StreamFab for Windows My current experience with Streamfab 6.1.7.7

[KidJoe]

With all of the posts bashing the Fab team, their developers and the current state of StreamFab, and while the banner hasn't been updated in a long due to various reasons which I wont rehash, I figured I'd take a moment to share my findings based on the current 6.1.7.7 version of StreamFab.

Because re-encoding and even other processes StreamFab performs when not encoding, can impact performance, here is some info about my PC that I tested with:
Windows 11. Intel i7-14700k, 32gig DDR5 memory, EVGA RTX3060 12gig, WD Black 850x 2TB SSD for OS, "D" drive = 3x8TB (2x Seagate ST8000DM004, and 1x WD WD80EDAZ) pooled using Storage Spaces with striped parity in Windows, Drive "F" WD Black WD4005FZBX. NOTE: StreamFab temp and log folders located on Drive "D" which is a storage pool so slower performance especially if re-encoding, SF output folder is on Drive "F".

And my Internet:
Comcast/Xfinity Gigabit Extra (1.2Gbps down/35mbps up) cable, using their XB7 gateway in bridge mode, with Asus ROG GT-AX6000 router (router has 2.5gbps WAN and 2.5gbps LAN ports). I have a managed 2.5gbps switch connected to the router's 2.5gbps LAN port, and my PC's onboard 2.5gbps NIC is wired to the switch.


Streaming Services I currently subscribe to and can test:
Amazon Prime
Max Ad-Free & Cinemax (as Prime channel, but allows log in to Max web site)
Paramount+ w/Showtime (as Prime channel, but allows log in to Paramount+ web site)
Starz & MGM+ (as Prime Channel - no SF downloader, must use Amazon)
Disney+
Hulu
ESPN+
Apple TV+
Roku Channel
Peacock (included with my Comcast/Xfinity)



These results and observations are as of 5/14/2024, using StreamFab 6.1.7.7. If the streaming providers make changes to their site after I post this, it could impact your results.

Prior to conducting these tests I exited StreamFab, deleted the contents of my StreamFab Log and Temp folders, launched StreamFB and from StreamFab's home, I scrolled down, selected Clear History, then selected Cookies and other site data, and hit clear data.

While downloading, I had Windows Task manager open, with the Performance Tab, and GPU selected so I can watch for decode/recode activity on my GPU.

What happens for each module I've tried in StreamFab 6.1.7.7:

Amazon Prime

• Downloads re-encode for some content, not others note: RED is an older title, added to Amazon before the Jan DRM change, yet it still re-encodes to bypass DRM.
• Audio is diminished, but this is true for the competition too.
• Processing phase of download can take time, even if re-encode does not take place

Gabriel Iglesias Aloha Fluffy
Resolution: 1920x1080 (aka 1080p) 14.7Mb/s
Video Codec: H264 (H265 not available)
Audio: 125 kb/s 2 channel AAC LC
NO RE-ENCODE noticed

Rogue One A Star Wars Story
Resolution: 1920x1080 (aka 1080p) 3681kb/s
Video Codec: H265
Audio: 125 kb/s 2 channel AAC LC
NO RE-ENCODE noticed

RED (4K UHD)
Resolution: 1920x1080 (aka 1080p)
Video Codec: H264
Audio: 125 kb/s 2 channel AAC LC
RE-ENCODED based on GPU activity

Max (using the Max downloader)

• Downloads (no re-encoding) at 720p, 1080p, and 4K, H265 and E-A-C3 audio, however 4k content is limited
• During some analyzing steps, the video might start playing for a few seconds. Muting your speakers is a must if you don't want to hear it!
• Due to DRM, newer titles only download as 720p, even if you can select a higher resolution before downloading! If this happens, you'll get a pop-up when the download starts.

Nikki Glaser: Someday You'll Die
Resolution: 1280x720 (aka 720p)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 256kb/s 6 channel (DD+)

Aquaman and the List Kingdom
Resolution: 1280x720 (aka 720p)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 JOC 640kb/s 6 channel (DD+ w/Atmos)

Blue Beetle
Resolution: 3840x2160 (aka 4K) available with HDR10 and DV
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 JOC 640kb/s 6 channel (DD+ w/Atmos)

Antitrust
Resolution: 1920x818 (aka 1080p at 2.35:1 aspect ratio)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 256kb/s 6 channel (DD+)

Paramount+ w/Showtime (using Paramount+ downloader)

• Downloads (no re-encoding) at 1080p H264 with E-AC-3 audio
• During some analyzing steps, the video might start playing for a few seconds. Muting your speakers is a must if you don't want to hear it!
• Sometimes when clicking on a movie or series, the Analyze box doesn't come up and you don't get the Download Selection box to pick resolution, audio, etc. and add to queue. Use the refresh icon up by the address bar, or go to other title and come back works around that.

Bob Marley One Love
Resolution: 1920x1080 (aka 1080p)
Video Codec: H264
Audio: E-AC-3 192kb/s 6 channel (DD+)

Tracker (CBS Series)
Resolution: 1920x1080 (aka 1080p)
Video Codec: H264
Audio: E-AC-3 192kb/s 6 channel (DD+)

Disney+

• I'm still able to download (no re-encoding) 720p, H265, EAC3 and EAC3 JOC (DD+ w/Atmos).
• Some older content is also downloadable at 1080p
• Sometimes when clicking on a movie or series, the Analyze box doesn't come up and you don't get the Download Selection box to pick resolution, audio, etc. and add to queue. Use the refresh icon up by the address bar, or go to other title and come back works around that.

The Beatles: Let It Be.
Resolution: 1280x720 (aka 720p)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 JOC 768kb/s 6channel (DD+ with Atmos)

Wish
Resolution: 1280x720 (aka 720p)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 256kb/s 6 channel (DD+)

Hulu

• I am still able to download (no re-encoding) up to 4K (only a few, select titles are available as 4K, mostly Hulu Originals) with EAC3 audio
• Sometimes when clicking on a movie or series, the Analyze box doesn't come up and you don't get the Download Selection box to pick resolution, audio, etc. and add to queue. Use the refresh icon up by the address bar, or go to other title and come back works around that.

Examples:
Only Murderers in the Buidling (Hulu original series)
Resolution: 3840x2160 (aka 4K)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 256kb/s 6 channel (DD+)

Shogun
Resolution: 3840x2160 (aka 4K)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 256kb/s 6 channel (DD+)

Poor Things
Resolution: 1920x1080 (aka 1080p)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 256kb/s 6 channel (DD+)

Welcome to Wrexham
Resolution: 1920x1080 (aka 1080p)
Video Codec: H265
Audio: E-AC-3 256kb/s 6 channel (DD+)
NOTE: Audio for S01E07 is AAC 2.0, but only that episode.


ESPN+

• Downloads (no re-encoding) at 720p

Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers (replay)
Resolution: 1280x720 (aka 720p)
Video Codec: H264
Audio: 102 kb/s 2channel AAC LC




Apple TV+

• Downloads (no re-encoding) at 360p and 480p H264 with 2 channel AAC audio

Dark Matter (series)
Resolution: 864x432 (I think this is considered 480p since 854 × 480 is 480p)
Video Codec: H264
Audio: 2 channel AAC LC (HE-AACv2)

Argylle
Resolution: 862x360
Video Codec: H264
Audio: 2 channel AAC LC (HE-AACv2)




Roku Channel -- CAN NOT GET TO LOGGED IN

Can't get past Cloudflare "verify you are human" screen



Peacock --

• DOWNLOADS DO NOT START

Trolls Band Together
- when starting download, in the Peacock tab its trying to play back the movie and ads. Download tab says Analyzing. Download never starts.

Megamind vs Doom Syndicate (Peacock Original)
- when starting download, in the Peacock tab its trying to play back the movie and ads. Download tab says Analyzing. Download never starts.


So while the most popular (Amazon, Netfix) have issues and re-encoding happens on Amazon making it take a while. Peacock is broken. Roku Channel might be a temporary internet thing, or a SF Browser thing.

Paramount+, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ work. Max works to some degree. AppleTV+ has always been limited in resolution and audio due to DRM since downloading was added, way back when.

[JeffDavis]

First, that's an impressive home PC. Hats off to you sir! I'm making due with a 2018 vintage i7-7700.

My Peacock subscription lapsed earlier this month. StreamFab worked with it pretty much as described in the yellow banner. Older content downloaded in 1080p without a problem*, newer content would not download at all.

*There was the problem of having to re-login after each individual download.

[KidJoe]

I was kind of hoping to keep this thread more about experiences, what works, results downloading, etc..

I think we have enough other threads dedicated to the discussion of (and venting about) FAB fixing/not fixing DRM, lack of responsiveness, what other products can do, etc.

[jpp72]

https://forum.dvdfab.cn/forum/software-support-english/youtube-to-mp3-youtube-video-downloader/442534-streamfab-v6-1-7-7-what-doesn-t-work

[KidJoe]

First, that's an impressive home PC. Hats off to you sir! I'm making due with a 2018 vintage i7-7700.

Those older CPUs are workhorses. My son was rockin' my i7-6700K until I upgraded, now he's using my old i9-10900k parts I do have an i7-8700k used as my plex server.

I have to admit, I got my current Mobo/CPU/Memory at a great time. Just before Thanksgiving. The local Microcenter had a killer deal. Since Christmas the cost of the same bundle went up over $150, and now isn't listed. Everything close is way higher.

My Peacock subscription lapsed earlier this month. StreamFab worked with it pretty much as described in the yellow banner. Older content downloaded in 1080p without a problem*, newer content would not download at all.

*There was the problem of having to re-login after each individual download.

Yeah, Peacock had been working, just logging me out... Not sure when it broke as I rarely download from Peacock.

[jpp72]

FYI they still haven't removed my Mod access so i do still mod here and there because it's really like the wild west in here. But if nothing happens by the weekend, i'll self-remove my access

[NewMelle]

That's for Win10 and above. I used HWMonitor64 for Win7. My GPU is too old for the Nvidia tools as well.

It cost me $5 but I tested Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy and here are the results. Ad free may have had an impact, not sure. It never touched the GPU but that's not saying anything. It is after all an old GPU.


Title: Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy
Provider: Amazon Prime Ad Free
Title duration: 1H 33m
Resolution 1920x1080
Bitrate: 15,000
Audio: AAC 2.0
No subtitles

Processor: AMD FX 6300
GPU: Nvidia GTX 960
RAM: 16GB

Bandwidth: Single pair copper ADSL, 9.7Mb/s actual

SF version: 6.1.7.7
Storage device: Seagate USB3.1 external 16TB mechanical drive

DL start: 10:27am
DL finish: 12:51pm
Processing start: 12:51pm
Processing end: 1:07pm
Total download time: 2H 24M
Total processing time: 16M
Total to completion: 2H 40M

The counter hung a number of times, lasting up to 20 minutes. Processing time was less than previously tested in the head to head I did. Bandwidth is the biggest bottleneck however the CPU pegged a number of times during processing and hovered around 75% the rest. SF never touched the GPU but there again, it is old so SF may not even be able to utilize it. Chrome doesn't either even with HW acceleration turned on.

[JeffDavis]

FYI they still haven't removed my Mod access so i do still mod here and there because it's really like the wild west in here. But if nothing happens by the weekend, i'll self-remove my access

That's the samurai way!

[KidJoe]

... It never touched the GPU but that's not saying anything. It is after all an old GPU....

That gpu still supports NVENC, all be it slowly. With the GPU not being touched, that is consistent with what I saw with Aloha Fluffy as there was no re-encode.

...
DL start: 10:27am
DL finish: 12:51pm
Processing start: 12:51pm
Processing end: 1:07pm
Total download time: 2H 24M
Total processing time: 16M
Total to completion: 2H 40M

The counter hung a number of times, lasting up to 20 minutes. Processing time was less than previously tested in the head to head I did. Bandwidth is the biggest bottleneck however the CPU pegged a number of times during processing and hovered around 75% the rest. SF never touched the GPU but there again, it is old so SF may not even be able to utilize it. Chrome doesn't either even with HW acceleration turned on.

Based on your internet speed, CPU and your storage being a USB hard drive, that is pretty close to what I expected when not re-encoding.

This morning I tested again to try and capture times.

hit start 9:20:40am

"downloading video" phase. Temp drive usage spikes to 100%. It said 9.74GB total, with a time estimates as low as 7 minutes at the start. During this phase, Download speed started around 10MB/s, dropped to 7MB/s and at some times the counter of how much downloaded vs remaining and percent seemed to pause.

Since it appeared hung, I looked away, so I don't know when the download finished and the processing started.

processing finished: 9:31:24
remux and entire process finished finished: 9:32:35

So just about 12 minutes for me.

It looks like the biggest bottle neck you face, when there is no re-encoding, is your download speed as you've stated, and which you can't do anything about. The rest of those numbers look similar to my older PCs.

Your PC's specs vs mine are why I feel that when it comes to re-encoding to get around the DRM, FAB should either not use re-encoding at all (pop-up a message that DRM not supported and wont download) OR at the very least make it optional (those would would rather something than nothing can turn it on, those who don't want re-encoding at all can turn it off). I don't know the programming and at what point they know DRM needs re-encoding, can they preempt the download and notify before it starts? is is the issue detected after the download completes?

If I get a chance, I'll go back and re-download Red (which re-encodes) and provide times, as well as download Aloha Fluffy on my i7-8700K being used as my Plex Server to compare

[NewMelle]

Bandwidth is definitely a bottleneck for me. Two fiber companies here boast "Bringing broadband to rural America." Yeah, that's if you pay the $10,000 to have the fiber run to your home. Liars. The only reason they are running fiber is to make more money. They couldn't care less about rural America.

The USB drive I save to is MUCH faster than my bandwidth so there is no impact there.

I'll rent RED since it re-encodes. The times I got for Aloha Fluffy are some of the best I've seen on my old POS in a while. Once I have the info I'll post the results so you can compare to your older box. Be patient, this will take a while. Thanks Brightspeed!

Maybe future comparisons can be at a lower resolution? I only have one day a week (Thursdays) that my Wife is not working at home. She works for the State of Missouri and they use Outlook, a bandwidth hog all unto itself.

[KidJoe]

So to follow up...

Using StreamFab on my Plex server, which is running Win 11 Pro, Intel i7-8700K, 32gig DDR4 ram (but 16 set aside as RAM Drive for Plex temp/transcoding), NO Add-in GPU instead its using the built in UHD630 gpu, OS Drive "C" is a WD Black SN750 PCIe 3.0x4 SSD, Drive "G" Storage Pool of 6x14TB WD14EDGZ (striped parity configuration). NOTE: SF temp and log files on Drive C, and output on Drive G.

First up - Aloha Fluffy

DL Start Time: 12:32:30 NOTE: SF's initial estimate was 30 min, 5 MB/s, jumped to 34MB/s and dropped to 2 min left, even as high as 51 MB/s.
DL End/Processing Start: 12:35:08
Processing End/Remux Start: 12:36:39
remux end/all complete Done: 12:37:23

Total of about 5 minutes overall. And there was no re-encode when watching the Performance Tab in Windows Task Manager. So just slightly more than 2 minutes to complete once the file had been downloaded.


Next I went with RED (4K UHD) because I know that should re-encode. Yes, this only downloads at 1080p.

DL Start time: 12:39:40 NOTE: SF's download was way faster. But it was H265 and 2.12GB so a much smaller file than Aloha Fluffy
DL end: 12:40:31
Processing start 12:40:31 (Video decode and 3D showed activity via Windows Task Manager's performance tab while processing)
Processing End/Remux Start: 13:02:25
remux and over all download end 13:02:32

About 23 or 24 minutes overall. But the processing (with re-encoding) and remuxing/finalizing once the file was downloaded was about 22 minutes. Intel GPU assist appears to have been used during re-encoding based on Task Manager's graphs for the GPU during processing.

NewMelle if you want to test, don't feel pressured to do "now" do when it makes sense for you. I just happened to have had time over my lunch break today to test these (I work from home nearly every day).

[NewMelle]

No worries. The Wife is in the remote office today so I had the router to myself. No Outlook!

It would appear there is no way to determine which titles will be re-encoded until you actually download it. Not very helpful.

Aloha Fluffy processing time was much lower than usual at around 16 minutes.

The fact it took a little longer than the title to download illustrates why with my current bandwidth I download titles during the day instead of streaming them in the evening. Imagine how many times it would have buffered or hung and my poor Wife has to sit next to .


Title: RED
Provider: Amazon Prime Ad Free
H264
Title duration: 1H 49m
Resolution 1920x1080
Bitrate: 15,000
Audio: AAC 2.0

Processor: AMD FX 6300
GPU: Nvidia GTX 960
RAM: 16GB

SF version: 6.1.7.7

DL start: 10:08am
DL finish: 12:02pm
Processing start: 12:02pm
Processing end: 12:49pm
Total download time: 1H 54M
Total processing time: 47M
Total to completion: 2H 41M

CPU usage during processing hovered just above 50% at times spiking to around 70% and the last 9 minutes dropped off considerably. GPU usage hovered around 22% but did spike once to 53%.

[bricks]

Title: RED

with 6.1.6.7 it loads at h265 and with 5.1 sound in two minutes. German prime

[NewMelle]

That's all fine and dandy but I don't have SF for just movies. I grab episodes as well. I tend to watch more than just the first episode of a season. Last I checked 6.1.6.7 had issues with series. I've wasted enough time on SF, not looking into that again.

Let me guess, Gigabit or better fiber or cable. I'm so happy for you! Thanks for your contribution!

Like I'm going to get German Prime in East Jesus Missouri?

If I chose H.265 I'd have to replace half the devices in my house just to enjoy the smaller file sizes.

[Stan001]

Amazon is too inconsistent to test reliably. And as stated before 100 people could test and depending on hardware, Internet, status of Amazon, all would get different results.
Prime has become a farce. You don't get anything delivered in the time they 'claim' and sound of movies in a rate of 192 kb/s aac at best.
It can also be 100% verified via Chrome browser, that's the best sound. I still look for ways to verify sound on Roku device or Xfinity X1 as both support direct streaming from the Amazon app.

Seeing what I got, it taking 30+ minutes just to process a video, and what the others here get, that's totally unacceptable for the money that is charged by SF.

So far also every thing I tried to get from Amazon goes into a LONG processing mode. What I can get from Amazon, if I can, I still try 6167 but with having access to other means I don't do much via SF on Amazon. Even Netflix which also seems to encode via task manager and GPU being used, but goes for some unexplained reason much faster than Amazon. With a peak time of 10 minutes.

[NewMelle]

Agreed. Amazon has been EXTREMELY inconsistent lately. Just for giggles I tried H.265 on an episode (even though most of my devices are too old for the new compression) and it failed three times in a row.

Oddly Aloha Fluffy didn't re-encode but RED did (both previously covered in this thread). Still, both were AAC 2.0 despite choosing EAC3. But we knew that was gong to happen.

Out of curiosity how are you verifying the audio format in Chrome? I tried using the Dev Tools then Media tab and it always shows 2 channel stereo, even with D+ and P+.