Question

Sonos Arc and PS4 Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio Lag/ Delay


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So my Sonos Arc just arrived and the sound is very impressive so far coming from a dedicated 5.1 HT setup.

I went to test my PS4 and enable DD 5.1 from the PS4's sound settings via HDMI and now there seems to be a significant delay from the on screen actions and the sound coming out. There is no delay when selecting PCM which is 2.0, but I purchased this system to have surround sound... especially in games.

Internal apps, Nvidia Shield, etc work fine with DD+.

PS4 is connected to a LG C7 which is then connected to the ARC via ARC. Coming from a deciated 5.1 setup with a dedicated AMP, there were no issues or delays with this same setup.

Looks like this a known Sonos issue back to 2017?, really?, and still doesnt seem to be any solution?. The ARC doesnt even have an optical port so cant even carry a second audio signal from the PS4's optical port which seems what most people have resulted to.

Does anyone know of a fix?, otherwise might have to put the Arc/ Play Ones back and in the box and send it back..


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17 replies

Same issue with the XB1. Dolby digital or atmos settings result in delays ranging from about 300 ms (DD) to nearly a second for atmos.

if you do a google search this has been identified as an issue with LG TVs where they have a delay processing DD signals received from PS4/XB1. I’ve heard of the issue with Samsung TVs too, so it’s pretty widespread. 

Sonos should put some pressure on the TV manufacturers to fix these issues, as it directly impacts then user experience with an ARC only connected device.

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But with my old sound setup with 5.1 using an amplifier, the TV had no issues at all processing these formats. Only happens with Sonos?

@GReeeeN im assuming your old setup was PS4>Receiver>TV? The problem with PS4>TV>Sonos is that the TV processes DD audio too slowly, resulting in an audio delay. Not just a sonos issue - LG 5.1 sound bars suffer the same problem.

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No, it was PS4 > TV > AMP.

 

The only difference now is PS4 > TV > Sonos Arc.

 

Had 0 issues with before with sound, now with the Arc connected, getting major delay. 

Exact same issue here - with both Xbox one x and ps4 pro

 

My Apple TV 4K works fine with Dolby Digital 5.1 output so it shouldn’t be the TV (Samsung Q60r). I thought it was the PS4 or XB1 causing the lag when encoding audio into bitstream (Dolby Digital or Atmos), but from your case it seems like it’s not since your PS4 worked fine before Sonos, so it must be something between the consoles and Sonos specifically...


And yeah, I’ve done fair amount of research too and it’s an issue for both the beam and Arc.

 

We could have switched the console output to PCM if the Arc supported multichannel PCM to at least have 5.1, but it apparently doesn’t right now lol. (Tho some other thread said a software update to enable that might come in the future, just not ETA yet)


It really sucks that I can’t even have surround sound when gaming since I like the Arc so much… Sonos should really address this :/

 

 

I’m having the same problem (edit: I own an LG B7) and I’ve been looking around for days for a solution. Meanwhile, I have been running an optical cable from the ps4 to the supplied optical to hdmi adaptor and plugging that into the arc when I play ps4. I switch the audio on the ps4 to optical and I get 5.1 with no delay. I just have to unplug the optical hdmi and plug my tv back in when I’m done. It’s a pain, but it works for now. 

Same issue here as well. I have PS4 Pro → LG C8 → Sonos Arc. Tried multiple settings with AV delay. No lag with Apple TV 4K passing through. Only PS4 right now. Hopefully Sonos can come out with a software fix soon. I saw multiple people were having the same issue even with different TV. 

I’m having the same problem (edit: I own an LG B7) and I’ve been looking around for days for a solution. Meanwhile, I have been running an optical cable from the ps4 to the supplied optical to hdmi adaptor and plugging that into the arc when I play ps4. I switch the audio on the ps4 to optical and I get 5.1 with no delay. I just have to unplug the optical hdmi and plug my tv back in when I’m done. It’s a pain, but it works for now. 

Haha exactly what I’m doing now too, except that I’ve ordered an hdmi switch to do the switching instead of constantly plugging and unplugging myself.

Oh, this thread scared me.  (I am not Sonos soundbar owner, but I have ordered a white Sonos ARC surround set and still waiting for the shipment)

Currently I have two sets of devices.

  1. Xbox One X ←hdmi→ Samsung TV ←earc→ Samsung soundbar
  2. PS4 Pro / Nintendo Switch ←hdmi→ Vizio TV ←arc→ JBL soundbar

And none of them have any audio lag issue. The only issue of Samsung is my wife doesn’t like black speakers in the living room so I ordered Sonos :( 

 

I’m having the same problem (edit: I own an LG B7) and I’ve been looking around for days for a solution. Meanwhile, I have been running an optical cable from the ps4 to the supplied optical to hdmi adaptor and plugging that into the arc when I play ps4. I switch the audio on the ps4 to optical and I get 5.1 with no delay. I just have to unplug the optical hdmi and plug my tv back in when I’m done. It’s a pain, but it works for now. 

Haha exactly what I’m doing now too, except that I’ve ordered an hdmi switch to do the switching instead of constantly plugging and unplugging myself.

Same here! Can you specify which HDMI switch you purchased please? Thanks

I’m having the same problem (edit: I own an LG B7) and I’ve been looking around for days for a solution. Meanwhile, I have been running an optical cable from the ps4 to the supplied optical to hdmi adaptor and plugging that into the arc when I play ps4. I switch the audio on the ps4 to optical and I get 5.1 with no delay. I just have to unplug the optical hdmi and plug my tv back in when I’m done. It’s a pain, but it works for now. 

Haha exactly what I’m doing now too, except that I’ve ordered an hdmi switch to do the switching instead of constantly plugging and unplugging myself.

Same here! Can you specify which HDMI switch you purchased please? Thanks

Ugh.. so the HDMI switch i ordered on Amazon arrived today and nope - doesn’t work. My TV doesn’t seem to recognize the arc anymore with the switch in the middle. But the thing is, it doesn’t really recognize my apple tv 4k either with ATV → HDMI switch → TV so it could be the switch, tho I suspect it’s something with HDMI switches in general, idk.

Anyway, I might look into some other switches with faster rate support. Worst case I’ll just have to do the job myself, adding some friction to gaming, which could be a good thing after all :)

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No, it was PS4 > TV > AMP.

 

The only difference now is PS4 > TV > Sonos Arc.

 

Had 0 issues with before with sound, now with the Arc connected, getting major delay. 

Were your settings on the ps4 the same? I have a strong suspicion that this delay is due to the consoles transcoding to dolby digital due to the lack of lpcm output...

Have you set the LG audio settings to Pass through with EARC on ? You can try turning the setting on then off in the LG menu. Go back into the Ps4 audio and make sure it’s not asking if you want to send 7.1. Reconfirm its 5.1 then Bitstream Dolby. 

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Have you set the LG audio settings to Pass through with EARC on ? You can try turning the setting on then off in the LG menu. Go back into the Ps4 audio and make sure it’s not asking if you want to send 7.1. Reconfirm its 5.1 then Bitstream Dolby. 

Lg also has a separate setting to match audio to video, at least on the c9, which defaults to off.

I’m having the same problem (edit: I own an LG B7) and I’ve been looking around for days for a solution. Meanwhile, I have been running an optical cable from the ps4 to the supplied optical to hdmi adaptor and plugging that into the arc when I play ps4. I switch the audio on the ps4 to optical and I get 5.1 with no delay. I just have to unplug the optical hdmi and plug my tv back in when I’m done. It’s a pain, but it works for now. 

 

Hey,

ich have the same issue. I didnt understand how you connect that.
Can you make a picture?

 

Manu

I’m having the same problem (edit: I own an LG B7) and I’ve been looking around for days for a solution. Meanwhile, I have been running an optical cable from the ps4 to the supplied optical to hdmi adaptor and plugging that into the arc when I play ps4. I switch the audio on the ps4 to optical and I get 5.1 with no delay. I just have to unplug the optical hdmi and plug my tv back in when I’m done. It’s a pain, but it works for now. 

 

Hey,

ich have the same issue. I didnt understand how you connect that.
Can you make a picture?

 

Manu

I have an hdmi cable that runs from the ps4 to the TV for video and then I plug in an optical cable into the ps4 and run that to the sonos arc for the sound. But since the arc does not have optical, I use the supplied optical to hdmi adapter. In ps4 audio settings, you have to change the audio to “output via optical” to get the 5.1 with no delay

I’m having the same problem (edit: I own an LG B7) and I’ve been looking around for days for a solution. Meanwhile, I have been running an optical cable from the ps4 to the supplied optical to hdmi adaptor and plugging that into the arc when I play ps4. I switch the audio on the ps4 to optical and I get 5.1 with no delay. I just have to unplug the optical hdmi and plug my tv back in when I’m done. It’s a pain, but it works for now. 

 

Hey,

ich have the same issue. I didnt understand how you connect that.
Can you make a picture?

 

Manu

I have an hdmi cable that runs from the ps4 to the TV for video and then I plug in an optical cable into the ps4 and run that to the sonos arc for the sound. But since the arc does not have optical, I use the supplied optical to hdmi adapter. In ps4 audio settings, you have to change the audio to “output via optical” to get the 5.1 with no delay

Thank you very much. Now it works fine. I hope that sonos can fixed the problem, my tv is 3 years old ( Sony XE90 ), or lies the issue by sony? I wish a nice weekend :)