Is AUX latency the same on all Soundtouch Speakers ?

[Bonio]

Hi, I have a SoundTouch Wave, and a SoundTouch 20. Like many people, I’ve been struggling with the SoundTouch App and its woeful connectivity issues for about 2 years now, and looking at the threads on here, there seems to be no solution on the horizon. The SoundTouch App simply doesn’t work properly, and it drives me up the wall.

So to fix this I’ve been investigating the option of connecting both of them, individually, to an Amazon Echo unit, either a Dot or an Input. In that way, the Bose speakers will just be working passively, controlled via Alexa voice commands only. I know that working that way, the system won’t do Multiroom if the two speakers are connected to their corresponding Echo units via Bluetooth. So it’s my intention to also have a physical connection using the 3.5mm jackplugs to use when I want Multiroom audio.

I also know that SoundTouch speakers switch off automatically after 20 minutes of inactivity, so every time I want to use them I’ll have to say “Alexa, Connect” first, and also if I want multiroom I’ll have to switch the input of both SoundTouches to “AUX” first, via their remotes. But at least I’ll maybe at last have a system that does what it’s supposed to do, and I’ll no longer be tearing my eyeballs out trying to get the SoundTouch App to work.

But here’s the question: I know that there is a (well documented on here) “Latency” issue when using the AUX channel of SoundTouch speakers – because the analog signal input goes through an A/D converter before it’s processed and finally sent to the speaker, there’s a delay between the input signal and the sound out of the speaker. Not a problem for me, provided this delay is PRECISELY the same for both units, so the music will end up coming out of both speakers that the same time.

So does anyone know if this latency time is precisely the same on all SoundTouch speakers?

P.S. Please don’t advise me to use the Alexa Bose Skill – I guess this is written by Bose Software Engineers also, because I’ve tested it and it also doesn’t work properly.

[Liam_G]

Hello Bonio, 

Thank you for reaching out to the community! Sorry to hear about the issues with your connection to the speakers and to our app.

This can be cause by a number of things: WI-FI router settings, Wireless interference. Wall density. 

It would be worth contacting your local technical support team who can assist you in WI-Fi troubleshooting to see if there are settings on your router that are causing the Soundtouch app to not perform as intended. You can reach your local team by clicking Here, selecting your region and scrolling down to the bottom of the page and click on "Contact us"  where you can find the contact details. 

Have you checked to see if your wave and your ST 20 Firmware versions are up-to-date? 

You can check this in the settings > About. Then select the speaker, you will see the software version listed. 
Software versions should be at 20.0.10 to be up-to-date

This will further help the speakers to perform at their best when connected via Soundtouch app.

You shouldn't experience any latency issues if you are going to go down the route of wired connections between the speaker and your echo dots, 
(provided the echo dots are in sync and the cables aren't damaged) 

Should this fail to work, please do get back in touch or contact our technical support team. 

If you do have any other questions please do reach out to the community again. 

Hope you have a lovely day! 

Liam - Community Support

[Bonio]

Many thanks for answering the question, Liam.
I’ve tried and tested all the things you have suggested; three different routers, no difference. Ensured they are on the same waveband (5khz or 2.4KhZ, makes no difference). My Wi-fi signal is very strong, with no interferences or walls. The app continually crashes, telling me there is no internet connection, when the phone is saying otherwise (just one of many connectivity problems).
Sorry, but I’ve seen your same advice given to so many people on here and in other places, when the truth is that the App just doesn’t work properly. Why is it that Apps like Spotify connect easily to the speakers, never dropping out, whiIst SoundTouch can’t? I think Bose knows it messed up with this App, but for some reason has either no idea of how, or no intention, of fixing it.
Anyway, many thanks again for answering my actual question, and I’ll install the echo dots onto the system.

[rickatk]

@Bonio 

Can you please clarify what you mean by AUX latency. As I understand you have two SoundTouch speakers. There shouldn’t be any latency between the two devices when playing together via SoundTouch. Certainly that has been my experience. I have 4 speakers all within earshot of each other and all playing in sync without latency.

Do have something else playing via an Aux input of one of the speakers?

[Bonio]

Hi rickatk, thanks for your message.

What I mean by AUX latency is that when you use a SoundTouch speaker to play something from its AUX port, there is a delay between the analog signal going into the 3.5mm jack port and the sound coming out of the speaker. This has been documented quite a few times in this community, chiefly by people trying to use SoundTouch Speakers for sound from a TV, leading to sound and picture not being synchronised , for example here:

https://community.bose.com/t5/SoundTouch-Archive/delay-between-sound-of-soundtouch-and-tv-picture/m-...

Having read some of these threads, my understanding is that this time lag (latency) issue is caused by the fact that the analog signal has to go through an analog to digital converter before being processed by the speaker and sent to the drivers. You can't use a SoundTouch Speaker as a speaker for your TV, it's not designed for that purpose.

In my case, with what I'm trying to achieve, it wont be problem, provided this time lag is the same on the two models I have, and Liam at Bose has already assured me that this is indeed the case.

You said "There shouldn’t be any latency between the two devices when playing together via SoundTouch", and of course you are right. But I'm not intending to use the SoundTouch App, I want to ditch it, because of all its connectivity weaknesses (if you're able to control your system with the SoundTouch App without it losing connection to the internet and the speakers all the time, then I think you're one of the lucky ones) . What I want to do is achieve Multiroom using the AUX ports driven by two Echo units, which should be fine provided there isn't a mismatch between the latency of the two different models I am using. If this latency lag is precisely the same for both, then the sound will be synchronised. I hope this explains.

I'm not sure about the relevance of your last question, but no, I don't and wont have anything else connected to the AUX port of the speakers.

Thanks again !

[rickatk]

Hi rickatk, thanks for your message.

What I mean by AUX latency is that when you use a SoundTouch speaker to play something from its AUX port, there is a delay between the analog signal going into the 3.5mm jack port and the sound coming out of the speaker. This has been documented quite a few times in this community, chiefly by people trying to use SoundTouch Speakers for sound from a TV, leading to sound and picture not being synchronised , for example here:

https://community.bose.com/t5/SoundTouch-Archive/delay-between-sound-of-soundtouch-and-tv-picture/m-...

Hi @Bonio 

Thank you for the detailed clarification. I have a better understanding of your problem now. I have always understood and accepted that SoundTouch speakers (other than the sound bars) were intended for audio only. SoundTouch was never going to be a link for home theatre. Apple and many other speaker manufacturers have taken the same approach with their speakers.

 I use the Aux input port on two of my SoundTouch speakers. That is how I connect AirPort Express routers, ultimately bringing in AppleMusic. I also have a SoundTouch adaptor on my Cinemate 130 bar that is connected via the Bose connector port(not aux). I found that using SoundTouch Play All  (picking one Aux connected speaker as the master) seems to work quite well.

I wrote a detailed post a while back detailing my experiences with SoundTouch, Airplay 2, Airport Express and “Play Alll. I found that in fact SoundTouch Play All seemed to work better than Airplay 2. I used my iMac as the master to stream SoundTouch and Apple Music to my connected speakers and tried all sorts of variations. SoundTouch performed very well with no latency. Airplay 2 - not so much. That was an early version of Airplay 2 as well.

Sooo to answer your original question:

Aux input latency using SoundTouch is not an issue in my setup.

I accepted right from the outset that non sound bar SoundTouch speakers were never intended for TV.

SoundTouch manages multi speakers quite well and actually carries Airplay, using single Speakers Aux input and then Play All quite well. 

As I write this, I am using my iPad and SoundTouch. I  connecting all my speakers using Play All and then chose my Livingroom speaker with an AE attached to Aux In and stream Apple Music...smooth as silk. All the speakers work, playing in sync with latency. 

Airplay 2, using my iMac as the master and Airport Express as the clients over Aux input has a slight delay. I beleive that is an Airplay issue not Aux input or SoundTouch.

Hope that helps.

[Bonio · Accepted solution]

Many thanks for this, rickatk, I appreciate you telling me about your own experience !

Well, I've installed the two Echo Dot units, and (low and behold) there is indeed a latency mismatch when using them in multiroom mode through the SoundTouch Speakers - only a tiny fraction of a second, but enough so that it doesnt sound right. Ive tested this with a couple of pc speakers I had lying around, linking them to the AUX ports of the Echos, and there isnt any mismatch there, so it seems it's the SoundTouch Speakers which have the latency mismatch, not the Echos - So Liam's advice wasn't correct (why am I not surprised?).

Ive tried out the Alexa Bose skill also, and this doesn't work either - it also won't play multiroom, and it also doesn't support Spotify (Amazon Music only) which makes the whole Alexa Bose Skill a bit pointless, at least for me. The only way you can have SoundTouch speakers playing multiroom remains via the dysfunctional SoundTouch App.

I can still use the SoundTouches through Alexa as individual speakers, of course, and I'm happy to have the Echos, it's not a complete waste of money, they just cant be used for multiroom listening in this way. Anyway, thanks again !