# Lagless vs doing it in Terminal

> You can set macOS's AirPlay latency yourself with two Terminal commands. What Lagless adds on top, and when the commands are all you need.

Updated 2026-10-06. Canonical page: https://lagless.app/vs/lagless-vs-terminal/

> Lagless changes the same setting you'd change in Terminal: `audioLatencyMs` in root's `com.apple.airplay` preferences, followed by a restart of `AirPlayXPCHelper`. Terminal is fine if you set it once and forget it. Lagless is easier if you change it often, want to see the speaker's real delay, or want guard rails against values that go silent.

## Side by side

| | Terminal | Lagless |
|---|---|---|
| Set a value | `sudo defaults write …` then `sudo killall -9 AirPlayXPCHelper` | Pick a mode |
| Password | Every time | Once, at setup |
| Check what's applied | `sudo defaults read …` | Shown in the panel |
| See the speaker's delay | – | Before and after |
| Stop values that go silent | Up to you | Won't go below 350 ms |
| Keep the stream awake | – | Built in |
| Undo | `sudo defaults delete …` | One click |

## When Terminal is enough

If you'll set 350 ms once and leave it, the [commands in our guide](/guides/audiolatencyms-explained/) do the job without installing anything.

## When Lagless helps

If you switch between speakers, tune for a flaky network, or want the start of sounds not to be clipped, the panel, presets and keep-alive save you the commands and the guesswork.

## Sources

- [Preroll research notes](https://github.com/ksha23/preroll/blob/main/NOTES.md)