Infuse for macOS – Video briefly jumps ahead, then rewinds to resync with audio during 2× playback

Streaming & Network
1

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone has seen this before or can help me narrow down the cause.

Hardware

  • Mac: MacBook Pro (M1 Pro)
  • Memory: 16 GB
  • Display: External 5K monitor running at 60 Hz
  • Connection: Mac connected over 5 GHz Wi-Fi

Server

  • Jellyfin Server: Running on Linux Mint
  • Connection to router: Gigabit Ethernet
  • Playback: Using Infuse for macOS connected to Jellyfin

I also tested by accessing the exact same files directly over SMB, bypassing Jellyfin completely.

The issue occurs with both Jellyfin and SMB, so it doesn’t appear to be specific to Jellyfin.

The problem

I normally watch videos at 2× playback speed.

I’m experiencing what initially looked like micro-stuttering, but after paying closer attention, I realized something more unusual is happening.

Instead of simply dropping frames, the playback behaves like this:

  1. Video is playing normally.
  2. The video suddenly jumps slightly ahead.
  3. The audio does NOT jump and continues playing normally.
  4. About a second later, the video replays the section that it skipped.
  5. Video and audio are synchronized again.

So it almost feels like Infuse lets the video get ahead of the audio, then corrects itself by replaying the skipped frames.

This repeats randomly throughout playback.

Buffering observations

One thing that makes me think this is not a network buffering issue is that Infuse appears to have a large amount of the movie already cached.

The cache indicator is usually far ahead of my current playback position when the problem happens.

I almost never see buffering or loading.

Network

  • Linux Mint server → Gigabit Ethernet
  • Router → 5 GHz Wi-Fi
  • MacBook Pro (M1 Pro)

Network performance appears good.

Additional testing

I have tested:

  • Jellyfin → Infuse
  • SMB share → Infuse

Both exhibit the same behavior.

Since SMB bypasses Jellyfin, I’m leaning toward this not being a Jellyfin issue.

Things I’m wondering

  • Is this a known limitation or bug with 2× playback in Infuse?
  • Could this be related to A/V synchronization when using accelerated playback?
  • Does anyone else see this on Apple Silicon Macs?
  • Could this be related to specific codecs (HEVC/H.265, HDR, Dolby Vision, TrueHD, DTS-HD, etc.)?
  • Has anyone experienced the video briefly running ahead and then replaying itself to resynchronize with the audio?

Any suggestions for additional diagnostics or settings to try would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

2

Exact same issue has been happening to me for probably 2-3 months at the very least. I am using M2 MacBook Air with 16GB memory. I mainly stream via WebDAV and have been encountering this also when i watch videos at 2x (its normally how i watch videos as well). so far i have not found any solutions either.

3

Update — I was able to narrow this down considerably.

I’m running Infuse 8.5 on an M2 MacBook Air (16 GB), macOS 26.6.1, using AirPods Max.

During accelerated playback, the video periodically jumps ahead while the audio continues, then the video jumps backward to resynchronize. The frequency increases with playback speed:

  • 1.75×: happens occasionally

  • 1.95×: happens more frequently

  • 2×: happens most frequently

I’ve now tested this extensively:

  • The issue occurs with multiple different episodes/files, all using English E-AC3 5.1 Dolby Atmos (E-AC3 JOC) audio.

  • It occurs when streaming from my WebDAV server.

  • I downloaded the exact same files to my Mac’s internal SSD and played them locally in Infuse, and the issue still occurs, ruling out WebDAV/networking.

  • With the exact same video, switching to a non-Atmos E-AC3 5.1 track eliminates the problem completely.

  • I tested the exact same local file in VLC at 2× using the English E-AC3 Atmos track, and VLC plays it normally without the jumping/resyncing.

  • I also tried disabling Dolby Atmos in Infuse’s settings, but the issue still occurs with the E-AC3 Atmos track.

So at this point it appears to be specific to Infuse’s handling of E-AC3 JOC/Atmos during variable playback speeds on macOS.

Diagnostic code: C6FSF