diff --git a/src/osd/sdl/sdlmain.c b/src/osd/sdl/sdlmain.c
index c99726cef18..0a3816a1f7b 100644
--- a/src/osd/sdl/sdlmain.c
+++ b/src/osd/sdl/sdlmain.c
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ const options_entry sdl_options::s_option_entries[] =
 
 	// sound options
 	{ NULL,                                   NULL,  OPTION_HEADER,     "SOUND OPTIONS" },
-	{ SDLOPTION_AUDIO_LATENCY,                "3",   OPTION_INTEGER,    "set audio latency (increase to reduce glitches, decrease for responsiveness)" },
+	{ SDLOPTION_AUDIO_LATENCY,                "2",   OPTION_INTEGER,    "set audio latency (increase to reduce glitches, decrease for responsiveness)" },
 
 	// keyboard mapping
 	{ NULL, 		                          NULL,  OPTION_HEADER,     "SDL KEYBOARD MAPPING" },
diff --git a/src/osd/sdl/sound.c b/src/osd/sdl/sound.c
index e75a4bf50ec..f468bb68997 100644
--- a/src/osd/sdl/sound.c
+++ b/src/osd/sdl/sound.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ static int stream_in_initialized = 0;
 static int stream_loop = 0;
 
 // maximum audio latency
-#define MAX_AUDIO_LATENCY		10
+#define MAX_AUDIO_LATENCY		5
 
 //============================================================
 //  LOCAL VARIABLES