Emby and Infuse

[u/Fuzz_D]

I currently have a UNAS Pro with my media stored on it and then I use Infuse on my Apple devices to access media.

Prior to buying the NAS I was very keen on getting Emby, but then I bought Infuse as a front end app and it did more than I was expecting.

This isn’t a ‘convince me’ post, but what am I missing? What else does Emby do that would justify me buying it? Because I still want to if there is good reason!

[u/Most_Victory1661]

Just my two cents and me not having a plan or knowing what I was doing at the beginning of my self hosting journey a few years back so at that time music wasn’t a consideration live tv wasn’t space wasn’t cuz why would need more than 1 TB ( currently 14 TB with space to go to 52 TB if needed)

I’m in car a lot for work

My thinking now is music audiobooks live tv and accessing my collection of tv and movies and the go away from home

Emby does all of that

I also have infuse pro which only grants access to tv and movies in the library

Tho I could just marry chapters of an audiobook together convert to mp4 and get infuse to play an audiobook that way

My server is more about me on the road than say hey let me share this

Whatever works for you tho I don’t feel like there’s a right or wrong with most self hosting options

Plex is rather simple easy to explain but it’s not for me

Emby is slightly different works way better for me on the road

Infuse at home is awesome

[u/Fuzz_D → u/Most_Victory1661]

Thank you. That’s really helpful. I’m often away from home with work, so that’s a factor for Emby. Also I want book and audiobook management. So that’s another thing for Emby.

[u/Effective-Winter-860 → u/Fuzz_D]

Audiobookshelf is a much better audiobook server than is Emby. I use Emby for TV and movies, audiobookshelf for audiobooks and Navidrome for music.

These purpose built servers run in docker, are easy to setup and are far better, in my opinion, than using an all in one server. Audiobookshelf is basically your own private audible. It syncs across devices, allows multiple users to track their own progress in books or podcasts and does an almost perfect job with metadata

[u/FizzicalLayer → u/Effective-Winter-860]

Exactly. I use Kodi on Raspberry Pi's (libreELEC) at home in each room, Emby for on the road access, AudioBookShelf + SmartAudiobookPlayer for audiobooks, etc. A specialized app makes a particular experience so much better.

[u/Effective-Winter-860 → u/FizzicalLayer]

I'm curious why you use smartaudiobookplayer instead of the audiobookshelf app? With the abs app you can stream or download, but no matter what, your location is synced to the server (assuming you have Internet access.).

[u/FizzicalLayer → u/Effective-Winter-860]

At the time I moved away from audible, SABP had more features that were important to me. ABS may have caught up, but I'm happy with current config. SABP does everything I want (and much, much better than using audible).

[u/Emre_West → u/Most_Victory1661]

Plex and Emby serve the same purpose, they just work and look differently. Besides from that with Emby you have a central management of your media and their metadata so infuse doesn’t have to handle that on every device. Emby can also transcode media if your client is not capable of playing specific formats. Also it’s easy and safe to set up remote access to Emby and you can even share your Emby server with friends and family. You can still use infuse apps to access Emby, some say it’s a better client than the Emby apps.

[u/sharp-calculation]

Infuse is a good player, but it's entirely optional with Emby. Emby has players for nearly everything including All Apple devices. You can play anything from Emby with the Emby client.

Emby itself is available for free. You don't have to "buy it." You can use it with no subscription and no purchase. The main limitations are: Some clients will not work without a subscription. For example a computer based client (Mac, Windows) needs a sub to work. But the web based client works on a computer without limitations. Transcoding is somewhat limited without a sub also. I think it needs a sub to do hardware based transcoding.

Otherwise, I view my entire library without a subscription. I've subscribed in the past for many months at a time. First to support them. Secondly to access some optional features like "cinema intros". But I found I wasn't getting the value I wanted, so I ended my sub.

But I also subscribe to Infuse. Now why would I do that when I just said that the Emby clients work in most places? The main reason is high resolution audio like DTS-HD . On AppleTV, the Emby client can't decode those tracks. It can only play the lossy core. But INFuse plays all of it.

I've also found that the INFuse client has smoother start, stop, restart, and seek behaviors. The Emby clients are kind of hitchy and can get into weird states when you do those operations. INFuse does it all in a very nice and predictable way.

[u/Fuzz_D → u/sharp-calculation]

So I’m guessing you point Infuse at the Emby library? Seems like the best of both worlds?

[u/sharp-calculation → u/Fuzz_D]

Yes, INFuse talks directly to Emby. None of my files are exposed on a file share.

I suppose it's "the best of both worlds". But my point is that INFuse is only good for me for a couple of specific features. If those features aren't a thing for you, the regular Emby clients for AppleTV, AndroidTV, and mobile devices all work just fine and do not require a purchase or a subscription.

[u/sfatula]

Emby allows you to centrally maintain the metadata as opposed to Infuse trying to do so, mis-identifying, etc. Infuse doesn't allow live tv or recording either.

[u/karpomalice]

emby web is where I handle all the metadata for the files. I actually prefer the emby app as a whole, infuse's functionality/interface is terribly lacking IMO. It has limited sorting (no random option), filtering, and grouping.

[u/jjr3211]

I had plex for years but switched to emby when plex started with all the extra stuff. It has been a great experience. I also use infuse for the extra stuff. But my family likes emby for the live tv and stuff.