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Prodan
Avid Contributor I
November 3, 2017

If you're experiencing audio delay issues, read this

I've been living with lip sync issues (audio behind the video) since I got my Playbar about a year ago but I finally decided to do something about it. After multiple conversations with Sonos support and the LG's support people (they kept blaming each other for the audio delay), I decided to email Sonos' CEO about the issue.

After a few hours, I got a reply back from him, CCing a team manager who was going to look into the issue. We scheduled a call and he had me send various diagnostics to him. He said that the engineering team was going to investigate and get back to me.

A week later, I got an update. He told that they are still working on the issue. He also said that only one other person had reported the same issue (I assume that means that only one other person with an LG TV). So, if you're having audio delay issues and you've tried all other troubleshooting, reach out to Sonos support and have them look into it. If it helps you might mention my reference number, which has already been escalated:

Keep in mind that my setup is pretty straight forward (LG C6 OLED TV connected directly to the Playbar via Optical, audio playing from the built-in apps) and every single thing LG and Sonos suggested, including going into the TV's service menu and changing things there.

I know there are multiple post on the topic so hopefully we can solve at least some of the issues causing audio delay.

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    551 replies

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    Joshbear
    Avid Contributor I
    July 17, 2018
    Hi

    Just one thing the ATV 4K does not have optical out but I connect it to the TV via hdmi and then the tv is optical to the sonos as described above. There is no lip sync issue with the ATV. Just letting you know in case people wanted to know if the ATV 4K could be used.
    Wildantics
    Avid Contributor III
    July 17, 2018
    Hi

    Just one thing the ATV 4K does not have optical out but I connect it to the TV via hdmi and then the tv is optical to the sonos as described above. There is no lip sync issue with the ATV. Just letting you know in case people wanted to know if the ATV 4K could be used.
    Interesting so technically the optical switcher isn't being used for the ATV 4K and yet no delay?
    billiejoe87
    Chromatic Producer I
    July 17, 2018
    Hi

    Just one thing the ATV 4K does not have optical out but I connect it to the TV via hdmi and then the tv is optical to the sonos as described above. There is no lip sync issue with the ATV. Just letting you know in case people wanted to know if the ATV 4K could be used.     Correct. There is something about the Apple TV 4K when you have it set to force Dolby 5.1 that does not have the issue. You do not need an optical converter for the Apple TV 4K, it simply does not have an issue over HDMI.

    Just another plus for what a fantastic device the Apple TV 4K is.
    1 x Arc, 1 x Beam Gen 2, 1 x Amp, 2 x Sonos In Ceiling Speakers, 2 x Sub, 4 x Sonos Ones, 2 x Sonos Era 100, 5 x Symfonisk Lamp (Gen 2)
    Wildantics
    Avid Contributor III
    July 17, 2018
    Update. I have retained the set up through optical I describe above and used the hdmi optical adapter that comes with the beam to go from the switcher to the beam.

    So in summary Dolby digital with no sync issues on a LG TV acheived by
    Running optical from sky Q to optical switcher
    Running optical from x box to optical switcher
    Running optical from the LG TV to optical switcher

    Running optical to hdmi optical adapter that came with the beam and then connected to the beam.

    It all works except Alexa will now not control the tv.

    Hope this is useful. Regards

    Josh
    so I have an LG B7A and my beam is arriving today so in anticipation I switched my Xbox to bitstream and dolby digital a few days ago and even with the internal TV speakers I noticed a delay when playing games on my Xbox as soon as I go back to stereo delay gone so I knew that obviously the beam would have the issue as well since its just passing the audio and I just kind of figured I would need a switch but I kept digging and found another site and a fixed that worked at least for my TV speakers and im pretty sure it will be the same with the beam as again its just passing the audio, if you go into your LG menu make sure you have the latest firmware and then go to sound then go to AV sync adjustment and turn it on and then turn on bypass on that same menu and it immediately cleared up my issue at least so needless to say Im pretty happy as I want to be able to play games in 5.1 if at all possible and my main media consumption device is ATV 4K so its nice to hear that has no issues... Now just waiting for my delivery.
    billiejoe87
    Chromatic Producer I
    July 17, 2018
    Update. I have retained the set up through optical I describe above and used the hdmi optical adapter that comes with the beam to go from the switcher to the beam.

    So in summary Dolby digital with no sync issues on a LG TV acheived by
    Running optical from sky Q to optical switcher
    Running optical from x box to optical switcher
    Running optical from the LG TV to optical switcher

    Running optical to hdmi optical adapter that came with the beam and then connected to the beam.

    It all works except Alexa will now not control the tv.

    Hope this is useful. Regards

    Josh
    so I have an LG B7A and my beam is arriving today so in anticipation I switched my Xbox to bitstream and dolby digital a few days ago and even with the internal TV speakers I noticed a delay when playing games on my Xbox as soon as I go back to stereo delay gone so I knew that obviously the beam would have the issue as well since its just passing the audio and I just kind of figured I would need a switch but I kept digging and found another site and a fixed that worked at least for my TV speakers and im pretty sure it will be the same with the beam as again its just passing the audio, if you go into your LG menu make sure you have the latest firmware and then go to sound then go to AV sync adjustment and turn it on and then turn on bypass on that same menu and it immediately cleared up my issue at least so needless to say Im pretty happy as I want to be able to play games in 5.1 if at all possible and my main media consumption device is ATV 4K so its nice to hear that has no issues... Now just waiting for my delivery.
    Yeah that fix seems to work for Xbox from what I've read. It does not work for most cable tv boxes and many other devices.
    1 x Arc, 1 x Beam Gen 2, 1 x Amp, 2 x Sonos In Ceiling Speakers, 2 x Sub, 4 x Sonos Ones, 2 x Sonos Era 100, 5 x Symfonisk Lamp (Gen 2)
    marco79cgn
    marco79cgn
    Lyricist III
    July 17, 2018
    I recently bought an LG 65 B7D TV and can confirm the audio delay issue with a Playbar based 5.1 setup. All devices are directly connected to the LG TV and the optical output is connected to the Playbar.

    I can confirm the Apple TV 4K situation. The audio is perfectly in sync here when the Audio output is set fixed to 5.1 (and HDMI is set to Dolby Vision). It even converts DTS Audio (e.g. from the Infuse App) to 5.1 AC3.

    However there is a huge delay with my cable set top box (VU+ Uno 4K SE). I have to adjust the Dolby Digital delay in the set top box to -425ms(!!) in order to get the audio in sync. I haven't tried the PS4 and Nintendo Switch yet.

    I didn't check the current firmware version of my TV yet, the online update says I'm already on the latest version but maybe I have to update manually. I'll double check tonight.
    fredacqua
    Lyricist III
    July 17, 2018
    Hello to all

    I have an Apple TV 4 (but not 4K), a LG C7 and a playbar. I have the delay when audio is set on Dolby 5.1 on the Apple TV. I did not catch if there is another setting to apply.
    billiejoe87
    Chromatic Producer I
    July 17, 2018
    Hello to all

    I have an Apple TV 4 (but not 4K), a LG C7 and a playbar. I have the delay when audio is set on Dolby 5.1 on the Apple TV. I did not catch if there is another setting to apply.
    There is no other setting you need to apply, other than in my case I have Frame Rate Matching and Dynamic Range Matching turned on. It seems to be only the Apple TV 4K that does not have this issue.
    1 x Arc, 1 x Beam Gen 2, 1 x Amp, 2 x Sonos In Ceiling Speakers, 2 x Sub, 4 x Sonos Ones, 2 x Sonos Era 100, 5 x Symfonisk Lamp (Gen 2)
    robby818
    Contributor I
    July 18, 2018
    I got my Beam today and I am not seeing any lip sync issues.

    Devices:
    1. OLED65E6P (2016 model) firmware version = 5.30.30 Audio is set to LG Sound Sync (Optical); AV Sync Adjustment is Off
    2. Tivo Bolt. Set to output Dolby Digital.
    3. Apple TV 4k. I could not modify the audio output setting. It was greyed out.
    4. Xbox One X. Set to bitstream and dolby digital
    5. Nintendo Switch
    6. Super Nintendo Retro Console

    The connection between the TV and the Beam is as follows:
    OLED65E6P --> 6' Amazon optical cable --> optical coupler --> Sonos HDMI to Optical adapter --> 3' Amazon HDMI cable --> Sonos Beam

    The Tivo, AppleTV, Xbox, Nintendos are all are connected to HDMI ports on the OLED65E6P. Just to be clear, I am not using the optical output on any of those devices.

    *You may be wondering why I needed the optical cable and coupler. It's because I couldn't run another HDMI cable through the existing holes in my wall. The optical cable was a lot easier to fish through the existing holes. The coupler is a $4 one I got off Amazon. ;)

    I did need to manually press the volume up button on the Beam to get it at a level that I liked. It was set very low out of the box. Beam seems to remember the level even after I power off devices, so that's good.

    Overall, I am really pleased with the improvement in sound quality. Much better than the built in sound bar that is on the E6P.
    Pr0d1gyNIC
    Lyricist III
    July 18, 2018
    Right. I have an LGB7 and had my beam yesterday. Over hdmi arc and Dolby digital the audio sync problems are there. Nothing can fix it as it’s an issue with lg and processing DD. I turned both the tv and my sky q to output pcm, and the issue completely disappears. I have had dialogue with Sonos and they have told me PCM is no different from DD for the beam, and there is no noticable difference. Can anyone confirm if this is true. If it is I am keeping my beam. If it isn’t, it’s going back!!
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