Synology DS923+ 4K PLEX NAS TESTS

Should I get this one or synology ds423+? Can't workout which one is a good overall one..

Help please! I just need something that will house my high quality photos and videos recorded in 4K 60fps (HEVC?) and give my family the ability to watch the videos from their iPhones as seamlessly as if they are still saved on the devices. I will not buy QNAP again as their security flaws are unforgivable and they have made my current TS-470 pro obsolete. I am not able to view H.265 files anymore. I just bought a 923+ to replace it, but did I make the wrong choice?

As a noob thank you for reiterating 1080 plays fine and going through the 4k test with understandable explanation of codecs

Would the Synology DiskStation DS920+ run the videos that the Synology DiskStation DS923+ had a hard time playing or couldn’t play? Could you do a video where you do the same test you did I here but on a Synology DiskStation DS920+. That would be really helpful in my decision to purchase a DiskStation DS920+ or DiskStation DS9203. Thanks for the great video.

Every time I hear you say, "it's playing absolutely fine", I notice stuttering in the playback shown. Unacceptable for me, but that's maybe due to what's running in your system or network performance ? Or is it due to the NAS ?

I get you are more familiar with NAS as master. I remember the synology used to decode via video station. I get the r1600 doesnt have gpu is dump move giving 10gig and removing video trans coding. For 2023 it should be power house support 2-4 trans-coding . Most devices have 1-4 devices and not all can decode on the fly. So for Plex server is this NAS recommended or not.

Synology idiots

Hi. Most of my movies or serials are in 1080p and I put OpenVPN to watch it outside and everything is running overall normally. I think that problem is only when playing with 4k formats. Is that right? Thanks

Hi! Please,
I really do not understand why people are bothering about transcodeing on DS923+. I really do not understand...
I have Plex server on DS923+ and everything is running great. Plex server, DS 923+ is doing transcodeing only for computers, mobile phone, etc. that doest not support 4K and than Plex server, DS 923 + have to do everything for them.
Today and for last 10 years most of all devices have 4K support.
All movies on 1080p are great and for that resolution movie runs great and that should be fine. Isn't it?
Is there something more that I do not know?
As I said my DS923+ is running all movies and shows without any problem.
Just one thing that I done is that I put OPENVPN on my mobile phone and it runs everything much quicker.
Is there something that I'm missing?
Thank you very much!
Thanks in advance.
Elvir

What is the best nas for storage of 4k movies for a person that is just starting out

"transcoding" ??? - wtf is that for?

Thanks! Beautiful. 264 and 265 bit of video saved me $$$

Glad you did this review. I've been looking for a NAS for a while. So disappointing for my use case

But isn't there conversion tools that automaticaly convert to H264 overnight for example? And then later we can watch them converted?

Hey. I have a synology 923+ 4bay. I upgraded the parts to 32gb of ram, 10gb Ethernet port and 2 400gb ssd cache. I ripped my 4k UHD blu rays to mkv files which average out to be 50gigs per movie. Watching them on plex at home it works flawlessly. But watching them outside of home it buffers every few seconds. Do you know what the problem is?

After much debate we just ordered a 923+...but have we f'd up? Here are the factors: 2 adults who are NOT gamers. We watch on one large TV and will NOT be using any remote clients. We will NOT be sharing our Plex library. We have about 8000 DVDs. MOST are standard DVD's, 40% are ripped from DVDs and have been compressed to fit 4.7 disks. And, about 10% are BluRays. I only understand the very basics of the 923 not having a graphics processor and not being able to play some really dense media, but, will the 923+ work for us or do we need a NVidia Shield Pro or Apple TV box?

Ow cmon those Synology SSDs are just insane over 300 euro for just 800 GB. While other brands offer fast SSDs for 104 euro for 2 Tb thats like € 0,052 vs € 0,387 per GB.... that's almost 7,5x more.

Thank you!

Hi - I have a DS214Play that I am wanting to upgrade, I want to run virtual machines and use it for storage and for streaming. I was set on buying the 923+ but after viewing your video re no onboard graphics, I am considering alternatives. What would you recommend I go for? I would like to stay with the Synology brand and would like more than two bays.

Such a horrible movies selection 🤮

that was so helpfull

Hello, does PLEX decoding for HEVC anyhow would interrupt or slow the CCTV 6 x 8MP cameras recording to HDD's and/or viewing them on/via this NAS?

The plex application on the xbox series S/X console perfectly reproduces 4K HEVC H.265 and other video files directly without transcoding on the PLEX server side!

Just came across your videos and they have given me some good information. I just picked up the 923+ to replace my WD EX4100 that I have been using as a plex server and just to store other media. I just learned this doesnt have the graphics built in which is one of the reason I wanted to upgrade as I was having issues with plex streaming outside my house and not have a good enough cpu in it for that and figured this having more ram and a better processor than the ex4100 and came recommend from the sales guy at microcenter. Now with that said would it be better to pickup a Nvidia Shield Pro to do the Plex encoding or something like a Intel Nuc to run the plex side?

Hello after I install in my Nas 923+ when open say “not Authorized” and don’t me allow to my Nas media files? I have create a video folder and allow Plex server to access in control painel

I had e-mailed Synology about the lack of transcoding on the 923+.. I actually got a reply back from the Product Manager..

"we did not offer support for hardware transcoding in the last generation of products (DS1520+ and similar.) We didn't advertise it and we can't offer support for people having trouble using it so the feature of the CPU was available entirely as-is. As it stands we aren't focused on providing transcoding capabilities in our products and the need for doing so has diminished over time.

The device that is used to view the video is what determines playback capability so any NAS can host 4K content. Transcoding is used when your playback devices are not capable of playing back the video format or audio/video codecs of your files. It can also be used to reduce quality or resolution for off-site streaming. When transcoding the video quality is always reduced so to ensure the best playback use a compatible playback device so no transcoding occurs."

I understand their position, however my videos are in all different formats and generally need to be transcoded. I had tried QNAP in the past but switched to Synology because QNAPs software just seemed like it was buggy not to mention the security concerns. However, there's no arguing that QNAP has much nicer hardware options and isn't pushing their own hard drives, memory and SSD down their users throats. I just don't know if I'm ready to go back to QNAP for transcoding. I might be firing up handbrake and converting everything to support direct play.

H264 in cinemas?????!!!!! You gotta be kidding. Cinema is JPEG200 these days... 🙂

I know I should have worked this out I currently use my 5700 G to run plex but it's very noisy I want to have a nurse but I don't know what 1 to go for Most of the people I stream to like the grandchildren and my kids which day is a total of 30 Not streaming all the time None of them stream fire trains coding as I have 3000MB up load speed Could you recommend a nas that would be suitable for what I need

Thanks! Which nad is better for Plex in this monet?

Ugh, this is so annoying. Before going the Synology route would be a no-brainer for me. Right now considering the QNAP TS-464 instead, even if that doesnt allow me to benefit from SHR which is absolutely killer on the Synology.

I was really expecting something really more.. pffff. What a shame

Glad my trusty 918+ is still just as good as the new options (or better) for plex.

Chrome has HEVC support now.

Will Plex work fine on a new AppleTV without making the NAS convert?

I just bought a DS920+ It will be here tomorrow. maxed out the memory. I'm putting in 4x8TB IronWolf. I've watched all of the DSM 7 Setup guides Thanks for the great content. 11/30/2022 2004

All my clients are capable of converting on the fly, how do I enable Plex on Synology to let client handle it?

Nice video, but when I do compare it with my Qnap Tvs-h674 with an Upgraded GPU (Nvidia quadro p2000 5g) I can go back to the slow streaming, I used 2 like Synology... no more.. thanks for the video, It reaffirmed my decision to change to Qnap.

Thanks for the review!! ....for my media will be Synology DS 920+.
Why did Synology just upgrade the intel Cpu with the new one i3 or i5 with a Graphic accelerator ??
Big mistake to go with DS 923+ for media, skipped it!

Really wish they would have went with a graphic enabled AMD or Intel chip...

Brother, I love your videos they are great. Question...do you have a preferred handbreak profile? Something with maybe a 40 bit rate h.264 so I can transcode all my media so I don't have buffering or transcoding required. I run 1gbe at home and 5G on my phone. But sometimes I do get buffering and it's annoying. Can you help?

Where did you get the plex package?

Robbie, would you consider doing a bit of a sidebar discussion on video format / codec basics; MP4, MKV, HVEC, 1080P, etc. Maybe a bit about the evolution of these formats. And, what they give us and how they relate to our choice of NAS hardware.

So essentially the 923+ is still not suitable for any transcoding. End of
I’ll stick to 723+ as I only use my NAS for media