- Plex Server Version#: 1.40.2.8395 (Not that it maters; it’s been an issue for years…)
- Plex Player Version#: 10.14.0 (Same note as above)
- NVIDIA Shield OS Version: 9.1 (With Every rare SHIELD OS update, I pray it’ll be fixed… but after 4 years, I don’t think that fix is coming.
tl;dr
Please see the tl;dr section below. It’s at the very bottom and hard to miss.
Intro / Overview (and a few sporadic rants.. which can be ignored..)
So, I still use the NVIDIA ‘Shield Pro’
(Which I’m pretty sure used to be called the “2019” edition, but now when I look it up it just comes up as ‘NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Pro’, despite still having not been upgraded since 2019… but that’s an Entirely separate topic.. lol)
as my primary avenue for streaming my Plex content, as it is some STILL the only/best device for Streaming FULL quality media. Especially with 4K DV and Atmos everywhere;
somehow, This 5-year old device is Still the only/best option for streaming our full content media with all the proper codecs passed through and what not. And if I’m wrong on that, somebody PLEASE let me know… Genuinely.
*(I wish Apple TV would get on board with allowing full content out from the Plex app… it obviously has the technical capability, since it can do it with the Apple TV+ app and Netflix’s app…
(Don’t honestly know if the reason for limiting the Plex app to converting everything to Multichannel AAC is a 3-rd part app thing, or a Plex thing.. but I’m pretty sure it’s a 3rd-party-restriction thing..). - Anyway, another tangent that is for another thread
)*
My reason for this post is to see how many other people struggle with intermittent audio sync issues with the ‘latest’ 2019 Shield or Shield Pro?
What happens:
Randomly, when starting an TV Show or Movie, the audio will be off-sync by 10ish seconds.
The resolution:
Pressing the back button on the remote 1-3 times to jump back 10-seconds resolves the issue probably 90+ percent of the time. The other 10% are so bad, that only pausing the media, then jumping back 10 seconds, then restarting the media will fix the audio sync issues. But again, that’s only 10% or less of the time.
How frequent is ‘sporadic’:?
Roughly 40-50% of the time. - (That’s a ROUGH estimate, as it fluctuates based on what we watch; but it’s around that number,)
Things I’ve tried
- Upgrading every OS and Plex App/Server version possible
- Testing different OSs (As I have 3 servers, I tested across Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, MacOS, and Windows)
- Multiple SHIELD devices in case one was faulty. Made zero difference. (Tested Multiple Shield Pro’s, as well as a regular Shield - Same exact issue no matter the device)
- Changing around & playing with Literally EVERY Shield And Plex setting available, in Every possible setting combo… (Like I said, this has been an issue since I first got the SHIELDs 4 years ago, so I’ve done AMPLE testing over the years)
What I think the issue might be:
I’ve developed a theory that the issue is related to Media Encoding.
From the 50% of the time that it occurs, I’ve noticed a pattern with certain encodes where it occurs More with media that is encoded with one encoding preset than media that is encoded with another, different encoding preset.
Don’t ask what the encode presets are; I don’t know. - But I DO know it seems to happen more with HEVC encodes than with H.264… although I would have no idea what that offset percentage might be.
The reason I think encodes might be the issue:
I’ve noticed when binge-watching shows, that it occurs more with some shows than others. (A lot of my older content has been re-encoded with similar encoding profiles, all HEVC 10-Bit)
I’ve also notice that it seems to occur more with 4K content, since that is almost always natively encoded in HEVC for size efficiency. Just an observation 
What’s the point of this post?
- First, I want to start off by saying that I don’t expect this post is going to fix anything with the SHIELD audio offset issues.
After having it this long, I’m sure the developers know about it and it’s a SHIELD issue, not a Plex issue, therefore not resolvable.
- That being said… - I would like to know that I’m not alone in this… - Is anyone else having this issue?
(I have no idea what the percentage of actual Plex-user-to-Shield ratio is, but if my Tautulli stats are correct, I’d guess the percentage is decently small)
- And Mainly, I’m curious if there are any better players yet, or news of anything coming soon that might be able to replace the now archaic Shield. Eventually there has to be Something, Right?
And that’s it for this post.
If you made it all the way to the bottom, congratulations! - For those that didn’t: See the tl;dr section below.
Thanks!
-Maxtoid
tl;dr 
The NVIDIA Shield players suffer from a sporadic audio sync issue that seems to involve specific codecs; seemingly HEVC-related.
1. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this,
2. or if anyone has any news on a new or upcoming player that will finally replace the SHIELD.
