[noggin]

Yeah that is what I was afraid 

Paying good money for a strip down app of the real thing
and being reliant on that dev to hopefully keep updating is not good

Yep - there's no perfect solution if you want high quality Netflix, Prime, Disney+ and ATV+ and Kodi on the same box - there are always compromises.  The cost of the app is minimal (like two coffees and cakes in a coffee shop) so that's not a huge barrier to me.  Being able to run MrMC on the same platform I watch the DRM services on, and which has a great UI and remote (now the ATV 4K v2 remote is out...) is a good compromise for me (I don't need add ons) and the ATV 4K v2 has a great CPU so is very snappy and responsive (plus it does 4:2:2 HEVC hardware decode, and has enough grunt for 1080i 4:2:2 h.264 software decode and deinterlace which has come in useful for me - nothing other than Intel platforms will do that for me otherwise)

If I were going purely for cost-benefit and had no requirement for DRM sources I'd go AMLogic and CoreElec, or begin to consider the Pi 4B + LibreElec now it has HDR, 12-bit video output, and HD Audio support, and deinterlacing is back (though avoid this if you rely on 4:2:0 for UHD p50/p59.94 - which is niche).

Shield TV falls between two stools for me - it's similar price to the Apple TV 4K v2, but with poorer DRM support.  Kodi support is better than the ATV 4K (HD Audio bit streaming and Python add-ons), but not better than the AMLogic solutions (ignoring DV)

Can you speak more in-depth to what the Apple TV 4k v.2 can and can't do when it comes to all things playing ripped discs.   Curious especially about 1:1 rips.   Can it even play them without transcoding first.  What surround formats is it not capable of playing, etc.

The ATV 4K v2 plays pretty much everything in video codec terms (wouldn't expect AV1 though) Its CPU is so powerful that stuff it can't hardware decode it can software decode (40Mbs 4:2:2 h.264 1080i25 stuff is decoded and deinterlaced to p50 in software without skipping a beat).  It has hardware decode for consumer 4:2:0 h264/AVC and consumer 4:2:0 h.265/HEVC (and also hardware decode for 4:2:2/4:4:4 h265/HEVC because of the ATV support for Airplay screen mirroring)

The ATV 4K v1 and v2 support PCM 5.1 and 7.1 audio output at 48kHz so 48kHz True HD and DTS HD MA/HRA are output as lossless decoded multichannel PCM, not bit streamed.  For DRM services DD+ with Atmos is supported.  No support for True HD with Atmos or DTS:x bit streaming - so you just get PCM multichannel (no height speaker feeds)

Replay of 1:1 BD and UHD BD rips shouldn't be a problem - I've not noticed major issues - but it's not my daily driver for 1:1 rips. 

MrMC hasn't been updated for a while - the project seems to have gone into hibernation during the Pandemic - though Davila did pop up on the forums again recently.

If you don't want/need DRM services - I'd look elsewhere - but if you want/need frame rate switching support on all the major DRM services - then I've not found anything better than an ATV4K.  The 4K v2 remote control is a massive improvement on the original (you can buy it for the original 4K - but it's not cheap as an accessory).

If I were buying a platform just for Kodi - I wouldn't buy an ATV 4K.  If I wanted the best DRM streamer and the best Kodi solution - I'd still be buying two boxes.