Since Roku updated to latest firmware (9.4) all my video with AAC audio out of sync

[arecad98 5]

Hi,

After the latest firmware update on my Rokus (Streambar and Stick+) when I play a video with AAC audio, the audio is out of sync about 500ms. The solution is to force a remux and the audio is perfectly in sync (Roku shows direct stream). I was lurking on the Plex forums as well and this issue seems to have also been identified there for Plex.

I was surprised to not see anyone else here asking about this so either I am the first or this is an issue with both my Rokus only (never had this issue before 9.4 - same videos).

Anyone else see this happening?

[speechles 2010]

The Streambar includes a Streaming Stick+ inside. I also have the same problem on my Roku Streaming Stick+ 3810.

https://community.roku.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?q=audio sync&sort_by=-topicPostDate&collapse_discussion=true

There are tons of posts on Roku forums about sync issues lately. Hopefully they address these so users do not need to always use Playback Correction.

The reason why no others have posted about this issue is because users probably do have the issue with sync but have realized like you that using Playback Correction once will solve it anytime that problem appears.

Curious as well. Does anyone else see this issue? Does Playback Correction solve it for you? Is it with just certain media codecs such as AAC or does it happen with more?

Edited December 10, 2020 by speechles

[Luke 40077]

Hi unfortunately Roku firmware updates have been notorious for creating these kinds of issues in recent years. Hopefully they will have a fix soon.

[arecad98 5]

Thanks for confirming. Hoping Roku resolves soon as it's a pain to pull up the OSD, click over to the settings cog, then down to the remux option every single time I watch a video. I suppose there is no way to force remuxing all the time in Emby while we wait for a fix?

[Lane03 14]

On 12/10/2020 at 11:05 AM, speechles said:

The Streambar includes a Streaming Stick+ inside. I also have the same problem on my Roku Streaming Stick+ 3810.

https://community.roku.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?q=audio sync&sort_by=-topicPostDate&collapse_discussion=true

There are tons of posts on Roku forums about sync issues lately. Hopefully they address these so users do not need to always use Playback Correction.

The reason why no others have posted about this issue is because users probably do have the issue with sync but have realized like you that using Playback Correction once will solve it anytime that problem appears.

Curious as well. Does anyone else see this issue? Does Playback Correction solve it for you? Is it with just certain media codecs such as AAC or does it happen with more?

@speechles Same issue here. Not sure when it first occurred, but I noticed it around two or three weeks ago on all my RokuTVs. One thing I wanted to mention is that when you start playback the audio starts for a second, then there is a split second audio drop out and then the audio is back again - this appears to be when the sync issue begins (this also occurs when rewinding or fast forwarding). Enabling playback correction fixes the issue, but it's a pain to have to enable manually each time.

Can we get an option for Emby on Roku to default to using playback correction (direct stream) mode?

 

Edit: Some more data, I don't have this issue when direct playing AC3 5.1 or AAC 2.0. Appears to be strictly related to direct playing media with AAC 5.1.

Edited December 21, 2020 by Lane03

[Luke 40077]

Quote

Can we get an option for Emby on Roku to default to using playback correction (direct stream) mode?

If it comes to it but that's really the last resort. Ideally we want Roku to issue an update to resolve it.

[Lane03 14]

18 minutes ago, Luke said:

If it comes to it but that's really the last resort. Ideally we want Roku to issue an update to resolve it.

Yeah, I totally understand that reasoning. Problem is they (Roku) aren't always quick to fix things...

[arecad98 5]

There have been two updates to the Roku software (firmware) since my OP and the issue persists. The only change I noticed is that when you start a video now, the audio is in sync for about half a second, then there is a micro stutter in the audio and it goes back out of sync. So maybe Roku is trying to fix it but at this rate, we may be in for a long wait. I believe it to be container related as I don't notice this with mp4 but I do with mkv. 

[adammckay 0]

I'm watching this... I had the same problem and couldn't figure out what was going on.  To be honest, this thread saved me because I didn't know that the 'Playback Correction' feature even existed.

From the looks of it, the Roku forums are a total mess of complaints since that update.  To make matters worse, updates are enforced heavily and they are not reversible.

[jsbarde 10]

I've been having this problem for weeks too, going to try the workaround listed above but it would be great to have some kind of option to force it on for everything until they fix so at least we can watch stuff in sync. 

[adammckay 0]

Yeah - so I read Luke's post and I totally get it.  You don't want to design a checkbox or 'feature' that a) fixes someone else's mess and b) sticks around for so long that users just start checking it because it's there.  Then when Roku fixes their firmware, would the audio be out of sync again?!  So I get that.

What might be nice though is an entire menu of 'temp hotfixes' in the server menu.  I'm sure there are tons of problems like this that the DEVs get bugged about.  We just don't know about them because they occur with combinations of hardware that we don't own.  Perhaps they would consider adding a list of things (with forum links) for as long as they are a problem knowing that they can someday be removed from cluttering up the settings.

Just a thought.  But I'm just happy there's any way to fix at all.  AFAIK, Plex people are just out of luck on this issue.

Also - it bothers me that someday, Roku might just put a firmware update out that's so bad it ruins my whole TV.  I guess I'll just keep a Raspberry Pi with Kodi in case that happens.

 

[Luke 40077]

13 hours ago, adammckay said:

Yeah - so I read Luke's post and I totally get it.  You don't want to design a checkbox or 'feature' that a) fixes someone else's mess and b) sticks around for so long that users just start checking it because it's there.  Then when Roku fixes their firmware, would the audio be out of sync again?!  So I get that.

What might be nice though is an entire menu of 'temp hotfixes' in the server menu.  I'm sure there are tons of problems like this that the DEVs get bugged about.  We just don't know about them because they occur with combinations of hardware that we don't own.  Perhaps they would consider adding a list of things (with forum links) for as long as they are a problem knowing that they can someday be removed from cluttering up the settings.

Just a thought.  But I'm just happy there's any way to fix at all.  AFAIK, Plex people are just out of luck on this issue.

Also - it bothers me that someday, Roku might just put a firmware update out that's so bad it ruins my whole TV.  I guess I'll just keep a Raspberry Pi with Kodi in case that happens.

 

Yes you are exactly right. 

[arecad98 5]

Got another update on my Streambar last night and the problem still hasn't been addressed. I am embarrassed for Roku. You'd think they would have fixed this weeks ago.

It seems to be this only applies to AAC 2.0 audio contained in an MKV file. AAC in mp4 works fine.

[fatherSalad 0]

On 19/01/2021 at 14:23, arecad98 said:

Got another update on my Streambar last night and the problem still hasn't been addressed. I am embarrassed for Roku. You'd think they would have fixed this weeks ago.

It seems to be this only applies to AAC 2.0 audio contained in an MKV file. AAC in mp4 works fine.

I was wondering the same thing for months myself.  We have a TCL 5 series TV that had been experiencing a couple of similar issues here and there.  The latest update completely broke mkv playback.  After countless experiments I ultimately came to an almost exact answer like yours and began batch remuxing to mp4 and the problems disappeared.  Lots of 5.1 mkv's would play but found out they were AC3 and not AAC like you mentioned.

This issue is a total killer for usb media.  This is what brought me to the emby universe.

[arecad98 5]

3 hours ago, fatherSalad said:

I was wondering the same thing for months myself.  We have a TCL 5 series TV that had been experiencing a couple of similar issues here and there.  The latest update completely broke mkv playback.  After countless experiments I ultimately came to an almost exact answer like yours and began batch remuxing to mp4 and the problems disappeared.  Lots of 5.1 mkv's would play but found out they were AC3 and not AAC like you mentioned.

This issue is a total killer for usb media.  This is what brought me to the emby universe.

Yeah I was really hoping Roku would have fixed this by now. How many months has it been now? Four? Five? Batch remuxing is not something I want to do with 100s of videos. I keep checking daily for a software update and there hasn't been anything since January. I hope Roku is still planning on fixing this.

Edited March 8, 2021 by arecad98

[arecad98 5]

Wonder if the Emby client can have a setting/option to directstream mkv until (if) this gets resolved? 

[adammckay 0]

Honestly, the whole thing opened my eyes from, "ROKU TV is best!!!" to "meh - it'll break someday and never get patched".  We might even be there now!  The more I think about it, my TV will probably someday suffer a 'patch' that will just render it inoperable or just so unusable no one will bother.  Nothing against Roku either.  It seems like no matter what you pick it will only be supported well until the next model comes out. 

I miss the good old days when the TV just broke after 30 years.

I think I said it in an earlier post but it just pays to have something you can always count on (like a Raspberry Pi / Kodi) so you have a backup system of sorts.  And voice sync issues are like my biggest pet peeve too... just can't stand it.  Makes me rage, lol

[Happy2Play 9441]

10 minutes ago, adammckay said:

I miss the good old days when the TV just broke after 30 years.

Well if all this additional technology were not integrated then yes that tuner and display may last that long.But we want more all in one produces that break with every update.

[metropical 33]

same here with TCL 4 series Roku TV.  But not every time.  Seems only some programs are affected.  Shameless US is.

[Turosian 5]

I have the same issue with TCL 4 series.  Only thing that I notice it on is an old cartoon from the 80s I have in AAC/mkv.  Most of the rest of what I watch is transcoded ... due to subtitle support also sucking on Roku.  Remind me why I thought integrated Roku was a good idea again?

[Lane03 14]

@Luke @ebr @speechles

Any chance you could add an option to disable Direct Play on the Roku app? I realize this audio sync issue is on Roku's end, but it's been 5+ months and no fix is in sight. Plex had that option before this issue came out so people on Plex have at least been able to work around it where on emby the only work around is to manually select "playback correction" every time you load a movie or tv show.

[Lane03 14]

I guess that's a no...

[ebr 15665]

Hi.  This is something we're highly resistant to.  As soon as we start adding switches to try and work around bugs in other systems, things can get very messy very quickly.  And, something like this, could cause a lot of problems for people who don't know what it actually does or why it is there.

[metropical 33]

"Remind me why I thought integrated Roku was a good idea again? "
Coz there was nothing else at the time, and prolly still isn't.
It's sad that Roku doesn't do a better job supporting the product.

They just make new ones every 15 minutes.

I'll have to look at the new Apple TV and see if that is any better.
But for now, the few shows that need to be "restarted to attempt correction" or whatever the gear choice is, takes but a moment and thus far has fixed every show or film sync issue.

[vdatanet 1586]

16 minutes ago, metropical said:

I'll have to look at the new Apple TV and see if that is any better.

It's a great streaming device but you don't get the best Emby experience with it.