Sonos Arc lip sync issues.



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Userlevel 6
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Hi @richiemiami.

Welcome to the Sonos community and thanks for reaching out to us.

I would recommend the following steps so we can do a comparison of the data that will be received as well as we can check what is going on with the ARC.

Please take note of the confirmation number in each situation. this may give us a lot of information so we can check how the ARC behaves in each scenario.

Please let me know how it goes. We are always here to help.

Thanks,

 

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Hello all. Seems like this is the most current chat on the audio sync issue with the ARC.  Not trying to hijack the thread, but just keep a current single documented conversation.  
 

I have a new setup with an existing Sony XBR TV and a new ARC, Sub and two Sonos One’s.  I am also getting the lip sync issues with every source I have tried- Apple TV, Xfinity boxes, and in TV apps like YouTube TV.  I first thought it was a YouTube issue until I saw it in the Xfinity Flex box, then the Apple TV.  I also have tried the optical adapter with no luck and I’ve been exclusively using the Sonos cable.  I haven’t submitted a diagnostic yet, I will do so tomorrow.  What is bad is that Sonos says if the audio lags the video, which it does, they have no solution.

 

And now for the worst part- I used the Sonos trade-in program at Best Buy to upgrade older Sonos pieces.  Now I’m seriously thinking I need to return this kit if I cannot find an acceptable solution.  But, then I don’t have my old products back in return.  So what is the Sonos solution for this?  If I return the ARC, et al, I then have nothing. 
 

Erik
 

 

Userlevel 6
Badge +17

HI @ekkoville.

Welcome to the Sonos community and thanks for reaching out to us. 

I would suggest going over the recommendation above so we can do multiple comparisons on the Sonos’ behavior in each situation.

Hi @richiemiami.

Welcome to the Sonos community and thanks for reaching out to us.

I would recommend the following steps so we can do a comparison of the data that will be received as well as we can check what is going on with the ARC.

Please take note of the confirmation number in each situation. this may give us a lot of information so we can check how the ARC behaves in each scenario.

Please let me know how it goes. We are always here to help.

Thanks,

 

Please let me know how it goes. We are always here to help.

Thanks,

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I have recently purchased the Philips805 and Sonos Arc.  The TV apps work perfectly with the TV and sound bar, I am getting Atmos DD+ which is great on Netflix. 5.1 and other formats also all work perfectly whilst watching the streaming apps. Now here is where the problem starts. When watching TV via my V6 Box I get lip sync issues with all 2.1 and 5.1 TV shows/films etc. Stereo works perfectly fine and last night I surprised to see I had no issues when watching BT Ultimate, which gave me Atmos DD+.

The only way around is to connect the optical cable to the from the V6 Box to the Arc. This way fixes all the lip sync issues with 2.1 and 5.1, but I then lose all sound on the TV apps such as Netflix, Prime etc and also lose Atmos DD+ on BT Ultimate. I don't mind changing the cables in the Sonos Arc short term, but I want a long term fix.  I brought the Arc to keep things simple and clean, I love the sound but not the faff it is causing. I never experienced these problems on my previous set up.

I am having the same audio delay issues with Arc. I have an LG B8 Tv, AppleTV 4k.  all audio processing is turned off and set to bypass.  I have a noticeable delay, especially on Atmos content.  Tried everything.  It’s very difficult to tell if its the TV or the Sonos.   I previously had a Sonos Beam connected to the same TV and had no issues.  

Ok so let me get this straight this a premium soundbar that cost $1000 has audio delay issues and no 2.1 HDMI pass through on the soundbar?! What idiot thought that would be great idea? I was going to pick this up, but not now, I also smell a class action law suit because the product is obviously broken and cost is premium and maybe you can get away without the 2.1 HDMI pass through, but those audio sync issues are a problem and at that price Sonos is basically stealing people’s money for a broken product this just absolutely disgusting business practices.

Just out of interest, those of you who have upgraded from another Sonos product to the ARC and then suffered lip-sync issues, what was the other product, did it work without lip sync and what was the sound like compared to the ARC please?

I have the same issues. I have written to my retailer to kick off a support query, but, I want to be ready to send the ARC back and swap to a previous Sonos product, hence the questions above.

Thanks, Dave

I am also having the same issue with my brand new Sonos Arc and new Sony Bravia XH90 TV. It is really upsetting having spent so much money and then to have these lip sync issues. In TV Apps work fine but there is a noticeable lag when watching from my Virgin box.  I would not have cashed out on a Sonos setup had I known this issue was going to occur. Also frustrating that older Sonos products will not work on the new S2 App. Seems like a money making exercise to me.

 

As others have mentioned, the HD Fury Arcana is being mooted as the solution, allowing external devices such as SKY/VM boxes to bypass the TV and direct sound straight to the soundbar. I really think that Sonos need to release a similar device free of charge to us.

Since my last post on this i have carried out some testing on mine.

i have a Sky Q box, Sony XF90 and the Arc.

All my apps on the TV work fine without any sync issues, as does my Panasonic BD player.

I removed everything on the TV that looked like it was processing the Audio, I managed to get some gains.

BUT, one of the tests I did was play the Sky box into the TV and use the TV speakers. Guess what, the lip sync was there at that point. 

So, my problem is not the ARC per se, but, the issue has already started before the ARC. I cannot use the optical out on the Sky box as I have other inputs I use on the TV and I am not going to swap wires every time I want to watch something different.

The solution here in my mind was very simple. Why can't these devices (Sky, TV, ARC) have a +/- on their li sync setting. That was the users have the ultimate way of dialling out the issues on their systems. Also, get the ARC to have multiple inputs and use the ARC as a traditional “switching unit” like a true AV receiver. To me it all seems simple.

 

Since my last post on this i have carried out some testing on mine.

i have a Sky Q box, Sony XF90 and the Arc.

All my apps on the TV work fine without any sync issues, as does my Panasonic BD player.

I removed everything on the TV that looked like it was processing the Audio, I managed to get some gains.

BUT, one of the tests I did was play the Sky box into the TV and use the TV speakers. Guess what, the lip sync was there at that point. 

So, my problem is not the ARC per se, but, the issue has already started before the ARC. I cannot use the optical out on the Sky box as I have other inputs I use on the TV and I am not going to swap wires every time I want to watch something different.

The solution here in my mind was very simple. Why can't these devices (Sky, TV, ARC) have a +/- on their li sync setting. That was the users have the ultimate way of dialling out the issues on their systems. Also, get the ARC to have multiple inputs and use the ARC as a traditional “switching unit” like a true AV receiver. To me it all seems simple.

 

Some TV manufacturers have resolved these issues by allowing ‘pass-through’ on the HDMI/Optical ports and so the connection passes to the Receiver without any processing or interruption from the TV - a bit like bypassing the TV with an audio splitter. 

^ Thanks, I had heard something about this pass through. I have checked the XF90 and cannot see this as an option on my TV within the menu structure.

^ Thanks, I had heard something about this pass through. I have checked the XF90 and cannot see this as an option on my TV within the menu structure.

I understand LG use ‘pass-through’ and they also have a lip-sync adjustment feature within the settings on some of their latest TV’s: 

https://www.lg.com/ca_en/support/product-help/CT20098005-1399374324873

Hi there,

I’m also having issues with the lip sync lag. I just purchased the Sonos Arc to create a home cinema in combination with the LG Largo Cinembeam (with ARC HDMI input). Loving this projector, by the way.

Ok, so - I am using the Sonos Arc HDMI cable supplied. I purchased the Sonos Arc for the Atmos capability, so I’m bummed that the only options after reading the threads seem to be:
1) Use an Optical cable and then not make use of Atmos, which is a major characteristic of this soundbar, 
2) Live with the annoying sync lag,
3) Send the object back,
4) While it’s a workaround, I don’t think it’s acceptable for Sonos Arc users to throw another 200 euros on a third party product switch/splitter to fix this issue/potential flauw. Adding the extra device undermines the intended simplicity of the object, as the big draw is to have a simulated surround experience in one clean beautiful object.

I’ve had a Sonos Playbar for many years and that works perfectly for my Samsung TV.

Sonos: will there be a firmware update to occur to fix this shortly - shortly being the 30 day return period? If the issue is inherent to the Sonos Arc, then it would be logical for Sonos to fix this issue of their top-of-the-line Soundbar.

Hi there,

I’m also having issues with the lip sync lag. I just purchased the Sonos Arc to create a home cinema in combination with the LG Largo Cinembeam (with ARC HDMI input). Loving this projector, by the way.

Ok, so - I am using the Sonos Arc HDMI cable supplied. I purchased the Sonos Arc for the Atmos capability, so I’m bummed that the only options after reading the threads seem to be:
1) Use an Optical cable and then not make use of Atmos, which is a major characteristic of this soundbar, 
2) Live with the annoying sync lag,
3) Send the object back,
4) While it’s a workaround, I don’t think it’s acceptable for Sonos Arc users to throw another 200 euros on a third party product switch/splitter to fix this issue/potential flauw. Adding the extra device undermines the intended simplicity of the object, as the big draw is to have a simulated surround experience in one clean beautiful object.

I’ve had a Sonos Playbar for many years and that works perfectly for my Samsung TV.

Sonos: will there be a firmware update to occur to fix this shortly - shortly being the 30 day return period? If the issue is inherent to the Sonos Arc, then it would be logical for Sonos to fix this issue of their top-of-the-line Soundbar.

I just can’t see how Sonos can fix a delay in receiving the processed audio - the Arc plays it as soon as it arrives, with virtually little or no buffering involved and no transcoding. The issue is what is happening to the audio before it arrives at the Arc that is causing the delays and lip-sync issues.

The HDFury Arcana, or other audio extractor/pass-through devices, are often there to bypass some TV’s that cannot either handle or process the required audio quickly enough through its ports… so this is not actually a Sonos Arc issue, it’s the sending device, or a device situated enroute to the Receiver …  a good many TV’s work okay, so that in itself perhaps shows where the issues really lie here.  

I am with Ken on this. The issue for me happened before it even got the the Sonos Arc. I still think the ability to have a negative and positive sync adjustment is the simple way forward. 

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Yep tried all of the correct procedures but no joy, contacted Samsung who’s reply was it’s a Sonos problem. If I can’t find a solution I will be returning the arc.

If you do not have eArc on your TV or have lip sync problems, here is the solution.  An adapter that sits between video source and Sonos arc!  it's time for Sonos to start promoting this product, for your own sake. https://www.hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/

I have the same issue with a Philips OLED TV. I complained to Sonos & Philips. Sonos said it was the TV. Philips sent me an upgraded TV but the issue remains. Sonos say it is the TV that is the causing the issue when trying to process the 5.1 signal. My workaround is an optical splitter which isn’t ideal. They say TV’s with eARC are preferable but I don’t know if that’s true. I have a Sonos Beam. Does the Playbar have the same issues?

Would the HDFury solve my issues?

I am contemplating asking Philips to take the TV back and I will get another TV (with eARC). But reading the forums I may get another make TV with the same issue. So frustrating.

Userlevel 1

Hi All,

I had massive issues with Lip sync and they now seem to be solved.

My Setup  is  a Sonos Arc plugged into the E-ARC HDMI port on a Samsung QE85Q70T. I also have a NVidia Shield Pro running Plex plugged into the TV via a HDMI port.

My Audio sync issues were much more prominent on the Netflix and Plex on the Nvidia shield.

 

My fix was as follows:

  1. On the Samsung TV go to TV > Setting > Sound > Expert Settings
  2. Digital Output Audio for…. option was set to “Auto”. I changed it to “Pass-Through”
  3. Digiti Outut Audio Delay was set at 100. I changed it to 0

 

My issues now seems to be resolved including for True HD 7.1 Atmos Blueray rips on Plex.

Hope this helps someone.

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I am with Ken on this. The issue for me happened before it even got the the Sonos Arc. I still think the ability to have a negative and positive sync adjustment is the simple way forward. 

this makes so much sense. My video is ahead of audio for some reason. I have Arcana and a projector. So annoying to not be able to get it in sync. 

@airbag41 . Do you mean video ahead of audio? That is surprising with the Arcana.

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Yes video ahead of audio. I can’t figure it out. All was until about 3 or 4 months ago and then something happened. I suspect it is on the ATV side but even though I run the wireless sync option it doesn’t change anything, even if I run it in different frame rates. I’m going to test today with an old BR player and see if can isolate the issue but so far no luck.

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Yes video ahead of audio. I can’t figure it out. All was until about 3 or 4 months ago and then something happened. I suspect it is on the ATV side but even though I run the wireless sync option it doesn’t change anything, even if I run it in different frame rates. I’m going to test today with an old BR player and see if can isolate the issue but so far no luck.

So just tested with BR file and the delay is the same. So now I know it is not ATV but somewhere in the Vertex 2 > Arcana > projector / Sonos side. 

Could you confirm what all the connections are in your setup. What are the sources (clearly ATV is one)?

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Could you confirm what all the connections are in your setup. What are the sources (clearly ATV is one)?

Sure, I have ATV and a BR which goes in to a Hd Fury Vertex 2, then that goes in to Hd Fury Arcana. The arcana splits and eArc goes to Sonos Arc and video goes to Epson. The lip sync issue seems to be that the video is ever so slightly ahead of the audio. Just enough to be annoying. I have tried resetting and unplugging anything but no luck. 

Sorry if this has been said, but the solution is obvious, but not trivial. TV manufacturers should allow configurable picture delay

Not letting Sonos off the hook, but logic dictates that the onus of processing delays lies on the eArc processor (e.g., the TV), not any sound system.

In a fantasy world, processing power would obviate this need, but we know that won't happen soon, if ever. 

Sonos can only play the signal as quickly as it is provided it.