I am seeing Youtube posts about PLEX setups than use Nvidia Sheild device. I cannot quite understand what this device is, or whether I should explore it.
I am using Roku devices on the various TVs I have. Things work well enough, but how would I know whether they might work better with an Nvidia Sheild in the setup.
I am experiencing gaps between tracks on my music, whic I understand is a limitation of the Roku platform.
Is the Nvidia Sheild an alternative to the Roku device (Ultra)? Or is it something entirely different?
Please advise. Thank you.
The nVidia Shield Pro is currently probably the most “able” Plex client platform, if you are after a maximum of quality.
Due to its Gigabit Ethernet port (other devices usually max out at 100mbps)
and its ability to pass-through pretty much any sound format over HDMI.
It can also pass-through HDR and Dolby Vision or alternatively perform tone mapping if your screen doesn’t support HDR.
It also has an excellent “AI scaler” which produces outstanding results in my experience.
Everything @OttoKerner said is right but before we can know if the Shield will help @JA-Motter we need to know more about what the Roku doesn’t do well.
I have no idea if the Shield plays back music better… Can you describe the exact playback setup? Are you playing an album or a playlist, etc.
In a way, that’s just it. I do not know what the Roku Ultra is not doing well. The one thing I know it struggles with is playback of orchestral music without “gapless” playback. This can be a tad annoying when two movements flow together tighly, even though there are two separate tracks. Other than that, I am not sure what might be better if I used a newer/better interface.
I play YouTube TV, Netflix, Prime Video, HBO and YouTube through the Roku, rather than through the interface built into my Sony 4K TV. I did this because I was very familiar with the Roku interface . . . and the fact that the Sony version of the PLEX Player did not play Hi-Res audio reliably.
Also, the volume control on-screen indicator does not work. Perhaps Roku is the culprit there.
But I have not assessed the Sony interface in over a year.
Thoughts?
You mean playing that music in the Plex client, right? I can test the Shield for you.
Other than that… If you do not see problems like stuttering video… you are probably OK. Performance problems would be obvious, and if there are other little issue you haven’t seen yet… Good! 
For music playback, the shield has loudness levelling and sweet fades. Needs to be activated in the settings.
Yes. I am referring to playback of FLAC music files through PLEX using the Roku Ultra attached to my Sony 75" 4K TV. I use both normal uncompressed 16/44 files and high-res 24/96-352 files.
These are albums, but my own designed sets, and not playlists.
I have Gigabit internet, but connect using not ethernet, but Wifi at approximately 500 mb in-house speed.
Thoughts?
I personally had an older Nvidia Shield Pro and had many issues with it as a server. I purchased an Intel NUC and used shield as client only. I found it to be a great client but it would randomly reboot during viewing. I reset the device and followed all advice on support ticket but like many others online (try Google searching) it can not be resolved. I purchased a current Apple TV and it hasn’t missed a beat. I should add all MKV content was Direct Streaming on Shield, previous Samsung TV client Direct Played same content as does my new Apple TV…
Good luck on your decision, the client can make or break your experience.
