[Solved]Strange, somewhat inconsistent audio lag in emulators.

[SenVilan]

I've been noticing some pretty obvious audio lag in quite a few of the emulators (most notably with epsxe and the GBA emulators) and I'm not sure what could be causing it. At first I thought I was imagining it, but after testing my PSP and it's respective emulators along with the OUYA (through the same TV with the same sound setup), the difference was clear -- especially with PSX emulation. Castlevania: SotN was particularly noticeable as the sound for sword slashing and backwards dashing was probably delayed close to a second on the OUYA, whereas it was instantaneous on the PSP. The GBA it wasn't as stark of a contrast but while testing a few different games, I could definitely notice a bit.

After that, I assumed it was a general OUYA issue rather than an isolated one but then I messed around with some games on the NES and SEGA emulators and I didn't really notice it at all. Ninja Gaiden seemed perfect, as well as the few games I tried on the SEGA, so it either wasn't delayed or it was so little it was hardly discernible. Even on the SNES9x (where I had noticed some delay on a few games earlier), it didn't seem to lag much at all on Blackthorne, so I'm genuinely confused here. It almost seems like it's on a "per game basis" or something. The epsxe though... it's really bad and even going through menus (like on FFVIII for example) the delay is impossible to ignore. I've messed with all the sound settings (tried both experimental modes) and while they helped a "tad" it's still no where near the speed of the audio on the PSP emulator, which is about as close to retail as you can get.

Has anyone else dealt with any sound lag like this and is there something I can do to try and remedy it? I got this OUYA a little over a month ago, and so far, I've rooted it and put quite a few utility apps on it (like app stores and such), but that's about it. I was thinking about trying a factory reset to see if that would help, but I remember trying Castlevania: SotN right after I got my OUYA and it had the delay back then too.

To clarify, I'm using an external drive which I had read could potentially cause a problem like this, but I tried playing some games from the internal itself and I had the same exact problem. Here's an example similar to what I'm dealing with, give or take depending on the emulator (with epsxe being the worst.)

If any of you have any suggestions or tips to possibly help with this, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

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Sorry to bump this, but I'm still at a loss on what to do about this sound latency issue. I've been messing around with a bunch of different emulators and I notice that the sound buffering level seems to impact the amount of latency you have. Sad thing is, if you turn it down too low, the sound starts crackling and the fps starts to stutter and/or drop.

As for the ePSXe, nothing I've tried seems to help with the crazy delay that it has, even a factory reset. If I just knew whether this was normal, it wouldn't bother me so much, but if it's due to my machine being defective or something, I'd like to send it back for a replacement while I still have the chance (I've got until the 31st.) If any of you happen to have and wouldn't mind testing Castlevania: SotN, or possibly even Final Fantasy VIII and tell me if you hear any sound delay, I'd really appreciate the feedback. Some of the most noticeable examples: In FFVIII, when I'm cycling through the "Start" and "Continue" options at the beginning screen, the noise doesn't happen until after the cursor is already sitting on whichever one I selected. With Castlevania, Alucard's sword slash and backwards dash sound effects happen after the animation. The "low latency" modes help a little but it's still considerably off. I've tested them both on my PSP emulator as well for contrast and the speed is much tighter by comparison. When I move the cursor, the sound happens with it.

If I can see how this is affecting other people using the same emulator and games, I'll know whether I should consider getting my OUYA replaced or not. Thanks for any help.

(By the way, I also notice some slight audio delay in the main OUYA menu -- when cycling through Play, Discover, etc. Is that just a design decision or am I the only one who's hearing that?)

[Sluup]

No consecutive/double posts. Do not post right after you just posted. Instead, use the "Edit" button on your current post while resubmitting the changes. You may double post in the Unofficial Support folder if you haven't received an answer to your problem within one week and are notifying the forum that you're still having the issue and need help. Developers are allowed to double post without restraint just as long as they're posting about something that correlates to their project inside their project thread located in the Current/Upcoming Games & Applications folder. This would include posts such as an update, change-log, release date, etc. Staff reserves the right to merge any and all posts that are deemed excessive.

I know you are eager to get an answer but you must follow the rules, still.

As for your problem. The ePSXe sound latency is normal. My computor monitor, which produces no latency, lag, delays, whatever you want to call it, can vouch for me. it makes snes games like super mario world 100% precise. Your gba problem might be because you don't have the frameskip to auto. I have it set on auto and buffering to 3 and it is perfect, so as my snes, nes, and gb/gbc. I find it that the tv is part blame for some of the latency. My tv in the living room has a 200ms delay on both audio and video, turning on game mode on my tv lowers the delay to below an acceptable 50ms or so. I can still feel the latency but it is a ton more lower to where precision games are playable. This doesn't fix the audio latency on the ePSXe since the fault is in the emulator itself.

[SenVilan]

I know you are eager to get an answer but you must follow the rules, still.

As for your problem. The ePSXe sound latency is normal. My computor monitor, which produces no latency, lag, delays, whatever you want to call it, can vouch for me. it makes snes games like super mario world 100% precise. Your gba problem might be because you don't have the frameskip to auto. I have it set on auto and buffering to 3 and it is perfect, so as my snes, nes, and gb/gbc. I find it that the tv is part blame for some of the latency. My tv in the living room has a 200ms delay on both audio and video, turning on game mode on my tv lowers the delay to below an acceptable 50ms or so. I can still feel the latency but it is a ton more lower to where precision games are playable. This doesn't fix the audio latency on the ePSXe since the fault is in the emulator itself.

Ah, sorry about that. That's the second time I've forgotten that rule. I post on quite a few different boards so I mix things up from time to time.

It's a relief to hear that. The PSX has way worse latency than any of the others so that makes sense. As for the settings, I have them all set to auto on the frameskip, but the sound buffering... I don't know how you set it to 3 without causing problems. With the GBA it seems ok, but if I set it to 3 on the snes9x the sound starts "cracking" a bit and I think it even messes with the fps. I've got it set to 5 right now as that seems to be the closest compromise. I'm still sensing a little delay I think, but it's tolerable at least. What other sound settings do you use, if you don't mind me asking?

The only game mode my TV has affects the picture, unfortunately. I don't think my TV is causing any latency though. I run my PSP through the same sound setup (with the only difference being it uses composite cables instead of HDMI) and it doesn't have even the slightest bit of sound lag. I guess it's probably just due to the sound buffer levels overall, but with the issues it causes for me, it's difficult to justify keeping them at 3. I'll keep tinkering with them.

Thanks for the help.

[RiotingSpectre]

Epsxe got updated today with the following additions.

ePSXe for Android 1.9.15, released on 01.28.2014

• Updated to Android 4.0 UI
• Updated logo: Robert Typek
• Added language Korean (Duo Jeon).
• Added fullscreen immersion support in Android 4.4
• Added 32bit blit support
• Include support in the blit for Sony Tablet P
• Fixed some glitches in blit in gpu hardware renderer
• Added support to a new very low latency sound mode
• Support automap for more gamepads: wikipad, ps4, Samsung EI-GP20, jxd s7800b
• Added support to map the triggers L2/R2 on map buttons screen
• Fixed l1-l1/r2-r1 in portrait mode
• Added support to map the triggers L2/R2
• Added gamepad autodetection when pressing a button during gameplay
• Added support set the gamepad skin transparency
• Included support for bluetooth keyboards
• Added support for SBI files in MDS/MDF format
• Added support to rename the shortcuts
• Fixed PPF support on Android
• Include support to delete savestates (press long on savestate)
• Added a new ECM indexer with progress bar
• Included option to download the HD opengl plugin
• GPU: Fixed Mad Stalker - Full Metal Force Intro
• Fixed Kidou Senshi Gundam - Gihren no Yabou CD2

[SenVilan]

Epsxe got updated today with the following additions.

ePSXe for Android 1.9.15, released on 01.28.2014

• Updated to Android 4.0 UI
• Updated logo: Robert Typek
• Added language Korean (Duo Jeon).
• Added fullscreen immersion support in Android 4.4
• Added 32bit blit support
• Include support in the blit for Sony Tablet P
• Fixed some glitches in blit in gpu hardware renderer
• Added support to a new very low latency sound mode
• Support automap for more gamepads: wikipad, ps4, Samsung EI-GP20, jxd s7800b
• Added support to map the triggers L2/R2 on map buttons screen
• Fixed l1-l1/r2-r1 in portrait mode
• Added support to map the triggers L2/R2
• Added gamepad autodetection when pressing a button during gameplay
• Added support set the gamepad skin transparency
• Included support for bluetooth keyboards
• Added support for SBI files in MDS/MDF format
• Added support to rename the shortcuts
• Fixed PPF support on Android
• Include support to delete savestates (press long on savestate)
• Added a new ECM indexer with progress bar
• Included option to download the HD opengl plugin
• GPU: Fixed Mad Stalker - Full Metal Force Intro
• Fixed Kidou Senshi Gundam - Gihren no Yabou CD2

Ha, I was just coming in here to say something about this and then I see your post. This update is incredible; it pretty much completely fixed my latency issues. There's still a tiny bit of lag but it's wayyy less noticeable now than it was -- it's probably on par with the rest of my emulators now. The "Lowest (experimental)" setting didn't seem to have any lag at all but it made the games unplayable for me (really choppy.)

This update seriously made my day . Major respect for the ePSXe guys.

(By the way, did you just get that admin status or did I just not notice it before? If you did, congratz )

[RiotingSpectre]

Ha, I was just coming in here to say something about this and then I see your post. This update is incredible; it pretty much completely fixed my latency issues. There's still a tiny bit of lag but it's wayyy less noticeable now than it was -- it's probably on par with the rest of my emulators now. The "Lowest (experimental)" setting didn't seem to have any lag at all but it made the games unplayable for me (really choppy.)

This update seriously made my day . Major respect for the ePSXe guys.

(By the way, did you just get that admin status or did I just not notice it before? If you did, congratz )

Glad I could help(in a way). I've been an Administrator for months but nobody could tell because we were all labeled OUYAForum Staff back then. Shall I consider this solved and lock it?

[SenVilan]

Glad I could help(in a way). I've been an Administrator for months but nobody could tell because we were all labeled OUYAForum Staff back then. Shall I consider this solved and lock it?

Yeah, this is officially not an issue anymore so go right ahead. And thanks again for all the help this past month .

[RiotingSpectre]

Yeah, this is officially not an issue anymore so go right ahead. And thanks again for all the help this past month .

No problem. Locked.