I can playback a DSF file but it is getting converted/dumbed down to a PCM at 48KHZ.
I looked but can’t find any sound settings that allow me to set the sound quality level
(176KHZ or higher).
is their a place to configure the sound settings properly?
Short Answer: By design.
Thread discusses Nvidia Shield (Android TV) client. However, pretty sure it applies to all clients.
I read that thread, I am running the Windows Server Version of Plex on my PC and just playing on the PC which is connected to the AVR unit via HDMI. There still should be a sound quality setting somewhere in the server, but I don’t see any.
Not the “Premium” version of the Plex Server by the way. Just in case they hide that stuff from non-premium people.
Plex uses a client-server model. Audio choices are client, not server, based.
What client are you using? If Plex Web, audio will be limited by the web browser.
If Plex Media Player, you can choose to passthrough various audio codecs, but pretty sure music will still be sent as PCM.
To see audio passthrough options in PMP, switch to TV mode - click the box with “TV” in it in upper right of window.
Select your username/avatar & choose settings.
Set Audio → Device Type = HDMI
Note: There seems to be a bug in current version, I have to exit, then re-enter settings to make the change take effect.
Go back into Audio Settings. You’ll now see options to passthrough AC3/EAC3/dts/dts-HD/TrueHD. Pick desired codecs and exit settings.
Notice there are no settings for FLAC, etc. This leads me to believe music will still be passed as PCM/48kHz.
Ok , one other odd thing. I installed the Windows Server Version on a Windows 10 machine, but the default browser it opens up in is Internet Explorer… not Edge.
IE is not my default browser.
Which is very odd considering it the will come up with message that IE will no longer be used in future versions.
How do you change the default browser the server version uses to start up with?
Only way I know is to change the default browser for the entire system. Settings → Apps → Default Apps for Windows 10. I don’t run Windows Server, so cannot answer for that O/S.
Suggest you use Plex Media Player as a Plex client for Windows & Mac platforms. It is much more capable than the browser clients. Unlike the browser clients, PMP will direct play most media.
I also see 48kHz PCM playback of DSF. Have premium version Win10 PMP app, no difference in settings to change that I see. On dashboard it says:
Unknown audio (DSD_LSBF_PLANAR Stereo) -> OPUS - Transcode
There is no way to send a DSD data stream unmodified in Plex.
That’s fair enough to expect DSD conversion, but it would be nice to have a choice on the client side as to what conversion is being performed. 48Khz seems ‘wrong’ for a native DSD source. At minimum, an 88.2 option seems more appropriate. Don’t most DACs today handle up to 96 anyway?
It would be good to see conversion options for audio presented similar to how video resolutions options are presented to the end user by Plex (720, 1080, various bit rates, etc.). Let the user decide at point of playback.
Perhaps it could be a future option under Direct Stream setting…‘conversion choice when DS unavailable’?
But I am getting 48khz PCM over an HDMI connection which can handle up to 384 KHZ. No options either for Multichannel considerations. I downloaded Foobar 2000 and it at least has settings I can get configured (PCM, DSD and a DSD PCM+ setting) for SACD/DSD sources.
Audio options are severely lacking with Plex from what I can tell
