Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new Apple TV 4k

Tired of various films and TV show being ruined by audio drops, I sent back the latest Apple TV for a refund, and went back to my previous Apple TV 4K version and the Dolby Atmos works perfectly. Have watched CODA and F1: Drive to Survive without one single audio drop in Atmos.

Dolby people and other creators are aware of the problem. Apple are too cos I told them: I emailed Bernadette Simpao at Apple

bsimpao@apple.com (669) 227-9273, Christine Monaghan at Apple cmonaghan@apple.com (408) 974-8850

Neither of them could be bothered to reply after two attempts.

I'll be waiting till either, you guys say a future update has solved it... or more likely wait for the next generation.

The only thing that pushes that stubborn company to do anything is bad press.

Once a few tech blogs get the story up - it tips over and others start joining in. Its fun for them to dunk on Apple.

I found a number of sites to email by searching google for "Apple FlexGate" and then clicking "News" at the top. Just ran down the list and used the 'Contact' or 'Tip Us' links on varried sites.

[BEGIN COPY PASTA]

Hello!

Over the last few months I have been noticing a repetitively discussed problem with the AppleTV 4k 2nd gen.

There seems to be an issue with the audio dropping out while playing certain programming while having Dolby Atmos audio enabled.

I initially believed this was related to random users not having good internet connections - but upon my own testing I experienced the same Atmos audio drops.

This isn’t a small problem - it’s laughably bad. It seems to affect certain Atmos programming on Netflix, Disney+, Paramount, etc.

This is reproducable on nearly every Apple TV 4k 2nd gen by doing the following:

1. ATV 4k 2nd gen

2. Wired ethernet connection

3. 4k output

4. Atmos audio enabled

5. Play Netflix "Drive to Survive" or "Stranger Things Season 4"

Some users have been having this issue for up to 6 months - and Apple refuses to acknowledge it or they are passing the buck - blaming the app/content providers. This problem did not exist in TvOS 14.x to my recollection.

Curiously - some users are reporting the issue to be lessened if you are connected over Wi-Fi instead of a wired connection (which - once again, makes this an Apple issue).

Here are the discussions:

36 page thread on Apple forums: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253168177

38 page thread on Martin Logan forum: https://www.martinloganowners.com/threads/2021-new-gen-apple-tv-4k-dolby-atmos-problems.18919/

AVSForum threads: https://www.avsforum.com/threads/dolby-atmos-problems-on-apple-tv-netflix-and-denon-receiver.3240331/

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/apple-tv-owners-thread-faq-in-first-post.1278071/page-2061 (mixed in this massive thread are tons of complaints)

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

reddit threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/tp4jeu/154_atmos_dropouts/

https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/tx1wov/dolby_atmos_stuttering_on_newest_gen_apple_tv/

https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/rqlvgi/dolby_atmos_distortions/

https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/uk2668/some_apple_tv_users_complain_of_dolby_atmos_audio/

As its been said before - disconnecting the ethernet cable / switching to wifi helps to alleviate the issue.

[END COPY PASTA]

Seems to me that Apple simply doesn't see this Atmos drop-out issue as a bug. I think it's obvious that Apple's QA team has a few modern Atmos sound setups that work just fine and can't reproduce this "bug". I happen to be an example of someone whose Atmos soundbar is perfectly fine with the ATV4K's Atmos re-encoding to an uncompressed multichannel LPCM with Dolby MAT stream (an acceptable-if-not-optimal Atmos implementation according to Dolby).

But many Atmos-capable receivers apparently can't handle the bandwidth of what the ATV4K is doing, so perhaps the better approach is to stop waiting on Apple for a fix (unless it's from your stereo vendor) and petition Apple's ATV feedback for a new feature: a digital audio stream pass-through option for HDMI receivers & soundbars.

It's stupid that they don't already offer such a settings option, but I suspect their desire to support Atmos streams with Spatial Audio when using AirPods Pro, etc. complicates their audio handling... Nonetheless, if you're monitoring this thread waiting for a "fix", I suggest asking Apple for a work-around to the bug in your receiver/soundbar in the form of a new audio configuration option in the ATV4K's setup.

The argument about the Apple TV not passing through audio to the AVR has been raging since the introduction of the Apple TV. People apparently want to see their AVR’s display showing the encoding and are confused when all it says is “multi-in” or “PCM". Why Apple does this is anyone’s guess. Could be licensing, could be engineering, could be a reason we don’t know about. As I said, this argument has been around for many years now and Apple hasn’t budged.

There are two avenues to pursue in my opinion:

1. Keep sending feedback.
2. Get rid of your Apple TV and buy something else.

there are a few major concerns here:

1. possible buggy code released into production before its ready
2. insufficient testing done
3. possible hardware design problem?
4. apple not admitting to the issue/shifting blame/not responding on these forums

i thought Apple was better than this :-(

In my experience, I have found that any content featuring a Dolby Atmos track will produce this result to varying degree/severity, so you might consider a full switchover to TV apps to save yourself the juggling act and possible damage to your speakers. Or, if you are more enamored of your video quality of the ATV, then disable Atmos processing. I decided on the former option as I truly enjoy the Atmos experience and had need of the ATV to be used elsewhere in a non-Atmos setup.

I find the behavior is the most severe in Netflix, but I have also witnessed the popping/clicking to occur in:

• Disney+ (Encanto)
• HBOMax (Matrix Resurrections)
• iTunes movies (Trolls World Tour)
• VUDU (can't remember which movie)

I've had Atmos issues in Netflix with the following setup:

• Apple TV 4K 2ᴺᴰ gen
• tvOS 15.3
• LG SL8Y soundbar
• Mecer UHD monitor
• ATV -> Soundbar -> Monitor (ARC, EDID 2.0)

Software for all devices is the latest available for each.

In Netflix, I started watching The Adam Project yesterday and the soundbar repeatedly switched in and out of Atmos, causing sound to drop out every second i.e. audio for 1 second, no audio for 1 second, audio for 1 second, no audio for 1 second ... endlessly. This happened with any Atmos title in the Netflix app.

I restarted all devices, no change. Switched 'Audio Format > Change Format' to 'On' to force Dolby 5.1, audio issues gone.

Switched 'Audio Format > Change Format' to 'Off' to allow Atmos again, the issue returns.

In the Amazon Prime app, launched The Tomorrow War and the soundbar switched to Atmos, without any audio issues.

Back to Netflix, launched The Adam Project again and the soundbar switched to Atmos, and the audio issues are now gone.

All signs point to software for me ...

Just watched the Adam project without any dropouts.

I had my Apple TV in a closed closet (only opening in the back) and it felt rather warm. When I installed the Netflix update I at the same time got The Apple TV out of the closet and it's now standing free and doesn't run warm. Since then no dropouts for several days now.

I wonder of the problems are also heat related in the Apple TV. Maybe it is a combination of things and it is worth to try out.

1. Use a good 48GB/s HDMI cable
2. Use the latest FW on the Apple TV.
3. Put the Apple TV where it runs cool enough.

People just coming into this discussion should read a bunch of comments before they post

1. It is definitely not just Netflix. Apple TV, Paramount Plus, Etc. all have dropouts. If they don't for you, you are lucky
2. You already have great cables (I would hope if you have an Atmos setup). Don't waste your time and money changing them.
3. Why in the world would you switch to 1080p??????? I would get rid of the Apple TV before I even tried that to see if it worked
4. I forget which update but it is now an issue with 1st gen 4k's as well
5. The only thing that seems to help is connecting via WiFi and not ethernet. I have no idea why but it does appear to make a difference (at least for me and many others)
6. It is mind boggling that Apple has not fixed this problem

You are losing some of the audio effects that way but if you can't tell the difference and I don't think many can then that is a work around. I put a lot into the Atmos setup with 4 in ceiling speakers and can't really tell they do anything. :(

Did you ever figure this out?

Or have you had any further experiences with it?

I have a new Atmos sound bar & we watched our first Netflix / Atmos movie using it last night. The sound will drop out inexplicably and unpredictably, but I’ve had no other issues watching stuff on other apps. 🤷‍♂️