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smackthud Author

Level 1

25 points

AppleTV audio cuts out and pops on Dolby Atmos audio content

There are several threads about issues with audio dropping and pop/crackle sounds when watching video on AppleTV. Some of the threads are marked as "solved", but I do not believe the root issue has been addressed. I'm posting this so 1) people experiencing this issue might understand what is happening sooner than I did. 2) Apple can see how widespread the issue is and acknowledges the problem and releases a fix.

1) The problem occurs when watching video content with Dolby Atmos encoded audio using an Atmos enabled sound system. The audio will intermittently drop completely for 2-5 seconds, and/or there will be a series of audible pops witch can be rapid or few and far between. Usually the sound will return to normal, but it may happen again, but not in any noticeable interval.

2) Often people complain about a problem with the Netflix app on AppleTV. HBO Max, has also been mentioned. I have the problem with any video with Dolby Atmos audio, regardless of the app delivering it, including iTunes movies I've purchased.

3) I have NOT noticed the problem when playing Atmos encoded music from the Apple Music app when using AirPlay to the same home theater system (goes directly to the AVR which has Airplay, bypassing the AppleTV)

4) Many discussions here, and elsewhere on the internet, point to cabling as the possible culprit. In this case, it is not.

-I use Cat6 shielded cable directly connecting the AppleTV to a gigabit switch and have gigabit fiber internet access. The SpeedTest app on the appleTV itself shows 960+MB/s bandwidth. It is NOT a bandwidth or network cable issue.

-The HDMI cables (a frequent source of trouble in many systems) I'm using are elite 8K/48Gb rated cables. They are reliably providing 4:2:2 color space 4K HDR video without problem, and are unlikely to be the problem.

5) Many system components are also mentioned in posts. The system I'm using has the AppleTV connected to a Marantz 7706 AVR which is connected to a Samsung - 85" QN90A TV. This setup is using ARC and I am able to turn everything on/off and control the volume with the AppleTV remote. Everything is playing well together, and other than Atmos encoded audio in video content, I'm having no issues.

6) After reading what other people have tried, I should mention that I have played with various speaker and Atmos configuration settings. I've got a 7.1 speaker configuration, and have the option to simulate ceiling speakers for Atmos content with the Marantz 7706. Some people have said turning this off helped the problem, I had no such luck. I've also turned off ARC (also suggested) with no effect. Again, I'm mentioning these things because i saw them posted as possible solutions and am hoping this saves others some headache.

I guess my question is this: After all this time, is Apple aware of this problem?

Apple TV 4K

Posted on Aug 8, 2022 9:43 PM

Best reply

MW4513

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Dec 8, 2022 10:40 AM

I have been having this exact same problem, but stumbled on a fix that worked for my setup. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I should let you know what worked for me just in case it helps anyone on this thread.

I have an Apple TV 4K (2022), connected via HDMI into an Anthem MRX receiver which is in turn connected via HDMI to an LG OLED TV. It's a fairly typical setup for anyone who's using a receiver/amp to power external speakers. The audio and video are thus running (1) from the Apple TV into the receiver via HDMI, and the receiver in turn (2) is outputting audio to external speakers and (3) sends video to the LG via HDMI. No HDMI ARC here.

In this setup I have seen intermittent cutting out of audio for 2-3 seconds at a time, video is unaffected, and the cutting out would happen at somewhat random times. It persisted across multiple formats but seemed more common for Dolby encoded audio. It also seemed to happen more often when using Apple Music, or Airplay from an Apple device, than apps like Netflix or YouTube, but it still did occur when using those apps. I tried everything to isolate possible variables, including switching HDMI cables, using different HDMI inputs/output ports on the receiver/TV, etc., to try to eliminate those as possible causes.

I note that other features, like using "Audio->Change Format" to remove Atmos, did not solve this problem.

The problem has since gone away, and so far hasn't returned for two days, after I used the "Reset Video Settings" feature in Settings->Video and Audio. Even though the command is to "Reset Video Settings," it seems to have fixed what was likely an HDMI syncing problem between the Apple TV and the receiver that was causing intermittent audio cutouts. I don't know what "Reset Video Settings" actually resets, but whatever it did, it solved my problems. The user-selectable settings in the Video section of that menu (Match Content, etc.,) were set to the same default values both before and after the reset.

Obviously there's no guarantee that this will help others on this thread, but I do suspect that very few have tried it because they figured the reset command only affected video, but it obviously resets parameters more generally relating to the HDMI connection.

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AppleTV audio cuts out and pops on Dolby Atmos audio content

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