PLEX

Four 14tb drives here. Misso is a yard sale enthusiast and regularly brings music CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray’s home for me to add to our digital collection.

Still haven’t messed with a tuner card and haven’t set up remote client access but would like to tinker with it all eventually.

 

My computer died so I had to set up my PLEX library all over again. Kinda sucks finding and fixing all the mis-matched titles and changing the custom sort to group movies together but it's not horrible.

For OTA, I have a TiVo with lifetime service (so no monthly cost) and a couple of Minis scattered around the house to stream to, otherwise I'd be looking into something like HDHomeRun, too.

 

I have ripped most of my Cd collection and DVD and Blu ray discs. I have been trying UHD discs too but I need more storage. I have had external access set up for years. I got a lifetime pass which you need for some features like recording live TV. The Tuner I use is network attached so nothing to install in your computer, Plex will find it on your network https://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/
I tend to use the Plex amp app to stream music in my truck and at the gym via my phone. If you have not tried Plex amp its a good clean looking music player.

 

I used to have a TiVo Roamio OTA and an a9200 mini. They were great because anyone that came over could work the thing it was so much like a cable box. The problem I had with mine is that you couldn't get some steaming apps and it just got slower and slower to launch any of the apps like netflix and others. I got a Firestick for apps. then I just got tired of switching inputs and made the move all to Plex by adding the HDhomerun. Plex now lets you skip ads, and show intros like TiVo did. I think the Guide is nicer and more accurate than TiVo's was in Late 2021.

 

thanks for the tuner link, and your the third person to recommend Plex Amp so it looks like I’m going to give it a try as well since Tidal is gone.

 

I prefer Jellyfin. It's de-corporatized Plex.

 

I’ve heard good things but we got Plex because we live in a rural area and streaming online just isn’t reliable for us. For our needs it’s perfect. I do want to try to host remote guest logins so I know how while we are living in town - just sold a house and switched states and now looking for property to build on.

 

I don't use it for anything but local streaming *shrug*. The original selling point for me was unlocked HVEC and x265 transcoding (plex required premium at the time, no idea if this is still the case)

 

I have a few people that have remote access to my PLEX library. It wasn't difficult to set up but I did have to do some port forwarding on my router. If you need a guinea pig to test it out with, let me know.

 

Just gettin’ into this. Bought a Synology NAS strictly for music storage but now I’m thinkin’ I might get into video too.
I have no idea what I’m doing.

 

Feel free to inquire or shoot me a PM if you have any questions. It's pretty straightforward but there are inevitably some issues you'll run into.

 

Thank You, Sir

 

Wow I didn't know tidal died out. They had good quality music but I suppose were more expensive than other paid options and more catering to the audiophiles who tend to like physical media more, so not really a sustainable idea.
Anyway yeah do try out plex amp. It integrates well with our trucks if you have android auto or apple car play. It looks like this on your dash


I use my plex outside my house to listen to music and even watch tv when I'm camping sometimes. I have never shared my server library with anyone else so far. I would be interested in trying that out.

As far as trying out other software like plex I've tried Channels DVR, Channels is very nice and i feel more polished than plex but it really is focused on TV shows and not so much movies. Channels doesn't have any music library functionality at all. It also cost $8 month or $80/year.

I tried Jellyfin and thought it was fine. It did nearly everything plex did well and even had some capabilities that Channels DVR did like incorporated PlutoTV and Stirr channels in to the guide so you can watch and record them like your antenna channels. The downside for me was no programming guide data is included for broadcast TV. You have to pay $25/ year for a Schedules Direct subscription to get the most accurate guide data. That already comes with Plex and there are only few of the Pluto and Stirr channels do I actually watch that aren't already on plex's live free streaming channels. Plus I paid for my lifetime plex pass years ago so for me hardware updates are my only costs.

 

Just started playing with Plexamp and wonder if it pre-caches songs. I ask because I didn’t setup remote access on the server but was able to listen for about a half hour at a remote location.

 

Yes, It does pre-cache some of the playlist you were listening to. This is so if you were using it whilst driving around or whatever and and lost data service for a bit the music wouldn't be interrupted. It's good for like when you drive in to a tunnel or a valley with poor cell signal or if I go to some of the basement area at work were cell and wifi don't work well. It would continue to cache again when data connection to the server was restored.

 

Still keen to be a guinea pig?

 

Seems pretty easy to allow someone access to your library, see here:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201105738-creating-and-managing-server-shares/
The main requirement is that you have remote access on which I do but I have yet to make any Plex friends to share with outside of my house.

 

Absolutely.

 

I followed the included instructions and also add a rule on my “Firewalla” device and got a friend setup using his mobile phone and a couple of Xbox consoles at his house. Everything is working perfect and his wife is streaming “Elf” as I write this.

Hit me with your username via PM so I can add you.

 

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