Win10 PC 24 Gigs Ram. 1gig network, SSD OS drive, separate data drives, 2 gig Nvidia video card
1 gig network switch
HD Homerun - hardwired on network
Plex Media Server - latest update on WinPC
Nas Drive with Terabytes of Music , Photos and Movies - can be networked or direct usb connected
Home theater TV hardwired
Tv recognizes hardwired Apple TV and Nvidia TV, both interface with Plex which would be optimal and why, Both Apple TV and Nvidia TV are connected the Marantz AVR via HDMI
Second is it better to have the Nas drive connected via USB to choice above or use the network
LAST, Where does the audio get processed by a DAC in these situation, I would prefer at the Marantz AVR
The DAC will occur on the Marantz, as neither the Shield nor the ATV have analog outputs.
However… you have to watch out for transcoding.
If the streaming box and the Marantz both support the audio codec, then the audio will be bitstreamed to the receiver and the receiver can handle it as desired.
However, if one of the devices does not support the codec, the audio will be transcoded by the Plex Media Server or possibly on the streaming box itself to a supported format, then passed to the receiver.
EDIT: Removing my example, as it had incorrect information. When I play an ALAC music file, Plex shows Direct Play. The Denon reports receiving PCM. So it seems the Shield is decoding ALAC to PCM. Different than the last time I tested it (actually better, as it was transcoding to a lossy codec). Will look in depth and update as appropriate.
My primary Plex server is a Synology DS918+. I also have PMS running on a Shield TV and Windows 10 (testing, backup, etc). Playback is fine from all three. The Shield seems prone to a few more quirks with respect to downloading album art and things like that. Also, updates for the Shield are usually a few days behind other platforms. Shield updates must go through Google’s approval process, which slows things down. Plex can post an update for Windows/Mac/Synology whenever they want since the updates are on Plex’s servers.
An update re: music playback on the Shield.
I did some testing this morning, and things work different than expected with music files.
The Shield sends all music to my Denon as PCM, even the audio that is supported by both devices (FLAC, MP3). I’m not sure why this is happening, as I thought Plex would bitstream supported audio codecs.
It won’t matter for audio such as a 320kbps MP3 file. But it would be nice to know if hi-res FLAC files are getting downsampled.
Note this is only for music files. Movies operate as expected. The Shield bitstreams supported audio w/o issue. The only movie audio I’ve had issue with is dts-HRA and 24-bit PCM. dts-HRA produces no audio (silence), and 24-bit PCM sounds like static.
Also note the above is applicable to the Shield. I don’t own an AppleTV, so not sure what happens with music playback on the ATV.
My AVR also shows that Plex via the Nvidia TV interface is receiving Music audio as PCM.
My Plex Server is on a Win10 PC and is connected directly into my AVR via HDMI with no other connection ( other than both are on the same network ) So it seems that the NVIDIA TV is activating the Plex Server and the Plex Server is responding via the HDMI into the AVR ???.
It also possible that it is going thru the network to the NVidai whic is also connected to the AVR via HDMI
If you want to send multi-channel audio from a PC to your AVR, you would have to install the Plex Media Player onto the PC. Then configure it to ‘bitstream’ all those surround audio formats which your AVR can support.
Which surround sound formats can be sent unaltered over HDMI (i.e. ‘bitstreaming’) is differing from client type to client type.
The variety of sound formats supported with bitstreaming on the nVidia Shield is quite large, so you’re good.
Which platform the Plex Server is running on is of no importance for bitstreaming, because it is determined by the abilities of the client.
See the response in this thread, from Elan, Plex CTO. He explains why the Shield sends PCM to the AVR when playing music.
Plex has two parts - a server, which holds the media, and a client, which plays the media. They can exist on the same physical system or on separate physical systems.
When you use the Plex client app on the Nvidia Shield, it streams the media across the network from your Plex server to the Nvidia Shield and then into the AVR HDMI port to which the Shield is connected.
If you run a Plex client on the same PC as Plex Server, it still streams the media from the server, just that the stream never leaves the system (an internal stream, as opposed to a network stream). The client will send the media (audio/video) to its HDMI port on the AVR.
If you wish, you can run Plex Media Player, PMP, on the PC running PMS. PMP is a very robust Plex client that direct plays most media. You will need to configure PMP to passthrough the desired audio codecs to your Marantz (it is not automatic like the Shield). See this post. Read the “Re: Plex Media Player on PC” and “Plex Media Player Settings” sections for information on configuring PMP for audio passthrough.
Basically, given your setup, you’ve two choices: a) Plex app on Nvidia Shield, or b) Plex Media Player on PC. Both should sound good.
FYI, do not use the Plex Windows Store app. It has not been updated in ~18 months. PMP is much better.
