Audio Desync / Loading

Hi MatthewMills-20​,

Sorry to hear that Storyline audio is delayed during LMS playback!

This behavior is likely related to how audio is loaded and buffered when content is delivered through an LMS. In Storyline, audio files on a Slide are not fully preloaded before playback starts. Instead, they're typically loaded dynamically, as the Timeline progresses or when triggered. LMS delivery can also introduce latency and SCORM wrapper overhead processes. 

That's why everything works as expected during Preview or when published to Review 360. In those environments, assets are locally available and can be streamed more efficiently.

To mitigate this behavior, we suggest:

• Combining audio clips when possible into a single file per slide. This can help reduce the number of assets that need to load during playback.
• Add a slight delay at the start of each Timeline (e.g., 0.25 to 0.5 seconds) to give the audio extra time to initialize. 
• Use 'Play Media' Triggers instead of Timeline-based audio for more control over when audio clips start.
• Check LMS/browser combinations (Chrome vs. Edge) to see if one handles playback more smoothly than others.

Currently, Storyline doesn't support an option that forces itself to fully preload all audio on a Slide before playback starts. I can certainly see how that functionality would help scenarios like yours.

I've submitted your feedback as a feature request, and we'll be sure to notify you if we release a future enhancement that helps!