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Q: AppleTV 4 surround sound issue

i just acquired an AppleTV 4 to replace my AppleTV 3. Since I used to connect the optical audio out to my Yamaha surround sound receiver, I am forced to use only hdmi. That would not be a problem for two reasons:

 

1. All AppleTV content plays with the receiver showing PCM and not DTS or some other form of surround sound.

2. All my movies i encoded are strictly playing in stereo only. The DTS stream is seemingly not being passed through hdmi.

 

Routing hdmi to tv then optical from tv to receiver does not change anything.

 

How can I fix this?  Surely I should be getting DTS with a Yamaha rx- v1900 receiver?

Posted on Nov 1, 2015 1:32 AM

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Q: AppleTV 4 surround sound issue

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  • by bodosom,

    bodosom bodosom Nov 8, 2015 5:30 AM in response to jvulto
    Level 1 (28 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 8, 2015 5:30 AM in response to jvulto

    I had channel problems as welll but since I don't have rear channels configured I wasn't sure if it the app or my audio setup.  I left a two star review and sent mail to the developer.

  • by mikealvey,

    mikealvey mikealvey Nov 8, 2015 5:36 AM in response to jvulto
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 8, 2015 5:36 AM in response to jvulto

    yes, only sees 3/2/.1

  • by bodosom,

    bodosom bodosom Nov 8, 2015 7:36 AM in response to pwnell
    Level 1 (28 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 8, 2015 7:36 AM in response to pwnell

    I posted this elsewhere:

            I initially thought the ATV 4gen was decoding everything and sent PCM. This is because my AVR has both OSD and web interfaces and reported two different values* for the input signal from the ATV 4gen. It's now clear that when Surround Sound is set to Dolby Surround an AC-3 signal is generated however the bitstream from a model ATV5,1 (ATV 4g) is not the same as the bitstream for the same input a model ATV3,1 (ATV 3g). The "dialnorm" meta-data has been removed which means it is modifying the bitstream. I don't know if it's possible to do that without a decode/encode step.

     

    The ATV 4g is decoding everything in AUTO mode and it's not possible to know what the original bitream contained. Since we now have a report of content in rear surrounds (from Terminator G) I vote that it's working as expected rather than Apple artfully creating fake surround data and that means E-AC-3 is being used for transport.

  • by Steve Waite,

    Steve Waite Steve Waite Nov 8, 2015 8:38 AM in response to bodosom
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 8, 2015 8:38 AM in response to bodosom

    Why? then, is it that, when I use Apple Music does it light my DD light on my 5.1 sound bar when ATV 4 is set to AUTO, the ATV 2,3 didn't and my sound bar would apply a surround effect to it.  This is what bothers me the most, soon as my sound bar detects DD it will not apply the surround effect and music doesn't sound as good.

  • by mechanic43,

    mechanic43 mechanic43 Nov 8, 2015 8:43 AM in response to jvulto
    Level 1 (86 points)
    Nov 8, 2015 8:43 AM in response to jvulto

    I posted here a while back and have figured out my issue I have multiple audio streams in some of my encoded movies, and found that you can detect them in the audio pull down once the movie has started.  My dolby surround issue is gone, but the more pressing issue is the fact that the new ATV4 is not outputting the full dynamic range even when set to do so.  It is muting the loud noises even when the output in the dropdown is set to "full dynamic range"  this needs to be fixed asap or the new apple tv is a no go for me and will be returned.

  • by bodosom,

    bodosom bodosom Nov 8, 2015 9:13 AM in response to Steve Waite
    Level 1 (28 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 8, 2015 9:13 AM in response to Steve Waite

    Steve Waite wrote:

     

    Why? then, is it that, when I use Apple Music does it light my DD light on my 5.1 sound bar when ATV 4 is set to AUTO, the ATV 2,3 didn't and my sound bar would apply a surround effect to it.

    I don't know.  Apple Music does the right thing (produce stereo) when I use it as does iTunes Radio (the closest thing to Apple Music).  Both send 2-channel PCM.  What happens to that signal depends on my AVR settings.  I leave it at stereo but I have a variety of surround modes to choose from.

  • by JMac12,

    JMac12 JMac12 Nov 8, 2015 8:00 PM in response to Discoslap
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 8, 2015 8:00 PM in response to Discoslap

    I am having the same issue.  I have called Apple tech support and was told to reset the ATV 4.  This did resolve my issue but only for a few days and now the audio output is incorrect again.  My Onkyo receiver will detect a stereo 2 ch signal and automatically switch to stereo mode, or back to Dolby Digital when watching a movie.  After a couple of days of using the ATV4 my receiver only says multi-channel.  Again, I reset my ATV4 and the problem is resolved with sound outputting the way it should but only a for a day or two.

     

    My receiver is an Onkyo TX-NR616, with the latest firmware upgrade (thought maybe it was my receiver).  If I plug in my ATV 3, I have no audio problems and everything plays the way it should. Movies and music sound like crap because the receiver is not able to output correctly with mixed channel output coming from ATV4.

     

    Really disappointed that Apple could not get this right as it worked perfectly on ATV3.  I don't want to keep factory resetting the unit every few days to get the auto sound output working correctly.

     

    Also, to the users who have forced the setting to Dolby Surround in the ATV menu, you are not getting true Dolby Digital sound, this just tricks your receiver to show Dolby Digital but not all channels output correctly as another user has stated. 

  • by z06gal,

    z06gal z06gal Nov 8, 2015 8:27 PM in response to JMac12
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 8, 2015 8:27 PM in response to JMac12

    "Also, to the users who have forced the setting to Dolby Surround in the ATV menu, you are not getting true Dolby Digital sound, this just tricks your receiver to show Dolby Digital but not all channels output correctly as another user has stated."


    There is several threads about this at MacRumors. I hope Apple fixes it soon. It is horrible. I will use my Roku until it is resolved

  • by bodosom,

    bodosom bodosom Nov 8, 2015 8:44 PM in response to JMac12
    Level 1 (28 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 8, 2015 8:44 PM in response to JMac12

    JMac12 wrote:

     

    Also, to the users who have forced the setting to Dolby Surround in the ATV menu, you are not getting true Dolby Digital sound, this just tricks your receiver to show Dolby Digital but not all channels output correctly as another user has stated.

    This is not true.  Multiple people using multiple tests have shown that setting Surround to Dolby plays AC-3 soundtracks correctly.

    You can:

    1) Use the Netflix test video

    2) Use any AC-3 test track you've loaded into iTunes.

    3) Use the Surround Speaker Check app.

     

    I've done all three and AC-3 works correctly with Surround set to Auto or Dolby.

  • by mikealvey,

    mikealvey mikealvey Nov 9, 2015 1:43 AM in response to JMac12
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 1:43 AM in response to JMac12

    when ste to auto after you reset does your receiver show Dolby digital or pcm? My pioneer  my shows pcm. Hope they straighten thisout as except for this I do like the Apple TV better than the roku. Plex is a much better looking app on here.

  • by Jon Walker,

    Jon Walker Jon Walker Nov 9, 2015 4:18 AM in response to Steve Waite
    Level 6 (18,613 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 4:18 AM in response to Steve Waite

    Why? then, is it that, when I use Apple Music does it light my DD light on my 5.1 sound bar when ATV 4 is set to AUTO, the ATV 2,3 didn't and my sound bar would apply a surround effect to it.

    The TV4 "Auto" unconditionally opens a DD+7.1 compatible PCM connection over the HDMI interface. It doesn't care if the source data is center channel mono, 2-channel mono, stereo, Pro Logic II, DD5.1, or DD+7.1 audio. The order units were not DD+ compatible and applied Dolby or "non-Dolby" decoding as needed depending on the sourced audio.

     

    This is what bothers me the most, soon as my sound bar detects DD it will not apply the surround effect and music doesn't sound as good.

    In that case, try setting the TV4 to the "Stereo" mode. This should allow "Sound Effects" or Dolby "Pro Logic II" decoding to be applied normally to your music. Just remember to "Auto" or "Dolby Surround" as required/preferred for multichannel surround audio sources.

    SJAUG.png

  • by Jon Walker,

    Jon Walker Jon Walker Nov 9, 2015 4:25 AM in response to mechanic43
    Level 6 (18,613 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 4:25 AM in response to mechanic43

    My dolby surround issue is gone, but the more pressing issue is the fact that the new ATV4 is not outputting the full dynamic range even when set to do so.  It is muting the loud noises even when the output in the dropdown is set to "full dynamic range"  this needs to be fixed asap or the new apple tv is a no go for me and will be returned.

    Is your TV4 global "Reduce Loud Sounds" setting by any chance turned on?

    SJAUG.png

  • by Steve Waite,

    Steve Waite Steve Waite Nov 9, 2015 4:35 AM in response to Jon Walker
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 4:35 AM in response to Jon Walker

    Thanks Jon, this is what I will do.

  • by bodosom,

    bodosom bodosom Nov 9, 2015 6:30 AM in response to Jon Walker
    Level 1 (28 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 9, 2015 6:30 AM in response to Jon Walker

    Jon Walker wrote:

     

    Why? then, is it that, when I use Apple Music does it light my DD light on my 5.1 sound bar when ATV 4 is set to AUTO

    The TV4 "Auto" unconditionally opens a DD+7.1 compatible PCM connection over the HDMI interface

    Under no circumstances should a properly operating decoder signal AC-3 when the ATV is in AUTO mode.  There are either seven PCM channels or two.  Selecting STEREO should have the same result as AUTO when feed by Apple Music.

  • by Jon Walker,

    Jon Walker Jon Walker Nov 9, 2015 7:06 AM in response to bodosom
    Level 6 (18,613 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 7:06 AM in response to bodosom

    Under no circumstances should a properly operating decoder signal AC-3 when the ATV is in AUTO mode.  There are either seven PCM channels or two.

    I stand corrected. It appears I was testing an AC3 source track when I made this comment. Thanks for correcting me.

    SJAUG.png

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