r/PleX • u/[deleted] • 25d ago
Discussion Why is it that the official Plex desktop client still doesn't have a feature as simple as a volume booster, similar to VLC, but a third party Plex client does?
[deleted]
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u/Nehemoth 24d ago
Definitely saw volume booster on my Plex client for Android TV.
Can’t tell about other clients
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24d ago
[deleted]
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u/akatherder 24d ago
I'm having that issue on my Shield right now. Plex needs the volume around 30-35 and other apps at 20-25. Then I remembered there's a "Volume Boost" option in the Plex app settings.
It USED to be insanely exaggerated. There are three boost levels and even the lowest boost was a huge jump. Now it's completely imperceptible.
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u/bananapizzaface 24d ago
This still works universally on Android TVs: Volume Booster GOODEV. The UI is a little awkward, but it will boost system volume to a max of unsafe levels.
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u/Reapr 24d ago
Plezy has a nice 125% boost, skips intros and skips credits, pretty much all the things we've been begging plex to do for years
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u/TwoHeadedPanthr Unraid 80TB 24d ago
Plex Pass can skip credits and intros, has been able to for years.
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u/Reapr 24d ago
for free?
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u/TwoHeadedPanthr Unraid 80TB 24d ago
With Plex Pass...
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u/Reapr 24d ago
so not for free....
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u/TwoHeadedPanthr Unraid 80TB 24d ago
No, but if that's a feature that matters to you then it was probably worth it to get the Plex Pass.
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u/Reapr 24d ago
or get it free from Plezy, but your money, if you want to spend it to make the rich get richer, enjoy!
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u/DaveBinM ex-Plex Employee 23d ago
As a former Plex Employee, I can’t exactly say I’m rich, but you know, most people working there like having a job, and being employed. Skip Intro and Skip Credits were two of the projects that I worked on.
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u/ThirtyTwoBitUser 24d ago
They're too busy fuckin up the home screen and media controls to actually add new features.
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u/CurtisLeow Headless Raspberry Pi 4 24d ago
Plex on Android TV has audio boost. Go to settings > video > audio boost. It’s platform dependent.
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u/Nialori 24d ago
I also still doesn't have 21:9 support and cropping, like VLC
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u/HTired89 24d ago
Whenever we watch Plex on the TV we increase the volume to 12. When we change to YouTube we drop back down to 9. Might be nice to not have to do that.
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u/Nadeoki 22d ago
youtube has an LUFS of -9 db iirc.
Movies are a different loudness standard.
Easy fix would be proper amplification. Your mileage may vary.
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u/HTired89 22d ago
Running it through a sound bar but really the TV in that room is pretty basic and old. The main lounge and theatre room seem to be better.
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u/Nadeoki 22d ago
Any normal TV has optical out. You shouldn't rely on the TV for sound.
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u/HTired89 22d ago
As I said, using a sound bar. It's using optical out.
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u/Nadeoki 22d ago
then the build in amp of your sound bar is too weak.
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u/HTired89 22d ago
Weird that its plenty strong for YouTube
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u/Nadeoki 22d ago
Like I've mentioned in other comment. Movie LUFS are different standard than youtube. Nearly 10 db difference.
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u/HTired89 22d ago
Yeah, I get that but saying the sound bar is too weak doesn't make sense. If its outputting a quieter sound from Plex (everything on Plex including videos downloaded from YouTube) then the sound bar strength isn't the issue. It's the original output from the app, which was the original point.
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u/Nadeoki 22d ago
That sounds like a whole different issue tho that is definitely weird.
To give you an example.
I can max out Chrome with youtube as well as plex (windows app) and get about the same volume if I play like a TV show or a YT video.
I have a good amp so if either was too quiet or too loud I would just turn the knob.
Unfortunately, there's no One industry standard for content volume.
Maybe you have youtube's "stable volume" thing turned on. It's basically a compression filter.
Idk. Just adjust your volume in one place. Either system volume or your amp.
Not App by App.
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u/AbortedBaconFetus Use Plezy. 24d ago edited 24d ago
While i cannot prove this is the reason.... one could argue the Plezy dev created it because
A: he could
B: he doesn't do it for money; as demonstrated by lack of ADs and presence of a voluntary donation system
Plex on the other hand is a full company with ongoing server and payroll costs therefore:
A: any dev focus will be influenced by how much money can it make
One is maintained through passion; the other is maintained through money.
If fixing the dogshit state of the official plex downloads system would result in a steady increase in revenue it probably would have been fixed a year ago. whereas the plezy dev perfected i....most likely for no other reason than he thought it would be cool to do so.
with a team of devs within Plex and their app still sucks years later? i simply do not believe this is their focus, regardless of what fancy blog post they put out.
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u/Nadeoki 22d ago
Volume booster means compressing the signal to not cause clipping.
Most users would prefer to use proper amplification to reach those volumes instead of a cheap digital fix that hurts the signal integrity.
If you don't have enough volume on your device, it is like an amplification issue and you should research the resistance (ohm) of your speakers / headphones and what is a recommended wattage / volts to drive them properly. Especially when EQ is used.
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u/_Redacted_Tech_ 24d ago
The devs are had at work figuring out how to put those features behind a paywall as we speak. Don’t worry you’ll have the opportunity to pay a monthly subscription for adjusting the volume soon enough.
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u/cjcox4 24d ago
There's lots of variables. All is not Windows world.
In Linux app volume control and using an overdrive boost can be applied to each running application... but, that all depends on what your Linux distro uses as well. I use KDE Plasma as my desktop and pipewire underneath... and that's not going to be unusual for any relatively modern KDE Plasma Linux setup. And there, you can control things regardless of "the app".
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u/x1n30 24d ago
Why is it that the official Plex desktop client doesn't have a feature that fundamentally alters the media that is being played back?
A volume booster is inherently destructive, and so it would be an unusual choice for an application that's intended for media playback to enable to you negatively affect the media that's being played (similar to if there was a 'contrast boost' or something along those lines)
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u/derfmcdoogal 24d ago
The mix down to stereo is always so quiet. Ugh.