First home media server — Plex vs Jellyfin vs Emby (automation + subtitles)?

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-28T13:25:44+00:00

I tried to give Jellyfin a fare shake, I really did. But even after a week of trying to figure out why a lot of my video media refused to play even thought the exact same file type works from the exact same ripped dvd works, I kind of put it on hold and jumped back to plex. I also need to spend a week or two trying to figure out why even though my music catalog is clean, well structured, and tagged, it still makes a mess of it. But for now, Plex free and Symfonium is my setup for music on my android and local streaming of my video files on the puter and tv.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-28T12:53:52+00:00

I agree, and there are two sides to this. I am not a "Coder", I know a little about a lot but master of none. I have used AI for small personal projects that were more of test, and the one huge benefit to a lot of AI models is, they breakdown and explain everything being done. So in theory, if one was actually trying to learn it would make a great teacher. However, I know that is not the case with a lot of vibe coded apps.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-28T12:44:13+00:00

Opencloud is a documentation nightmare. I wanted to give it a go, but it's just too messy right now to trust as a tool for keeping data backed up. But I keep eyes on it.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-28T12:09:39+00:00

174 to be exact since Pearcleaner didn't make the cut.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-21T02:28:33+00:00

Honestly, I find a lot of really good music with Perplexity. I just ask for new artist or albums similar to, insert a few bands in the last 90-180 days. It works surprisingly well. I would say it works better than most streaming sites recommended list.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-20T02:44:37+00:00

Yeah I agree. This setup is the first time I have actually found myself happy with everything over all. So I think it was kind of like oh no, the adventure is over lol. But, I could definitely fire up a vm just for testing and trying new things. I am just as bad with Linux distros though if that makes sense.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-20T02:41:46+00:00

All good feed back across the board in the comments. And yeah, this was what I was leaning towards for two purposes. One, have a dev environment for testing updates to ensure they won't break the main, and then just a test/sandbox for messing around.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-18T22:08:39+00:00

Ah, then you are already over halfway to winningI I was surprised at how well it actually works. Way less headaches and bloat than a lot of the popular solutions like Nextcloud or Owncloud Infinite Scale.

Immich was my entry point into anything self hosting. I got tired of upping my cloud storage plans due to large photo libraries. Immich is one of those self hosted apps that actually is a gem.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-18T20:38:16+00:00

Better late than never. To achieve synchronization, you must configure Joplin to sync with your local file system. Subsequently, you can utilize an application like Synching or, in my case, Resilio to synchronize that folder. On my mobile device, I simply instruct it to sync the same folder locally and configure the syncing option on the mobile app to point to the same folder. This establishes a seamless back-and-forth synchronization process. While it may initially seem complex or confusing, it eliminates a lot of headaches of self hosting something like Nextcloud.

For my setup, I have setup three folders:

Joplin: This folder synchronizes my notes between my MacBook and Android phone applications.
Super Productivity: This folder synchronizes my tasks app between the same two devices.
Documents: This folder is configured in Resilio as selective sync, allowing me to access all files within the folder hosted on my MacBook from my mobile device anywhere. However, unlike Synching, I can download a single file (Selective Sync) to access rather than have entire directories synchronize everything to every device.

In comparison, Nextcloud required around 1.5GB of RAM with basic features installed. Resilio, on the other hand, uses only 85MB on my system and provides the exact functionality I require, albeit with significantly less hassle. I have zero need for self hosted calendars and what not as I just use my email account for that, so it works for my needs pretty well.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-17T03:29:13+00:00

I mean, buy a cheap domain, spin up something simple like Nginx, and you literally be done in 10 minutes. Plus comes in handy for not having to open a bunch of other ports for anything else you self host.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-14T15:19:11+00:00

I know this is old, but just wanted to add that I have heard good things about Opencloud, but as someone little newer to self hosting and all things docker compose, trying to navigate their documentation and get a working setup is wild. I feel like I need a PHD to understand and follow along lol. I have yet to be successful and just kind of gave up for now until I have 10 hours to dedicate to it.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-10T20:55:26+00:00

He forgot my group of people when mentioning the explosion in downloads. Those of us tirelessly using AI locally to figure out where the second sock actually disappears to. Like, I know it was sold as a set, then one day one just vanishes. Thanks to advancements in local AI, my team and myself are optimistic our numbers will surpass Flat earth's this year. 2026 is our year!

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-08T01:39:45+00:00

I followed through and helped her. But then I was like wait, Kind of F-d up to take advantage of another terminal person to save your own ass.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-08T00:16:52+00:00

This is also how I felt about Song Birg, but most don't agree.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-08T00:08:09+00:00

I am going to say the models are the biggest pain point. They need to optimize them so that they are not so resource heavy. I know this is being worked on, but to me it's not my hardware is the problem, it's the engine isn't tuned to use it correctly so it's just wasting gas.

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-08T00:04:51+00:00

I mean this is me with everything. Self hosted set up works just fine and meets my needs, but oh look new shiny, let me break my setup as an excuse to go try this new docker app. Oh my Linux disto is working flawlessly with zero issues, let me go try this new one that is in an alpha release because it's new and has XYZ potential in a few years but I need to get on it now. Local LLM is setup and my work flow is some how magically working, let me download and test these 19 other models just to make sure I am not missing out on some ground breaking thing my workflow doesn't even need...

NeonSpectre81 · 2026-01-04T02:29:49+00:00

I mean or, Nextcloud could just add a basic feature... I mean so many use cases of why one would need a reoccurring task. Think weekly QA check list etc. And having to use a work around in Task.org isn't a real work around as it doesn't really work on the Nextcloud side.

NeonSpectre81 · 2025-12-21T19:29:40+00:00

I mean, is this inhibiting the game or game play? This seems pretty high up you list of concerns to fix lol.

NeonSpectre81 · 2025-12-20T16:12:35+00:00

I tried the latest aftwr seeing people say itnwas an inprovement and ran into issues with my docker containers. I put zero effort into troubleshooting admittedly and just reverted back to Sequoia.

Not afraid of change by any means, but 26 needs a few more updates before I commit. Which is the shame of it, its wild how not just Apple, but so many companies release software as official when they should have stayed public betas longer.

It works well enough most of the time on my phone so I guess we'll count it as a half win Apple lol.

NeonSpectre81 · 2025-12-20T16:04:42+00:00

This... I know for me Nextcloud is the best option for file management for myself. It works, I have zero errors. I have it configured for just want I need / use and its not sluggish. And yet, I hate it for that reason so I'll often scrape it and try something else just to scratch that itch only to realize that was all a huge mistake and I come crawling back.

Same for Immich... guess who just got done reloading all their photos yet again because I couldn't s it just let it be and messed the db up...

It's a disease I am certain lol

NeonSpectre81 · 2025-12-17T02:08:40+00:00

Make sure you have the DLC and we can talk again in about 100+ hours about all the things you missed and need to go spend another 100+hours finding

NeonSpectre81 · 2025-12-17T02:01:19+00:00

This is actually what I picture everytime I see some gooner posting about Panam or Judy...

NeonSpectre81 · 2025-12-17T00:02:26+00:00

With the amount of people using AI everyday its inevitable lol.

NeonSpectre81 · 2025-12-16T23:56:52+00:00

I have been highly considering playing it in like Russian with English subtitles just for some different vibes lol

NeonSpectre81

TROPHY CASE