tvOS 15.0 introduces Dolby Atmos (Spatial Audio) bug

I posted this issue in the Apple TV forum and several other people stated they are having the exact same problem. I have not tried 15.1.1 because I upgraded to 15.2 and I can't seem to make it go back to 15.1.1.

My receiver is also a Denon 5.1 model that doesn't support Dolby Atmos natively. I am curious if this only affects 5.1 / 7.1 non-native Dolby Atmos receivers. I assume that is the case but it would be nice if everyone who is having this problem would include some information about their setup.

Setting my Audio Format to Dolby Digital 5.1 in the Apple TVs settings does seem to fix this issue (after starting a song and restarting it - the fix seems to stick). But, Dolby Digital encoding introduces more data compression so I would rather be sending multi channel PCM.

I agree that it is most certainly an issue with the Apple TV because it worked perfectly before 15 for me also. I just hope that if the right person reads this they will have all the information they need to recreate and fix the issue.

I am so glad I found this thread here because now I know the problem is with TV OS 15. Your assessment appears to be accurate since my system also doesn't support Dolby Atmos but supports up to 7.1 LPCM (through eARC HDMI 2.0b) in addition to regular compressed Dolby Digital 5.1.

I have a Bose Soundbar 700 with surround speakers and bass module that outputs up to 7.1 LPCM. Prior to updating my Apple TV 4K (2nd gen) to TVOS 15, I had no issues. All the Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio tracks were playing perfectly well.

It took me forever to figure out where the problem was originating from since my Bose Soundbar, Apple TV and the eARC HDMI Splitter (HD Furry Arcana) all received firmware/software updates with just few day apart from one another. So I had no idea which one of the three updates caused the problem. It was just a really bad coincidence that has been annoying me for a while.

Just like everyone else here, when I play an Atmos track on Apple Music, my surround speakers and center channel (I think) are completely mute. It was completely by accident I discovered that the remedy is to either scroll back to the beginning of the song or just fast forward few seconds into the song. This problem doesn't exist with Lossless tracks. It only happens with Atmos tracks.

I initially thought it was my eARC HDMI splitter since it was the most buggy device in my setup. Just this past weekend, I finally upgraded my TV to LG G1 OLED TV, which comes with the latest HDMI 2.1 eARC (120Hz) ports. To my surprise, the problem was still there. That meant the issue was either from my Bose Soundbar 700 or Apple TV 4K. Thanks to this thread, now I know the problem is with Apple TV which I suspected the least.

I really hope it gets fixes soon because I absolutely love the Atmos tracks and how airy and transparent everything sounds. It's a great showcase what my system can sound like at its optimum.

Thank you all guys...

Just a heads up: I updated to 15.2, and the issue still persisted, but after restarting the Apple TV, all channels are working fine. What a relief!

*edit - the issue persists on certain albums where the vocals are primarily in the left channel, like Getz / Gilberto, The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You, and Lorde - Pure Heroine. So, some albums are fine, some aren’t. Weird.

Hey all, Apple finally fixed the Spatial Audio issue on Apple TV with TVOS 15.2 update that was released today. This was driving me crazy. Now it's all good. Update your Apple TVs ya'll.

Exactly the same problem for me. My fix was to change audio format from auto to on and then back again to auto. Your fix is quicker.

I was hoping that tvOS 15.1 would fix this issue but no, the bug remains.

Still a problem in 15.2 (19K5025g)

The point is that everything worked perfectly in tvOS 14.8 so system setup is not the issue. I am using the same setup from 14.8 to now. It is an Apple cock-up.

Yes! Just had time to play with it! Finally Pearl Jam’s Dance of the Clairvoyants doesn’t sound muffled.

ahhhh! Satisfaction at last!