Will Audio Extractor work with Apple TV 4K 2021?

I have just replied to another discussion where I recommended an HDMI/toslink splitter to send audio to a hifi and video to a TV (or, in my case, a projector). Hopefully you can still find one online.

I now use stereo Homepods for my ATV audio so am unable to test the old setup with the latest tvOS.

I can’t tell either. Their description wouldn’t be detailed enough for my buying decision. Maybe it works, maybe not. I’d buy from some other manufacturer. I would want to know the HDMI version and be sure of HDCP support. HDMI 1.3 and HDMI 1.4 are almost the same. The difference isn’t relevant for most users (Apple TV doesn’t feature 3D content anyway).

If you see a good deal on a 4K-capable extractor, then that would work fine too. It should be backwards compatible (unless the manufacturer states to the contrary).

My setup with an HDMI/toslink splitter was a couple of years ago with an ATV HD and a hifi. I now have an ATV 4K and stereo Homepods. I cannot easily test using the splitter with the ATV 4K and the old hifi system so, sorry, cannot provide an update.

BTW - For several years now I have watched OTA TV via the Apple TV using an HDHomerun tuner and the Channels app for ATV so I haven't needed to swap audio between devices. That was one reason for getting the splitter.

So I'm running devices into my HDTV via HDMI and then Optical cable out to my AVR (doesn't have HDMI just Optical).

That is fine. No need to split that from the Apple TV, when you can use TV audio passthrough, when the TV has optical-out.

Apple TV →[HDMI]→ TV →[optical]→ receiver

You could use an HDMI Audio Extractor, but often that won’t be necessary.

Apple TV →[HDMI]→ HDMI Audio Extractor →[HDMI]→ TV

↘︎[optical]→ receiver

Does anyone have any experience using an Audio Extractor with the new Apple TV 4K 2021?

There is no reason why that wouldn’t work. Just get a good one (supporting HDMI 2.0+HDCP 2.2 or HDMI 2.1+HDCP 2.3).

I did read where one guy said he was using one successfully until IOS 14.5 broke it. He was going to do further testing to see if it was for sure 14.5 but he never posted back.

[citation needed]. He was probably wrong about it. There is no logic in the system software having any influence over a standardized audio signal, when the signal has already left the source device, and is unaware of audio extractors.

Isn't this saying I probably wouldn't want to use the TV digital optical out as an option?

Ouch! Yes, you are right. What was Samsung thinking with this limitation of no 5.1 audio passthrough?

If your TV doesn’t support multichannel audio passthrough, then you might be better off using the HDMI Audio Extractor.

For a 1080p TV, a HDMI 1.4 Audio Extractor would be sufficient. HDMI 2.0/2.1 wouldn’t be necessary.