Shield TV 2017 playing Hi-Res FLAC

[cchsieh 8]

I sent the log around 2019/2/12 22:04 GMT+8 and the login name of Emby app is hsieh .

I played The Beatles - Love Me Do (24bit/96khz) and Prince - Around The World In A Day (24bit/192khz) ...

 

Sorry for replying so late because of vacation.

[ebr 16169]

Can you please just play one item for a few seconds and then immediately send the log after that?  I am not seeing any playback in the logs you are sending because there is too much other activity.

 

Thanks.

[cchsieh 8]

I sent the log again around 2019/2/15 10:33 GMT+8 after playing the file about 5 seconds. I played a 24bit/192khz FLAC file "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra D major Op. 35 - I. Allegro moderato - Jonathan Darlington - Duisburger Philharmoniker, Susanna Yoko Henkel".

 

Thanks.

[ebr 16169]

The item is not transcoding, correct?

[cchsieh 8]

The item is not transcoding, correct?

Yes, it is direct playing when I see the dashboard

[Bill4sman 10]

You guys make any progress as I'm having the same issues?

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  I believe the library we are using to pass this through is downsampling it.  It isn't clear at this point if we can change that.

[Bill4sman 10]

I tested Emby for Android TV v1.5.45g today. And It can play 88.2khz/96khz/176.4khz/192khz two channel FLACs corretly.

 

Thank you very much!!!

Emby does NOT play 192/24bit so show me some logs and some proof, otherwise this is AN OPEN ISSUE!

[Bill4sman 10]

Check your files to ensure it's truly playing in stereo as I can play multichannel flac above 44Khz but NOT stereo

[Bill4sman 10]

3 YEARS later and STILL unresolved!

[jnath 0]

We are currently in 2024...

I have the same with my Shield that Plex is playing everything at 48 kHz according to my pre-amp.

 

What is your advice nowadays? Buy another mediabox to let play Plex at the original frequency and bit rate like 192 kHz/24 bits? I have an extensive collection of music in HiRes. Or should I still upgrade my Shield to Emmy?

[jnath 0]

Rewritten a bit (I cannot edit anymore):

We are currently in 2024...

I still have the same with my Shield TV with Plex installed. It's playing everything at 48 kHz according to my pre-amp. While I have an extensive collection of music in HiRes (up to 192 kHz/24 bits). Kodi is working fine. If I switch to Plex, after 1 minute playing correctly it switch down to 48 kHz. Very annoying...

What is your advice nowadays according to latest hardware/software available? Buy another mediabox to let play Plex at the original frequency and bit rate like 192 kHz/24 bits? Or can I upgrade my Shield TV? I would like to use my Plex eco-system.

[jnath 0]

Is the latest Nvidia Shield TV Pro still having this issue or am I safe, otherwise better to get the latest model instead of one of the first...

[Luke 42077]

On 10/21/2024 at 10:30 AM, jnath said:

Is the latest Nvidia Shield TV Pro still having this issue or am I safe, otherwise better to get the latest model instead of one of the first...

I believe the latest is the pro. @CBers?

[jnath 0]

The Pro is the latest according to website… but is the Pro still converting all audio to 48 kHz? Or is there any other mediabox? I’m using quite expensive audio equipment and hear the differences quite easily. Thanks

[Luke 42077]

On 10/24/2024 at 1:55 PM, jnath said:

The Pro is the latest according to website… but is the Pro still converting all audio to 48 kHz? Or is there any other mediabox? I’m using quite expensive audio equipment and hear the differences quite easily. Thanks

Did you end up trying the Pro?

[jnath 0]

Not yet the Pro. I don't want to make an investment if I don't know if it's going to work... my feelings says the AndroidTV software hasn't changed and this is the issue... 

 

Are you also waiting for this answer before purchasing the latest?

[Luke 42077]

On 11/1/2024 at 4:30 AM, jnath said:

Not yet the Pro. I don't want to make an investment if I don't know if it's going to work... my feelings says the AndroidTV software hasn't changed and this is the issue... 

 

Are you also waiting for this answer before purchasing the latest?

Hi, no, I was just curious if you had tried it or not. Did you end up getting it?

[jnath 0]

I didn’t buy yet… I think I post this into the Plex forum (if exists) as it’s more of a Plex issue instead of Emby which I never used. When I was searching on the Internet I found there was a similar issue on Emby. Do you run Emby on AndroidTV as well? Then they probably use the same library where the music is being passed through.

I could also try using an AppleTV.

[vdatanet 1617]

Using the Nvidia Shield Pro, playback is also downsampled. I think the problem is with the library used to decode the file rather than the hardware.

[jnath 0]

If it is the library, do you think this is because the library of AndroidTV? As Kodi plays it correctly and probably bypassing this AndroidTV library? This confirms it's not a hardware issue.

I presume you are using one of the last versions of the Nvidia Shield Pro to test it? is it only Plex you are having issues with or also another program except Kodi?

[jnath 0]

I've been testing a bit.

I installed the Plex app on a Mac Mini (2014) with MacOS and I can confirm all music is downgraded to 48 kHz as well (like 192 kHz, but also 44 kHz is upgraded). This is also a no-go.

In April '25 I will pick up my AppleTV (latest hardware) which is 1.000 km away in a holiday home... I will test this as well, but I have the feeling this won't be a successful test...

My guess is that the Plex app simply convert music to 48 kHz for stereo music, regardless its original format. However, with movies and music videos it's forwarding its original format like DTS-HD Master Audio quality. I don't know why, I should actually ask the Plex community... somehow it's skipping the OS, whether this is AndroidTV or MacOs (and I guess tvOS as well).

But another interesting point is, that I have tested a so called headless device. I used my Nvidia Shield Pro for this with its AndroidTV idle (no Plex client app actively running). From my iPhone I started a stereo track from my music library, clicked on the cast icon on the right top corner and guess what's happening: it's playing all the music files correctly, 96 kHz, 176 kHz, 192 Khz!!! I have tested it with my Plex app on my iPhone, but also the PlexAmp app on my iPhone worked well. Not a difference at all...

I can't believe this, so the cast function is better than the native app on AndroidTV... anyone a clue on this?

[Luke 42077]

Quote

I can't believe this, so the cast function is better than the native app on AndroidTV... anyone a clue on this?

It is different software handling playback depending on the playback mechanism.

[jnath 0]

Ok, but does my iPhone support 192 kHz or does it somehow forward the raw audio stream via the cast? I would have expected the least my iPhone would reduce the detail to a more smaller format, but it isn't true...

The least I may conclude that the Plex Media Server is providing the full and original format.

[Luke 42077]

No, what happens with casting is playback is handled purely by the device, not by any Emby or Plex software. 

When you play inside of an app, then you are playing with the player software embedded into the app, and both of us use exoplayer.