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[ivb]

Just curious, how many Sage'rs are here? What benefit are you gaining from using MC vs SageTV? Also, what are y'all using for client-side boxes?

For me, I'm looking at switching since i'm approaching 5 video sources, potentially a 6th. (Details here)

I'm thinking about building 1 beefy HTPC in my (now 9 year old and almost unused) D-Vine case for gaming plus MC plus 3D-BluRay playback. Might leave MBR at the current 4 sources (roku, HD200, Chromecast, reg BluRay), at least until HTPC's are proven to have WAF, and not kill my electric bill. Although, I bet I could use CQC to automatically suspend the box if (some rule that I have yet to determine).

[glynor]

Just curious, how many Sage'rs are here?

I'm one.

I use SageTV for PVR duties because I have two digital cable boxes and two HD-PVRs (which MC's integrated PVR functionality can't handle).  I also prefer, generally, the "unified guide" system in SageTV with multiple tuners.  I have 6 actively used tuners:

2x Analog NTSC tuners
2x Digital ATSC tuners
2x HD-PVR connected to Motorola digital cable boxes

I'd love to use a CableCard device instead, but Time Warner sets basically everything to Never Copy so they're completely useless for me.

I have no Set Top boxes at all:  My TV is connected ONLY to a HTPC (okay, I have an AppleTV too, but I can't remember the last time I switched to that input).

MC handles ALL playback and media management.  The only exception is when I watch "live TV" (which never happens in practice because I'm not a sports-guy).  The SageTV UI is a steaming pile of fail, and it is unstable and troublesome, but I live with it because I want to keep the tuner setup I have.

It takes some maintenance to keep SageTV running well and recording without going belly-up frequently, but it works well enough until JRiver improves the multiple-tuner support in MC.

[chirpp]

I use Sage for all tv recording. I am setup similar to Glynor on how I do this (from his other recent post he left to you).

My main reason for keeping Sage is the ease of scheduling a show.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been away from home and have been asked "hey, that one show is on tonight, can we record it?". I pop on my iPhone and use the web interface to the Sage program and schedule what I want. If I used JRiver, I cannot do this. That interface is really well done and gives me some nice options, including the option to convert the recording to a file in a differnet location that I can then import to my iphone or iPad when I want.

I typically view all shows within JRiver but do occasionally use sage, because in my case I am running both on my htpc computer.  It depends on what interface is left open by others in my family! I like the look of live and recorded tv on the JR program much more than Sage. Plus I use Roomie Remote on my iPhone to control the player, receiver and tv and that works differently for JRiver and Sage so I programmed it for JRiver.

If some one makes an interface that I can add/delete or adjust recordings using my iPhone, I will probably drop Sage.

Hope that helps!
Pete

[glynor]

My main reason for keeping Sage is the ease of scheduling a show.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been away from home and have been asked "hey, that one show is on tonight, can we record it?". I pop on my iPhone and use the web interface to the Sage program and schedule what I want. If I used JRiver, I cannot do this.

+1

I use this feature even when at home.  The web UI for Sage for scheduling recordings is awesome.  Like I said, I never even actually launch the full Sage UI.

[nwboater]

Just curious, how many Sage'rs are here? What benefit are you gaining from using MC vs SageTV? Also, what are y'all using for client-side boxes?

As I mentioned in your other thread I switched from Sage to MC because:

1. I have long wanted the convenience of one Media Application, especially for my non techy wife.
2. I want to support JRiver. At times the progress in TV feels glacial, but hopefully the more users the more they will improve it.
3. We have a lot of DSP effects in MC that would not be functional when watching Live TV in Sage. (possibly  this may not now be a problem with some of the new methods MC has created to import audio from other programs.)
4. SageTV is now an unsupported product and will probably someday die.

Our System is fairly simple: HTPC/Server in our HT/Rec Room is a 2-3 year old quad core with about 10 tb storage. 50" Plasma and small LCD Monitor for all Standard View activities. No receiver - soundcard outputs straight to power amps. Only one real client which is a laptop in our living room connected to the stereo.

The one thing that keeps making me thinking of going back to SageTV (for recording only) is one of their add-ins that gives a listing of all movies. It can be broken out by Movie Genre. Since we record a lot of movies that was a very helpful feature in Sage. MC has a Genre listing with their Guide but it is for all shows. What we need is Genre of Movies.

Cheers,
Rod

[nwboater]

Just curious, how many Sage'rs are here? What benefit are you gaining from using MC vs SageTV? Also, what are y'all using for client-side boxes?

Sorry I misinterpreted your question. I was responding to why do I use MC for recording TV and it looks like you were really asking why I use MC instead of SageTV for all. A very abbreviated list:

1. MC has superior Audio with a lot of great DSP stuff.
2. MC has superior Video that with Red October is super easy to set up and it just works.
3. MC has Theater View, as well as Standard View.
4. MC has great media organizational abilities.
5. MC is being actively developed whereas SageTV is now unsupported and at some point will probably stop working. At least parts of it will.

I probably missed a bunch of reasons, but those are very important ones to us.

Cheers,
Rod

[ivb]

Sorry I misinterpreted your question. I was responding to why do I use MC for recording TV and it looks like you were really asking why I use MC instead of SageTV for all. A very abbreviated list:

1. MC has superior Audio with a lot of great DSP stuff.
2. MC has superior Video that with Red October is super easy to set up and it just works.
3. MC has Theater View, as well as Standard View.
4. MC has great media organizational abilities.
5. MC is being actively developed whereas SageTV is now unsupported and at some point will probably stop working. At least parts of it will.

I probably missed a bunch of reasons, but those are very important ones to us.

Cheers,
Rod

Yep, that was the big question, why not just use SageTV.

Have any of you tried to customize the skin? I'm seriously contemplating learning how to program it, and custom writing a skin. Haven't programmed in forever, but there are some things I'd love to see (ie, can I create a view with *just* unwatched TV shows).

[glynor]

You mean making a view in MC or Sage?

In MC, you don't need to learn to program anything, and you don't need to modify the skin at all.  You can make as many views as you'd like, and you can certainly filter them based on Watched/Non-Watched.

In Sage, that seems like a waste of time since it is a dead-end product.

[nwboater]

Yep, that was the big question, why not just use SageTV.

Have any of you tried to customize the skin? I'm seriously contemplating learning how to program it, and custom writing a skin. Haven't programmed in forever, but there are some things I'd love to see (ie, can I create a view with *just* unwatched TV shows).

And if in MC do you mean a skin for Theater View? As Glynor said you can do almost anything in Standard View, although I certainly don't know how.

Cheers,
Rod

[ivb]

Sweet, yes waste of time in SageTV.

I must admit total shock at the power of MC since I last investigated. I've owned a license and upgraded every two years, but only for basic music and video playback while traveling. I own 3 extenders, 2 TVs with one backup extender, otherwise I'd fully cut over today. Right now I'm trying to determine in my house, what could I do that I cannot do today, and is it worth the hassle of building a bedroom quiet htpc.

[ivb]

And if in MC do you mean a skin for Theater View? As Glynor said you can do almost anything in Standard View, although I certainly don't know how.

Cheers,
Rod

Just re-read that, actually I did mean in Theater View. I know how to do it in standard view, but i'm looking to create a much better and more integrated 10' UI than what I have now, otherwise there's no compelling reason for me to cut over.

[nwboater]

Have you looked at this section of the Forum?  http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=5.0

Good luck.

Rod

[ivb]

Yep, thanks. Some of that stuff is also making me want to learn how to program CQC drivers, a robust integration, along with potentially painting CQC info inside a MC TheaterView skin (if possible), would be totally sick.