Sonarr Prefer X265 -

Anime encoders love 10-bit x265. TV scene groups love x264. Use this regex in Preferred Terms with a high negative score:

\b(x264|h264|avc|aac2.0|mp3|dvdrip|bluray[ .]?r20)\b

Assign this -10000. Then assign x265|hevc|h.265|10bit a positive +10000.

Why this works: If a file has x264 in the title, it loses 10000 points. If it has x265, it gains 10000. The x265 file wins by 20,000 points. Sonarr will literally download a lower quality x265 file (like a WEB-DL) before downloading a remux x264.

Warning: This is aggressive. Only do this if you have solid indexers that reliably tag x265 correctly.

The standard in the scene is shifting. While x264 has been the gold standard for years, x265 (HEVC) is the future of media compression. sonarr prefer x265

However, Sonarr does not have a simple checkbox for "Prefer x265." Instead, it uses a sophisticated scoring system based on Custom Formats. This guide will teach you how to set that up properly.

Sonarr v3/v4 lets you set release profiles with “must contain” or “prefer” keywords. Adding x265 or hevc to the “prefer” list tells Sonarr to give higher scores to x265 releases, but still download x264 if no x265 exists.

Click the + button to add a new Custom Format.

Configuration:

Now, we need to add the conditions. Click the + Add Condition button.

This is the phase where you auto-replace your old x264 files.

In your Quality Profile (Settings → Profiles):

What this does:

Let’s review how Sonarr behaves with a score of +5 for x265.

Scenario A:

Scenario B:

Scenario C: