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backhuis
Newbie

audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port

i have a significant audio lag when playing my xbox series S

 my xbox is connected to my r635 and my r635 is connected to my TCL 9+ soundbar by ARC

audio setting is on auto passthrough...

when i switch to PCM, it works fine but i can not use Dolby atmos in PCM and i bought this soundbar in part because of the basic atmos effect

i know i can plug it  directly into the soundbar but when i do that , image flicker sometimes

Any workaround?

#TCLr635#tcl9+

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10 REPLIES 10
Redfell
Channel Surfer

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port

For what it's worth, it's not just you. I have the 75R635 and have had nothing but issues with its ARC implementation; massive audio delays, crashes, and more.

The audio delay issue is particularly terrible when using Atmos. There's barely any delay with DTS or 2-channel PCM. I'm assuming (as far as I understand it, at least) that this is because the TV is doing some re-encoding to pass Atmos through ARC which, unlike eARC, does not have the bandwidth to pass "true" Atmos.

It's frustrating at best. The more I tinker with this unit, the more I regret my purchase.

Visitor45763
Roku Guru

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port


@backhuis wrote: i have a significant audio lag when playing my xbox

There are other (long) threads about this (and no acknowledgement from Roku of any problem). For example:

https://community.roku.com/t5/Discussions/The-9-4-Update-has-broken-HDR-and-added-input-lag-on-my-20...

https://community.roku.com/t5/Discussions/Roku-TV-Audio-out-of-sync-and-visual-lagging/m-p/517912#M2...

If it were me, I would do a factory reset but tell the initial setup you'll connect to internet later. This seems to use some less adulterated/bloated version of Roku's software. You might find that that works better. If you need to stream, then add an external streaming device to HDMI.

I'm not sure how much that fixes. But, it seems to be the only possible relief (considering how Roku ignores all these problems). It wouldn't hurt anything to try it.

 

 

"People are often amazed at how much we’ve done with the number of engineers we’ve got." (Roku CEO Anthony Wood, Austin Statesman, Oct 4, 2019). "Amazed" is one way of putting it.
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Redfell
Channel Surfer

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port



If it were me, I would do a factory reset but tell the initial setup you'll connect to internet later. This seems to use some less adulterated/bloated version of Roku's software. You might find that that works better. If you need to stream, then add an external streaming device to HDMI.

I'm not sure how much that fixes. But, it seems to be the only possible relief (considering how Roku ignores all these problems). It wouldn't hurt anything to try it.


I will try this tomorrow and will report on, if any, improvements.

Redfell
Channel Surfer

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port

I've reset my 635 and skipped giving the unit access to a network connection. The problem remains - no better or worse than before. Here's a video example. The audio is low but it does show the issue:

https://youtu.be/asomx3tgf10

Of interest is that once I've set it to DTS, Auto passthrough, and then power cycled the TV, the delay in DTS mode is barely noticeable. It doesn't resolve the issue with Atmos, but at least DTS is better than stereo PCM.

psyko_chewbacca
Reel Rookie

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port

I have the same issue.

TCL 55R635

LG SN8YG Dolby Atmos soundbar

Xbox Series X

Playstation 4 Pro.

 

TV audio setup is set to "Automatic transmission" rather than "Auto detect" and it seem to have the same result as setting explicitely to PCM Stereo, which I would assume will still enable Dolby content from internal streaming app.

 

On both consoles setting audio output to anything other than PCM Stereo will introduce noticeable audio delay. This is obviously unacceptable.

 

I'm still in the return window to get rid of it but I'm finding it hard to find a similarily priced TV that includes all the gaming features I want (HDR, VRR, ALLM). Anybody has a suggestion?

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GuitarMan
Roku Guru

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port

Same issue here.

TCL 65R635

TCL Alto 9+ soundbar.

Vizio 5.1 soundbar.

The delay varies based on the input I select on the TV, or whether I'm using the TV's built in apps.   Based on the input I select I have to go into the TV's audio settings and change back and forth between Auto Detect and Auto Passthrough.  With the TV's internal apps I have to set it to Auto Passthrough.  With an external device I have to set it to Auto Detect.  These settings usually sync the audio and video. 

it also gets better if I connect the external device to the soundbar's HDMI input. 

For your Xbox issue, try setting the TV's audio to Auto Detect. 

As I mentioned in a couple of other threads, TCL told me yesterday that the problem is a known issue with the Roku software and it's supposed to be fixed in firmware update 10.0.  I'll believe it when I see it.

psyko_chewbacca
Reel Rookie

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port

Thanks for the reply.

 

Constantly fiddling around audio settings in the TV isn't acceptable. I tried that as well. It will sometimes reduce the audio delay but there is still a perceptible delay. In a FPS game, firing a gun has the sound delayed enough that it's quite distracting; I must be sensible to this kind of thing.

 

I even bought HDMI 2.1 certified cables for all my devices just to be on the safe side. Didn't change a thing.

 

As for the update. You couldn't have said it better! Do you know if there's a hard ETA on it? I still have 2.5 weeks before I'm out of the return window. I still want to keep this TV as the closest competitor I found available where I live (Sony X900H) is close to twice the price I paid for the TCL. But if that update does not come in really soon, I will pay the extra to get over this mess.

 

This whole issue is way too much trouble for what it's worth. I have had this TV for a little over a week now and I wonder what other types of issues I will encounter in the future. I mean, outputting audio is not some weird and rare scenario; it's pretty basic TV functionality. If this is broken, what else is?

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Justgaming
Reel Rookie

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port

Exact same issue here, friend!

Excitedly bought the C635, which is actually my first TV upgrade in 14 years. But I can't overcome the audio delay even though all I'm using are TV speakers. I've experimented with every setting I possible could on the TV and Xbox Series X, but the audio delay is even there on stereo uncompressed. 

The Auto Update tells me my TV is updated to the latest FW (v496) and I should mention that there is no lag at all when using headphones plugged straight into the controller. 

Really frustrated. Not sure if this is a TV issue or Xbox. I don't remember noticing any lag with the SX on my previous Sony Bravia KLV-400A. 

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psyko_chewbacca
Reel Rookie

Re: audio lag TCL9+ soundbar and TCL r635 on the ARC port

I ended up returning the TV and bought a Sony X900H instead. It was the best move. After more than a year with the Sony, I am very happy with my purchase!

 

The out of the box experience was so much better. Everything has been working as expected.

 

Plus androidtv is just so much better than Roku... For once you can sideload apps like SmartTubeNext which is a YouTube app without adds and integrates Sponsorblock functionality. Something you cannot do on Roku.

 

Do yourself a favor and ditch TCL. They're cheaper than the competition for a reason.

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