HomePod (mini) woes with default and experimental audio drivers

Channels Apple TV Troubleshooting
#12

I returned to the default video and audio drivers (still experimental deinterlacer) and for the last 2 days performance has been good. No audio sync glitches like I was seeing a few weeks ago. I have no idea if anything has actually changed in the app.

Experimental video + Default audio still gives me issues. Lots of micro-pauses and jittery video that is only fixed with a quick pause and resume.

Edit: the one downside to default video and default audio drivers seems to be lip sync issues with 4K HDR content. Not ideal but I'll live with it for now.

#13

I realize I sound crazy the more I post, but I'm now seeing less and less sync issues and "warbling" with the default drivers. My current theory is for some reason, sending and syncing audio with HomePod minis from Channels is more dependent on good WiFi than other tvOS apps that use the default player. This might also explain why @Mutts1974 has better luck when they restart or reset their devices... Wi-Fi may be the culprit rather than some tvOS stability issues.

I've seen improvements after the following:

  1. Disconnected the Wi-Fi on my LG TV in an attempt to minimize any wireless interference between my Apple TV and HomePod minis.
  2. Made sure my left and right HomePod minis were connected to the same access point. Previously one of them would connect to my upstairs eero while the other connected to the physically closer eero.
  3. eeroOS 6.5, which just released last week, is generally much more stable than 6.4. I've been very happy with my eeros over the last two years but 6.4 was a low point. I had intermittent connectivity issues on multiple devices, although my Apple TV is hooked up via ethernet.
#14

Some new observations from the current tvOS and HomePod firmware updates (15.1.1):

  • The Default video driver is still less jittery than the Experimental video driver. It seems like sometimes when playback starts, the Experimental video driver drops frames but when I quickly pause/play, the video smooths out. Other times, the Experimental video driver will result in unsmooth playback in the middle of watching but this happens less often.
  • The Experimental audio driver seems to be performing slightly better on the newest firmwares. There are still occasional freezes when I exit a video and skipping forward is still slow, but not as intolerable as before.
#15

Is this still happening?

#16

Still experiencing some freezes and changing channels remains a worse experience than when using the default audio driver, but overall it seems better recently. Freezes are shorter and less often.

#17

Please try the latest TestFlight (BETA: Audio improvements for Apple TV and iPhone/iPad) and let me know if there is any improvement.

1 Like
#18

Thanks for looking at this, I'll try it as soon as I get home!

#19

Ok, I've only tested this out for less than an hour but I think this is a big improvement. I'm not seeing any notable delays when exiting a stream anymore. However I did experience a new, pretty terrible bug while pausing a stream. I just sent two sets of diagnostics -- one after watching a TVE channel and one after watching an OTA channel.

#20

What is the issue?

#21

Pausing a video (live or recording) within the first few seconds of starting the stream results in the audio never pausing, or pausing significantly after. The video pauses but the audio continues. If I play/pause again it seems to be ok.

#22

I'm seeing the same on both HomePod Minis and OG HomePods. If I pause a stream the video stops immediately but the audio continues to play for 5 secs or so. When I unpause the audio picks up where is stopped (after the 5 secs or so) and the video seems to FFWD until it aligns with the audio.

Otherwise, in very limited testing this seems much better so far.

#23

I should add that starting or stopping a stream works as expected with no delay while waiting for the buffer to drain.

#24

Confirmed bug with pause. Fix is uploading now.

#25

New build is up. LMK how it goes.

#26

Looks good so far. Pause works as expected now.

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#27

That bug is fixed! Thanks.

Here's a new one: I started playing a virtual channel with 4K HDR movies and got about 1 second of audio before it cut out completely. Pausing/playing again didn't help. I switched to another virtual channel and the same thing happened -- it might be related to either HDR or frame rate switching? I submitted diagnostics.

#28

Does seeking help when it cuts out?

#29

Seeking gives me another 1-2 seconds of audio and then it cuts out again.

#30

Okay I was able to reproduce. Happens with any long recording. We had some code to fix this before, but I thought maybe that was causing other problems. I will add it back now and upload a new build shortly.

#31

Try this one:

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