Plex Endpoint Support / Plexamp Headless

[nadanre]

I just had a little conversation with the Plex-Support, asking about the state of plex endpoint integration. As of their last roadmap Plex Endpoint/Plexamp Headless support is listed under "actively working on".
According to the support they are still evaluating it and are in fact not actively working on it. I really would like to see headless plexamp on the wiim ultra, because the current implementation is really flawed.
For example: Under artist pages there are only albums shown, no eps or live-albums or compilations.
Also preset-playlists only contain the first 500 tracks...
From my understanding it should be easier to implement a true plex endpoint, than trying to implement all the functions "manually" and bit by bit within the wiim home app.
I guess there are a few others that would like to see this feature, since also chromecast with plexamp is really in dire need of an update, since it doesnt even show track, or artist names not even talking about album art. But from my understanding that is something the Plex/Plexamp team would need to fix/implement.

All that aside, I am still really happy with the plex support so far, and all the improvements that have been made so far.
All the best to all of you,
Navid

 

[d6jg]

You'd choose to use PlexAmp and Chromecast or Plex in WHA (which basically just gives you albumartist, album and recently added indexes)? Even if I was limited to media servers (not specialist music servers) I'd choose KODI or Emby over those options.

I said I would consider it.

Isn't that what I said?

No. You made no mention of the iOS, Android, Windows and Mac Apps all of which are "Endpoints" and none of which (to my knowledge) require a Plex Pass.

As you know I am almost 100% Lyrion but I use Plex for Video and I also use PlexAmp on my iPhone for music when out and about due to three things that the iOS app does that suit me. 1. CarPlay 2. Bandwidth management (auto transcoding) and 3. aggressive forward caching. A weekly car jouney route takes me through a cellular blackspot where there can be a few minutes delay. PlexAmp copes. Other similar apps don't.

 

[d6jg]

I suspect this is an academic discussion as WiiM are showing no interest in actually taking the Plex integration any further. They must have decided it is unlikely to sell them any more hardware.

 

[TimTim]

If Lyrion would work as snappy with big libraries as Plex, I would happily forget about Plex. Searching for things is slow and tedious. However, it does work much better than Plex on the Ultra.

 

[slartibartfast]

If Lyrion would work as snappy with big libraries as Plex, I would happily forget about Plex. Searching for things is slow and tedious. However, it does work much better than Plex on the Ultra.

How big is a big library? Once the library is scanned searching shouldn't be slow.

 

[r5yk5]

If Lyrion would work as snappy with big libraries as Plex, I would happily forget about Plex. Searching for things is slow and tedious. However, it does work much better than Plex on the Ultra.

There's a setting in Lyrion somewhere (Server > Performance?) that you can change if you have a large library.

 

[TimTim]

How big is a big library? Once the library is scanned searching shouldn't be slow.

Search always takes a couple of seconds. I’d say the library is way too big. Switched from vinyl to digital for lack of space but the hoarding hasn’t stopped. Thought that switching from a Pi 3 to a 4 with more ram would change things but it didn’t. Also it always takes a couple of seconds for the web interface to become responsive. Once the music is playing, I’m happy. I’d probably be happy if I wasn’t used to the responsiveness of Plexamp on the phone.

Might just try and give it another go with a fresh install of Lyrion.

 

[d6jg]

Search always takes a couple of seconds. I’d say the library is way too big. Switched from vinyl to digital for lack of space but the hoarding hasn’t stopped. Thought that switching from a Pi 3 to a 4 with more ram would change things but it didn’t. Also it always takes a couple of seconds for the web interface to become responsive. Once the music is playing, I’m happy. I’d probably be happy if I wasn’t used to the responsiveness of Plexamp on the phone.

Might just try and give it another go with a fresh install of Lyrion.

Where are your files?

I run a Pi5 8gb RAM for Lyrion with files on a NAS. Scanning is appreciably quicker than it was using a Pi4 but Material is "snappy" enough for me even utilising search. I only use PlexAmp in the car via CarPlay where navigation and searching are almost irrelevant.

 

[TimTim]

Where are your files?

I run a Pi5 8gb RAM for Lyrion with files on a NAS. Scanning is appreciably quicker than it was using a Pi4 but Material is "snappy" enough for me even utilising search. I only use PlexAmp in the car via CarPlay where navigation and searching are almost irrelevant.

The files are on a qnap nas. My Plex server is running on the nas as well. I‘m assuming that the database for Lyrion would be stored on the Pi and speed should not be affected. I mostly use Plexamp when I’m commuting.

Seems like my Lyrion experience is much worse than that of others. So maybe it’s time for a new install to see if anything changes.

 

[d6jg]

The files are on a qnap nas. My Plex server is running on the nas as well. I‘m assuming that the database for Lyrion would be stored on the Pi and speed should not be affected. I mostly use Plexamp when I’m commuting.

Seems like my Lyrion experience is much worse than that of others. So maybe it’s time for a new install to see if anything changes.

My files are actually on an ancient over 10 years old QNAP (TS419).

The Lyrion database is on the Pi and as I said earlier I did see a speed increase on scanning when I moved to Pi5 and things became generally snappier. I always use high quality SD cards. Cheap ones are a recipe for failure IMHO.

 

[simbun]

Interesting observation, in what way would you consider Plex mediocre?

Any server that doesn't parse (as per the tagging specification) and index the core tags (albumartist, album, genre, discnumber, tracknumber, artist, title and date) I would typically rate as poor, but because of PlexAmp I've upgraded that to medicore . With that said mediocre is enough for most!

Aesthetically it looks reasonable, it works anywhere in the world and on Android Auto.

I absolutely understand the simplicity of Plex relay is a big advantage to alternative solutions, but with modern tools like Tailscale that's no longer as much of an issue.

I can agree that the cost of the lifetime pass is now expensive but as I got mine on one of their excellent promotions quite a while back it was a no brainer.

I personally don't consider cost, unless it's excessive like Roon (for a local collection), but do value development and support.

 

[simbun]

I said I would consider it.

That still surpises me given I know how you tag your collaborations:

ALBUMARTIST: B.B. King & Eric Clapton; B.B. King; Eric Clapton

In Plex you'd have to pick just one, or have the album appear under only "B.B. King & Eric Clapton".

No. You made no mention of the iOS, Android, Windows and Mac Apps all of which are "Endpoints" and none of which (to my knowledge) require a Plex Pass.

Well, I did say

to play to a PlexAmp endpoint

but I suppose I could have reiterated the context of the post.

As you know I am almost 100% Lyrion but I use Plex for Video and I also use PlexAmp on my iPhone for music when out and about due to three things that the iOS app does that suit me. 1. CarPlay 2. Bandwidth management (auto transcoding) and 3. aggressive forward caching. A weekly car jouney route takes me through a cellular blackspot where there can be a few minutes delay. PlexAmp copes. Other similar apps don't.

Before moving to Symfonium I would download tracks to the phone so I've never really tried other options. I'm not an iOS user but there appears to be a few options in the OpenSubsonic world.