Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new Apple TV 4k

I wish I could return my Apple TV that was so pricy. I bought the Apple TV because my Xbox broke and Dolby Atmos support. Now I bought an Xbox again because of the many games I have. I tried Apple TV+ and looks fine. Dolby Atmos without dropouts.

My Apple TV is now 5 months old and it is and was my first Apple product.

The issue is not only Netflix it is Apple TV+ as well. I think there are all apps with that issue.

which Xbox did you buy? i heard the new models (S and X) work the same way as the Apple TV 4K and send uncompressed audio multi-channel PCM signal to the AVR. On the AVR, what do you see on the display when watching Dolby Atmos from your Xbox? Does it say the input is PCM? If PCM works on the Xbox but not on the Apple TV 4K, then that is more proof it is an Apple TV 4K problem.

I got 100% the same problem with a brand new ATV 4K.

NV Shield without any problems using Atmos via eARC or direct on an Denon X8500HA.

Using the ATV 4K Atmos, sound dropouts under Netflix, AppleTV+ and Disney+ :(

Did tested Prime yet.

Alle cable are 100% 48Gb Audioquest and as I wrote, no problems with the NV Shield.

I would like to use the ATV as my main streaming source, because I like AppleTV+ with

his integration form others streaming apps. But with this Atmos problem, I´m not sure

if I should stay with the ATV.

I don´t understand, why Apple does not react on this issue. The forums wourldwide are

full of threads about this issue. When calling the support, they just ask for the standard

questions on cables, internet speed and what ever. We have to push this issue hard to

get any answer from Apple. We need a standard bitstream HDMI Audio Out, I´m sure this

would fix the issue.

I suppose admitting to the fact that there are problems with Atmos would generate bad headlines for the Apple TV…likely they are just planning on quietly fixing it in some future version of TV OS (unless it needs a hardware modification).

I read somewhere that the Apple TV has never had a passthrough option since the first Apple TV was introduced.

I asked a support person if anyone at Apple was reading these forums but got no answer…they suggested instead that I bring in my Denon AVR and Apple TV to an authorized support location…obviously something they figured I wouldn’t want to do. I suppose they would have connected 2 or 3 speakers and when the problem didn’t show itself blame my setup somehow. Probably this problem only happens when many speakers possibly including height speakers are connected to the AVR.

The Denon has zero to do with it. Again, I have the Pioneer Elite Atmos receiver and the exact same thing is happening. It's tough to be objective on this stuff but I think the matter at hand had become less severe after the last ATV software update. However, it's still occurs (2021 ATV Atmos cut-outs) frequently on Netflix and it did not, or at least rarely, with the previous ATV.

This would not have occured under Steve Jobs leadership. This is more than an occasional glitch, this is a massive oversight by Apple developers. Quite simply the 2021 ATV doesn't work properly.

No solution as of yet. Hard to say if its hardware or software related on the AppleTV end. I grabbed a Nvidia shield and have ZERO issues playing atmos through that on Netflix. At this point if you want atmos, Apple TV is not the solution.

Unfortunately 15.3 (not released yet) does not fix it yet. It is reduced. Not fixed.

I was not sure it is TV os related as for me Disney plus did not show the issue. But, i see above that also Disney plus has it.

I may have had a very little stuttering on Disney plus. But barely noticeable so there is difference between apps it seems.

Anyway, support indicated Applenis aware of the issue and are working on it.

I wonder if the ever will do passthrough as that would disable their 'compression' option in the pull down menu. That always requires re-encoding i would expect

I have the same problem and think it's definitely ATV 4K 2021. Mine happens with Netflix, Disney Plus, PrimeVideo, HBOMax and Itunes Movies. Everything is brand new recently installed at the beginning of December and hardwired, yet the Fire Stick 4K Max wireless has no problems. Disabling Atmos to 5.1 is not an acceptable solution! Even though if you have a Denon AVR with Auro3D it does sound great. I'm going to have to get a Shield Nvidia Pro, that's what i'm seeing here does work too. Apple has to do better than this.

I am thinking the Apple TV 4K is best suited for people interested in the Spatial Audio features that come with the Airpod Max and Airpod Pro headphones.

I assume that the CPU inside the Apple TV 4K is going to be busy decoding the Dolby input and then doing all the processing required to convert the 5.1 and 7.1 and Atmos info into Spatial Audio, plus it also has to process the accelerometer info coming back from the AirPods as the user moves his head around.

That’s likely where Apple is concentrating their development efforts.

None of that is of any use to people listening via a Dolby Surround Atmos setup with an AVR, since Spatial Audio is only needed with headphones, trying to trick the brain into believing the sound is coming from all around them rather than from a speaker in each ear.

So I found time to test a movie on my Xbox Series X and have the same issues with my Apple TV. I watched Wolfwalkers on TV+ in 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos and had during the movie 3 dropouts and one video dropout. After the first drop out I disabled chroma 4:2:2 to 4:2:0. Then after the next dropout, I changed the bits per pixel from 12 to 10 and disabled the passthrough for sound. But nothing helped :(

But maybe the problem is my setup. I have a PS5 and an Xbox connected on an HDMI switch to choose between both consoles. Then after that switch is another switch to switch the output to my HDMI matrix or LG television. On the HDMI matrix, I connected my sound system (JVC XP-EXT1) and my Asus PG32UQX Monitor.

Now I ordered a HDFury Vrroom that I can remove all my switches. That matrix have 3 output then. 1 output is for audio-only and it will stream a 1024p black picture with Dolby atmos then and the picture to my other 2 devices.

My monitor has HDMI 2.0

My sound system has HDMI 2.1

My current matrix has HDMI 2.0 and the newly ordered HDFury will have HDMI 2.1 with 40 Gbps.

So I don't know where the problem is. Dolby Atmos technology, devices, or setup?

I’m having similar problems with my Apple TV 4K (2021) also. I have a Denon AVR A-110 receiver and getting tick’s and pops with 2 or 3 second breaks in the music listening to Apple Music Atmos tracks occasionally. I spent about 3 hours with higher level tech support a few months ago and they sent me a new Apple TV box and I got the same issues. I just upgraded my network with gigabit internet and new top cable modem and router. Now getting over 1200 mbps speed and using cat 7 Ethernet cable to router and I am still getting the same issues. I’m also using 8k hdmi cables. Apple tech support knows that this is a software problem but there is just not enough of us out there that have actual Dolby Atmos home theater setups to make it worth fixing. The majority of customers buying Apple TV boxes are listening through sound bars or tv speakers and most Apple Music fans are happy listening with there AirPods. Super annoying as part of my reason for upgrading to a new six thousand dollar receiver was to enjoy Atmos music. I have now canceled Apple Music and Apple TV plus.

So do users of the spatial gimmick actually report flawless Dolby Atmos playback? Would be interesting to know.

Anyway, wondering what the return of investment is for Apple to invest in fixing this issue?

What Apple services are in danger of loosing customers now?

I have a shield 2017. Don't think it supports Atmos from Netflix.

Passthrough should work but, never seen it work on Kodi.

Shield 2019 should work. But, how is that (still experimental?) Auto framerate feature working?

It seemed to work on Netflix, but there is no way to tell if its on or off from what I could see (i.e. no pop-up or anything appears on the screen indicating it's on).

it didnt seem to work on Amazon Prime (kicked me out of the show) or on HBO Max (video became very unstable).

Hello,

I came up with something. When you play your movie in the infuse 7 application and the sound is in EAC format (DDP.5.1), dolby atmos starts and works without problems. So there will probably be an error between ATV and Netlix communication.