Seeking advice on streamlining/simplifying my music & video setup

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Seeking advice on streamlining/simplifying my music & video setup

mgbridges

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#295455 30-Mar-2022 11:36

I'm starting to realise that my music & video home setup is somewhat fragmented and I'm trying to simplify things. I've been reading a few threads in this forum and getting some ideas but I'm struggling to put it all together.

The main components are:

large amount of digital music (FLAC) stored on a RAID array attached to a Windows machine. I have a PLEX server running on this, although I currently do very little with it.
very small amount of digital video (purchased or home videos) on the same Windows machine.
Samsung smart TV. About 4 or 5 years old, so some streaming apps (e.g. Sky Sport Now) don't work on it. Have a Chromecast connected to get round this.
Raspberry Pi music streamer running Volumio hooked into physical hifi with CD player & separate amp.
Streaming audio via Tidal
Streaming video via Netflix, Neon, Disney+, Amazon Prime (though only currently used for Picard!), Sky Sport Now
Sonos audio: Beam and 2 x Ones providing surround sound for TV, plus a separate Move for the kitchen and garden
MediaMonkey for audio playback on my office PC

The main issues I want to address are:

Simplifying video playback on the TV. The Samsung smart TV UI is pretty rubbish and, as mentioned, not all the apps are available on the version of OS it's running. The Neon app has an annoying habit of logging me out and re-entering the password via the remote and onscreen keyboard is irritating. I get round the lack of some apps (e.g. Sky Sport Now) by casting from my phone, but that's also irritating.
Having a consistent and easy to use interface to access all of my music (stored and streaming) via whatever endpoint I choose (Sonos, TV, office PC, hifi).

Options I'm considering:

Small media server connected to TV. No real storage needed, just needs to host streaming apps. Maybe a NUC or even a Pi?
I did investigate Roon for audio but it seemed expensive. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet?
Could I be making better use of Plex (paid subscription maybe?)? Or should I consider alternatives like Emby or Jellyfin?

I have a reasonable amount of technical knowledge, though I'm no Linux wizard. Whatever I end up with has to be easily usable by people with no technical knowledge, however.

Keen to hear thoughts and opinions.

davidcole

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#2894239 30-Mar-2022 13:42

I've gone all in on plex years ago. Primary clients are some apple tvs.

Emby and Jellyfin are a very similar principal, but your milage will vary for clients.

Plex I belive, might be able to take your tidal subscription as well, if you really wanted to consolidate. But confirm that.

If you want more of a music client plex do another app called plexamp which is more music focused.

It may sound like i work there, I have just used it for years. Personally i dont use it a huge amount for music as I have spotify....but I can play all my local music tracks with it, and do occasionally for giggles.

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mgbridges

118 posts

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#2894243 30-Mar-2022 13:51

davidcole:

Plex I belive, might be able to take your tidal subscription as well, if you really wanted to consolidate. But confirm that.

I saw that, but I'm not quite sure how it works/what it offers. I can see the value in merging my (owned) music catalogue with Tidal (similar to how Roon does it).

If you want more of a music client plex do another app called plexamp which is more music focused.

That might be worth investigating. Thanks.

davidcole

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#2894247 30-Mar-2022 13:53

I just saw your replies in the Getting rid of spotify thread.

Unsure if you can use plex to push to your sonos etc, I wonder if it has the ability to cast there.

mgbridges

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#2894249 30-Mar-2022 13:56

davidcole:

Unsure if you can use plex to push to your sonos etc, I wonder if it has the ability to cast there.

Yes, I can see my Plex server as a source in my Sonos app. I assume I can therefore see the Sonos from within the Plex app.

davidcole

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#2894256 30-Mar-2022 14:08

mgbridges:

davidcole:

Unsure if you can use plex to push to your sonos etc, I wonder if it has the ability to cast there.

Yes, I can see my Plex server as a source in my Sonos app. I assume I can therefore see the Sonos from within the Plex app.

Yes it might show up as a cast target.

bendud

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#2894596 31-Mar-2022 11:14

Roon would certainly fit the bill for the audio side of things if the price is acceptable (I was fortunate to get a lifetime sub some years ago when they were merely expensive!). However, in our house it ties together a Naim Unitiserve, a NAS housed music library, a couple of random music folders on a PC and a Mac, a Tidal sub, and will output to anything on the network including Sonos devices with a simple interface. Plus the benefits of the Roon curation stuff. You could do a trial I guess - but my advice is to bite the bullet if music is important to you. Our use scenarios sound pretty similar and I have no regrets.

For the video side of things, I would be interested in others ideas. I am waiting until the new Sky product is available before making any decisions. We have relatively few stored videos but watch Sky Sport from a 12 y.o. satellite box, as well as Disney+, iPlayer, All4, Netflix etc from an AppleTV which means there is only one switch for Mrs B to negotiate, between the satellite box and the AppleTV which is handled by the LG TV remote (which can also drive the Sky box).

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mgbridges

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#2894600 31-Mar-2022 11:20

Thanks for the replies so far. I am leaning towards Roon for the audio side of things - I've heard many good things about it and I suspect I just need to bit the financial bullet.

On the video side I was wondering about the 4th generation Google Chromecast (with Google TV). I have a second generation Chromecast at the moment but it sounds like the 4th Gen version might be able to integrate the various streaming apps. I saw there was a huge thread about it on these forums but it's hard to distil down whether or not it is worthwhile. Anyone able to give me the TL;DR?

bendud

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#2894605 31-Mar-2022 11:30

TV wise, we do everything via AppleTV apart from Sky - I would be quite happy to have either a Sky neobox that does everything, or a Sky app for AppleTV but neither seem overly likely. Looking at the Vodafone TV shambles I suspect Apple provide longevity of solution compared to the (relatively) small players.

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rb99

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#2894626 31-Mar-2022 11:59

Personally I'd try using Plex or Emby a bit more before you go for Roon. You've got Plex already and Emby might be worth a try, though you'd probably have to pay for a months worth to try it out properly. I have an Apple TV but seem to use the Shield more plugged in to the TV. Apple TV would be better if you're into, erm, overseas sources. Not sure if they're worth it over a Chromecast thing.

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rb99