Server Version#: PMS Latest On Win10 x64: 1.23.4.4775-b7e0c30f2 (July 5, 2021 release)
Player Version#: ON SHIELD TV 2019 PRO: 8.19.4.26517 (f35a541c) – Latest as of July 11, 2021
Ever since switching from a FireStick 4K to a Nvidia Shield Pro 2019, I have been having a myriad of issues. I’ve now got most of them under control/fixed by toying with various permutations and combinations of settings in the Shield, except 1 that is driving me nuts.
Main setup: 65” Sony 2017 A1E Master Series OLED, Vizio 5.1 SB3651-E6 soundbar connected via eARC.
Disclaimer: I will be mentioning several different TVs and soundbars below, but the above TV+soundbar is what I am trying to fix.
In essence: The problem is that when I am watching anything via the Official Plex App and I choose to either rewind or fast forward, there is a very, very high chance that whatever timestamp I end up at, won’t immediately start playing audio. There is usually a 6-7 second delay for the audio to start playing, and sometimes this delay extends to nearly 20+ seconds of no audio.
VIDEO PROOF (Please turn on audio): VID_20210711_133506 - if you watch the full 40 second video, you will see two clear-cut instances where there is a huge delay in the audio. Video and Subtitles play. Please see for yourself.
PMS Latest On Win10 x64: 1.23.4.4775-b7e0c30f2 (July 5, 2021 release)
Plex Player on Shield: 8.19.4.26517 (f35a541c) – Latest as of July 11, 2021
Same Plex Player version on SonyTV: 8.19.4.26517 (f35a541c) – Latest as of July 11, 2021 << No Issues
Kodi: Build 19.1.0 (Compiled 2021-05-08)
Official Plex for Kodi add-on: Plex 0.3.3
Firmware on All TVs + Shield TV + Soundbars = Latest
Because of the highly conflicting advice I have received over the last 2 months to solve my various issues, everything from blaming the “Old obsolete” TV, to the “s*itty soundbar”, to the bad cables (8K HDMI 2.1 Certified Club3D cables), to bad WiFi (lol), I have basically used various combinations of 3 different TVs. A 2019 Sony x950G TV, a 2020 x900H TV, and three different soundbars each with different TVs and with the shield being the only common denominator. I have even switched out the Shield 2019 Pro with another Shield 2019 Pro (to ensure the Shield wasn’t dying) and the other Shield TV 2019 Pro also had the same issues!
In essence, all 3 different soundbars, when used with either of the Shield 2019 Pros on Official Plex App, give some different sound issues on every TV (these sound issues include: random crackling and popping, audio being literally out of sync upon playing, files taking 6-10 seconds to start audio at the start of a file, etc.)
Removing the Shield Pro 2019 and using FireStick 4K (which uses a different version of Plex), the sound issues disappear – it works flawlessly. Unfortunately, it’s not a feasible alternative because the FireStick 4k feels sluggish these days with the bloatware, and to top it off, it doesn’t support ALL Dolby Vision formats (only handles MEL DV not FEL DV). Seeing how the FireStick 4k though has no audio issues at all, we can safely remove the Soundbars or Cables or the ports, or the TVs from the equation, because it just works, on all TVs and soundbars.
Now, here’s how I narrowed the problem further down to the Plex app. I simply installed Kodi, and used Kodi’s Video-Addon: “Official Plex for Kodi” – on the Shield, all the audio problems disappeared. I can freely rewind or fastforward as much as I want, press play, and the sound starts playing nearly instantly, and it’s in sync. Zero issues. The problem however, is just like the FireStick above, it’s extremely limited in the Dolby Vision support. Specifically, it doesn’t support DV at all. So also not really a feasible alternative if I can’t access 100% of my library.
Based on order of elimination, the problem is most likely the Plex Media Player on the Shield given how many combinations and permutations of TVs, Soundbars, Cables, and Software players I have messed with - but the same PMP version directly on the SonyTV has no issues. So it’s likely some obscure audio setting in the Shield that’s causing these issues, but somehow not causing these issues when Kodi+PlexAddon is used on the Shield?
Can someone please assist – this is incredibly frustrating.
