Audio Sync problem with new 360 box

[MrUnhappy2]

I have had the new V6 /360 box for 10 days and have problems with the audio synchronisation.

My TV is a 4 year old 50" Sony Bravia with Sony sound bar. When I had the Tivo and the model before it I never had any problems.

The audio is okay with the soundbar off but when using the soundbar the audio drifts after about 5 mins. I have tried Dolby On/Off settings , audio delay set to 20m/sec and follow audio On/Off. All work for 5 mins then drift. 

I have telephoned Virgin on 2 occasions the 2nd time getting through to their 2nd tier support. Went through all the power down re-boot etc  but still the same issues.

Anyone else have this problem and any suggestions?

Thnks

[dvdcinema]

Verifying audio sync through the YouTube App will not show the sound sync issue, as it does not do Dolby.

The issue is with the 360 software not syncing Dolby audio.

As soon as you switch to a Virgin 360 channel, press pause and then the live TV button (top right of OK pad) the audio will then sync again.

Another way to try, is to send the audio from HDMI out of the 360 to an external Dolby audio extractor box. The extractor box can then send Dolby audio synced via optical to your amp.

[alehi1989]

I cancelled my Virgin Media for this reason and got Sky (recommend everyone do the same- much better!). Now have no interest in this depressing thread of inaction and incompetence by VM but keep getting the email notifications, any tips on how to stop them?

[jamesredfern]

Sky do seem to have resolved the issue they originally had with sync. When the inlaws had sky fitted they had the same issue as us virginers - but not any more. The interface is definitely snappier too. 

[roy247]

---

@alehi1989 wrote:

I cancelled my Virgin Media for this reason and got Sky (recommend everyone do the same- much better!). Now have no interest in this depressing thread of inaction and incompetence by VM but keep getting the email notifications, any tips on how to stop them?

---

Go the top of the page and you will see Options ⋮  click on that and then click on Unsubscribe.

[CJTCam]

Virgin Media have been aware of this problem for over 3-years, but continually deny it (their engineers know they can not fix it at a local level, but it keeps you off their back). Virgin media state that their 360 package supports Dolby 5.1 and take new customers on this false premise. I have asked, appealed and complained to Virgin endlessly and even publicly challenged them, stating they are in breach of the trade descriptions act, to which I have never received any response (presumably because they know it is true and therefore cannot challenge this!). I requested a full transcript of my conversations, correspondence and complaint with Virgin in order to escalate the issue with the Ombudsman, to which I was denied access. Eventually I decided to use my TV functionality for Prime, YouTube and other Apps (there's not much that the TV can't do), whilst accepting a £10pm reduction in my bill. Sorry to confirm with you MrUnhappy2, but join the club: Like the rest of us, you've been had.

[fwilson84]

I’ve managed to use a workaround for mine. No thanks to Virgin though and it involved spending a bit of my own money. It is basically the fix some people used with the similar Sky Q issue before Sky actually fixed their software unlike Virgin, using an audio splitter/converter. The HD Fury Acana is the most popular one but I got a cheaper alternative on Amazon, an Ezcoo splitter. 

https://amzn.eu/d/gPRr2OA 

Still relatively expensive though for something Virgin should be fixing. I got it for two reasons though: firstly I upgraded my soundbar to one that had Dolby Atmos and this acts as an eARC port (my TV only has ARC), but I also suspected this would be a workaround for this Virgin issue and it worked.

I can have the 360 box set to follow content and get a range of audio formats including Dolby Digital 5.1 with no lip sync issues.

You plug the splitter into your TV and to your soundbar using the output HDMI ports on the splitter, then you plug in your things like Virgin box, Blue Ray, etc into the input ports of the splitter. There’s only two input ports so I got a basic HDMI splitter to add more ports. It is a wire jungle behind my TV but it works!