27 ms·

Yes, that's what I meant. Why isn't there a widely interoperable audio-over-the-network transmission protocol I can use, so that when I am playing sound (from

Yes, that's what I meant. Why isn't there a widely interoperable audio-over-the-network transmission protocol I can use, so that when I am playing sound (from a song, a video, or a game), I can hear it on an external speaker? [The scope is just a 'virtual hardware audio device endpoint' like bluetooth audio]

creeble 4y ago
As someone who works on the code for a competitor of Sonos, the answer is that it is hard to do, depending on your requirements. > ...(from) a video, or a game So then you need low latency, like less than 10ms? So that lip-sync works, and the game is playable? Do you need it distributed across different endpoints, also with low latency? Does it need to run using unreliable WiFi connections, and not kill all audio just because one endpoint is under-performing? These are all hard, hard enough that doing it well (and keeping it proprietary) makes companies like Sonos big. OTOH, streaming mp3 from one endpoint to another is trivial.
- armagon 4y ago
  True enough. Somehow bluetooth audio manages these issues. I for one would accept latency and the audio going silent (or better, an audio indicator) if the connection isn't up-to-snuff but I don't know if other people would.
  - sushisource 4y ago
    > Somehow bluetooth audio manages these issues. It manages it... sometimes. I have an NVIDIA Shield I use for my video needs, and attempting to pair my Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones with it results in crappy latency and out-of-sync audio. These are both high end products from respected companies, and they work together with pretty shitty results. Edit: I just tried this again after writing that and magically things work much better than they did before... but I stick by the general point. In general, I'd describe the Bluetooth experience as mediocre at best.

27 ms·

Yes, that's what I meant. Why isn't there a widely interoperable audio-over-the-network transmission protocol I can use, so that when I am playing sound (from

by armagon 4y ago

creeble 4y ago
As someone who works on the code for a competitor of Sonos, the answer is that it is hard to do, depending on your requirements. > ...(from) a video, or a game So then you need low latency, like less than 10ms? So that lip-sync works, and the game is playable? Do you need it distributed across different endpoints, also with low latency? Does it need to run using unreliable WiFi connections, and not kill all audio just because one endpoint is under-performing? These are all hard, hard enough that doing it well (and keeping it proprietary) makes companies like Sonos big. OTOH, streaming mp3 from one endpoint to another is trivial.
- armagon 4y ago
  True enough. Somehow bluetooth audio manages these issues. I for one would accept latency and the audio going silent (or better, an audio indicator) if the connection isn't up-to-snuff but I don't know if other people would.
  - sushisource 4y ago
    > Somehow bluetooth audio manages these issues. It manages it... sometimes. I have an NVIDIA Shield I use for my video needs, and attempting to pair my Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones with it results in crappy latency and out-of-sync audio. These are both high end products from respected companies, and they work together with pretty shitty results. Edit: I just tried this again after writing that and magically things work much better than they did before... but I stick by the general point. In general, I'd describe the Bluetooth experience as mediocre at best.