Dolby AC-3 and MPEG-2 audio permit the transmission of audio signals with more than two independent audio channels. If a reproduction device has only a two-channel audio decoder (DEC1) then an external multi-channel audio decoder (DEC2) can be used for multi-channel sound reproduction. If the audio reproduction at the same time accompanies video reproduction, then a synchronization method is required in order to achieve lip synchronism between picture and sound. According to the invention, for the synchronization of a first decoder (DEC1), which merely has two-channel compatibility, with a second decoder, which has multi-channel compatibility, a counting variable is allocated a value (F) which is produced from system parameters such as the data coding method used, the transmission speed and/or the data rate. The data are received by the first decoder and output by the latter to the second decoder, the counting variable being decremented or incremented respectively for a specific volume of data. When the counting variable reaches a value corresponding to the beginning of the decoding by the second decoder, the first decoder then begins decoding the data.