MacGyvers_Mullet

I solved my issues by getting a Nvidia Shield TV. The Roku 3 was increasingly struggling to display content from a number of channels. It could be content producers pushing higher bitrates, it could be the device failing - either way I'm done with Roku.

Zero problems watching the videos on the Shield TV through Plex, either downloaded or streamed. :)

Audio issues still present on both the beta app and downloaded 720 video broadcast over a local Plex server to the Roku, not present viewed locally on my PC or the same file broadcast on the same Plex server to iPhone or iPad.

It tends to be better/less noticeable on videos without as much action onscreen, like the Bombcast videos, and is far more noticeable/severe on videos with a lot going on and a lot of movement, like the Beat in the East videos, which makes me wonder if that even at 720 the videos are pushing more than the Roku can handle. There is sometimes visual stutter accompanied with this. My wife has a second Roku 3 that I also checked this on and had the same issues as my Roku 3 on the same network, both wired.

It's a pretty subtle effect and is most noticeable in voices. It sounds similar to the kinds of audio compression you get with VOIP audio calls over a poor connection. It's also intermittent - the effect fades in and out every few seconds. It usually doesn't start until the splash screen fades out and gameplay fades in.

My temporary workaround is to download the 720p videos locally and manually transcode them at a lower bitrate, which fixes the audio issues immediately.

edit: for what it's worth, I'm still very happy with my subscription and don't mind putting in the extra work to get things working. I appreciate that you guys go the extra mile to support edge case users like me and those few of us who watch GB content on our various streaming boxes.

I tried that method and I'm getting some weird audio clipping on my Roku 3, but the video is much smoother now and not desynching.

I've also been having the same audio clipping when I download the "high" instead of the "HD" videos and throw them onto my Roku via Plex. It happens whenever I direct-play the file, but not when I have Plex transcode the file to another bitrate. The clipping is only present on the Roku 3 and not when I view it on any other devices through Plex.

Edit: I tested a bit, this only occurs with videos after the 1080/60 switch, even though the "high" videos were always 720p from what I can tell. All the older videos have no audio clipping issues.