Sonarr Prefer X265 Repack Here

: TRaSH generally recommends against x265, arguing that many release groups produce low-quality x265 encodes that sacrifice too much visual fidelity for file size reduction. A 1080p x264 encode with proper bitrate is often superior to a poorly done x265 mini-encode.

Your Quality Profile overrules your Codec preference. If you have "WebDL 1080p" set to score 100, and "HDTV 720p x265" set to score 50, Sonarr takes the 1080p x264. Fix: Lower your quality scores or create a Custom Format that is mutually exclusive.

By tailoring Sonarr to look for x265 encodes, you can easily cut your library's storage footprint in half without sacrificing video quality. Just ensure your playback devices are modern enough to handle the codec smoothly.

Ensure that Upgrade Allowed is checked in your profile settings. Click Save . 3. Activating the Preferences sonarr prefer x265

: 4K (UHD) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) content natively use the x265 codec.

Set a if you want to strictly enforce x265 acquisitions (though leaving this at 0 is recommended so Sonarr can still grab x264 files as a fallback if no HEVC version exists). Click Save . Advanced Tweaks: Balancing Quality and Release Speed

Sonarr utilizes (v3) or Custom Formats (v4) to evaluate and score torrents or Usenet NZBs before downloading them. For Sonarr v4 (Recommended) : TRaSH generally recommends against x265, arguing that

If your server lacks hardware transcoding and your playback devices are old, sticking with x264 might be safer. However, if your clients are modern, x265 is the clear winner. How to Configure Sonarr to Prefer x265

In the value field, enter the regular expression to match x265 releases:

In the Regular Expression (Regex) field, paste the following string to match common HEVC tags: \b([hx].?265|hevc)\b Save the Custom Format. If you have "WebDL 1080p" set to score

, as users can set "score" thresholds to ensure the system doesn't accidentally "downgrade" a high-bitrate x264 file to a low-quality, "trash" x265 encode. The Compatibility Trade-off

Think of it this way: In Sonarr's mind, quality is the king, and codec preferences (like x265) are merely tiebreakers used when two releases have the .

: Create a format that looks for x264 releases and assign it a large negative score (e.g., -10000) to effectively blacklist them.

This is where the x265 video codec (also known as HEVC or High Efficiency Video Coding) becomes a lifesaver. It delivers the same visual quality as the older x264 codec at roughly half the file size.

Set the to 0 (this ensures Sonarr still downloads x264 files if an x265 version is unavailable). Click Save . Method 2: Configuring Release Profiles (Sonarr v3)