I’m a Plex pass member… why can’t my device sync a perfectly good flac file as is.? Why is the option “original” not an option? Always makes me convert it to 320kbps or lower.
Or does anyone recommend another Android app for accomplishing this?
I have the same frustration and issue. Currently directly copying flacs to my device.
I ended up finding another app for syncing my music… it works pretty well. it’s called “CLOUD PLAYER” by doubleTwist. Allows me to conect to my Google Drive where I keep my entire music library and literally check a box that says “Keep Offline”. It gets art cover and metadata for me… it’s nice!
Sure would be nice if PLEX can do that.
That isn’t really an issue 
There are basically some limitations to the apps… for Android I think it was M4A and MP3 for the audio support, everything else get transcoded to one of these formats.
So it’s mostly a lack of support for more media formats in the apps.
Currently the sync feature is not able to detect if an Android device can support flac or not, so to be safe it transcodes it. Hopefully this will change in the future.
it’s 2016 i’m sure any android device now a days can support flac. I mean isn’t upto the software to support flac anyways ? - the android i’m using for my music is the original HTC One from 2013 and works great; though i have to directly side load the flac files to the device cause PLEX downgrades my flac to 320kbps. That IS an issue.
Most new devices probably support flac, but not everyone uses a new device. Support is based on the hardware not software. Plex does not utilize software decoding. There are changes coming to the way sync is done which should help with this issue.
Except even if you have a perfectly good MP3 file which EVERY Android device EVER made supports the Android Plex app unlike the Windows Phone app INSISTS on transcoding it to one of the limited supported bitrates. It’s not even just a Flac issue.
The highest bitrate an MP3 can have is 320 kbps, which is the highest available to sync with. If you choose the 320 setting, an MP3 should not get converted. If you are getting MP3’s being converted when using this setting, there is something else going on. If you can provide a log, I can look into this.
@MovieFan.Plex said:
The highest bitrate an MP3 can have is 320 kbps, which is the highest available to sync with. If you choose the 320 setting, an MP3 should not get converted. If you are getting MP3’s being converted when using this setting, there is something else going on. If you can provide a log, I can look into this.
Yes dude. It converts existing files that are already in mp3 format. There’s no "original"option.
I tell my Plex app / “okay sync this old mp3 album to my phone” Plex tells me to select a bit rate… fuuuuuuu lol… so I select the highest allowable bitrate 320 which my files are already in. And the sync view in Plex Media server is showing all the files being reconverted to mp3 again. Stupid thing to do. I end up having to side load music .
Ok, that’s a different story. I thought we were talking about Flac to something else. MP3 to MP3 is stupid. Can you get me the server logs so I can see if there is a reason it is doing this. I’ve managed to sync MP3 files without transcoding.
Jeeeeeses Christ
+1
I can’t listen to my music offline, as the transcoding process makes all my FLAC files sounds weird and unaudible (seems like hashed)
whats up with this issue?? converting flac these days to 320 is just stupid! we have hi res head phones connected to new phones and pcs and all hte music for offline listening is still converted as if we were in year 2000. Developers?? whats up with you?
@offerbk1 said:
whats up with this issue?? converting flac these days to 320 is just stupid! we have hi res head phones connected to new phones and pcs and all hte music for offline listening is still converted as if we were in year 2000. Developers?? whats up with you?
I have a problem with this too. Looks like they don’t give a ****.
Take a look at this: twitter.com/MonstersGrin/status/775799972210024448
This is such a basic feature that it should be implemented A LONG TIME AGO!
@MovieFan.Plex said:
Most new devices probably support flac, but not everyone uses a new device.
So? The fact that not everyone has a new device doesn’t mean that we can’t have this at all.
This is a ridiculous approach.
@buzzme said:
Except even if you have a perfectly good MP3 file which EVERY Android device EVER made supports the Android Plex app unlike the Windows Phone app INSISTS on transcoding it to one of the limited supported bitrates. It’s not even just a Flac issue.
That’s the thing. If you try to play without syncing - it doesn’t transcode! The FLAC files are played directly when streamed from the server. Only if you try to sync, Plex is being a d*** and insists on transcoding.
I’m starting to think that Plex Inc is taking the Apple’s approach to dealing with users/customers need.
It goes like this: “We know better what you need.”
I see the same thing with most of requests on movie/tv side of plex server.
This is so simple to resolve! Just add an option above the 320kbps - let’s say “Original” - and make it copy the files instead of stupidly transcoding them. If the device does not support FLAC, the music just won’t play. I’m sure if someone has FLAC files in their collection, they are aware of the pros and cons.
Don’t treat us like we’re some stupid sheep . . .
@Monsters_Grin said:
@anon18523487 said:
Most new devices probably support flac, but not everyone uses a new device.So? The fact that not everyone has a new device doesn’t mean that we can’t have this at all.
This is a ridiculous approach.
No. The problem is that the current implementation of sync doesn’t take into account individual device capabilities. It just knows you are trying to sync to an Android device, but since it can’t verify before syncing that flac is supported, it goes the safe route and uses a safe format. This is similar to being able to support other video and audio codecs. Since it can’t verify per device what is compatible, the safest H264/AAC is chosen.
Plex is looking to improve how sync communicates with the device to better understand what it can support so it can make decisions like this in the future.
@MovieFan.Plex said:
No. The problem is that the current implementation of sync doesn’t take into account individual device capabilities. It just knows you are trying to sync to an Android device, but since it can’t verify before syncing that flac is supported, it goes the safe route and uses a safe format. This is similar to being able to support other video and audio codecs. Since it can’t verify per device what is compatible, the safest H264/AAC is chosen.
Like I said:
Just add an option above the 320kbps - let’s say “Original” - and make it copy the files instead of stupidly transcoding them. If the device does not support FLAC, the music just won’t play.
Android itself supports FLAC since version 3.0. Most of phone manufacturers support FLAC since 2010!
Plex should’ve done it like we say from the beginning!
If you’re not willing to rewrite this so it checks the capabilities correctly, at least give us the option to choose on our own if we want to sync the files. Even at risk of not being able to play them. Don’t treat the users like babies. I’m sure it’ll be okay for now if you just include some kind of warning when user chooses the “original” option.
BTW.
Looks like the “current implementation of sync” doesn’t work correctly with the video files either.
I’ve seen many examples of trying to transcode the movie/tv episode even if the device could direct play it without problems. Looks like you have some really big issues that could’ve been prevented if planned correctly.
@MovieFan.Plex said:
Plex is looking to improve how sync communicates with the device to better understand what it can support so it can make decisions like this in the future.
There have been numerous requests for the ability to sync files without transcoding. The statement above makes me think that Plex is not hearing those requests.
@beckfield said:
There have been numerous requests for the ability to sync files without transcoding. The statement above makes me think that Plex is not hearing those requests.
By looking through the forum, I can see that it’s their general approach. Like I said, Apple style.
And don’t even get me started on the “roundtables”. I consider them a joke . . .
