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Apple TV 4K Netflix Dolby Atmos Audio Glitch

Hi guys, grateful for any advice.


I’ve recently noticed that when I’m using the Netflix app, the Dolby Atmos audio seems to be glitching. Audio playing from my centre channel seems to get randomly redirected to my surround channels for 1-2 seconds before returning to normal. Doesn’t seem to be related to internet connection - image seems fine & there’s no associated buffering/stuttering. It’s really distracting.


I’m running tvOS 14.0.1 on a 64GB A1842 Apple TV connected to a Sony STDN1080 receiver. Problem seems to have started recently - noticed it with Away & The Haunting of Hill House. Netflix app is on auto refresh so assume it’s up to date.


Haven’t noticed the problem on other apps/services. Remainder of A/V setup working normally. Haven’t adjusted cabling or other settings. Atmos audio is playing perfectly (all channels accounted for) when the app is not glitching.


Be grateful for any ideas?

Posted on Oct 4, 2020 12:13 PM

Reply
40 replies

Oct 12, 2020 1:16 PM in response to Viewtiful_Jim

This has been happening for months in my Apple TV 4K but only in the Netflix app. All of my iTunes movies play Atmos perfectly. These same movies that glitch in the Apple TV do not exhibit the same problems using my LG Oled built in Netflix app. The same trouble occurs as previous poster has stated. Sound will suddenly be directed to left or right surround that is supposed to be coming from the front soundstage. I am sure we are not the only people affected by said bug.

Oct 14, 2020 9:06 AM in response to Horrorfan2112

I don’t think reaching out to Netflix would do any good as this problem only manifests itself when using the Apple TV app. The XBOX 1x app is fine, the LG Oled app is fine. It’s only the app on Apple TV. It’s been doing this for months. I deleted the app made sure I was on the latest firmware, reinstalled and same audio drops and channel ping pong as before. Switch to TVs native app and everything is perfect. Watching any movies in iTunes works perfectly also. I am sure this is a widespread problem that could be fixed with a firmware update to the app. It was working fine months ago. Somewhere one of these updates messed it up. It makes me wonder how many people have Atmos setups period. I’m sure the number is smaller than I would have expected. I know a lot of people and I don’t know any close friends with more than a cheapo soundbar.

Nov 6, 2020 12:34 PM in response to Viewtiful_Jim

It has been happening with appletv 4k and Netflix for the entire year I’ve owned my box.


disney, appletv, prime all work, but the Netflix app glitches with atmos sound, cycling from front speakers to rear, almost like its going from 2.1, 5.1 to 5.1.4 randomly. It’s completely unwatchable. Netflix blames Apple, Apple blames Netflix.


personally I don’t care if it is eBay’s fault, I just wish they’d fix it already.

Dec 29, 2020 4:11 PM in response to Nothinghr

We were on TELUS smart hub internet (25mbps), could easily stream 3 separate TV’s at once. When I switched to a ubiquity internet (250mbps U/D) mine has cleared up. Not entirely sure why the sounds cycling or whatever with the slower internet (which was easily enough to stream 4k/atmos with Disney, appletv, crave, prime)


running appletv 4k, Samsung ks8000 and denon x4200w (did the same thing with my denon x4100w)

Jan 17, 2021 6:42 AM in response to Viewtiful_Jim

I recently moved and didn't have this issue prior to my move. After my move I reconnected my Marantz receiver to my AppleTV and my Samsung TV. I started noticing that the center channel would randomly switch to my rear speakers only with Netflix. I noticed that I was using a cheap HDMI cable from my receiver to my AppleTV. I switched the cable to a high end cable and asked Apple TV to detect my HDMI cable. I haven't had an issue with the center channel switch to my rear speakers since I made the change. I'm not sure if this corrected itself when I changed the cable or ask AppleTV to detect my HDMI cable after I removed the old cable. If you don't have a high end cable, try to unplug then reinsert your cable and ask AppleTV to detect your cable in settings.

Jan 17, 2021 6:50 PM in response to Go1ngPostal

This isn’t a HDMI cable issue. Many people, me included, swapped cable to 8K certified cable and the issue still persists.

not only that, my internet speed is always above 100Mbps down and up, no packet loss or jitter. I tried with Nvidia Shield I was able to borrow, no issues.

I am really disappointed of how Apple let us down with this, I wish I had returned ATV 4K when I was still in time.

Apple TV 4K Netflix Dolby Atmos Audio Glitch

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