Airplay 2 out of sync between ATV4K and Homepods

I have tested this extensively, and it is definitely an Airplay 2 issue. I have two HomePods and two ATVs, one 4K and the other latest 1080p version. When playing music to all four devices using iTunes on my MBP and selecting each as a speaker everything is in perfect sync - always. When I attempt to stream the exact same music from my iPhone 8 running iOS 11.4, the two HomePods are in perfect sync, but the ATVs aren't. What's more, the amount that the ATVs are out of sync with the HomePods varies quite a bit. Sometimes it's nearly in sync, but more often than not it's off by enough to make everything unlistenable.

This is not an issue of HDMI latency. There is something wrong with Airplay 2. Using the "old" Airplay method of streaming to multiple devices from a Mac running iTunes works as it always has - everything in perfect sync (with the occasional dropout anyone who's used Airplay is used to). All of my devices are running on the same network using an AirPort Extreme with the latest firmware.

It's a shame that after waiting all this time for Airplay 2 that this is happening.

I confirm the same for my setup. Playing Apple Music on HomePod + ATV 4K is generally out of sync by 1/4 second and constantly varies. Playing Spotify or any other non-Apple app via airplay to the same outputs is perfectly in sync.

The simple things like this that Apple drops the ball on just really blows my mind.

The Airfoil app for Macs has the ability to adjust sound sync for Airplay-connected devices but no sure if it works with Airplay2. And of course it only works for audio output from a Mac (which can be sent to Homepods & ATV at the same time using Airfoil)

I have a similar issue.

When using Airplay 2 the latency between the Homepod and ATV (Direct to stereo amp) is 1/4 second out of sync. When using Airfoil on Mac the issue goes away. Makes me think the issue is with Airplay 2 and it's inability to deal with latency issues between HP and ATV. Does anyone have any thoughts on a fix or workaround?

Both routing audio and video over HDMI. I ran more tests last night and playing audio to this mix of devices from iTunes on my Mac everything was synced perfectly. Trying to play the same song from the music app on my iPhone and everything drifts out of sync. Sometimes it’s nearly there, but then drifts and gets worse. Never fully in sync though.

For my setup at least it seems that the issue lies with having the HomePod as the route source of the media you want to play. If I use Spotify on IOS and airplay to the HP and ATV using my iPhone as the source of the media then both HP and ATV are in perfect sync. However, if I ask Siri to play from the HomePod to two speakers at the same time or manually do the same through the music app on the iPhone I have terrible latency. It’s a strange one, just means I’m back on Spotify and not using Siri to play music as much as I would like.

I just tried an experiment. A film played from ATV4k, 1/4 second latency on Homepod. Music played from Homepod, 1/4 second latency on ATV4k. Film / Music played from ipad/iphone via airplay2, NO latency, perfectly in sync!

Apple, you need to sort this, pronto.

It's out of sync between Homepods and various ATV's. I tried initiating the playback from iPhone, Mac, and Homepod itself- all were off. All software was updated with most recent releases. All Homepods were in sync. ATV's are hooked up via HDMI to TV to Optical to Receiver. Sorta kills the Sonos killer concept. Perhaps Apple should offer a sync control to account for latency or make it actually work between ATV and Homepods.

I just want to thank you so much !!

I was stressing all day / and had this problem for a long time and never suspected the TV at all.

Ran AP2V through direct to sound system and bang, works perfectly !!! OMG .. Your my saviour. Now I have the best sounding stereo in the world !! Well.. I like to think so. Legend

I do think this is an airplay 2 issue. My Apple TV 4K is connected direct to the tv using which also has the latest firmware. I then point the apple tv to play sound over airplay to my airplay compatible amp. When navigating the Apple tv menu I hear the menu blips in perfect sync. When I then start a movie, the picture is delayed over the sound. When I point the Apple TV to play its sound direct (ie not airplay) to the tv then both image and sound are in sync.

So I have 2 living/family rooms that are adjacent to each other separating by a fireplace. Same tv on either side of the fireplace. One side has a Pioneer Elite 302 and the other Yamaha 681. Both sides running 5.2.1 Dolby with identical speakers in walls/ceilings.

Apple TV 4Ks attached to both receivers. Both receivers are hardwired in a gigabit network, both Apple TVs are hardwired on the same network. Nothing is wireless in my house other than phones and laptops. It doesn't matter what I do, but Yamaha is always behind. It sounds terrible. I can't have synced music at all. I am at a point of considering just running an RCA cable in my addict as an input to the other receiver. It sounds like a young DJ who is used to pressing sync button on Traktor/Serato and his laptop broke and now has to use real beat matching. It's terrible. I tried playing around with all sorts of settings, but nothing works.

I just tried disconnecting the receivers and plugging Apple TVs directly to identical TVs using identical fiber optic HDMI cables, and guess what the issue still exists. Same side where the Yamaha receiver is, is still behind about 1/4 of a beat.

That side is closer to the switch so the cat6 cable is shorter, and i't still behind. I am pretty 100% positive it is an airplay 2 issue.

I believe this to be a TV issue. In particular hdmi ARC. My setup - 2 Sonos speakers and Bose soundbar connected via hdmi arc to TV(Sony). The ATV 4K connected to TV.

Using AirPlay 2 via iPhone, iPad, iMac or MBP the soundbar is always slightly out of sync. Tried airfoil on the Mac and made no difference. Used Apple Music, Amazon music and Spotify, all the same.

The only way to sync everything is to play the sound from the ATV from the TV speakers only (changed in TV settings) and not feed to Soundbar. Unfortunately there are no audio delay settings on the Sony TV.

I also have this problem and it's extremely frustrating. Between my airplay 1 speakers, the homepod, and the ATV running through a samsung w/ onkyo system, nothing syncs up!

I've been using airplay 1 for several years with no problem whatsoever. Airplay 2 has a lot of potential but so far it's a disgrace to Apple.