When I hit play, it starts playing after two seconds or so when I use the Studio Display XDR speakers

I’ve seen this before, but I don’t have a solid understanding how audio works between AE > macOS > different audio interfaces, I have an idea where to look to try some different options. My basic understanding is AE wants to convert your footage audio to match the audio interface output settings and depending on something(s), it might be fast or take a while — each and every time you try to preview.

Open After Effects’ Audio settings (Settings > Audio) and then press the “Settings…” button, which opens the Audio MIDI Setup app (found in Applications > Utilities).

Compare AE’s output format and your audio interfaces’ output formats. AE and your MBP speakers might be matching, but the XDR is probably using something else. If the lag is gone (or lessened) when outputting to your MBP speakers, change the XDR’s output format to match your MBP’s and see what happens!

On top of all that, always make sure to be using uncompressed audio in your projects. You always want less places for things to get wonky when it comes to AE and audio.

Do you have the info panel option, you should be able to see what AE is doing with the audio from that.  My guess is that the XDR speakers require audio in a different format(?) 

Hi canxoguz,

Thanks for writing in.

Could you also share your exact AE version and macOS version? Please check if there are any OS updates or firmware updates available for the display.

Let me know. Moving this thread from Bugs to Questions for troubleshooting.

Thanks,

Nishu