diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
index d63e7c076..76302a62f 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
@@ -801,6 +801,8 @@ impl_init(const struct spa_handle_factory *factory,
 			this->default_period_size = atoi(s);
 		} else if (!strcmp(k, "api.alsa.headroom")) {
 			this->default_headroom = atoi(s);
+		} else if (!strcmp(k, "api.alsa.start-delay")) {
+			this->default_start_delay = atoi(s);
 		} else if (!strcmp(k, "api.alsa.disable-mmap")) {
 			this->disable_mmap = (strcmp(s, "true") == 0 || atoi(s) == 1);
 		} else if (!strcmp(k, "api.alsa.disable-batch")) {
diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
index f927c85f0..9435d3e98 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
@@ -628,20 +628,21 @@ int spa_alsa_set_format(struct state *state, struct spa_audio_info *fmt, uint32_
 		state->headroom += period_size;
 
 	state->headroom = SPA_MIN(state->headroom, state->buffer_frames);
+	state->start_delay = state->default_start_delay;
 
 	state->period_frames = period_size;
 	periods = state->buffer_frames / state->period_frames;
 
 	spa_log_info(state->log, NAME" %s (%s): format:%s access:%s-%s rate:%d channels:%d "
 			"buffer frames %lu, period frames %lu, periods %u, frame_size %zd "
-			"headroom %u",
+			"headroom %u start-delay:%u",
 			state->props.device,
 			state->stream == SND_PCM_STREAM_CAPTURE ? "capture" : "playback",
 			snd_pcm_format_name(state->format),
 			state->use_mmap ? "mmap" : "rw",
 			planar ? "planar" : "interleaved",
 			state->rate, state->channels, state->buffer_frames, state->period_frames,
-			periods, state->frame_size, state->headroom);
+			periods, state->frame_size, state->headroom, state->start_delay);
 
 	/* write the parameters to device */
 	CHECK(snd_pcm_hw_params(hndl, params), "set_hw_params");
@@ -807,7 +808,7 @@ recover:
 	state->alsa_started = false;
 
 	if (state->stream == SND_PCM_STREAM_PLAYBACK)
-		spa_alsa_silence(state, state->last_threshold * 2 + state->headroom);
+		spa_alsa_silence(state, state->start_delay + state->threshold * 2 + state->headroom);
 
 	return do_start(state);
 }
@@ -829,7 +830,6 @@ static int get_status(struct state *state, snd_pcm_uframes_t *delay, snd_pcm_ufr
 		state->alsa_recovering = false;
 	}
 
-
 	*target = state->threshold + state->headroom;
 
 	if (state->resample && state->rate_match) {
@@ -1481,7 +1481,7 @@ int spa_alsa_start(struct state *state)
 	state->alsa_started = false;
 
 	if (state->stream == SND_PCM_STREAM_PLAYBACK)
-		spa_alsa_silence(state, state->threshold * 2 + state->headroom);
+		spa_alsa_silence(state, state->start_delay + state->threshold * 2 + state->headroom);
 
 	if ((err = do_start(state)) < 0)
 		return err;
diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.h b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.h
index 02a398faf..118f405b2 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.h
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.h
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ struct state {
 
 	uint32_t default_period_size;
 	uint32_t default_headroom;
+	uint32_t default_start_delay;
 	uint32_t default_format;
 	unsigned int default_channels;
 	unsigned int default_rate;
@@ -153,6 +154,7 @@ struct state {
 	uint32_t threshold;
 	uint32_t last_threshold;
 	uint32_t headroom;
+	uint32_t start_delay;
 
 	uint32_t duration;
 	uint32_t last_duration;
diff --git a/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf b/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
index dd4ebaf42..1de01ad2f 100644
--- a/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
+++ b/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ rules = [
                 #audio.position         = "FL,FR"
                 #api.alsa.period-size   = 1024
                 #api.alsa.headroom      = 0
+                #api.alsa.start-delay   = 0
                 #api.alsa.disable-mmap  = false
                 #api.alsa.disable-batch = false
                 #api.alsa.use-chmap     = false