak To Me."

 

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Disterio

Thanks for the all the feedback everyone. 

I do like the simplicity of Emby - however the Android TV client is lacking somewhat. Feels a bit dated unfortunately. Plex, despite it's increasing list of annoyances- feels like a polished product to the casual user. 

But there's many features that are drawing me towards Emby. Just have to tick a few more boxes- mainly Notification functionality. I'll create a separate thread for that. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 9/1/2020 at 1:53 PM, Gilgamesh_48 said:

And for those that believe I am crazy to believe the way I do: "You’re Just Jealous Because The Voices Only Speak To Me."

Nah, your voices "speak" to us in the forums well.  LOL

Sorry couldn't resist. :)

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