Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new Apple TV 4k

Well, switching to 1080p is my workaround for now. My denon does the upscale to 4k.

I have ATV on 1080p SDR.

Auto frame rate

Auto dynamic

RGB high but, similar with YCbCr

Running 15.4 B (will not spell out the word otherwise this post will be rejected)

I'd give up Atmos before giving up 4k, but I sit close enough to the screen where it makes a difference (7' from a 75" TV). Fortunately, it's not a choice I need to make. The Gen 1 works perfectly. But I keep checking the Gen 2 for any progress (both Gen 1 and Gen 2 are connected to my Denon), also currently on 15.4B.

I tried opening a support case with Apple today and they want me to take it to a service center (Best Buy) for repair. I don't think I will waste my time. I tried to get the Apple rep. to look at this discussion as evidence that there is a larger issue at play, and he said that he could not because:

"There's no outside internet access. It's a potential security breach for our system, and they take that very seriously. So we can access our own system and internal network. We can't access the outside internet at all, because that would risk our own information as well as potentially everyone else's."

Never mind the link was from discussions.apple.com but based on this response, it is not a safe assumption that anyone at Apple is actually reading this thread. If you are seeing this and actually want the issue addressed, please open a support case with Apple to get more visibility into this issue with their developer & engineering department.

Apple is aware and they are working on the problem a case agent ensured me. However, so far every version we tested still showed the issue. 15.3 seemed to have improved it but, 15.4 seemed worse again.

So, I'm not very confident for a fix soon.

I rather sacrifice in resolution than audio so I'll stick with 1080p SDR for HDR. Btw, I did have the issue once or twice with 1080p SDR as well but, nowhere near as often as with 4K.

If I find the courage and time, I might test 1080p HDR as well.

Fingers crossed the CPU between gen 1 and 2 did not destroy Atmos in hardware...

Dont bother, I literally had one swapped out for a different one. Its not a hardware issue. Its something software related. No one knows, apple dosnt know. It seems to be happening more tho now because Allot of people are finally starting to notice that ATMOS does not work on gen 2!!! No matter what you have it hooked up too. Gen 2 sucks!

Perhaps not a hardware production issue but, maybe a hardware design issue.

Software wise gen 1 and 2 are pretty much equal I expect, except for drivers. Hardware wise there are also differences of course.

1080p for the sake of testing, not as a solution. Preferably with nonhdenon setups.

Some have reported here things started to act up with Atmos after TV os 14.7?

Next version 15.1 is when spatial audio was introduced, coincidence?

I received a replacement Gen 2 late last year. Based on several reports, I believed that the initial batch of Gen 2 might have had a problem that was later resolved. The replacement came with tvOS 14.7. It did exhibit the Atmos problem, but it was very infrequent. When I updated it to 15.2 (the constant nag screens to update got to me, and I have a Gen 1 as fallback), the problem was at least an order of magnitude more frequent. So 15.x is a lot worse than 14.7, but 14.7 wasn't problem-free. My Gen 1 has never demonstrated the Atmos problem, and is updated to the latest 15.3.

I also have the issue with repeated dropouts with ATMOS on the 2nd gen. Apple TV 4K.

I'm using a Trinnov Altitude. I've changed cables and about everything else I could think of with no luck. My Nvidia Shield Pro has no issues playing back the same shows using the same HDMI cables.

Apple - please fix this.

I suffered this massively yesterday while watching a film on Netflix on my Apple 4K 2021, plus a few weeks ago I also got it when watching the first episode of the latest Lost in Space series - both times were Dolby Atmos with Dolby Vision going via my AVC to TV.

As the volume is high the burst of pops & clicks was painful - for my ears and my speakers, the latter I fear for if this keeps happening. In both cases I swapped to the TV Netflix App and all was OK, but even with eARC I think it’s still compressed Dolby DD+ Dolby Atmos and not the higher PCM multichannel plus Dolby Atmos?

It‘s only the Netflix App on my Apple 4K 2021, Disney+ and Apple TV+ seem fine. It‘s, hopefully, only the Atmos speakers taking a hit?

The PCM multichannel isn’t higher quality than the DD+ Atmos over eARC; the source from Netflix is compressed and the only difference between eARC and the PCM from the ATV 4k is which device uncompressed it…i.e. your TV or the ATV or your AVR.

BidiM,

Do you, or anyone, think it’s at least just the Atmos Speakers getting this high energy blast of pops & clicks? It’s so high volume, I’ve just added my experience as a new post, I fear for my speakers :-(

If you fear for the safety of your speakers, I highly recommend you disable the Atmos capability of the ATV in Settings. This seems to completely eliminate the popping/clicking behavior from my experience. I will take the loss of Atmos over a blown speaker any day.

FWIW, when I get the popping/clicking noises in a Dolby Atmos sound track, it emanates from ALL speakers in use by the AVR, not just the Atmos/height speakers. It's most easily heard in my center channel, but I suspect because that channel is normally the highest profile speaker in a surround sound configuration, at least to my ears.

I have also switched to using my LG TV's built-in apps temporarily until this is resolved with the ATV 4k Gen2. The bonus there is that the built-in apps don't use HDMI, so there is no delay when changing dynamic range/frame rate. The Dolby Atmos audio seemed to be more "lively" going to my Denon AVR via eARC than it was with my ATV, but that could just be individual bias.

The hardest part of the switchover to the TV was the WAF - "Wife Acceptance Factor". She loves the interface of the ATV over the LG WebOS (who can blame her?), but I cannot abide possible damage to my speakers from this issue.

Thanks, I guess with my relatively new TV that does Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, is to use the TV eARC to my AVC and forget about the Netflix App on the Apple 4K TV Gen 2. I think I get slightly better pictures from the Apple TV with Netflix and certainly do with Disney+ and Apple TV+ Apps, this is such a shame… I really don’t want to hear the high volume pops & clicks ever again!

Thanks for your view, I’d Feared it would be all speakers, so that’s game over for me with the Apple 4K TV Gen 2 at least using the Netflix App. As ChristopherRomano says I’d not lose any sound quality using the Netflix App on my TV at least I have a workaround.

I’ll keep an eye out for updates to this issue, for Apple to be potentially harming speakers is unbelievable - one users should hold them to account, like buy new speakers.