It won’t make your setup any better, but it will be ready for it if you do. It is a great choice if you have a server that can’t transcode media as it can play most files directly. The only thing it can’t do is play AV1 encoded files. AV1 didn’t exist when the shield came out so it will be missing out on the future proofing of AV1.
That being said, if you know you are only going to use it for files encoded in 264 or 265, then you have nothing to worry about. I however am going to wait for the next revision, if one will exist. They are due for an update right about now.
Would that do me any good if I don’t have a particularly good audio setup?
It won’t make your setup any better, but it will be ready for it if you do. It is a great choice if you have a server that can’t transcode media as it can play most files directly. The only thing it can’t do is play AV1 encoded files. AV1 didn’t exist when the shield came out so it will be missing out on the future proofing of AV1.
That being said, if you know you are only going to use it for files encoded in 264 or 265, then you have nothing to worry about. I however am going to wait for the next revision, if one will exist. They are due for an update right about now.