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software Media Servers - Plex/Jellyfin/Emby

joined feb 17, 2023

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. - Emo Phillips

joined feb 17, 2023

Morning all,

So I have been using Plex for years now and its gotten to the point where I hate it. They lay in changes and updates that no one wants/asks for, changes the layout so you have to search for your media behind all their promoted shit, and in general doesn't work like it used to. Has anyone been using Jellyfin or Emby thats willing to provide their experience? Looking to change over if its worth while.

posted 3/16/2023, 2:32 pm

joined mar 14, 2023

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joined mar 14, 2023

I've never tried anything other than Jellyfin so I can't give you a comparison but I've been using it for about 3 months now so I have some experience with it. It's been pretty great for me but obviously your mileage may vary depending on your needs.

Detecting movies/shows based on whatever file name I give it has been pretty reliable, though not instant and if you want something new to show up immediately after having uploaded it you'll have to initiate a scan manually. Managing users has plenty of depth - you can deny transcoding, deny certain directories, only allow access during certain times and lots more. I've never had it crash, though on desktop web the UI does occasionally get confused and refuses to go back which requires refreshing the page to fix. It uses very little resources and runs fine on even low end hardware (so long as you don't require transcoding).

Overall it's pretty feature rich with some nice to haves missing like offline play on phone for example, you can only download and watch with external apps. At the same time though the UI is pretty simple and easy to navigate so you can focus on watching whatever you want. No dark patterns or anything like that which nag you to buy something or advertise anything to you. Highly recommend giving it a try.

posted 3/16/2023, 6:13 pm

joined feb 17, 2023

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. - Emo Phillips

joined feb 17, 2023

quoting markov:

Detecting movies/shows based on whatever file name I give it has been pretty reliable, though not instant and if you want something new to show up immediately after having uploaded it you'll have to initiate a scan manually. Managing users has plenty of depth - you can deny transcoding, deny certain directories, only allow access during certain times and lots more. I've never had it crash, though on desktop web the UI does occasionally get confused and refuses to go back which requires refreshing the page to fix. It uses very little resources and runs fine on even low end hardware (so long as you don't require transcoding).

Overall it's pretty feature rich with some nice to haves missing like offline play on phone for example, you can only download and watch with external apps. At the same time though the UI is pretty simple and easy to navigate so you can focus on watching whatever you want. No dark patterns or anything like that which nag you to buy something or advertise anything to you. Highly recommend giving it a try.

Great information, thanks. The one thing I forgot to mention thats top of my list is a Roku client so I can stream to our TV's. I see both Jellyfin and Emby have that so bonus. Most of what you said is the same that I have experienced with Plex anyways, so nothing new there. And streaming outside the network doesn't really interest me. Thanks for the info.

posted 3/16/2023, 7:52 pm

joined feb 20, 2023

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pre-ground french roast

joined feb 20, 2023

My unRaid setup. The flow for media is: Requesterr (Discord bot because wife/roommate can't figure out the web interface) > Radarr/Sonarr <> Jackett > Deluge > Plex > Bazarr for subtitles (obscure anime). I also run a bunch of other applications via Docker on the same server.

Coffeeofdoom's unRaid

posted 3/17/2023, 1:03 am

joined feb 17, 2023

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My Band --> Angry Bats

joined feb 17, 2023

quoting RevD:

so I can stream to our TV's.

Jellyfin also has DLNA support OOTB without configuring anything. Pretty neat if you ask me.

posted 3/21/2023, 11:22 am

joined feb 17, 2023

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. - Emo Phillips

joined feb 17, 2023

quoting tr:

Jellyfin also has DLNA support OOTB without configuring anything. Pretty neat if you ask me.

I did see that, though I don't like things making configuration changes w/o my review. I did get Jellyfin working this weekend though.

quoting markov:

I've never tried anything other than Jellyfin

Thanks for your input in this markov.

So I got Jellyfin running this weekend and tested. I think I can say w/o a doubt that its easier to manage and setup than Plex. In my tests it was also faster and the sound was better than Plex. So super happy at the moment. Thanks all.

posted 3/21/2023, 3:03 pm

joined feb 18, 2023

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joined feb 18, 2023

How does jellyfin work in terms of needing a client on the playing side, etc.? I'm currently really only using Plex because it has an LGTV app. What are peoples' solution when there is no immediately available client for Jellyfin? Is there a streaming variant that can be used or would it require some addition like Chromecast or the like?

posted 6/5/2023, 7:22 am

software Media Servers - Plex/Jellyfin/Emby