Why does my calibration change randomly?

[nowimnothing]

Started playing RB3 again after a while. I've added a surround system since the last time I played so obviously I needed to recalibrate the game. Did that and have been playing the game somewhat regularly with no issues (A:58ms, V:45ms). Not too long ago, I had a couple friends over and we decided to play.. got everything set up and ready (drums, guitar and vocals) and on the first song, the calibration seemed off so I went in to the menu and did the manual calibration (hitting in time with the sound and marker), got some slightly different numbers (A:68ms, V:56ms), accepted them and went back to the game. The sync was good so we played a few songs. After about 4-5, we noticed the sync seemed a little off again. Recalibrated and got drastically different numbers (A:-288ms, V:90ms). Accepted them, went back and started playing a song and it was WAY off. Every attempt to recalibrate after that gave us an error stating it couldn't get a good reading or some such nonsense. After a few failed attempts, we decided to call it a night.

A couple days later, I fire up RB3 and recalibrate it immediately. I get numbers similar to what I first got (when it was accurate). I play a few songs (solo drums) and everything seems good. Couple friends come over and decide to join in (guitar and vocals). Two songs in and the calibration is off again. We recalibrate it and get VERY different numbers again (A:-276, V:97). Several attempts at recalibration either produced numbers in that range, or gave us the same error from the other time.

About a week later (a couple days ago), I start up the game, recalibrate it and get normal numbers again (like before). I play 3 songs just fine, but when I start the 4th, the sync is WAY off. Calibration gives me the crazy numbers again followed by errors. At this point, I'm super frustrated. Googled "RB3 calibration issues" and found a youtube video on how to manually figure out and enter the calibration numbers (now I know how the +/- numbers work lol). I go through that tedious and time consuming process til I finally feel like it's solid (A:65ms, V:30ms). I play a couple songs and damn.. it's more spot on than I think it's ever been, awesome! Played several songs last night, including a few with a friend on guitar and the sync stayed perfect.

I go home on my lunch break today and figure I'll play a couple songs to kill some time before going back to work. The first song I play is off.. but only a little. So I go and manually adjust the Audio a bit (to 80ms) and nothing. Up it to 95 and it's a little better, but still off. Up it to 110ms, nope. 125ms, still nothing, but now it seems more off (yes, I was adjusting it in the correct direction). Ended up at 195ms or so with no results by the time I had to go back to lunch.

So my question is this... what the hell? Why is the calibration going from perfect to **** after a few songs? I do not have an auto calibrating instrument (unless the ION kit is, unbeknownst to me). Initially I thought it had to do with the mic as the calibration only seemed to get way off when the mic was used, but since it did it to me playing solo drums, that's clearly not the problem.

I don't have model numbers in front of me, but my setup is this:

360 > TV via HDMI
TV Audio > Surround system via optical cable

TV: 37" LCD LG 1080p 60Hz refresh rate
Surround: Samsung 5.1ch Blu Ray Surround Sound System

Any assistance is greatly appreciated. I can post model numbers and such when I get home tonight if that'll help.

[Icemage]

Maybe something going on with your receiver. What it looks like to me is that your audio latency settings are wildly inconsistent (way more variation than you'd expect even from just playing when tired/excited/etc.). The video variation might be from you subconsciously trying to adjust to the weird audio calibration.

Have you checked your receiver settings to make sure it isn't doing something weird? Some receivers have weird functions that tweak the latency, sometimes on-the-fly, usually functions like lip sync delays or whatnot. Check to see if you have any of those bells and whistles enabled on your receiver (and if you do, turn them off).

[nowimnothing]

I didn't think about looking at the audio settings on the receiver... I'll check that out when I get home today. Thanks =)

[ricecake]

Also, if your TV has a game mode, you should use it. It's supposed to turn off any video/audio processing that may introduce additional lag (though the audio might not be affected if it's being output to a receiver).