Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new Apple TV 4k

[TLDR] try changing your ATV4K Settings > Video and Audio > VIDEO: Match Content = Off to see if it reduces or eliminates this Dolby Atmos issue (even though such a video setting seems unrelated to an Atmos audio problem). Read on to learn the genesis of my theory.

So I just participated in a thread where the OP's issue was Dolby Vision-related, and the fix/workaround was to set the ATV4K's default Video Format to 4K Dolby Vision, and to set the Match Content Range and Frame Rate settings to Off. Doing so prevented the OP's LG TV from switching video modes in the middle of a Dolby Vision-encoded program.

I was reminded of this thread and it occurred to me that when dynamic range shifts between [Dolby Vision-encoded] scene changes cause the ATV4K (with the Match Content settings switched On) to make a TV switch video modes in the middle of a program, these same video stream events could easily cause burps in the [Atmos-encoded] audio stream playback (with varying effects depending on the AV components in use).

That's the theory. Perhaps this ATV4K Match Content behavior during Dolby Vision-encoded content playback might be the aggravating factor/trigger for [some of] the Atmos-related problems described in this thread.

Anyway, I scanned this thread and didn't find references to the ATV4K's Match Content settings, so I made this post to see if it makes any difference for all y'all :-).

PS - I have the older Apple TV 4K, an Atmos-capable Sony soundbar, and a cheaper LG TV that's merely 4K HDR10-capable (without Dolby Vision - so I couldn't test my own theory :-). FWIW, I've never had Atmos-related issues, so that sort of supports my theory because I've never experienced these Dolby Vision-induced video mode changes that might trigger them.

I’m glad this thread is gaining momentum.

make sure you all are reporting this issue to Apple:

Feedback - Apple TV - Apple

It’s important to mention the facts:

1. affects appletv 4K gen 2
2. wired ethernet connection
3. atmos enabled
4. Netflix app “Drive to Survive” or “Stranger Things Season 4”.

consistent and repetitive reporting is key.

Went from FireTV HD 4K Stick working fine with Dolby Atmos to the latest Apple TV 4K 64GB (2021). Right away, after installing Netflix and watching movies, I would get random audio dropouts. I literally can see all the channels on my receiver drop out. Mostly I watch Netflix on my Apple TV 4K, but I am almost certain it happened during watching Dune rental through Apple TV movie rental. I am using Netflix's highest tier service with HD. My Apple TV goes straight to my receiver and from there to my TV using the ARC input. I do not have audio dropouts using my Panasonic DP UB820-K 4K UHD 4K Blu-ray player to my receiver to my TV using the same Bluejeans HDMI cable.

I have to say, I am really disappointed with my Apple 4K TV so far. I bought it thinking it would be an upgrade to my Amazon FireTV 4K HD stick, but with the audio issues the Apple TV 4K is just disappointing.

System:

• LG 75UK6570PUB 4K 75" TV
• Yamaha RX-V685
• Apple TV 4K 64GB - 15.5.1 firmware/iOS
• Bluejeans HDMI 3 foot Cable (HDMI Cable, BJC Series-FE 28 AWG Belden Bonded-Pair with Ethernet)
• No WIFI, everything is running over separate dedicated gigabit ethernet networking with CAT 6E cabling

• (As a side note, I tried changing from Atmos to DTS:X. I also tried the Cinema mode, all dropped out using the Apple 4K TV).

As rflemingatme mentioned, please send in your feedback. Hopefully something can be done.

Send feedback to:

Feedback - Apple TV - Apple

Please remember to report this issue to Apple: Feedback - Apple TV - Apple

It’s important to mention the facts:

1. affects appletv 4K gen 2
2. wired ethernet connection
3. atmos enabled
4. Netflix app “Drive to Survive” or “Stranger Things Season 4”.

consistent and repetitive reporting is key.

If your problem isn't specifically the combination I mentioned above, then make sure you give them enough detail - and a way to specifically replicate the problem on your end.

I've experienced these issues myself and I'm using 8K 48Gbps HDMI cables everywhere. Also the ATV is hardwired to a 300Mbps fiber connection.

Like I wrote before, I'm not using ARC or eARC either. The ATV goes straight into a Sony STR-DH790 receiver with a 5.1.2 setup. The issues only appeared after I added the height speakers. Zero dropouts before that.

I forced a restart of the ATV and I didn't have any dropouts for a couple of hours when watching Atmos/DV content. It's definitely a software issue.

That would then explain why some users heard audio coming out of the wrong speakers.

For me, it sounds like a buffer overflow issue. It starts to stutter on all speakers at the same time, starts with a very fast stutter which then extends in length (on/off on/off oon/oof ooon/oooof etc) for about 5 - 10 seconds.

"Drive to survive" is a very good show to reproduce. However, as said, it definitely is worse when I've switched shows, had the ATV not power cycled or stepped through a atmos show.

I've just come out of an Apple support chat. They are working on the issue. They indicate this needs a fix in TV os. Should be available shortly. I'll also drop some messages in www.apple.com/feedback as per their request.

I did not have access to my ATV so I couldn't have a call with support yet to register the ticket. Nevertheless, seems to be in progress.

It SHOULDN'T sit right with you.

The new Apple TV 4k was released in April 2021: Apple unveils the next generation of Apple TV 4K - Apple

I got it on release day and did NOT experience this behavior with Atmos content until tvOS 15 was released in July 2021.

As far as I can tell, this is purely a software issue that was introduced with combination of the Apple TV 4k (gen2) and the spatial audio feature brought about by tvOS15: What’s new in tvOS 15 for Apple TV - Apple Support

The ONLY way to get Apple to move on this is to open support cases. Apple Support does not monitor these threads and the number of people reporting issues in here anecdotally. Apple Support will flat out tell you that this a community for end users to help themselves.

All evidence points to a software issue, and the ONLY way to get this resolved is all the people reporting this issue need to open support cases to get traction in their engineering department.

So please go through the trouble to open a case, and when it is suggested to you to get your device replaced or repaired, as it was suggested to me, refuse that option and tell them that it has not worked for others reporting the same issue and they need to get development/engineering involved.

chrispyer wrote:

@bgmeek

I have no problems with Roku or Fire TV on anything Atmos. I'm running a 5.4.2 on a Denon also. This

Atmos popping and cutouts started happening after the 14.7 TVOS updates.

Yep. I believe you and I'm sorry to hear about it. I didn't mean to come off as an Apple fanboy who isn't periodically frustrated with lingering bugs in Apple products and some arguably poor design decisions. I also really didn't mean to imply that Apple doesn't have a Dolby Atmos problem here that needs addressing (or should've been addressed by now).

I was just sayin' that Dolby Atmos issues aren't unique to Apple TV 4K devices and that AV component interoperability is complex, so it's reasonable to be patient and examine every component when issues occur in a home theater setup.

We don't really know if we're talking about just one issue in this thread, or if there are multiple issues with similar symptoms (some of which may lie in downstream components and/or be triggered by 3rd-party apps).

I saw this interesting blurb in Apple Support's article "Set up Dolby Atmos or surround sound on Apple TV with a sound bar or AV receiver":

Some sound bars and AV receivers support Dolby Atmos, but don’t support video formats like HDR10 and Dolby Vision. In this case, you can plug your Apple TV 4K into either the sound bar or AV receiver to play sound in Dolby Atmos. Or you can plug your Apple TV 4K into your television to watch video in HDR and Dolby Vision. To do both, you need a television or an AV receiver or sound bar that supports both Dolby Atmos and high-quality video formats. Apple TV 4K uses a high bandwidth form of Dolby Atmos that doesn’t work over ARC connections.

Again, my knowledge is layman's superficial, but this "high bandwidth" statement supports what I've read that ATV4K converts multichannel digital audio streams to uncompressed PCM before sending it along... If this describes the way Apple supports Dolby Atmos, perhaps they should implement a pass[the buck]through settings option for digital audio that relies on downstream components to decode/render the source audio content (despite their minimalist approach to settings options).

IOW, Apple's Atmos support may be perfectly legit and bug-free (as my Sony sound bar appears to believe), yet it could still cause problems on some home theater setups that work fine with other media devices' Atmos implementations.

ZimFromIRK wrote:

[...]

A passthrough option is the way to go -- I'd rather have my top-of-the-line Denon AVR decoding the signal than the AppleTV.

Yes! I suspect that such an audio bitstream passthrough option in the ATV's Settings would address the majority of complaints in this thread. If true, it's possible Apple's engineers have classified the Atmos issue that folks here are experiencing under "incompatible 3rd-party hardware", since it can be argued that the current "high bandwidth form of Dolby Atmos" is acceptable according to Dolby's specification.

So, I urge folks still following this thread to cast a vote for the passthrough option using Apple's ATV feedback form. It appears they do act upon oft-repeated feature requests (and in this case, implementing the passthrough option may be more straightforward that spinning over the "is it a bug?" or "is it a design flaw?" question presented in this thread :-).

As an update to my posts above…

… i.e. with typical film viewing volume, and for me only with Netflix, I get a high burst of painful pops & clicks - for my ears and my speakers.

I will update if anything turns up from an Apple Support case I raised, 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…

The above ‘waiting‘ led to a call back from Apple Support, who then connected me to an Apple TV Engineer - the phone call was recorded and I did get access to this as a sound file, which anyone speaking to Apple can request.

So, the significant point was that he agreed Apple were aware of issues with Dolby Atmos specifically intermitted sound drop outs and clicks/pops, also that Netflix was more common than other Apps. I’d already given the details that for me all was working fine for many months with a new 2nd gen Apple TV until an iOS TV update. They have all the details of my kit and HDMI leads and all the tests I’d made, swapping cables booting etc…

A couple of weeks back I received an email confirming the above was being progressed, with a link to book a call back or I could send an email that would get to him.

I’d agreed to let him have a while as 15.4 iOS TV was due…

… as my pop/click/bang! issue is too painful I’ve only had the time to do limited low volume tests with the new s/w. As others have mentioned, before watching a film on Netflix I reset/boot the Apple TV which seems to help. I’ll refrain from this and do some more testing…

I’ll report back when if/when I get more feedback from the engineer…

… as Apple folk don‘t seem to be allowed to look at any forums including discussions.apple I suggest anyone with issues use there support, persisting you need to speak to an Apple TV Engineer.

If this is too much bother use the following link, which I’m assured is read by Apple…

… apparently, even more so.

Feedback - Apple TV - Apple

LINGERING AT THE BOTTOM of any press release are the people in the know... Here you'll see the names of the Apple TV PRs. Bernadette and Christine are the people that know how to get things moving when a problem becomes an embarrassment. I emailed them on Friday. They haven't replied... but if a few more of you email them... silence will no longer be an option.

(I totally agree... a person answering tech calls isn't going to have a clue about future software updates.)

Mentioned before: Am a filmmaker and Atmos creator. None of this makes any sense to us... In many ways, Dolby Vision is much more complex and data intensive and it's working fine. Would make more sense for that not to work. And Dolby Atmos used to be faultless on Apple TV.

We contacted the Atmos product manager at Dolby and he says Apple is aware. It's an awful look for Apple, that the excellent and widely-promoted Dolby Atmos technology just isn't working on their hardware, and ruining the experience.

It's unfair to viewers, creators, and of course, Dolby.

Same problems continue for me. I posted here (Choppy Dolby Atmos Continues from New App… - Apple Community) about my setup and issues. Have tried a few restarts and other things since then, but the only thing that “works” for sure is disabling Dolby Atmos in the atv4k menu.

Tim, please fix this!!!

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.