What could be causing playback delays?

[Thor9981]

I recently put together a new home audio/theater system consisting of an Anthem AVM70, Buckeye Purifi 1ET400A 3ch, Buckeye NC252MP 6ch, KEF R11s/R2C/R3s, and a Cambridge Azur 851n streamer. I also have my laptop connected to the Anthem. The Anthem, Cambridge, and my laptop are all connected to the network directly via LAN cable to the router. The modem is a NETGEAR - Nighthawk 32 x 8 DOCSIS 3.1 Cable Modem and the router is an ASUS AX5700 Zaku Edition.

No matter what device I'm using (video streaming service through my TV or PC, listening to audio via Quboz through the Cambridge or PC) there's a very noticeable (and annoying) delay of about 2 seconds when starting audio playback from all the devices.

For instance, if I start watching a video through Hulu or Disney+, the audio doesn't start until 2 seconds, sometimes a little longer, even though the video is already playing. This happens regardless of whether I'm starting a new show or if it's just moving from episode to episode naturally.

Similarly, when I'm listening to music through Qobuz on either the Cambridge or the PC, the song takes a few seconds to start playing, cutting off the start of the song. This happens whether I'm selecting a new song or if I'm playing an album and it's moving from song-to-song natrually.

I've worked with Cambridge to go through several steps such as factory resetting the unit, checking network connectivity, checking for system/firmware updates etc. I've also tried all three audio outputs (optical, digital coax, and analog) and the issue persists across all three. I've worked with Anthem to reset the AVM70, check connectivity, perform system/firmware updates, etc. but I still cannot resolve the issue.

All the system components seem to be working fine but after several months of troubleshooting, I'm stuck on what could be causing the issue.

Does anyone happen to have any insight as to what could be causing a delay in audio playback? I'm not sure why there's this delay between when I hit the play button and when audio starts coming out of the speakers. Appreciate any and all assistance. Thanks!

 

[AnalogSteph]

I think we can rule out the power amps and speakers in this. How exactly are the Cambridge, Anthem and sources connected? Are there any devices that only go through the Anthem?

You essentially have to be looking wherever the D/A conversion takes place. Excessive unmuting times in DACs are occasionally found and can be quite annoying.

The Anthem has some analog RCA inputs. Try running the output from the Cambridge into those, same with the analog output from the laptop.

 

[Thor9981]

The video sources are all connected via HDMI. The Cambridge has both the digital coax and the optical hooked up. I've ran the analog cables before and the issue remains.

 

[perryleros]

I have the exact same issue.
Audio takes a few seconds to start playing.
YouTube plays instantly but any video streaming service takes a couple of seconds to start the audio. Video plays instantly.

Did you figure it out??

 

[perryleros]

The video sources are all connected via HDMI. The Cambridge has both the digital coax and the optical hooked up. I've ran the analog cables before and the issue remains.

Did you ever solve this?