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trmahoney85
Contributor I
November 23, 2019
Answered

Audio delay between sony tv and playbar

Hello,

 

I have a 2019 Sony XBR A8G connected to a Playbar (paired with two play:1s for 5.1) via optical cable. 

 

Whenever the source audio is Dolby Digital, there is a slight delay in the audio and is behind the video. When I override the audio to stereo or PCM, either through TV settings or source device (Amazon 4K Firestick), the audio syncs up perfectly. 
 

This leads me to believe that the lag gets introduced by the Sony TV when it “passes through” the Dolby digital signal to the playbar. 
 

Has anyone found a fix for this through the TV’s settings? Sony support isn’t very helpful. Potential workaround is an HDMI switch to split audio before it gets to tv, but not sure if that’ll introduce other headaches. 

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trmahoney85Answer
Contributor I
November 24, 2019

Got the hdmi switch today with optical out and it worked like a charm. I actually had the opposite problem where the audio was ahead of the video, but that’s easily adjustable within the Sonos app and is now synced up perfectly according to my overly discerning eye. 
 

No other major headaches that have come with it other than a few more wires to contend with behind the TV. 
 

Still disappointed that Sony hasn’t figured this out and will be expressing it to them. Ultimately, an extra $50 for the switch is a drop in the bucket on a $3,000+ entertainment system, but I probably spent a solid 10 hours researching and troubleshooting. This felt like a problem I would have grappled with 15 years ago but surprised me it’s still an issue. 
 

Thanks for your help! Your responses to some other posts have helped me troubleshoot a couple other issues as well :)

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20 replies

Airgetlam
Airgetlam
November 23, 2019

I don’t own a Sony TV, but your supposition matches my expectation as well. The first thing, of course, is to check to see if there are any firmware updates from Sony. Then, in the Sony’s audio setting, be sure to turn off any “extras” that change the audio in any way. No SRS, no extra wide sound field, no speech enhancement, nothing. In fact, if they have a setting that says direct pass through, you want that. You’re basically removing any possibility that the TV is touching the audio stream at all, since anything it would be doing to it would be adding a tiny amount of delay. 

It appears some TVs can’t do that, there are hundreds of posts about both Samsung and LG TV’s in the Home Theater area of this forum that appear to only be resolved by pulling the audio stream out before it gets to the TV by using an HDMI switch with an optical out on it. 

Bruce
    trmahoney85Author
    Contributor I
    November 23, 2019

    Thanks for the advice. I turned off all the “extras” and there’s still a noticeable lag. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any magic bullet “bypass” option on the Sony. 
     

    It’s a pretty nice TV so I was surprised that this is a problem. Looking through this forum I saw many had similar issues with LGs and Samsungs, but didn’t see much for Sony so I was holding out hope that there was a setting that I was missing that’d do the trick. 
     

    I’m going to order the hdmi switch linked below and see if that does the trick. Will report back. 
     

    J-Tech Digital 4K 60HZ HDMI Audio Extractor Converter SPDIF + 3.5MM Output Supports HDMI 2.0, 18Gpbs Bandwidth, HDCP 2.2, Dolby Digital/DTS Passthrough CEC, HDR10 [JTD18G-H5CH] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074HHSJVN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rVz2DbX88XHWP

      Airgetlam
      Airgetlam
      November 23, 2019

      Thanks for the try, I’m advising a friend on a new TV this week for the Black Friday sales, I’ll stay away from the Sony’s. Perhaps stick with the Vizio that I bought a few months ago, I’ve fortunately not noticed any issues. 

      I do look forward to your report, but expect it will be in the positive. I just can’t figure out why it is so hard for TV manufacturers to simply pas through without alteration/delay the audio. I may need to find an electrical engineer who works in TV design to explain it to me. 

      Bruce
        trmahoney85AuthorAnswer
        Contributor I
        November 24, 2019

        Got the hdmi switch today with optical out and it worked like a charm. I actually had the opposite problem where the audio was ahead of the video, but that’s easily adjustable within the Sonos app and is now synced up perfectly according to my overly discerning eye. 
         

        No other major headaches that have come with it other than a few more wires to contend with behind the TV. 
         

        Still disappointed that Sony hasn’t figured this out and will be expressing it to them. Ultimately, an extra $50 for the switch is a drop in the bucket on a $3,000+ entertainment system, but I probably spent a solid 10 hours researching and troubleshooting. This felt like a problem I would have grappled with 15 years ago but surprised me it’s still an issue. 
         

        Thanks for your help! Your responses to some other posts have helped me troubleshoot a couple other issues as well :)

          Airgetlam
          Airgetlam
          November 25, 2019

          Glad to hear it’s all functioning for you. Enjoy your system, I’m envious!

          Bruce
          trmahoney85Author
          Contributor I
          November 25, 2019

          Thanks!

          Thought I should add, for the record, there were a couple headaches I came across last night (one of them I should have foreseen). Nothing to do with the HDMI switch itself and may not be universal to everyone. 

          1. I’m a cable cutter, so in conjunction with the Amazon 4K firestick for streaming, I have an HD antenna (mostly to watch live sports) plugged into the tv via coaxial cable. This is probably obvious, but since I no longer have the optical cable coming from the TV to the Playbar, there was no sound when I flipped to Sunday Night Football on NBC last night. I can use the TV’s speakers, but I have them disabled because of the Playbar, so I have to enable them in the TV’s settings when I flip to HD Antenna, and then disable when I flip back to the firestick. The workaround here (best I can tell) is to get a “2 in, 1 out” optical splitter, but man, this is starting to get quite complex and introduces another remote to the equation.
          2. Since the firestick is no longer plugged directly into the TV’s HDMI, but is still powered by the TV’s USB, when I turn the TV’s power off the firestick exhibits odd behavior and is constantly turning rebooting every 15-30 seconds. I can tell this because, when the firestick first turns on it’ll play a short jingo, which gets broadcast through the Playbar. This renders the Playbar useless for music streaming when the TV is off. I have yet to troubleshoot this, but hopefully if I power the firestick directly through an outlet instead of through the TV, it’ll be fixed.

          The first one I should have anticipated, but the second one was quite the curveball. Either way, I'm rethinking if I even want to try for 5.1. Alternative options would be:

          1. Change the source audio to Stereo or PCM, keep the 5.1 Sonos setup, and let Sonos try it's best to provide a quality surround sound experience with a 2.0 signal.
          2. Change the source audio to Stereo or PCM, keep the Playbar but get rid of the Play:1’s so I have a 2.0/2.1 setup (I can put the Play:1’s to good use elsewhere).

          Maybe Sony will provide a firmware update at some point to address the lag. It's too noticeable of a lag to accept and not sure it's something I can “get used to". We’ll see.

          Airgetlam
          Airgetlam
          November 25, 2019

          If it’s possible….I’d certainly be putting pressure on them for such an update. I do know either LG or Samsung did provide an update that helped at least some people, although perhaps not all. I would think it depends somewhat on the way the electronics works internally, in some cases it just may not be possible….but I’m not an engineer. 
           

          No comments on the firestick, I don’t use one, and have no knowledge to impart ;)

          Bruce
          mark_144
          Contributor I
          January 3, 2020

          Thanks for the advice. I turned off all the “extras” and there’s still a noticeable lag. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any magic bullet “bypass” option on the Sony. 
           

          It’s a pretty nice TV so I was surprised that this is a problem. Looking through this forum I saw many had similar issues with LGs and Samsungs, but didn’t see much for Sony so I was holding out hope that there was a setting that I was missing that’d do the trick. 
           

          I’m going to order the hdmi switch linked below and see if that does the trick. Will report back. 
           

          J-Tech Digital 4K 60HZ HDMI Audio Extractor Converter SPDIF + 3.5MM Output Supports HDMI 2.0, 18Gpbs Bandwidth, HDCP 2.2, Dolby Digital/DTS Passthrough CEC, HDR10 [JTD18G-H5CH] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074HHSJVN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rVz2DbX88XHWP

           

          mark_144
          Contributor I
          January 3, 2020

          Hey I was looking at the same tv and just luckily saw your post before purchasing.  
           

          can you share exactly how you hooked up the cables? I’m not so tech savvy and having some instructions or point me to where I can get some would be GREATLY appreciated 

           

          also surprised Sonos hasn’t weighed in on this issue if it’s such a widespread problem!

          mark_144
          Contributor I
          January 3, 2020

          Also wondering.  Did you try to fix this through the Sonos app by adjusting the Audio Delay setting?

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