NVIDIA just released a new Hotfix image for 8.0.2 - just today. It fixed TrueHD playback for all my files…except for 192KHZ. But that’s progress.
On the other thread and forum I was attempting to help out on, the person with the issue was using MrMC on the Shield and he had no audio whatsoever. He found a setting called IEC Packed and toggled that on. It fixed the issue on that app, but he stated he has the issue noted here in all other players, including Plex.
Anybody have any idea what the heck that setting is? And does this maybe help figuring this out?
I normally don’t rip multiple audio tracks, but I may need to get in the habit of doing it anyway.
I’ll add my voice to the choir. My Shield Pro system software is Version 8.1.1(32.7.301.99).
Plex Client Version: 8.1.0.17967 beta
Plex Sever Version: 1.19.3.2852 (Synology DS416play NAS).
I have an Nvidia Shield Pro (2019) and I have problems playing the TrueHD english track from my Akira blu-ray rip (the video pauses while the sound continues). Mine isn’t even 192kHz according to the XML:
I also have problems with the TrueHD track from Batman Begins (movie freezes in the first 30 seconds):
However these two TrueHD tracks play fine:
Edit: added software versions.
I just checked my last rip of Akira and it’s 96000 Hz just like yours. And now that I think of it, that’s what flashed across my AVR right before switching to DTHD. I’ve never seen that come across my AVR before and I guess I thought I saw 192. Regardless, it’s exhibiting the same issue as others here.
For Batman Begins, have you tried skipping ahead or back after it freezes? That’s an issue I have on several titles and I’ve posted on that. I didn’t go digging in the info to find similarities as it seems completely random. After skipping forward or back on anything that froze it plays fine all the way through. Absolutely no idea if that’s related to this other issue.
Yep, skipping ahead on batman begins seems to work. I guess batman has a hard time beginning 
Also, I just tried both Akira and Batman begins on my gaming PC using Plex for Windows (connected to the same tv and avr) and it plays the TrueHD tracks without issue. I only played each video long enough to observe the time frame where the Shield Pro was having problems.
Akira remux was the one that brought the issue to my attention (which play fine with Kodi). I made a post but was closed due to being duplicate and was linked to this thread. But I think this may not be issue with just TrueHD.
I’ve noticed similar things will happen with other audio codecs with high sampling rate. For example, I tested a file with sampling rate of 96kHz but in DTS-HD MA. Similar stuttering issue was found. Makes the video look very choppy and low frame rate, like a slide show. Again, plays fine with Kodi.
Someone in reddit was having similar issue with DTS-HD MA. He posted mediainfo of the file and the DTS-HD MA is 96kHz.
Here is a video of the issue I see. Sorry about bad camera/edit. Just a quick one I took in hurry and it gets the point across.
Here is MediaInfo section of the audio track in question.
Format: DTS XLL
Format/Info: Digital Theater Systems
Commercial name: DTS-HD Master Audio
Codec ID: A_DTS
Duration: 1 h 3 min
Bit rate mode: Variable
Bit rate: 5 800 kb/s
Channel(s): 6 channels
Channel layout: C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate: 96.0 kHz
Frame rate: 187.500 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth: 24 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Stream size: 2.57 GiB (13%)
Other tracks in the file are all in 48kHz and play perfectly fine on Plex but not ideal since the other surround track is lossy and only other lossless track available from disc is only in stereo.
Tested on Shield 2017 with 8.03 Experience patch I just got today with latest Android Plex beta. Passing everything through Denon X4400H.
EDIT: Video wasn’t linked properly, fixed.
Glad that worked for you. I still have no idea if the problems are related, but I’ve posted logs and whatnot. I’m kind of dumbfounded how many issues related to audio on the Shield when passthrough audio was the only reason I bought one to begin with. Maybe the slight audio sync issue on the ATV4K isn’t so bad after all. 
That said, I count 3 audio related issues that seem to revolve around DTHD and the Shield at times:
- video/audio freeze - skipping forward or back corrects the issue
- complete audio sync failure, audio far behind video. This one I’ve so far only seen on one file, but is reproducible at will. File is The Martian 4K with DTHD track. Switching to 1080p versions corrects.
- issue with anything higher than 48 kHz audio - I say this since 96 kHz and 192 kHz seem to have the issue. I can only confirm 96 kHz in Akira though.
I would guess this would be easier to track down and fix if it were every file with DTHD, but it isn’t. How the heck is it so random on some issues, I can’t explain.
So does anyone here with this particular issue also have MrMC that can verify the IEC Packed audio setting I mentioned fixes the issue? Just hoping to point Plex in some kind of direction here. The thin is only $3 so maybe I’ll just download the thing. Has horrible reviews though. And yet… 
@everyone download the NVIDIA SHield Experience 8.03 patch. It’ll fix at least normal TrueHD usage cases. Akira is still a no go, but it fixed all my other TrueHD tracks not playing.
"Fourth HotFix (32.5.205.112 (same as Third HotFix) deployed on 5/26/2020):
Adds SMB v3 support to SHIELDs samba server and moves the server out of Plex Media Server.
Fixes an issue with plex where playback starts up & gets paused and will not continue to play, with TrueHD only
Fixes an issue with smbV3 where unit requires a reboot to view copied files over shield external drive
Fixes a decoding issue with vc-1 encoded media content"All my other TrueHD files play fine strangely. I’ll skip the patch for now until 192 kHz gets resolved.
Looks like that is specifically for the 2015/2017 Shield so I guess that doesn’t apply to my 2019 Shield?
I’ll try playing more of my HD audio files to see if I have any more problems. If it is just a goofy case for Akira and Batman, then I’ll just live with it. I usually keep an AC3 track on all my movies because everything seems to play that just fine. I dug through most of my movie files and it looks like Akira is the only one that isn’t a 48000Hz sample rate for TrueHD.
There isn’t a new hot fix out for the 2019 model. Hopefully they’re working on some kind of update.
Both my 1080p Blu-Ray & my 4k Blu-Ray are 192 kHz for the Japanese Dolby TrueHD audio for Akira.
My receiver also lights up with 192 kHz (I can take a picture if you guys really want me to verify this).
Here’s the codec details out of VLC for both files respectively.
Here’s a link to the behaviour (there’s 3 files)
01 - Akira (VLC Playback)
02 - Akira (Plex Playback)
03 - Akira (VLC Playback - Scanning & Receiver showing TrueHD on japanese track)
Sorry for my mic, my phone case is terrible lol
You’ll notice that when I use VLC to play the file with the 192 kHz TrueHD Japanese audio, it’s fine in VLC.
You’ll see when I use the Plex app it’s a disaster on wheels.
VLC is using Plex Media Server to play the content (as it shows Plex Media Server in iStat Menus sending at a high data rate when playing in VLC).
There’s definitely a client-side issue. But the server also isn’t perfect either.
If I play the file for around 15-20 minutes in VLC, it will play flawlessly, until Plex Media Server basically stops sending data. Not sure what that issue is all about.
But this, plus the Media Information boxes I posted above showing the data rate of the audio track actually being 192 kHz, plus my receiver lighting up 192 kHz shows the issue in almost its entirety that I’m aware of.
I’m off to watch Black Panther in 4K HDR/Atmos using the shield with Plex. (doing the Marvel universe proper order, so this will be to affirm that it’s not a bandwidth issue, that’s it’s strictly Akira causing this behaviour with the Shield).
Link to the example videos below:
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I just ran into the same problem on another movie with 96k TrueHD audio. Luckily I ripped the DD track as well so I could fall back to that.
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Which movie was it?
You’re going to love this one - My Fair Lady 50th anniversary edition. It has 2 tracks - 7.1 DTHD and 5.1 DD. I had no idea the DTHD track was 96k when I got this thing at my wife’s request. I say that cause musicals of any sort are not my thing. 
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Would you be able to provide a 2-3 gig sample file using the following link and sending the cloud storage link of choice to my DM? I want to see if I can match the behaviour with that file.
Sure. Give me a few minutes. One note, it didn’t start quite as bad as Akira did for me. That was a ■■■■ show. It was acting more like it was skipping frames and audio at first and then started to stall severely after maybe a minute. Then I switched tracks and it was smooth as a baby’s butt.
If you are able / are comfortable sending a bigger file, go ahead 
