The Plex home theater system thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Chris DeVoe, Aug 15, 2019.

  1. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    ...wherein we discuss our Plex setups.

    I've had a Plex setup for years and love it to distraction. Originally, I had a computer hooked up to my TV, and I just learned that Plex will be dropping the HTPC interface in favor of one's available for all the different streaming devices like Roku, Firestick and the rest. I can imagine this will annoy some people, I switched to a Roku for playback a long time ago and I can't imagine going back. Mainly because there has never been a good interface for remote control into a home theater PC; they are all varying levels of terrible.

    Here's the article where I learned about it:

    Plex Introduces New Desktop App, Ends Home Theater PC Support
     
    NickySee, artfromtex and Bingo Bongo like this.
  2. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    I have only used Plex on the Roku, so it's not an issue for me.

    I remember when I first found out what Plex was and thinking that it sounded like a lot of work. Now, I use if for streaming from my PC's, over-the-air DVR, and home podcast player.

    I was right, in that, setup was a minor hassle, but once it is all set up, it is very useful and convenient.
     
    Chris DeVoe likes this.
  3. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    One of the points that the Variety article made was that a Roku or Firestick uses a fraction of the electricity of a home theater PC, which is very true. I run my Plex server off my desktop computer, but I am so tempted to either build a dedicated server or get something like a Synology NAS.
     
  4. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    I must confess, I have 24 different guest accounts on my Plex server - family and friends. I call it ChrisFlix.
     
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  5. unclefred

    unclefred Coastie with the Moastie

    Location:
    Oregon Coast
    I tried a couple of times to install Plex but it always failed and I gave up. it was too much hassle and the Roku is all I need.
     
  6. Damien DiAngelo

    Damien DiAngelo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I wonder exactly what this means for me. I'm not really sure after reading the article.

    I have a Raspberry PI and and external hard drive full of music set up as my Plex Media Server. I either access the Plex app via my web browser on my computer (The address is the IP addy of my Raspberry PI), or I use the Plex phone app and stream it through my Chromecast audio.

    If I'm reading the article right, I won't be able to use my computer & browser to use Plex? Or is there a separate Plex app that I'm not even using?

    I guess I'll find out soon enough.
     
  7. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    There was a separate Plex app. It's not very popular, I haven't bothered to download it myself in a couple of years. The server interface is going to remain exactly the same, via the web browser.
     
    Damien DiAngelo likes this.
  8. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    It's no more or less hassle than installing a web server. But given that most people have never installed a web server on their computer, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement.
     
    unclefred likes this.
  9. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    One thing I haven't done with my Plex is put any of my surround music collection on it. Any tips?
     
  10. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

  11. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    Hey @schugh, in another thread you mentioned running Plex on an 8 bay NAS. Which one? And can it host multiple streams at once?
     
    pscreed likes this.
  12. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    I keep trying to find something that could be considered an “audiophile” client for Plex. I’m hoping the upcoming Sonos Connect will fill that gap.
     
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  13. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    It would seem a home theater PC equipped with a studio grade audio card would be the best approach, but as mentioned in the original post they're ending support for that.
     
  14. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    I've only used Plex with the Roku, and it's amazing. I used to have a problem with naming episodes correctly so they would show up on Plex, but that problem is long gone.
     
    Chris DeVoe likes this.
  15. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    There is a way to go in and create your own shows and episodes. I need to do that with all my concert videos.
     
  16. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    I bought a lifetime Plex Pass several years ago, and I'm continually astounded by how much they keep improving this product.
     
  17. schugh

    schugh Forum Resident

    I was running it on the DS1815+. No it's not powerful enough to host multiple streams if they need encoding.
    If no streams are being encoded then yeah you could do multiple streams depending on your network bandwidth.
    All Synology NAS are the same as far as I know.

    I've since moved Plex server to an Intel NUC (i7, 8 GB RAM, 128GB SSD) I got a year and a half ago. I was only using the NUC for Roon Rock.
    But I'm not a purist and was always nagging myself it's such a waste to just run Roon Rock on it.
    So I finally installed Ubuntu 19.04 a couple of months ago and Roon and Plex server on it and it works great.
    All media is on the Synology NAS. I've also got VPN running on the NUC so I can use Roon remotely like from work.
     
    Chris DeVoe likes this.
  18. yamfox

    yamfox Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I have a Raspberry Pi with a HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro DAC plugged on top (which has low-jitter clocks and supports 24/192 and DSD) which cost less than $100 altogether. I run Volumio and use it just for music in a similar manner to a Sonos (all files are “beamed” from my laptop over UPNP or my phone via AirPlay) but you could totally run Kodi (via LibreELEC) or RasPlex and use it as a proper tiny high-quality video and audio home media PC/Plex client with an on-TV interface. I tried out movies via Kodi on it at one point and once I went into settings and selected it as the output device it had no problem outputting through the DAC.

    For my own Plex client needs I just use Rokus and Xbox, never gives me trouble and I don’t use it for my music library so multi-channel out over HDMI for movies and TV is fine by me.
     
    Chris DeVoe likes this.
  19. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    I have Plex installed on my computer and use it to stream files to my Xbox or Roku. Previously I was just putting things onto a flash drive or USB HDD and then my Xbox would refuse to play them after awhile for some reason.
     
  20. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Going to put it onto my QNAP NAS (the manufacturer proudly boasts it's unsupported, and will work just fine!)...but I'm gonna have to do a whole lot of book-learnin' before I get to that point.
     
  21. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Love Plex, been using it for five years or so at this point. Two Roku endpoints, an HTPC (but we don't watch through Plex on that, we use Kodi), and an Amazon FireStick in the van so the kid can watch from the Plex library in the car with an unlimited AT&T plan. I don't think this change will impact us in any way. But we use the HTPC for a lot of stuff beyond just media watching, so I'm not thinking we'll change away from it anytime soon. I just try to let it sleep as much as I can, to minimize the electricity it can consume.
     
    Chris DeVoe likes this.
  22. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    I've been a Plex Pass lifetime member and was shocked to see an ad for Plex on one of the webcasts I watch, All About Android on TWiT.tv.

    They have an offer for a 30 free trial of Plex Pass. Visit plex.tv/twit and enter the offer code "twit".
     
  23. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise) Thread Starter

    My project for this weekend is setting up a Synology NAS with a Plex server. It's a DS420+.
     
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  24. 200 Motels

    200 Motels Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington,VA,USA
    I put together a Plex server at the beginning of the Covid Pandemic. It was way easier that I imagined. I use 3 external hard drives attached to an older laptop with i7 processor.

    Watch the movies using the Roku 4k. Only issue I have is that I can’t stream 4k files. Has to be 1080p for me. Not sure if that is my internet, the old laptop, or a little of both.
     
  25. jkauff

    jkauff Senior Member

    Location:
    Akron, OH
    I use Plex for my music videos, but it apparently can't deal with the ones in a DVD or BD structure. JRiver Media Center handles them easily.

    Chris, have you dealt with this problem? Am I missing something in the Plex server settings? Most of my videos are MKV files, but there are a few where I want to keep the menus.
     
    Chris DeVoe likes this.

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