Help! Home Sharing vs iTunes in the Cloud

[seanrt]

Friends, I need some advice/help. My iTunes library consists of iTunes Store purchases and ripped media. I would like to keep all items together and home share to ATV. My problem is 2011 iMac doesn't always wake and when it does it takes a few moments for wi-fi to connect. I like accessing the purchased items through their designated TV Show or Movies app on home screen of ATV, but that's just the purchased content.

Which do more of you utilize, home sharing through computer app or the other way? Also any advice on the waking/wi-if issue. I'm running El Capitan 10.11.6 and iTunes 12.4.2.4. Energy settings: checks on "put hard disks to sleep when possible" and "wake for network access " Computer to sleep after 10minutes and display sleep after 10 minutes.

 

[Boyd01]

All my media (600 movies, 600 TV shows) is in my iTunes Library on a fast 3TB USB3.0 disk connected to a Mac Mini that just runs iTunes 24/7. It is set to never sleep and the disks never spin down, so there's no delay when I access it. The internet connection in my rural location is too slow and unreliable to use the cloud or streaming.

Do you have an old computer that you could dedicate as an iTunes server? This article explains how to set one up: http://www.techradar.com/how-to/software/applications/how-to-set-up-an-itunes-home-server-1305683

 

[Tech198]

I have my external drive (encypted) connected to Mac mini which is on 24/7.. I tried letting it sleep, but that only occurred very distressing screams from the other room when I had to re-launch iTunes to fix.

 

[seanrt]

I have my external drive (encypted) connected to Mac mini which is on 24/7.. I tried letting it sleep, but that only occurred very distressing screams from the other room when I had to re-launch iTunes to fix.

Thanks, the not sleeping definitely works.
I don't know if it's just me but the iTunes purchased shows & movies seem to have a better picture when viewed from the cloud instead of over home sharing. Am I crazy? I feel I get so nitpicky with my library even though it's mostly cartoons and tv from 60s-80s
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All my media (600 movies, 600 TV shows) is in my iTunes Library on a fast 3TB USB3.0 disk connected to a Mac Mini that just runs iTunes 24/7. It is set to never sleep and the disks never spin down, so there's no delay when I access it. The internet connection in my rural location is too slow and unreliable to use the cloud or streaming.

Do you have an old computer that you could dedicate as an iTunes server? This article explains how to set one up: http://www.techradar.com/how-to/software/applications/how-to-set-up-an-itunes-home-server-1305683

Good tips, I wish the wake action was more reliable. That's a large library man. Do you ever find it cumbersome to browse? Lately I find I use the iOS video app to browse and pick from there with AirPlay enabled. I like the graphical approach.

 

[Boyd01]

I have two AppleTV 3's and the user interface leaves a lot to be desired. But I'm used to it. Almost all of my media is standard definition and ripped from DVD, I have maybe 30 iTunes movies. Whole library is a bit over 1TB so there is lots of room to grow on a 3TB disk.

Seems like a large library to me, but if you read the posts from some of the others around here, it's nothing.

 

[Rigby]

I don't know if it's just me but the iTunes purchased shows & movies seem to have a better picture when viewed from the cloud instead of over home sharing. Am I crazy? I feel I get so nitpicky with my library even though it's mostly cartoons and tv from 60s-80s

Did you check the store preferences in iTunes? The option "download full-size HD videos" needs to be selected (and "high quality SD videos" if you have purchased any SD content). Sometimes it is not by default

 

[seanrt]

Did you check the store preferences in iTunes? The option "download full-size HD videos" needs to be selected (and "high quality SD videos" if you have purchased any SD content). Sometimes it is not by default

Yeah, I have those options selected. It's probably just in my head, I just seem to enjoy viewing them more

 

[AL2TEACH]

home sharing and plex(when wifi gets slow using home sharing)
I don't use the cloud.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

iTunes for music sharing, Photos for image sharing, Plex for video material of any kind as I don't buy DRM movies.

 

[aced411]

Mine is set just like yours (2012 mac mini) and it's pretty reliable. I'm not sure if it's because I use an Airport but it wakes up pretty fast. Every once in a while it'll get stubborn and I'll have to access home sharing from a different device before the Apple TV picks it up. iTunes home sharing is the only feasible option for those of us that buy digital and have rips. I'm always checking iTunes deals and bit by bit replacing all of my ripped movies when I see them for $5-$8 so within a few years I can probably shut down the iTunes server.

 

[seanrt]

Mine is set just like yours (2012 mac mini) and it's pretty reliable. I'm not sure if it's because I use an Airport but it wakes up pretty fast. Every once in a while it'll get stubborn and I'll have to access home sharing from a different device before the Apple TV picks it up. iTunes home sharing is the only feasible option for those of us that buy digital and have rips. I'm always checking iTunes deals and bit by bit replacing all of my ripped movies when I see them for $5-$8 so within a few years I can probably shut down the iTunes server.

I have been doing the same thing recently, as I see good price drops on iTunes, I purchase and replace my existing file.
I seem to have solved my wake situation so far, by using ethernet from my Airport Express to my iMac rather than WiFi. My iMac is in a back bedroom and main modem in living room.

* I also "think" I may have found some info on why i was finding some videos look better to me than others. It's my purchased vs. ripped. My ripped files use a color primary of BT.601 for NTSC, iTunes files use BT.709. i have more research on this to fully understand. Especially noticeable on series i have ripped and need to purchase an iTunes files to fill in a gap in the season or something. If anyone has some input on that i would love to hear.

 

[Lumpy05]

I previously used a dedicated PC hosting a very large library of music and movies. I have switched to iTunes match for cloud music and I now buy iTunes digital copies. I have a good quality ISP and everything loads instantly and plays in high quality whether I am streaming airplay music from my phone or sitting in front of TV using Apple TV. The only thing I miss is the ability to Airplay music to multiple speakers in the house from my phone. I think there is an app workaround for that but I haven't tried it yet and I cant remember what its called. I prefer the new method as I was downloading all the digital copies I had and my library was getting to multiple Terrabytes in size. Storage is expensive and requires maintenance the iTunes Match annual fee is not bad. All in all I definitely prefer the cloud setup.

 

[seanrt]

I previously used a dedicated PC hosting a very large library of music and movies. I have switched to iTunes match for cloud music and I now buy iTunes digital copies. I have a good quality ISP and everything loads instantly and plays in high quality whether I am streaming airplay music from my phone or sitting in front of TV using Apple TV. The only thing I miss is the ability to Airplay music to multiple speakers in the house from my phone. I think there is an app workaround for that but I haven't tried it yet and I cant remember what its called. I prefer the new method as I was downloading all the digital copies I had and my library was getting to multiple Terrabytes in size. Storage is expensive and requires maintenance the iTunes Match annual fee is not bad. All in all I definitely prefer the cloud setup.

That's to the point I reached. I found I spent more time ripping/organizing and maintaining without spending much time watching and enjoying. My ISP also is good, so no problems there. I was watching from the cloud last night when iTunes Store went down, only for about 15 minutes so there is always that aspect. I am looking at keeping local copies for such situations. One reason I like viewing from cloud as there are times I noticed Apple will have improved a file or corrected a bad file in the cloud library.