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VLC for Android, App: Syncing Sound by Adjusting Audio Delay

In VLC for Android, if you find that the audio of a particular movie or video is out of sync, then you can fix it using the audio delay feature. You can specify how much to delay the sound by, in terms of milliseconds. If a sound is delayed by 1000 milliseconds then it will play after 1 second after the video. If a sound is delayed by -1000 milliseconds, it will move forward by 1 second in the video. The option is available on the screen after hitting the three dots … from the controls menu. It is the seventh icon in the on-screen options.

For the desktop version: Syncing Audio in VLC Media Player

The detailed steps to sync audio by adjusting the delay in VLC for Android:

  • Open a video in VLC Media Player.
  • If the on-screen control isn’t showing, tap on the screen.
  • Tap on the second button in the interface
  • Press the option that says Audio Delay
  • Tap on the plus ‘+’ or minus ‘-‘ button

Once you press the Audio Delay feature, you can hit the ‘+’ or ‘-‘ button located on the screen. Hitting plus once will delay the music by 50 ms. You might have to tap the button a couple of times or continue pressing it to make sure that the audio is in sync. Pressing on the minus sign will have the opposite effect. The minus button will speed up the sound as in moving it forward and it will play before the video.

Syncing audio is a really useful feature. Sometimes in movies, you will notice that an actor will move their lips but the sounds of the dialogue will come after a while. Sometimes, the opposite happens and the dialogue will come before the lips move. This is where the audio delay feature will come to the rescue.

So, if your audio comes first before the video, adjust it with the plus button by increasing the audio delay. If your audio comes later than the video, adjust it with the minus button. Sounds confusing? Play with it around for a while and you will get the hang of it!

Remember the Audio Delay

You might have noticed that the audio delay that you set will be there for the current run only. When you open the movie, the next time, it won’t have the same delay in place. VLC will forget the settings. If you want to keep the audio delay for the next run then you should head on to the options.

Here are the detailed steps to make sure that VLC for Android will remember the audio delay:

  • Go to ☰ Menu
  • Tap on Settings
  • Under Extra Settings, tap on Video
  • Check (or uncheck) the Save audio delay option

Now, the audio delay settings will be saved for the next run. It only applies to the individual video. You won’t have to set it again and again. Visit the same options to remove it.

View Comments (40)

  • Having the same issue as everyone else, can't adjust the audio delay, it disappeared when I had to reinstall VLC on my new phone. I came here to find an answer but my comment is falling on deaf ears.

  • I've switched to Nova Video Player for Android. It lets you set a global delay for all videos and adjust the one you're watching.

    It's free/open source and available for Fire TV in the Amazon Appstore.

  • Okay, folks. I had the same problem. I have an Amazon FireTV where the VLC audio delay worked until the update last fall. On my TV, while playing a video in VLC, I click the down arrow which brings a transport menu on the bottom of the screen, click over to the icon on the left which looks like the Morse code dash-dot and dot-dash. Another menu pops up for Audio and Subtitles. Click on the 3-dot menu for Audio and the delay is now there. Most of my videos require a -250 or -350 delay. I don't believe the delay is persistent and I don't see a menu item to set the default delay. I don't know how well these instructions will mesh with other platforms.

  • Bring it back PLEASE ... with VLC version 3.3.2 The audio delay override there is selected by pressing the three dots, does not work with the Amazon fire TV cube. each time you try and activate it, VLC shutdown.

    Please VLC developers, bring it back and sort this out.

    • Regarding the VLC version 3.3.2 Audio delay shutdown when clicked, try this:

      Instead of simply clicking or selecting the Audio delay button, press and hold it for 3 seconds. I have 3 Nvidia Shields and it works reliably on each one.

  • Hi... the speech bubble icon is gone from the Fire TV version. Please release an update that restores this critical functionality. Thank you!

  • Is there no way to go back to the old version? I am really getting fed up of out of sync audio on my TV. I am going to have to find another way of controlling the audio or another media player now.

  • VLC has just updated and now latest version has no audio delay. Is it there? Or has it been removed?

    Thanks

  • The October 2020 update using the fire stick tv now means you can’t use the audio delay anymore - even the speech bubble is gone - this option doesn’t exist anymore. Was this tested on the fire stick or was this feature removed? Seems very odd it’s gone and the U/I is far inferior. Any help much appreciated.

  • Since the Sept/Oct 2020 update I cannot find The Audio delay setting on my fire tv app. Can someone help?

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