Plex: The Best Media Server for Your Mac
Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 8:53PM 
Plex is in the TV app store and it works GREAT!In my previous post I briefly mentioned the rolls I configured on my reclaimed Windows XP, (circa 2004) Dell Optiplex that I wiped and rebuilt with Ubuntu 14.04. I got quite a few comments and questions about that diatribe, the most common being questions about how I configured my media server. Obviously, given this post’s title, I chose Plex. Why?
Well, using Plex only happened after a long, arduous journey through a number of software solutions available for a 64 bit Linux machine. I have been a long-time XBMC fan, so it was the first solution I tried, and tried and tried again. More on those tribulations in a moment. For now, suffice to say I picked Plex because of its capability and polish. Plex is a commercial application and while Plex offers free versions, they are what I call “crippleware” that provide only the most basic features. To make Plex sing you’ll need to spend a few bucks, but only a few. How much depends on what you need it to do. I wanted a media server to run on my Linux box whose primary function is serving my movie library to all my computers, set top boxes, iOS and Android devices. That includes Macs, Windows 10 and Windows 7 computers, DirecTV DVRs, iPhones, iPads, AppleTVs and a Nexus 7 Android tablet. That is what differentiates Plex from all the other media servers I experimented with.
Apple Does It Again! EarPods Are Terrific!!!
I read numerous glowing reviews of Apple's latest ear candy and decided that I wasn't going to let $29 stand in the way of me experiencing their goodness for myself (Even though I'll get a pair with the iPhone 5 I ordered that's due October 5th). Besides, there's no such thing as enough earbuds when you have teenage daughters in the house.
When bought separately, EarPods come packaged as beautifully as all other Apple gear. The showcase-style packaging includes a handy see-thru plastic case similar to the $79 in-ear Apple models I used to own (before ruining them in an unfortunate lawn mowing incident). Many folks throw this doohickey away not realizing how handy it is for keeping your earbuds safe and tangle-free even in the most cluttered pocket or purse. After just a couple of practice tries, anyone can neatly stow their EarPods in this original display case in a jiffy, so dont ditch it.
It took me a few seconds to figure out how these newly-designed buds fit into my ears, but once I did the fit was very secure and much more comfortable than in-ear models. That's a discomfort I've never really gotten used to with in-ear and canal buds. Especially the latter. I have a very expensive pair of Etymotic canal buds that sounded great if ever I was willing to shove a probe into the side of my head up against my eardrum. Consequently, they rarely come out of their case. Naturally, the EarPods' sound isolation isn't as good, but it isn't bad and that's what the volume slider is for, right? Plus, there's the added bonus of not having to worry about ear wax gooing up the works.
Now the good (and most important) part.
EarPods sound terrific! I'm not sure if it's due to the new, odd-looking design, the new paper driver cone (previous models were plastic) or a combination of both factors. The first thing I noticed after cueing up one of my favorite Buddy Guy tunes on my iPhone 4S was how smooth and rich the bass is. It's nothing like the muddy-sounding garble produced by last year's model and I did't feel the need to press the buds deeper into my ear to make the bass sound right. The highs are very crisp and clear with none of the tinny artifacts you'd expect from a single driver device. At full volume I did hear the highs distort just a little during the heaviest bass thumps, but turning the iPhone's volume down just a tad (to ~ 9/10 full) cleared it right up. I've now spent several hours listening to everything from audiobooks to heavy metal and I'm still very happy with the EarPods' comfort and overall performance. The control buttons function well and the mic is as accurate as something that tiny can be. Another nice improvement is the added cable reinforcement at all points of entry into the jack, controler and earbuds. Hopefully this will improve the EarPods' durability (can't hurt). All this considered, I don't think there are better earbuds to be had at twice the $29 price.
I've always been astonished by the high percentage of people satisfied to listen to an expensive iDevice through the cheepo earbuds Apple included by default. Granted, many of them considered the little white buds to be some sort of fashion statement, but did they have any idea what they were missing? Obviously not, or they would have spent the extra $30-$40 to make their music sound twice as good. Now that Apple will include EarPods with their devices, that point is moot. Come to think of it, shame on Apple for not doing this sooner.
By the way, I won't be investing in aftermarket earbud companies any time soon.
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