Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new Apple TV 4k

Done that, been on the dog today and my gut feeling is, at the end of this, they're going to say it's Netflix fault and I have to contact the vendor, Netflix.

I've also mentioned, three times, this thread and tried to point them in this direction, but all three people I spoke to sneered at the mention of 'forums', even though this is their own.

I wanted to bring this thread to their attention due to the fact, although I am only having issue with Netflix, others clearly are more widely affected. Apple are not interested. Yet.

I mentioned the forum as well, but they aren't interested. The smoking gun is that this is happing with my Apple TV Subscription service. I rented Dune the movie and watched Severance the series recently, both had constant dropouts. Both have Atmos material in them. They have added that to my ticket. I have to reinstall my Disney + app tonight and will test Atmos material if it has it. They are having me try WIFI only for now as well. Since going WIFI, I haven't had any dropouts. This will at least give them more to work with. It's not meant to be a fix, but a test at this time.

"They are having me try WIFI only for now as well."

That is interesting. I have never seen mention of Apple support recommending WiFi. Could Apple's engineers actually be investigating the Atmos problem, or reading their own forum? Better late than never.

Might be both. I mentioned to the person I was working with that there were 34 pages of discussion on Apple's community discussion forum related to this issue. Maybe they are looking in to it. Fingers crossed. The device has plenty of power, I have to think it is just an update away for a fix.

I just tried to lodge a complaint with Netflix with little success. The support person had me play lots of content, as if I can replicate the fault at will (as if that was going to happen).

Within seconds of the chat concluding, I lost sound to the Witcher, typical.

So, I don't know how to approach Netflix. Unless I try again and find somebody a bit more willing to listen. Certainly the person I did speak to had no interest in this thread.

Unless you are trying to get Netlix to put some pressure on Apple to fix the problem, I don't see any point in complaining to Netflix. The problem isn't with Netflix as the dropouts also occur on other services, including Apple's own ATV+.

Even if it is only Apple, it can't hurt to contact the streaming services and hope they put pressure on Apple to get this fixed. The Netflix rep I spoke with Monday said she would escalate the issue to the tech team. I doubt I will hear from them but maybe if enough complaints come in, they would contact Apple.

Maybe even contact Dolby who wouldn't be pleased to know their product is not working the way it should. I will try to do that tomorrow. Again, they can't fix it but maybe they can put pressure on Apple if enough complaints come in.

Going through the motions, doing what is asked of me by Apple.

I haven’t had issue with anything other than Netflix content. I watched Apple TV+ all afternoon without issue.

Should that change, I will inform Apple support accordingly.

All I can tell you is, I watched the Essex Serpent and the new Attenborough program on dinosaurs without issue this afternoon at the behest of the Apple rep.

Tried the Witcher and Stranger Things when chatting to Netflix and they requested I report both programs via their website. At least that gave me the opportunity to share the link to this thread because their rep wasn’t interested.

The issue isn’t Netflix, and contacting them is a waste of time. I get dropouts on HBO Max, the Apple TV app, and I had a dropout watching Obi-Wan today. The issue is Apple. Netflix doesn’t care because we are in a minority that use Atmos or even notice there’s an issue because of the systems we have. Netflix has 215 million subscribers, and of those, maybe a quarter use Apple TV, and of those maybe 5% have Atmos capable systems. I have a Roku ultra which I plugged in to test, and it works flawlessly with all apps that support Atmos on their device. A vast majority of people just use tv speakers and don’t even have a sound bar, so the amount of complaints that apple is getting is minuscule in comparison. Look at this thread for instance, there’s maybe 20-25 people that post regularly, and honestly, that isn’t going to make a difference in the eyes of apple to get anything moving. Even Macrumors had an article about the issue, and still nothing has changed.

Only certain recent Netflix content are giving me dropouts with atmos. TVOS 15.5.1. Apple TV 4k 2021.

Stranger Things season 4

Wild babies

Animals

Vikings Valhalla

No problems with Disney plus or itunes movies

Using eARC with a SN11RG plug in a LG C9. Using only Belkin HDMI 2.1 cables.

I think its helpful to post up the specific content that's causing it. if it is across multiple apps then being able to replicate the problem gives Apple more to go on.

So, if its Disney+, or Paramount, or anything else - post up the specific shows that are causing it and which app they are on. Go as far as to mention specific seasons/episodes please.

DtS at 4k 50Hz has the most frequent and consistent dropouts due to its higher bandwidth. If Apple fixes DtS, I would consider this problem fixed.

I believe the problem is errors introduced during the creation of the MAT 2.0 Atmos metadata stream that accompanies the LPCM 5.1 audio out of the ATV4K. This is not a process that Netflix or any other streaming apps are responsible for, which is why the dropouts occur across different streaming apps.

I am having audio drop outs on apps when atmos is playing. Happening across Disney+ and Netflix which has been most our viewing lately. Has been happening off and on since we got the current Apple TV 4K. Might set up another streaming device that can do 4K Atmos to see if it’s just that Apple TV.

Update:

Apple support call escalated a message to engineering a few days ago.

Return call today from Apple support.

Apples engineering's position: "It's Netflix's problem"

Yikes!

Time to start firing this story off to every tech Youtuber and every tech blogger.

Ive helped fight Apple before - the only thing that gets these problems fixed is bad press.

FlexGate, MBP keyboards, etc.