Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new Apple TV 4k

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 will update if anything turns up, if anyone wants to reference my case number, probably the more that complain the better, it’s Case ID: 101629769644. I said I’d help in any way, using real low volume if any testing is involved. For me I can use the Netflix and Apple TV+ Apps in my TV, however, I prefer the picture and sound of the Apple TV. It worked fine for me from June 2021 until around October 2021 with s/w 14.1/2 so seems unlikely to be a hardware design issue?

I used the product support chat feature, which turned into a booked phone call back, within minutes of speaking to them they wanted to hand me over to a specialist… just waiting now…

Same issue here with 2nd Gen 4kTV (Netflix, Disney+, and Apple Music) connected to a Denon X4700H. Also have a Roku Ultra with zero issues with Dolby Atmos.

Purchased it mainly for Apple Music w/ Dolby Atmos and the dropouts are horrible. Had I know about this issue, I would have purchased the Gen 1.

I tried turning off the Match Content settings and it didn't make any difference. Watched the first episode of Vikings Valhalla and the audio went off every 5-10 mins.

Then I restarted the ATV and could watch the second episode without the problem.

And the issue came back again on the third episode...

That seems like a loaded question, but yes, I have updated, as I am sure most here have. I will say that I haven't noticed the Atmos problem lately, probably since installing the15.4 b.e.t.a.s, though I may not have been testing enough, or with more problematic content. I used to get the problem on ATV+, but I have had no recent problems watching the latest season of Servant. Netflix shows such as Lost in Space and The Witcher had been problematic, but I don't recall any issues watching the first 10 episodes of Black Summer. Which takes me back to your 'loaded' question -- do you know something about 15.4 you aren't telling?

It's not an early adopter issue. I exchanged a preorder Gen 2 in December, also thinking it could be a problem with the initial production run that was later fixed, and there was no difference after updating to 15.3. The installed 14.7 also had the Atmos problem, but 15.3 was an order of magnitude worse (more frequent). I would have left it on 14.7, but Apple gets rather obnoxious with the constant nagging to update, and I had a Gen 1 as a fallback.

lkrupp wrote:

Then explain why most users are not experiencing any issues. I’m not with Apple TV 4K 2021->Denon AVR-5960H->Sony XR-65X90J. No dropouts at all, ever, not even while playing Spacial Audio on Apple Music.

[...]

No doubt this issue is hard to nail down... here's just one example of a 2nd-gen ATV4K in a home theater system without any Dolby Atmos-related issues. @Golfergb just reported experiencing Atmos audio drop-outs with a gen1 ATV4K, whereas most others with gen1 ATV4Ks on this thread, including myself, never have.

I realize the news that many others are cheerfully enjoying troublefree Atmos surround sound through their ATV4K gen1&2 devices is little comfort to folks who are experiencing issues. But hopefully it can raise awareness about how challenging it is for a vendor like Apple to troubleshoot, let alone fix, problems like this within multivendor AV systems where every dern supposedly interoperable component has a bunch of settings that are often misunderstood by those who buy them.

FWIW, this thread made me curious about reports of Dolby Atmos issues that don't involve Apple TV devices, so I did a Google search for Atmos issues excluding the word "Apple". Nearly 10 million results. Of course it's likely that many of these results represent complaints to AV component vendors involving unreferenced ATV4K devices (Atmos is a high-end home theather option and Apple TV 4K is the high-end streaming media box). But most of the results in the first few pages do appear to involve competing devices.

Like most of us, I'm an end user who's clueless about the nuanced hardware and software details of engineering interoperable AV components. Perhaps we should all be complaining to Dolby? Of course, Dolby's business model is all about licensing technology to OEMs, so... they're not really setup to listen to all of us end-users :-).

I have an ATV 4K 2nd Gen in my living room that is connected via 8k rated HDMI cables to an LG C9 OLED with eARC and then to an LG SN11RG sound bar 7.1.4 (supports eARC and Atmos). So everything is connected to each other using eARC and it’s all seamless. But I get the dropouts on Netflix content that has Atmos. So eARC works in my setup, but it isn’t issue-free. I had this same setup running through my ATV 4K Gen 1 and never had Atmos popping or dropping.

Yeah I've had the same issue since I first got the Apple TV 4K version 2021 whatever. As my first Apple product since the Apple IIc it's been a pretty lousy experience.

HBO Max has gotten stuck a few times. Most apps are always crashed when I wake up the. I had to completely uninstall and reinstall HBO Max.

Netflix has this Dolby Atmos issue but I can't uninstall Netflix. Not that it necessarily would help but anyway. I guess this issue's been here long enough, it's not something they're going to fix. Before the last software update, I could restart the Apple TV and it would be good for the rest of the day. Trying to watch a few shows tonight that has not helped.

Running the apps on the LG C9 TV and using eARC to the Denon AVR works fine, but the Apple TV being plugged directly into the Denon has this issue. Pretty lame and disappointing.

I've done exactly the same as Christopher. Have returned my latest AppleTV... Total waste of money if it doesn't work.

As it may be of interest to some... I'm a content creator. We finished our film The Accidental President in Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. The Quality Control (QC) process demanded to upload the film to Apple is rightly endless and complex, so that the film plays flawlessly. It's therefore incredibly disappointing that AppleTV (having worked perfectly before) isn't delivering for those of us that went to extra effort and expense with Dolby Atmos.

I've been trying to watch Drive to Survive on Netflix on AppleTV, which is ruined by the audio dropouts.

I'm going to contact our person at Dolby. None of this makes any sense.

It's too late for many of us to return the Gen 2. It wasn't until tvOS 15.x that the Atmos problem really got bad, so returning it wasn't really a consideration until it was no longer an option. I would prefer to just move the Gen 2 to a non-Atmos setup, since it is still a great streamer. I like it more than my Rokus and Shields.

Agreed! I cannot make it through an hour episode of “The Witcher” on Netflix in Atmos without the audio randomly cutting out. When it happened the first time I was unplugging and replugging cables, restarting the TV, Apple TV and AV Receiver. After trying everything, only a quick restart alleviates the issue at least until the following viewing the next day. Beyond annoying. Please Apple, FIX THIS!!!

Tech blog and rumor site MacRumors has just picked up on this thread. Number of suggested fixes are proposed.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/some-apple-tv-users-complain-of-dolby-atmos-audio-issues.2343989/

I’m also having this issue. A2169 15.4.1 connected to a Denon X4200W via a 48 Gbps HDMI cable. Connected to Ethernet with a gigabit internet connection. Primarily happens in Netflix, only when Dolby Atmos is enabled.

I'll first try using just WiFi with the AppleTV 4k. I'm not watching that many Atmos shows right now and am caught up on "The Essex Serpent" so it'll be a few days until the next episode is released.

The last episode of "The Essex Serpent" that I watched over the weekend had two of the chopping dropouts: the first within the first few minutes of the program, and the second about half-way through. I hadn't rebooted the box in a few days (keep forgetting). It's also possible that I paused the program for a bit and the dropout happened not long after I resumed the program. I sometimes wonder if pausing might allow the connection to catch up and overflow some buffer. It's all just speculation though.

The theory about buffer overflow with a fast wired ethernet connection is interesting. I have 200/10mpbs service, which is really 230/12 or so. I checked my WiFi speed with my iPhone 12 Max Pro and it's identical: 230/12 so if a buffer is going to overflow, it'll overflow then too unless the different port or processing matters.

If it keeps happening, I'll try the 1080p trick. In my case, though, I'd probably rather turn off Atmos in favor of 5..1 than give up 4k.