Ok, I spent a bunch of time on Plexamp (had lifetime Plex Pass from back when I was using it as my DVR, before I got tired and got YouTube TV). Set up Plex on my Synology, got my user permissions and directories right, scanned my library.
First off, Plexamp has come a long way, and I can see why some prefer it to Arc out of the home. It “just works”. No argument. Once analysis is done, it’s pretty slick for playing your library, and it can incorporate Tidal in pretty darn well. Playing over Bluetooth to the car, downloads, all work pretty well. I don’t personally find it a substitute for Roon because of how embedded I am in Roon’s tags & playlists, and how I know how to traverse genres. But it’s slick. It’s easier to build a playlist on the fly from your library.
But in the home, I find myself completely underwhelmed, in large part because of zone management, at least as far as I can tell. I don’t have Chromecast devices, so I’m left being able to cast to Sonos zones. Even those devices I have like my HEOS server can find the UPNP/DLNA Plex server, but they can’t be cast to from the Plex embedded web app or the Plexamp app. So my main system (which streams off a Ropieee) is off limits unless I rebuild my RopieeeXL into a headless Plexamp server. The metaphor that I’m used to of using an app to traverse my library and then send it to the zone I want is gone. And there’s no DSP. So I’m kinda like “huh?” It’s fine if I’m 100% Sonos, but it’s been ages since I lived that way.
Maybe the Plex community will see fit to solve the issues preventing RopieeeXL from embedding Plexamp headless (see thread and corresponding thread over at Plex forums) but I’m not holding my breath. If not, I have no easy way to manage my whole system. And I wonder - what’s the point? I totally get if you have fancy streamers which natively access UPNP / DLNA servers then it works kind of natively. But I don’t. I have serapate RPi’s running Ropieee and DACs fed with a combination of USB and AES/XLR.
Perhaps I’m missing something and someone can explain to me how to use it better. I’d love that. Feels like it could be great, but it’s just not even operating in a way that’s close to how I now have gotten used to managing my music. And since both Roon & Plexamp are free to me, I’m going to use the one that’s easier for me.
Edit: though I should say I’m glad I got it running again just so I can use it if internet is down and Roon still won’t let me play my local content. That feels like cheap insurance. Thanks to all who created much noise, I do feel better with that in place.