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Series X has audio lag issues when it comes to bitstream format.

So I just purchased myself a Samsung HW-Q950T 9.1.4 soundbar. Fantastic purchase. It's amazing how it holds up against my previous 7.1 setup. I am a bit shocked at how good soundbars sound now. Never though I could get a Dolby Atmos experience worth a damn from a soundbar setup but here we are.

Anyway, the experience is great with both my Switch and my PS5. Audio lag is either not perceptible or nonexistent. While both the PS5 and the Switch doesn't support Atmos, the 7.1 standard Dolby / DTS formats still work great.

I was really anticipating using this new purchase with my Series X since it supports both Atmos and DTS:X. So I hooked the thing on my TV using eARC and the Series X using a 2.1 hdmi cable, set the whole thing properly and lo and behold, there is a significant amount of audio lag. So much that it's borderline unplayable. In fact , the lag is perceptible just by moving in the main UI dashboard. It doesn't happen on Netflix though, just in the main interface or in games. Movies are ok.

I've tried plugging the Series X into the soundbar directly since it has 2x 2.1 hdmi imputs on it ind while the lag is slightly reduced, it's still way too damn noticeable. Like I'm playing Dirt 5 and everytime I take air time and land, I hear the landing sound significantly after I landed. when I play Gears 5, I hear the sound of the gun after I can see the gun firing. We're talking about a .4 second delay, more or less. There is also other ty0es 9f ossues, like Resident Evil 2 using Dolby Atmos doesn't seem to.be using the rear speakers properly, etc.

Really disappointed by this. I've heard that MS are aware of the lag issues and that they said this will fix this in a future update, but then I've heard this issue also happened on the One X, which never got fixed :(

I really hope this will be fixed soon because I would LOVE to be playing my games in Atmos...
 

Kindjal

Member
I have the same soundbar, and curiously, I haven't had any sound lag issues with my Xbox One, and Atmos in games is amazing, but with my PS4 and 5 I'm forced to use bitstream DTS, because with Bitstream Dolby the lag is unbearable. Sometimes the sound desyncs, and to fix it I have to completely turn off my PS4/5 and the soundbar and then everything on again. I've also lessen the frequency of this issue by turning on the TV and soundbar first and then the consoles.
 
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KillaJamm

Member
I've got an LG SN7CY just hooked up via HMDI ARC to my B9 and I've always had issues on my One X and now Series X when it is set to Dolby. DTS works flawlessly on both consoles. When it comes to anything ran through the TV apps like Netflix Dolby is fine though and even Atmos is amazing. After a bit of research it seems to have been an ongoing issue that Microsoft has never even attempted to rectify. There are literally threads dating back 3 years with the exact same problems and still no fix.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
I have the same soundbar and had a lot of lag too till I changed a sound setting on my Q950TS TV, I had to set Digital Audio Format setting to passthrough to get rid of the lag.

P.S. Are you sure that soundbar has HDMI 2.1 ports? 👀
 
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I have the same soundbar and had a lot of lag too till I changed a sound setting on my Q950TS TV, I had to set Digital Audio Format setting to passthrough to get rid of the lag.

P.S. Are you sure that soundbar has HDMI 2.1 ports? 👀
Yes it has. The Series X test settings has green checkmarks for literally everything (ALLM, VRR, 4K120, etc) while plugged directly on the soundbar.

Otherwise, Passthrough doesn't seem to allow Dolby atmos to work properly on my LG CX. I need to use the auto setting. Plugging directly on the soundbar diminishes the lag and makes passthrough work, but the lag is the same as auto.


It all seems very finicky.
 

Three

Gold Member
So I just purchased myself a Samsung HW-Q950T 9.1.4 soundbar. Fantastic purchase. It's amazing how it holds up against my previous 7.1 setup. I am a bit shocked at how good soundbars sound now. Never though I could get a Dolby Atmos experience worth a damn from a soundbar setup but here we are.

Anyway, the experience is great with both my Switch and my PS5. Audio lag is either not perceptible or nonexistent. While both the PS5 and the Switch doesn't support Atmos, the 7.1 standard Dolby / DTS formats still work great.

I was really anticipating using this new purchase with my Series X since it supports both Atmos and DTS:X. So I hooked the thing on my TV using eARC and the Series X using a 2.1 hdmi cable, set the whole thing properly and lo and behold, there is a significant amount of audio lag. So much that it's borderline unplayable. In fact , the lag is perceptible just by moving in the main UI dashboard. It doesn't happen on Netflix though, just in the main interface or in games. Movies are ok.

I've tried plugging the Series X into the soundbar directly since it has 2x 2.1 hdmi imputs on it ind while the lag is slightly reduced, it's still way too damn noticeable. Like I'm playing Dirt 5 and everytime I take air time and land, I hear the landing sound significantly after I landed. when I play Gears 5, I hear the sound of the gun after I can see the gun firing. We're talking about a .4 second delay, more or less. There is also other ty0es 9f ossues, like Resident Evil 2 using Dolby Atmos doesn't seem to.be using the rear speakers properly, etc.

Really disappointed by this. I've heard that MS are aware of the lag issues and that they said this will fix this in a future update, but then I've heard this issue also happened on the One X, which never got fixed :(

I really hope this will be fixed soon because I would LOVE to be playing my games in Atmos...
It might be the soundbar. One of the soundbars I have has a setting to sync the audio and before I adjusted it it was lagging. You can even put make it negative lag. I have no idea how it does this.
 

Kuranghi

Gold Member
Not really what you want to hear but I've heard this many times about Samsung soundbars, that there is lag introduced when using ARC/eARC, presumably its doing something internally before it passes it down the ARC connection which introduces the lag. As someone else said in the thread there is a lag offset somewhere on the TV or in the bar settings but its for the other direction usually, ie early audio.

Maybe this can help you out: https://www.avforums.com/threads/sa...00t-soundbar-review-comments.2307940/page-162
 
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Ulysses 31

Member
Yes it has. The Series X test settings has green checkmarks for literally everything (ALLM, VRR, 4K120, etc) while plugged directly on the soundbar.

Otherwise, Passthrough doesn't seem to allow Dolby atmos to work properly on my LG CX. I need to use the auto setting. Plugging directly on the soundbar diminishes the lag and makes passthrough work, but the lag is the same as auto.


It all seems very finicky.
Gave it a quick try with my CX and it gave audio for a little while then it disappeared. 0o

Didn't get any audio with Atmos games like Gears 4&5. Yeah I'd be pissed as an Xbox player if I only had the CX to use with the Q950T soundbar.

CX + Sonos Arc is working fine though. :p
 
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soulbait

Member
I have an Dolby Atmos setup for my XSX and I have not noticed any audio lag (I am really sensitive as well).

I do have my XSX directly hooked up to my A/V Receiver (Sony STR-DN1080). Then my HDMI out from the receiver goes through my Hue Sync Box, and then to my TV. So my setup is different than yours, but I am not thinking this is an XSX issue. If it was an XSX issue, I would think I would definitely have audio lag due to the Hue Sync.
 
Not really what you want to hear but I've heard this many times about Samsung soundbars, that there is lag introduced when using ARC/eARC, presumably its doing something internally before it passes it down the ARC connection which introduces the lag. As someone else said in the thread there is a lag offset somewhere on the TV or in the bar settings but its for the other direction usually, ie early audio.

Maybe this can help you out: https://www.avforums.com/threads/sa...00t-soundbar-review-comments.2307940/page-162

I've read that thread. People are saying that it also happens on their other systems, different from the Q950T. It's an issue very specific to bitstream with Dolby Atmos for Home Theater selected. Many already contacted MS and they are aware of the issues and are saying that they will fix the issue in a later update. The question is, will they really fix it?
Gave it a quick try with my CX and it gave audio for a little while then it disappeared. 0o

Didn't get any audio with Atmos games like Gears 4&5. Yeah I'd be pissed as an Xbox player if I only had the CX to use with the Q950T soundbar.

CX + Sonos Arc is working fine though. :p

I had a similar issue before with my CX but it got fixed once I changed the cable I was using for the eARC connection, the cable that went from the soundbar to the TV. So now I am using 2 proper hdmi 2.1 cables, one from the Series X to the hdmi input of the soundbar and the other one from the soundbar to the TV and I have no issue anymore. No display cut, no sound cut. But yes, the Q950T + CX is one frustrating combo. LG's passthrough not working properly, no DTS codec either whereas the Samsung bar somehow doesn't support LPCM 5.1/7.1 because reasons so you're forced to use bitstream.
I have an Dolby Atmos setup for my XSX and I have not noticed any audio lag (I am really sensitive as well).

I do have my XSX directly hooked up to my A/V Receiver (Sony STR-DN1080). Then my HDMI out from the receiver goes through my Hue Sync Box, and then to my TV. So my setup is different than yours, but I am not thinking this is an XSX issue. If it was an XSX issue, I would think I would definitely have audio lag due to the Hue Sync.
The bitstream lag with Dolby codec (Dolby digital or Dolby Atmos) is an Xbox issue though, MS themselves responds to people contacting them that they are aware of the issue. More so, this lag doesn't happen on any other device that I own other than the Series X for me. Same exact setup, but different result.

The only way I can get a lag free experience right now is to plug the Series X directly to my soundbar and then select bitstream > DTS or DTS:X. Thing is, no game is using DTS:X so I have no choice but to user DTS. It's alright, but I wish I could use those XYZ sound metadata for the games that support it :(
 
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on my CX I had to enable Ppssthrough on the TV in sound settings to use eARC without latency when Atmos is enabled. It's been working great.. Perhaps there's a similar setting on Samsung?
 

Allandor

Member
Have you rebooted your console after setting up the sound settings in the console menu?
I had the same issue after I changed the audio settings. Seems to be a driver issue that it lags when you use it directly. One console reboot and the problem was solved.
 
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