Transcoding Issues with Shield: Completely Miffed

Plex Players Streaming Devices
1

Hello all, first post. My apologies in advance as this is just not something I’m even remotely proficient at…

Anyway:

CPU: 2014 i7 4770 3.4Ghz -16 GIG RAM - WINDOWS 7

CONNECTED VIA CAT 6 TO A GIG SWITCH THEN CAT6 TO THE SHIELD

FILES: ALL BLU RAYS RIPPED TO MKV

The problem:

Plex on the Shield wants to transcode everything and I cannot get lossless audio, and most times, even more than (2) channel.

In addition to this, accessing a file can be rather slow (as in I select a movie from the wallpaper and it can take 10 seconds or more to display the films title screen).

I guess I don’t know what the issue is? Surely the Shield can pass HD audio formats (I have passthrough “on”), it’s all interconnected with ethernet, and my Marantz 7705 PREPRO accepts all codecs.

Shouldn’t this just grab the file and pass the audio??

Thanks SO much for the help, perhaps I’m missing something obvious.

James

2

The Shield should pass audio to your pre-amp without issue.

What version of PMS are you using? See Authorized Devices

What version of the Plex client is on the Shield? See Authorized Devices

Is the Shield is connected directly to the Marantz via HDMI?

What are your audio settings on the Shield itself (not in the Plex app)?
You should have:

Settings -> Device Preferences -> Display & Sound -> Advanced sound settings
  Available formats = Auto
  Stereo upmix = off

In the Plex app on the Shield, verify the following settings:

Video Quality
  Adjust automatically = Off
  Home Streaming = Maximum
  Play smaller videos = On
Advanced
  Passthrough = HDMI

Play a video with either Dolby Digital 5.1 or dts 5.1 audio. Make sure subtitles are disabled.

Do you receive surround sound?

What is shown in the Plex Dashboard during playback (Plex Web -> Activity -> Dashboard)? Are the video and audio tracks direct playing / direct streaming / transcoding? You may have to click the gold icon on the right to expand the view.

Play a video with either TrueHD or dts-HD MA audio, again with subtitles disabled.

Do you receive surround sound?

What is shown in the Plex Dashboard during playback (Plex Web -> Activity -> Dashboard)? Are the video and audio tracks direct playing / direct streaming / transcoding? You may have to click the gold icon on the right to expand the view.

3

fantastic, thanks. I am at work now but will go down your list and see what I can accomplish!

By the way: using Plex on my Rokus and iphones at differing times has nothing to do with the Shield, correct?

Thanks again!
James

4

Correct.

A problem with Plex Media Server could affect all clients, but we’re not there yet.

My setup: Shield <-HDMI-> Denon 4300 <-HDMI-> LG B7 OLED.

Plex Dashboard when playing a movie with TrueHD 7.1 + Atmos audio track:

Screenshot (214)

5

Gotcha, thanks. I sure do think I have the settings on both the Shield and the Plex app as you have pointed out, but I will check and verify.

Thanks a ton
James

6

Ok, I checked all of the settings and still no joy. Still telling me it needs to transcode as TrueHD is not supported!

Ugh!

This just seems so much more difficult than it needs to be!

Help, lol

James

7

This is what the CP says:

image
image612×816 202 KB

8

Solved! I had no idea the “advanced” menu In Plex continued down as far as it does. Enabled pass through - all is good. Bit red-faced but it really wasn’t obvious to me.

Thanks so much
James

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