I would normally just copy the settings in Custom like you state, however with the THX there are settings in the hidden menus that are set by the factory that users cannot get to without a password. So the THX settings are calibrated internally to the set at the factory in order to he the THX certification. So just copying the THX settings into custom will not be the same.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iTunes vs Plex
- Thread starter robertpolson
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I would normally just copy the settings in Custom like you state, however with the THX there are settings in the hidden menus that are set by the factory that users cannot get to without a password. So the THX settings are calibrated internally to the set at the factory in order to he the THX certification. So just copying the THX settings into custom will not be the same.
I'm with nrc2112
I can't remember the last time I watched a movie on disc. I stream everything now. I recently upgraded my home theater with a Denon 3313 AVR and Samsung 65". I use ATV3 and home share with my iMac in the adjoining room via my Apple wifi network.
I'm considering a Mac Mini connected by hdmi directly to my AVR to handle all my movies/TV shows. Everyone loved Front Row and so many seem to recommend Plex once they reach the 5th stage of grief and accept the death of Front Row. I've looked at Plex but find it completely overwhelming.
If I'm content to get all my movies from iTunes, Netflix (via ATV) or Amazon Prime (via Smart TV but maybe Mac Mini) is there really any reason for a Plex like software? 1080p picture and Dolby multichannel sound are important to me.
I'm sorry if I hijacked this thread, but I've struggled to find info on this topic and my quest has led me here. I appeal to your grace, as well as your knowledge.
I can't remember the last time I watched a movie on disc. I stream everything now. I recently upgraded my home theater with a Denon 3313 AVR and Samsung 65". I use ATV3 and home share with my iMac in the adjoining room via my Apple wifi network.
I'm considering a Mac Mini connected by hdmi directly to my AVR to handle all my movies/TV shows. Everyone loved Front Row and so many seem to recommend Plex once they reach the 5th stage of grief and accept the death of Front Row. I've looked at Plex but find it completely overwhelming.
If I'm content to get all my movies from iTunes, Netflix (via ATV) or Amazon Prime (via Smart TV but maybe Mac Mini) is there really any reason for a Plex like software? 1080p picture and Dolby multichannel sound are important to me.
I'm sorry if I hijacked this thread, but I've struggled to find info on this topic and my quest has led me here. I appeal to your grace, as well as your knowledge.
iTunes gets most of the action. Never used plex or need too. Handbrake rips and encodes, iFlicks adds, bags and tags everything into iTunes, and then streams to ATV3.
I chose Plex. But I really use XBMC (which is what plex is based on).
All content is stored on my NAS. I have a HTPC running XBMC, where I primarily watch the media on my TV. The NAS is also running Plex Media Server, so all of my media is streamable to my iOS devices, wherever I may be in the country/world. Yes, even works in France. Came in handy a couple months ago.
All content is stored on my NAS. I have a HTPC running XBMC, where I primarily watch the media on my TV. The NAS is also running Plex Media Server, so all of my media is streamable to my iOS devices, wherever I may be in the country/world. Yes, even works in France. Came in handy a couple months ago.
Since plex cannot stream iTunes movies it is not needed unless you are copying your discs to your pc.
I've been using iTunes 10.7 on my old white Santa Rosa MacBook HDMI'd to my TV to watch my 2TBs of movies/tv shows/music. I started messing around with Plex yesterday because my TV has the client for it built in. I just linked my TV Show folder as a test as it is the smallest one. None of the metadata or art work I have meticulously added to my files for iTunes using iFlicks, MetaX, MetaZ, etc. is showing up at all and the interface is really ugly. Also, there are some episodes it puts a red X through even though they work fine in iTunes. I can't imagine it really being worth the time to go through every single file (e.g. every episode of all 9 seasons of the X Files, etc.) in my 2 TB library to re-add all this metadata. Why is it not finding the metadata and artwork already assigned? I really liked the idea of it and it would make for a much cleaner media area to just keep all my drives upstairs hooked up to the Mini Server, but I can't imagine myself having the time or patience to re-add all of this info and double check every single file to see if it is showing up there or not or with or without a red X. I did like that it would automatically go on to the next episode if you're on a tv show binge and I had no problems with buffering or anything like that.
I am pretty sure it's pirating.
----------
I use iTunes for everything, including all my purchases. Yup that's right nothing illegal here!
For movies off less than 4GB I use Beamer, no need to jailbreak and no need for iVI. Larger video files tend to stutter using Beamer; so I remux them with iVI and run them via iTunes.
PS: Plex is 32bit only, XMBC comes in 64bit mode.
Try Beamer! Will stream any video format through Airplay to an Apple TV as seamlessly as iTunes does. Love that app. No jailbreak required.
Last edited:
I use iTunes for my iphone Music that consists of both cd converted to lossless Apple files and a handful of iTunes store downloads (I don't do the latter any more). I play the above on my phone with earphones and also airplay to my AVR system via airplay.
I prefer using other sources for movies and the like. I find ATV to be pretty on the screen but mediocre for my purposes. I archive my movies on my NAS in native format and use my blu ray player, my Dune player and my Mac Mini with XBMC for playback via my AVR/TV.
I wont knock the ATV as it is a nice little vehicle for playing iTune downloaded movies or rentals but that is exactly what it was designed for - it is akin to the early days of Kodak Instamatic Cameras that were designed to sell Kodak film.
Plex and XBMC on a computer renders better quality in the hi def arena than an ATV. Either of the software used on Windows or Linux can provide HD audio while ATV cannot (or software on OSX).
Depending on what you want should determine what you use. I have gifted ATV's to friends who just think its about the best gadget they have ever owned. It simply works for their needs. As for me, it is kind of a very last choice item as I prefer higher fidelity audio and less limitations on the types of files that can be played whether it is a 1080p mkv or m2ts movie file or 96/24 (or 192/24) Flac audio files and so forth. To each their own.
I prefer using other sources for movies and the like. I find ATV to be pretty on the screen but mediocre for my purposes. I archive my movies on my NAS in native format and use my blu ray player, my Dune player and my Mac Mini with XBMC for playback via my AVR/TV.
I wont knock the ATV as it is a nice little vehicle for playing iTune downloaded movies or rentals but that is exactly what it was designed for - it is akin to the early days of Kodak Instamatic Cameras that were designed to sell Kodak film.
Plex and XBMC on a computer renders better quality in the hi def arena than an ATV. Either of the software used on Windows or Linux can provide HD audio while ATV cannot (or software on OSX).
Depending on what you want should determine what you use. I have gifted ATV's to friends who just think its about the best gadget they have ever owned. It simply works for their needs. As for me, it is kind of a very last choice item as I prefer higher fidelity audio and less limitations on the types of files that can be played whether it is a 1080p mkv or m2ts movie file or 96/24 (or 192/24) Flac audio files and so forth. To each their own.
The both serve a purpose, even on the same machine.
Plex has a 10-foot interface that makes it useful from across the room in a way that iTunes isn't. Plex also has some really nice plug-ins that let you access so much more content than iTunes. Plex is also much more open, so features will get added and tweaked, while iTunes remains only as Apple says.
iTunes has a great ecosystem behind it as well: Movie & Music stores that no other provider can even begin to approach (at least in the US). Sometimes, being in the walled garden can be really nice. Having all content accessible across multiple computers, AppleTV's, iPhones & iPads is great. Plex can also reach into the iTunes folder to serve up media content, so +1 for being able to have media in a single place that works with multiple devices.
If I had a Mac Mini instead of an ATV, I'd definitely be running either Plex or XBMC as my interface, with iTunes in the background. Like I said, they both have their merits.
Plex has a 10-foot interface that makes it useful from across the room in a way that iTunes isn't. Plex also has some really nice plug-ins that let you access so much more content than iTunes. Plex is also much more open, so features will get added and tweaked, while iTunes remains only as Apple says.
iTunes has a great ecosystem behind it as well: Movie & Music stores that no other provider can even begin to approach (at least in the US). Sometimes, being in the walled garden can be really nice. Having all content accessible across multiple computers, AppleTV's, iPhones & iPads is great. Plex can also reach into the iTunes folder to serve up media content, so +1 for being able to have media in a single place that works with multiple devices.
If I had a Mac Mini instead of an ATV, I'd definitely be running either Plex or XBMC as my interface, with iTunes in the background. Like I said, they both have their merits.
You can get Plex for jailbroken ATVs.
I use iTunes for music and Plex for videos. Simply because of the delicious remote app for iTunes, and Plex stinks for music IMO.
For videos, Plex wins hands down. I just toss a movie file into the Movies folder on my Mac mini, and Plex automagically has it in its library within seconds along with meta data. And as easy as it can be video playback over LAN or WAN, makes it a no brainer. <3 Plex.
I just returned my Roku3 because I could never get Plex to recognize all the files in my iTunes managed library.
But that doesn't mean I vote for iTunes. IMO, iTunes as a media center is incomplete without front row. So I feel Apple killing Front Row ruined my love of the Mac Mini/iTunes as the best Media Center.
But that doesn't mean I vote for iTunes. IMO, iTunes as a media center is incomplete without front row. So I feel Apple killing Front Row ruined my love of the Mac Mini/iTunes as the best Media Center.
Plex will not play iTunes movies / shows that have DRM. The only way to play those is through iTunes.
After recent Plex updates and improvements, I switched from iTunes to Plex for anything related to video.
PLEX fo sho! All my movies and most of my tv shows are in .MKV format and there is no way i'm converting 8TBs of content. Plus I love the PLEX interface and metadata handler.
However music will always be in iTunes.
Hit the nail on the head. Plex may be a little difficult for some to get started, but once its set up, it is truly the bees knees. For video it wins hands down because it will handle anything thrown at it. Also, the fact that you can set it up so you can watch/listen to your media anywhere in the world on any plex compatible device is fantastic.
Kind of a loaded question, honestly, if looking at it as a "which is better?" proposition. It really depends on your situation.
If you're completely committed to the Apple ecosystem, there is no reason not to use iTunes only. It's built-in and works out of the box with minimal configuration. You only have to have your media in one format for all devices, including computers, TV set top boxes, and phones/tablets.
If you aren't using Apple devices at all, or you're in a hybrid ecosystem, then iTunes really isn't a good fit, and you should start looking at things like Plex or XMBC.
If you're completely committed to the Apple ecosystem, there is no reason not to use iTunes only. It's built-in and works out of the box with minimal configuration. You only have to have your media in one format for all devices, including computers, TV set top boxes, and phones/tablets.
If you aren't using Apple devices at all, or you're in a hybrid ecosystem, then iTunes really isn't a good fit, and you should start looking at things like Plex or XMBC.
I use multiple.
iTunes to serve video and music to my Apple TV,
Plex to serve video to my phone, tablet, and remote devices,
Subsonic to serve & sync music to my phone and tablet.
All running on a Mac Pro 1,1 that's connected to my TV which lets me stream hockey games to the television.
iTunes to serve video and music to my Apple TV,
Plex to serve video to my phone, tablet, and remote devices,
Subsonic to serve & sync music to my phone and tablet.
All running on a Mac Pro 1,1 that's connected to my TV which lets me stream hockey games to the television.