on 19-10-2020 10:45
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
Answered! Go to Answer
on 30-01-2021 09:19
The only cec function I have lost by using optical instead of hdmi is the auto power on or off of my amp. I have to manually turn it on
I can still control the volume of my amp using virgins remote. There is an option on the settings menu to allow virgin remote volume control to control amp volume instead of TV volume. So my TV sound is permanently on minimum (off) and virgin remote controls amp volume
on 30-01-2021 09:25
But negative sound delay won't solve the problem lukdd. The sync delay varies sometimes its OK sometimes its not.
Is there a reason why you can't connect via optical direct from box to amp. It works fine. Hdmi arc seems to be the problem
on 30-01-2021 09:30
Actually you're correct there about the - audio sync. It wouldn't really solve the issue.
I could use optical but only from the TV to the sound bar, not from the 360 box to the sound bar directly (I'll try it later). This is because I use a few apps on my TV to watch content and my soundbar can only receive one input (I hope I've explained that properly).
on 30-01-2021 09:45
Yes totally understand where your coming from. I have TV apps too and a blueray player and my amp only has one optical avd one hdmi. So I leave the hdmi disconnected. Unfortunately if I want to use apps or blueray I have to reconnect the hdmi to hear sound. Its not that much of a problem for me but I can understand for some it would be. My main viewing is virgin though and optical definately solves the problem. It's not necessarily a problem of virgins cause even though the old way of connecting worked with v6
I don't think dolby was properly implemented on v6. It is on 360 and sound is far better and properly in dolby surround. If you do a search on Internet you will find a wide variety of products suffer this sync problem. It's very common and is caused by the picture processing using hdmi arc taking different amounts of time depending on the TV connected to it. Only after picture processing is finished does audio then get sent to amp.
Using optical direct to amp takes the TV for sound anyway out of the equation
on 30-01-2021 10:45
Hi all.
I have recently re-joined Virginmedia and we are using a 360 box and have noticed the audio sync issue, its bad on some channels. We dont use a soundbar just hdmi direct to tv for the audio and video. We only changed to Virginmedia because BT had issues in the bad weather so its very disapointing to have this issue. Looking through the thread there doesnt appear to be a fix or much of a responce from Virgin staff about the issue?
on 30-01-2021 11:29
Hi All,
I started this thread back in October 2020 and have given up trying to resolve the problem. I now only use my TV with the soundbar off.
I did have a mobile number for a Virgin tech guy who was very helpful. He tried his best but could not resolve the issue. This included buying an optical cable but only led to distorted audio. We tried Dolby on/ off and many other settings to no avail. The last time we spoke he was going to escalate the issue" higher up" as he agreed there was a software problem with the 360 box, This after sending me a replacement unit with the same problems. Just to confirm my configuration worked ok with the old Tivo box and its predecessor.
It is now 3 months since my last communication with Virgin partly due to apathy on my part. I am now going to phone them again and will post if I make any progress.
30-01-2021 12:16 - edited 30-01-2021 12:21
Distorted audio on your soundbar using digital optical has got to be a settings issue on your soundbar surely. Sometimes you have to tell the soundbar you are using optical in settings. Was the optical lead taken direct from virgin to soundbar (ideal solution) or did you use optical from tv to soundbar
TV to soundbar would introduce all sort of settings issues dependent on tv model. I wouldn't recommend that
My sound is perfect using optical.
Unsure why someone has lag issues without a soundbar. That's weird though if I didn't have a soundbar I would definately turn dolby off as its not necessary with TV sound
30-01-2021 12:27 - edited 30-01-2021 12:28
Without the soundbar and Dolby through my TV speakers instead, I have the same sync issue as using HDMI ARC from my TV to my soundbar.
Only the Virgin 360 box outputting Dolby has an issue with this setup. My old Sky Q box was fine, Fire TV 4k fine, Google Chromecast 4k is fine, 4k BluRay player is fine.
It's not an issue with my TV or HDMI ARC from the TV to the soundbar. It 100% definitely only happens with Dolby audio from the Virgin 360 box.
With Dolby switched off on the box, there are no issues.
30-01-2021 12:31 - edited 30-01-2021 12:35
Must admit I too have no sync issues with any other equipment I own via arc but the Internet is full of people that do have non virgin equipment suffering the same problem. The 360 software must have introduced something that causes this problem. However optical direct to soundbar definately solves the problem of you want to fix it. This is also the recommended fix on the Internet for non virgin audio sync issues
on 30-01-2021 12:45
For me personally, it's easier to switch off Dolby audio and have my audio in sync.
If I only consumed media via the 360 box, I would connect it directly to my soundbar via optical.
Hopefully it's something that will be fixed in the future. I'll be following this thread with interest though.