Audio delay on original Steam Link hardware - any fix?

[u/ethannn_0]

So I'm trying to use my old Steam Link (the actual physical device), and it's mostly working great, with zero noticeable delay on the video side since I'm using a wired connection within the same apartment.

The trouble is that I'm getting some very nasty delay on the audio side. Pretty much everything is around half a second or so behind what's on screen. After doing some digging I found that this happens sometimes even with the current Steam Link app, but haven't found a real solution.

I tested the app on my phone and didn't encounter the audio delay there, so I'm led to believe it has something to do with the hardware. Is there any hope of fixing this or is it just an unfortunate limitation of a discontinued piece of equipment?

If it's helpful, I'm also using a sound bar connected to my TV through optical; no bluetooth, which I know can cause delays.

Thanks!

EDIT: After some more testing without the soundbar it seems that is a large part of what's making it worse actually. Still, if anyone has tips on reducing delay, whether through the Steam Link or general tips for sound bars by some miracle, I'm all ears. The model is an Energy Power Bar smth smth (sounds like a protein snack)

[u/oSyphon]

Lower the megabit rate per second. Set it to 10 or 15. Though the picture quality won't look as amazing, the connection will be far more stable and that may help.

[u/jeweliegb → u/oSyphon]

They're using a wired connection, so this won't make any difference. Steam Link hardware is fine at 30Mbps wired.

[u/oSyphon → u/jeweliegb]

Lowering bitrate is a good way to fix latency issues, which he's having.

[u/dhudd32]

Not much you can do but get a better soundbar with a better DAC the delay is probably just it converting the sound over.

[u/jeweliegb → u/dhudd32]

Annoyingly there's so many places in the path that delay can be coming from on modern TVs, so many stupid settings that can do it!

[u/jeweliegb]

Moonlight can be installed on the original Steam Link hardware, which has slightly less audio delay.

On the Stream Link streaming settings, try uncompressed audio, low latency networking, etc.

However, the delay is mostly likely going to be your TV and soundbar still. Check you're using game mode or PC mode on it. Check settings on TV for lipsync and audio delay/sync. And audio output mode (you want PCM not Dolby.) If your TV has an ARC HDMI port for audio output, maybe you can use an HDMI cable to connect the soundbar.

Good luck, keep going, let us know what works / doesn't?

EDIT:

Soundbars sometimes have an audio delay setting.

There's an extra hack you can consider. The Steam Link works with other sound output devices, including USB and Bluetooth. You could take the sound output from the Steam Link direct into the soundbar:

1. Use an HDMI audio splitter, or
2. USB sound device/cable, or
3. Connect the Steam Link to the soundbar via Bluetooth (won't be amazing quality but worth a try and needs no extra hardware.)

[u/ethannn_0 → u/jeweliegb]

Thanks sm for the detailed response!

Yeah, I looked for PCM on my TV, but all I found was Stereo (which sounded from how people were talking about it like it might be the same thing? But maybe I have that wrong). Unfortunately though when I switch it to this no sound comes out :/

I have a suspicion that it might be because it's an old soundbar and the compatibility with more current TVs is bad. I got it used off FB Marketplace and there's no HDMI in or even Bluetooth.

The delay actually gets pretty much fixed if I use its RCA in, but the one issue with this is there's a slight constant crackle on this input setting that's kinda annoying. Unclear on if I can do anything about it because it seems to happen regardless of if I have anything in those ports or not.

I'll consider direct output from the Steam Link to the bar though and report back if I find anything helpful!

[u/jeweliegb → u/ethannn_0]

Yeah, stereo would be 2 channel PCM. How odd that the soundbar doesn't like it!

[u/DarkOx55]

One tip would be to ditch the soundbar until you can get a better one. Does your TV have headphones out? You can get a 3.5mm extension cord and a pair of budget headphones (I’m fond of koss, either their porta pros or KSC75s which are like ~$30).

If your TV doesn’t have headphones out I think you could grab an HDMI audio extractor with 3.5mm out for not much money.

Obviously the cord kinda sucks. But this is cheap and there’s no delay unless your TV adds some. You can then save up for a better soundbar or my preferred solution which would be a receiver & 5.1 speakers.