HomePod Airplay 2 Multiroom Latency

[MrTennessean]

Great to see Airplay 2 finally launched today!

Anyone else getting some pretty noticeable latency between airplay speakers? I'm using a Homepod and Apple TV? Any thoughts on a workaround or fix?

 

[KrispE00]

I have about 1/2 sec delay between HomePod and Apple TV 4K hooked directly to the TV. It’s just as I suspected would happen. There needs to be a manual individual delay setting for each speaker.

 

[ignatius345]

I've been using multi-room AirPlay for a few years now, going from iTunes on my Mac to an AirPort Express in one room and an ATV 4th Gen in another. Sound has always been in sync among all three sets of speakers (including my Mac itself).

Until now. With Airplay 2, I'm now hearing a disturbing bit of latency on the one device that is showing as an AirPlay 2 enabled target: the Apple TV.

Wish I could roll back to AirPlay 1, because it was working perfectly.

 

[ryanast]

Hey everyone - I would like to add my experience to the conversation as well and get some feedback if possible. I'll refer to my OLD setup and my NEW setup below.

OLD setup:
2009 Mac Mini running iTunes (iTunes version 12.7.9.5)
Apple TV 2nd Generation (AppleTV 6.2.1 - the last supported os for that generation)

Hooked up to Onkyo receiver via optical cable​

Yamaha RXA3060 receiver with Airplay 1 built in
Apple HomePod (iOS 11.4)

NEW setup:
iPhone running (Apple) Music App
(2) Apple TV 4Ks (TvOS 11.4)

(1) Connected via HDMI to Yamaha RXA3060 receiver
(1) Connected via HDMI to Sony LCD TV​

Apple HomePod (iOS 11.4)

My OLD setup works pretty well. I use iTunes on the Mac Mini as the audio source and Airplay to stream to all three devices. I can control the playback from my iPhone with the (horribly outdated) iTunes remote app.
The audio is very much synchronized. I will not say it's 100% perfect, but it is good enough for my needs. Surprisingly, the HomePod and the Yamaha are the most in sync (which is good because they are closest to each other).

My NEW setup is unusable. There is 500ms - 750ms latency between the HomePod and the Apple TVs. The latency between the two Apple TVs is manageable (< 500ms, probably more like 100ms - still not as good as the OLD setup).
This is consistent regardless of the audio source: iPhone X, either Apple TV, HomePod, MacMini (using Airplay 1 multi room audio).

Unfortunately, I've invested a lot of money and time in 'upgrading' to Airplay 2 and I'm worse off than I was with old (and in some cases obsolete) hardware / software.

As a last ditch effort, I enrolled one of the Apple TV 4Ks in the beta testing program. It is now running TvOS 11.4.1. this has made no difference.

 

[enigmatut]

Yeah, I don’t know what all the fuss is about as AirPlay has always been synchronised as far as I knew.

For a long time I have played iTunes from my Mac to multiple AirPlay speakers -- which was only (natively) possible from iTunes -- and it most definitely was not synchronized. At least not consistently, and with the advent of AirPlay2 it's now more transparent that AirPlay wasn't exactly intended to be synchronous. It happened to be in sync for me much of the time, but would usually fall out of sync. I typically used it to play the same music inside and on a porch which had enough "sonic separation", if you will, to not notice.

AirPlay 2, on the other hand, is explicitly advertised as being in sync. And as evidenced by this thread, it ain't quite perfect yet. But I will say, the several times I've use AirPlay 2 with my HomePod and AppleTV have usually been good and in sync, so I'll be optimistic and take that as a good sign that AirPlay 2 is on its way to becoming a solid multi-speaker wireless audio platform. Hopefully

 

[cynics]

First thing is to check and reduce audio delay settings on the TV and receiver (if applicable). Both my TV and receiver have this and when set as low as they can go when I play from an iOS device or AirPlay 2 source device to another the sync is perfect. Example, say to the HomePod "Hey siri play xxxx", then say "Hey Siri play this in the living room". Its perfectly sync'd, couldn't ask for better.

However if I AirPlay from my iMac (latest versions of iTunes and MacOS) the Mac and HomePod are perfectly sync'd but the AppleTV isn't. I can understand this because the TV and receiver have a delay for processing audio but keep in mind from the HomePod to AppleTV its perfect.

I thought maybe the HomePod and AppleTV could sync but Mac > HomePod + AppleTV couldn't because the HomePod was using its microphones to sync. So I intentionally added a slight delay with the receiver to see if the HomePod would compensate. It didn't....at all. I tried restarting songs, resetting and playing again, etc. It couldn't sync.

It doesn't appear (at a glance anyway) the HomePod is synchronizing using external means. So I don't know why if the HomePod is capable of syncing with the AppleTV the Mac can't. For me this has always been the case and iTunes 12.8 has made it better but perfection is required for something like this.

If you guys enjoy chill electronic the song Dew by Polynation makes it VERY easy to diagnose latency issues quickly and accurately. The first minute or so is essentially rhythmic tone and despite the beginning the song gets really good to help minimize the frustration of diagnosing this.

 

[KrispE00]

What? Apple shills were out in force claiming this latency issue would be solved, automagically, and HPs playing in widely separated locations would be synced. Perhaps it only works for a 100% HP setup?

Yes, unfortunately, I think this only works for a HomePod-only setup. I don’t know a lot about AV setups, but I believe there are too many variables after the Apple TV outputs the audio via HDMI. I would assume the length of the HDMI cable to the TV/receiver, and the speed at which the TV/receiver can process and output the signal can cause small delays. I was hoping for a setup like Airfoil.

 

[Bdub12]

I have two apple TVs 4th gens with speakers:

One feeds the patio speakers, and I can hear NO latency between those speakers and the kitchen HomePods when I open the window to the patio.

My other Apple TV is connected to a Sonos Playbar. I expected latency there because Sonos apparently introduces latency with the line-in. Surprisingly, when I stand in the doorway between the kitchen and the den, there is almost no latency - no echo with vocals, no differences in the beat at all. Your brain tells you it's not 100%, but it's way better than I expected. If I leave this at a reasonable volume, you'd never know there was a difference walking room to room.

No latency between the stereo pair of HomePods in the kitchen and the one in the bedroom.

 

[LiveM]

Is it possible to hook up an Apple TV 4/4K to non-powered speakers? I’d like to wire my outdoor speakers directly to the Apple TV to Aiplay 2 outdoors..is this possible?

You simply can’t get any more power than you would expect to get to headphones doing this. Personally, I would use an AirPort Express and connect to the 3.5mm line out.

 

[pup]

Airplay 2 is definitely the culprit here. I can play to multiple speakers via iTunes and everything syncs perfectly. Play to the same speakers via airplay and nothing is synced up. Same network, same equipment; only the source is different.
[doublepost=1529002557][/doublepost]

Is it possible to hook up an Apple TV 4/4K to non-powered speakers? I’d like to wire my outdoor speakers directly to the Apple TV to Aiplay 2 outdoors..is this possible?

Well, the 4k doesn't have any audio out, so unless you've got an HDMI port on your speakers, you aren't connecting them directly. Non-powered speakers require an amplifier, so you'll have to go through that. If you have an older amplifier without HDMI, then you'll have to go AppleTV HDMI Out > TV > TV Audio Out > Amplifier > Speakers

 

[ryanast]

That's pretty much my own experience. In addition, I'm finding that playback through iTunes now has regular dropouts, so they've sort of ruined that, too. If you want multi room audio at the moment, your best bet is Sonos.

That’s a bummer about iTunes dropouts. I haven’t experienced that.

My only hope is that we (the people in this thread and probably a few thousand others) are early adopters to multi room audio using Apple TVs + HomePod + Airplay 2. Perhaps when the tech gets more traction and a larger user base, the bugs will be worked out.

 

[savagewatts]

Mine syncs going through a Bose home theatre. Two HomePods, two HomePod minis and the Apple TV with Bose play perfectly together.

 

[enigmatut]

I want to bump this to see if it has improved in 2021?

For the most part I have continued to not have issues, and I now have an even more mixed setup:

• HomePod (typically the main "brain", streaming Apple Music to the other speakers)
• Sonos One SL stereo pair
• IKEA Symfonisk stereo pair
• IKEA Symfonisk single
• OneLink Safe & Sound (in two rooms)
• Airport Express connected to old iPod dock via 1/8" cable

I can stream to all speakers and walk around the house without any noticeable latency ... usually. I can count on one hand the number of times one speaker (usually one of the Safe & Sounds) is delayed, and then I just remove it from the AirPlay group and re-add it to resolve.
🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[chrismac2]

How is your Apple TV audio hooked up? Is it going thru a receiver? or directly to the TV? If a receiver, it's possible your receiver audio processing is introducing a delay that Apple cannot account for. You might need to select a mode on your receiver something like "Direct Stereo" where it does not process the audio at all, and see if the delay goes away.

 

[dan9700]

Lag on airplay is shocking makes me not wanna use it my pioneer amp is instant but homepod isnt

 

[enigmatut]

I was actually surprised that my HomePod and AppleTV via Samsung home-theatre-in-a-box system played perfectly in sync, and obviously so given that they are just on opposite sides of the same large room.
Now I just need to win the lottery to get HomePods for every other room in my house...

 

[RogerWilco]

What? Apple shills were out in force claiming this latency issue would be solved, automagically, and HPs playing in widely separated locations would be synced. Perhaps it only works for a 100% HP setup?

 

[enigmatut]

Yes, unfortunately, I think this only works for a HomePod-only setup. I don’t know a lot about AV setups, but I believe there are too many variables after the Apple TV outputs the audio via HDMI. I would assume the length of the HDMI cable to the TV/receiver, and the speed at which the TV/receiver can process and output the signal can cause small delays. I was hoping for a setup like Airfoil.

To be clear, I expected latency (because of the variables of a receiver/speaker-system) but I personally had no latency between my HomePod and my Apple TV setup (into receiver surround sound system).
This gives me some hope, but the reports from people experiencing latency worries me as I had hoped to add non-HomePod speakers to other rooms and would like to believe that the AirPlay 2 protocol can (somehow magically) account for differences from speaker/system to speaker/system. I guess we'll see how this shapes up as speakers are released/updated. I try to keep expectations realistic; reminding myself that this is all new and (hopefully) has room for improvement.

 

[Alhagar]

I have a bit of latency between HomePod in kitchen and ATV 4K (hardwired to powered AE5+ speakers) in living room. If I stand in a certain spot betweeen the kitchen and living room there is a slight difference (most noticeable when there are lyrics) and a bit of an echo. This is a bit disappointing and I’m hoping a future update can fix.

 

[cavemonkey50]

Is anyone getting latency on multiple speakers when AirPlaying from non-Music sources? If I AirPlay something in my music library, everything syncs perfectly, but if I AirPlay a podcast from an app like Overcast the latency can be as bad as a couple of seconds. Restarting my phone fixes it briefly, but the issue resumes a few hours later.

 

[zea]

To be clear, I expected latency (because of the variables of a receiver/speaker-system) but I personally had no latency between my HomePod and my Apple TV setup (into receiver surround sound system).
This gives me some hope, but the reports from people experiencing latency worries me as I had hoped to add non-HomePod speakers to other rooms and would like to believe that the AirPlay 2 protocol can (somehow magically) account for differences from speaker/system to speaker/system. I guess we'll see how this shapes up as speakers are released/updated. I try to keep expectations realistic; reminding myself that this is all new and (hopefully) has room for improvement.

Yeah, same here. I have the same music playing through my home surround sound system with the Apple TV, and the same audio playing through two separate HomePods and they are all in sync perfectly. Sounds amazing. This is testing with an open concept living and dining room, one HomePod in each, and the home theater setup technically in the living room area. I’m too am curious as to how non-HomPod/Apple TV systems would work.

 

[Marshall73]

HomePod and my Apple TV 4K (plumbed into my Sony soundbar and wireless surrounds) play 100% in sync.

Maybe it’s latency to the speakers through the ARC channel if you have it setup like that?

 

[MrTennessean]

Ok so little update. Multi room function with Airplay 2 still suffers with terrible latency, however, using airfoil on my Mac is playing perfectly synced. Suggest it’s not a hardware or setup issue?

 

[iLog.Genius]

So AirPlay 2 is the same as AirPlay in terms of delay when streaming? That's disappointing. I thought one of the key changes with AirPlay 2 over AirPlay, other than enabling multi-room streaming, was that it would stream/play instantly to the source without having a .5 second delay. You would figure since Sonos has been doing it for so long that Apple would be able to tweak AirPlay 2 so that it would play instantly regardless of source/output hardware.

 

[cavemonkey50]

Is anyone getting latency on multiple speakers when AirPlaying from non-Music sources? If I AirPlay something in my music library, everything syncs perfectly, but if I AirPlay a podcast from an app like Overcast the latency can be as bad as a couple of seconds. Restarting my phone fixes it briefly, but the issue resumes a few hours later.

I can answer my own question, haha.

I’ve done more reading on the issue, and apps need to be updated for AirPlay 2. They will work with multiple speakers without an update, but they may experience latency. Updating the app to use the new AirPlay 2 frameworks gives the speakers a bigger audio buffer to prevent latency and also allows for faster start times when selecting speakers.

The frameworks are in 11.4, so no third-party apps are most likely using them yet unless they released an update this week. I confirmed Overcast is working on an update with no ETA.