Ah, good. Hopefully, this will help with sorting out the issues. The minis are a bit different than the bigger ones in that the original HomePods can actually be set in TVOS as the default audio out device. The minis can, as far as I know, only be set currently as a temporary output device. But, both use the same firmware and Airplay 2 so hopefully that will give you what you need. FWIW, I do occasionally send audio out to a set of minis to test and I do see the same issues with them as the original HomePods.
Hi. Just wanted to advise that I am testing this latest beta release also. I’m also running homepods as a stereo pair in conjunction with an Atv4k. This beta has certainly improved the default audio driver experience but audio glitches are still evident. The occasional glitching, usually when switching channels, pausing and resuming, or entering and exiting PIP mode. I’m am running TvOS 14.4, so are my homepods. Also, if PIP mode has been running for more than a minute or so I’m finding that selecting a different channel in the guide does nothing, channel not changing.
I hope that helps troubleshoot the audio issues. The Original HomePod support Home theatre sound ie 5.1, 7.1 and atmos and permanent pairing which the minis dont.
Can you order two for me as well? So I can try to reproduce the issues. 
I’d just like to add- I found this thread while searching for a solution to my problem: an ATV 4 (not 4K) and a single HomePod, with a significant lag between the video and audio.
Switching to the experimental audio driver definitely seems to have fixed the lag- thanks!
Having the same issues here with paired homepods. Have 3 Apple TV and only having audio issues and freezing on the one with paired homepods.
Thanks @tmm1. I loaded the latest beta which seems a little better, but getting some audio garbling, but mostly around commercials.
I installed 2.15.1943 on my office TV today and played several different shows to a pair of mini HPs over AirPlay 2. I used the default audio driver and saw no issues on OTA ATSC 3.0, TVE, or M3U feeds. FYI, this setup has TVOS 14.5 and HPs are on 14.4.
I haven't tried yet with our main TV that uses HPs connected as the default audio out but I'm expecting similar results.
This is an excellent improvement!
Can someone submit diagnostics from the latest beta when used with non-mini homepod. I added some diagnostics and want to compare what's shown against my minis.
I just submitted dings from my TV running HPs. This was after running an ATSC 3.0 channel for just a few minutes. Everything sounded good except that there was a little bit of chirping at the near the beginning and at the end of the stream.
On tvOS 14.4, this is the behavior I'm seeing:
Default driver:
- audio is in sync
- audio lags when tuning into a channel
- audio keeps playing for a second or two when you pause or leave a channel
Experimental driver:
- audio is in sync
- audio starts with video when tuning in
- audio stops right away when pause/exit
- audio can disappear when changing channels
Are you still seeing the lag and "audio keeps playing for a second" with 14.5, or has something changed there?
Please try the latest beta (2.16.2145). I fixed a number of issues in both the default and experimental drivers.
I’ve got 2.15.2145 installed and here are my observations:
14.5 seems to be the same as 14.4 in terms of what I see in audio behavior.
For the default driver I see the same as you except that there is a slight gurgle (technical term; I know) when audio starts and stops.
For the experimental driver I see a slight delay in audio when tuning a channel (ATSC 3.0) of about 2 seconds. Volume is also lower on ATSC 3.0 compared to TVE channels.
I haven’t seen the audio disappear when changing channels (yet) but it did drop out once when pausing/unpausing. Backing out to the guide and re-tuning fixed this.
I submitted diags for you as well.
I just submitted a second diag since I notice the audio getting slightly out of sync on the experimental driver.
im having the same issues, the lag is around 2 secs, my set up is Apple TV 4K two HomePods paired. when I press pause it comes back ok, but lags on recordings and over the air as well. also been having stuttering problems on the lan, its been working perfectly until now. Other devices are ok seems to just be on the 4k
Seems there has been a problem starting in 2021. As this is now 2023, I'm not hopeful for a solution. Net Net, my issue is the lag when selecting a TV station (OTA) to watch and or a recording.. around 2 secs, but only after the set-up for Apple TV 4K to use HomePods standalone. The sync issue happens sometimes whether or not I use TV speakers or HomePods. I usually reboot Apple TV to resolve. This true issue is the 2 second lag when selecting a TV station or recording. Any suggestions?