Why your PC speakers and Sonos echo, and how to fix it
If your desk speakers and a Sonos in the same room play the same thing, you hear it twice. The fix is to hold your computer's speakers back by the same amount Sonos is behind.
Why Sonos is behind
Sonos keeps a buffer of about one to two seconds of audio. That buffer is what lets a group of Sonos speakers play in step and ride out Wi-Fi hiccups. It can't be switched off, so any audio sent to Sonos plays that much later than it does on your computer.
The fix: delay the computer, not Sonos
Since Sonos can't go faster, your computer's speakers have to go slower. It's the same idea as the lip-sync or audio delay setting on a TV or AV receiver. PC2Sonos plays a copy of your audio to your PC speakers or headphones, held back to match Sonos.
- Install PC2Sonos and turn on your Sonos speakers in its dashboard.
- Play some music.
- Press Auto next to the sync delay. PC2Sonos reads Sonos's own playback clock and sets the delay. No microphone is involved.
You can also drag the delay slider by ear until the echo disappears.
Windows 10 or newer, macOS 12 or newer. No account needed.
Keeping it in sync
The delay is saved, and PC2Sonos resyncs in the background so it doesn't drift over a long day. If you use headphones and desk speakers at once, both play the same delayed audio.
Still hearing an echo?
- Press Auto again while music is playing, or fine-tune the slider by ear.
- Check that your computer's speakers are listed as a PC speaker output in PC2Sonos, not set as Windows' default device. The virtual cable should be the default.
- Make sure only PC2Sonos is sending audio to that Sonos, not AirPlay or the Sonos app at the same time.