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Xbox Series X and Sonos ARC gaming audio lag concerns

  • 30 December 2020
  • 3 replies
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I am in the process of upgrading my family room home theater system with a new television/Xbox Series X/Sonos ARC.  We do a significant amount of online gaming and I am concerned about multiple blogs complaining about in-game audio lag with this setup.  This appears to be an issue across multiple setups including non-SONOS sound bars.  Before I spend a ton of cash I am wondering if there is an inherent problem with the console>TV>eARC>soundbar format with gaming specifically.  I envision that there is limited ability to adjust AV sync with online gaming since it is quite important not to have a delay in either in this environment.  

For reference my current set up is XBOX One X with audio directly out to Playbar via optical and HDMI to my television with no delay issues but obviously only outputting 5.1.

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Best answer by melvimbe 30 December 2020, 17:42

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3 replies

audio lag is usually an issue with your TV adding additional audio processing.  The solution can sometimes be a firmware update from your TV maker.  However, since TV makers sell TVs on video quality, not audio, it’s not usually a top concern.  The alternative solution here is to get an HD Fury Arcana, which will allow you to use an eARC connection to the Sonos Arc without sending the signal through the TV.  I think it’s a good idea to get an Arcana regardless, so you don’t have to limit your TV options to only those with eARC capabilities.

There are two other possibilities I can think of.  One is that the audio is mulichannel LPCM, which Sonos only recently started supporting.  It’s possible audio delays are occurring in the Arc for that codec, but I haven’t heard any issues about that.  The other is that the delay is happening in the the xbox itself.  It’s a new product, so entirely possible the bugs aren’t fully worked out yet.

Userlevel 3

Thanks melvimbe.

I definitely think that the Arcana looks like a must have to establish a direct audio output to the SONOS ARC and bypass the television.  Just wondering if anyone has set up the Xbox Series X with the Sonos ARC (via eARC or via Arcana) and had it successfully work with online gaming (Fortnite etc.) without audio lag.  I’d much rather plan ahead rather than troubleshoot later :)

@NephronX  you might want to check out post #513

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/hdfury-arcana-earc-adapter-for-sonos-arc-and-bose-700-soundbars.3153792/page-26