Apple TV connected to Bose Lifestyle 650 sound issue

Does your Apple TV's Siri Remote appear to be controlling the volume of the Bose receiver correctly (but you're just not hearing anything)? It should be doing so via HDMI CEC... Verify that the ATV4K settings are correct: Settings > Remotes and Devices > HOME THEATER CONTROL: "Control TVs and Receivers = On; Volume Control = Auto via HDMI (Receiver). If the Bose is being muted unexpectedly, or the remote's actions work intermittently, reset the Remote as described by Apple Support: if your Apple TV remote isn't working.

Likewise, if the Bose and ATV4K are set correctly as described above, the Apple TV remote app on your iPhone, accessible via Control Center, should be able to adjust the Bose volume and the mute button should function correctly.

If the problem persists, as a test, try connecting the ATV4K directly to an available HDMI port on the TV and switch the TV's input to that port to see if the ATV4K's audio flows back to the Bose correctly via HDMI ARC. If this works correctly, try connecting the ATV4K to a different HDMI input on the Bose...

If all else fails, reset the ATV4K.

PINKBIN wrote:

[...]

In short, everything works perfectly fine when I don't turn off the TV and Bose System (they seem to be linked together because when I turned on one of them, all of them turns on, and vice versa), and the system will also turn on/off the Apple TV automatically.

The muting problem only happens at the beginning when I just started the systems.

My current only solution, besides restarting the Apple TV is to

return the Apple TV to home screen, from whatever app it was playing from, and I had to scroll randomly until I hear sounds from the Apple TV.

Doesn't this sound like a bug?

No, it doesn't sound like a bug to me. By default, the Apple TV 4K does its best to automatically determine the best available audio format for the connected equipment. My guess is your system's power-on sequence and related component settings are messed up.

When you say "everything works perfectly fine when I don't turn off the TV and Bose System", what you're really saying is that if your Bose and Samsung are both on and all booted up in advance, the ATV4K wakes up, groks the system, and everything works perfectly fine!

I suspect the Bose is just being rather slow about booting up and asserting its audio preferences to the ATV4K. Perhaps the Samsung is being powered on first, and the TV's HDMI CEC power-on command flows through the still-sleeping Bose to wake the ATV4K. It wakes quickly and sees it's connected to the Samsung. When the Bose is finally all booted up and ready to rock (literally :-), the ATV4K takes a little while to see that the audio consumer it's connected to has changed back to Bose (just a theory).

BTW, what happens if all components are "off" (in standby), and you turn on the whole shebang via the ATV4K using your iPhone's ATV remote? If all things Bose & Samsung are set correctly, that should work perfectly fine.

When I glanced at the Bose 650 manual, I saw that there were many options (beyond normal) about setting up HDMI CEC. Maybe share this thread with the Bose installer guy and ask him how it should be set and about the recommended power-on sequence (I'm guessing you press the Bose's power button to wake the TV and everything else up :-).

I have the exact setup and it was a hit and miss until I added Apple TV as my default device (Device Management), set Audio Output to Bose/Receiver and made sure everything was being controlled by the Bose Remote. My connection is Apple TV (4K) to HDMI 1 on Bose Receiver and Bose Receiver to LG TV.. Occasionally, it’ll get stuck on Airplay even though my Airplay is off on the ATV4K and that means restarting the Apple TV or disconnecting from the internet and reconnecting after about 10 seconds. On a separate note, try to change your TV Sound to HDMI ARC or mute it..(Apple TV will occasionally switch back to TV speakers and that’s another place to keep an eye on)..I wish Apple would make it easy to switch default audio out on Apple TV from TV Speakers to any receiver instead of just Home Pod.

Try this: it worked on my similar Bose 650 Lifestyle configuration with a Sony UHDTV.

Select Settings - Video and Audio

tap Match Content

turn off Dynamic range

turn off Frame rate

Counter intuitive but this seems to limit the number of issues with Loss of Audio on the Bose 650 Lifestyle system.

Apple TV4k still locks with some Apps Hulu and HBO Max and Apple TV app requiring re-authentication and restart of the Apps.

This is clearly a Bose issue. I have four other ATV4K devices no issues going direct to Sony UHDTVs.

The other annoying issue is Dolby Vision is not supported on Bose 650 Lifestyle. Sad so many updates and so little functionality enhancements with Bose.

Good luck with your progress. Tony

I have a Lifestyle 650 and an Apple TV4K. Same issue. Also a persistent bug when you place the media streaming content on pause for a period of time (usually the length of a phone call) and presto no audio from Apple TV 4K! The only way to restore audio is to go back to the Home Screen and restart the program streaming. Works this way with Apple Content and HBO Plus and Hulu too. I thoughI may have a bad Apple TV 4K and bought a brand new one. Also restored the Bose Lifestyle 650 to its factory software update. I was able to recreate the same issue with a brand new Apple TV 4K. Same problem. So I think the issue is in how Apple TV 4K negotiates audio with the LifeStyle 650. Another annoying fact the Lifestyle 650 does not pass Dolby Vision video as well, and I think this is due to royalties paid by Bose. Its a very frustrating bug! Apple this needs to be fixed please.

No I think the problem is software and negotiating the audio between the ATV4K and Bose 650. Did al you suggested and I have a persistent and repeatable use case for the error.

See my Post. I have a Lifestyle 650 and an Apple TV4K. Same issue. Also a persistent bug when you place the media streaming content on pause for a period of time (usually the length of a phone call) and presto no audio from Apple TV 4K! The only way to restore audio is to go back to the Home Screen and restart the program streaming. Works this way with Apple Content and HBO Plus and Hulu too. I thoughI may have a bad Apple TV 4K and bought a brand new one. Also restored the Bose Lifestyle 650 to its factory software update. I was able to recreate the same issue with a brand new Apple TV 4K. Same problem. So I think the issue is in how Apple TV 4K negotiates audio with the LifeStyle 650.

Please tell us which Apple TV model you have, what TV you're using, and how things are hooked up.

A quick search of the Bose product specs suggest you want the Bose's HDMI port labeled "Out to TV" connected to the HDMI [e]ARC port on your TV. You have a choice if you want to plug your ATV HDMI into an available port on the TV or the Bose receiver. The safest bet is to the TV, with the TV's audio out pointing to "HDMI [e]ARC" so all audio will flow to the Bose.

The Bose web site and product docs really try hard to hide the specifications of the system, but the Best Buy product page says your Bose system is UHD/4K capable, so it should also work plugging the ATV into one of the Bose HDMI inputs (provided it doesn't limit the capabilities of the ATV and your TV).

I have a similar setup. ATV4k to Bose 650 and HDMI out to Samsung Tv (2020). My audio mutes and at times video will hiccup but I find it’s only with the Spectrum app on ATV. I also thought it was the ATV and recently changed it out to a new one. All other apps work just fine. It feels like a handshake issue that I can’t seem to pinpoint. I found that I have to back out and get audio like a previous poster by rolling around other apps or I sometimes have to back out completely and restart the ATV. I’ve never had to restart other devices to get it to work. I recently added a smart plug to the ATV so that it powers down and restarts at 4am every morning and I now find that the spectrum app works fine about 50% of the time in the morning. I’m curious what apps the audio drops out on for everyone else. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi @TLACIVIT, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with your system... I spend too much time out here and this is the first I've heard of audio going mute after a pause / resume operation -- it's not a documented problem with the Apple TV 4K, so I'm forced to suspect the Bose.

Hi Pinkbin.

I'm having this exact same issue and it only seems to be with the 4K Apple TV. Have you can up with a solution yet?

I've read through many threads and have experienced no luck.

Thanks