AppleTV audio cuts out and pops on Dolby Atmos audio content

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.

Same issue. Started on Gen 2 and just replaced with a Gen 3 and it’s still popping and crackling.

I also replaced my sound bar, all cables but managed to confirm it’s the Apple TV as Atmos works fine through the television OS, it’s only through ATV it has the issue.

Disabling Atmos and just using 5.1 Dolby fixes the issue in the ATV but means no atmos.

This has been going on two years. When will apple fix the firmware?

Test Fix - Been following this issue all month. Had the same problems with my 4k 2nd gen, on a Vizio m5 and LG C2. Both with tv audio out via optical to my Vanatoo speaker. On the LG C2, I disabled the tv CEC feature on the HDMI port associated with the Apple TV. So far no audio cutting issues.

Let me know if this works for you guys.

Thanks for pointing out the "transitions" part. I was getting this on my ATV 2021 with Old Phillips Fidelio sound bar, assumed it was the old sound bar technology. Upgraded to Vizio sound bar with atmos, and still have the same issues. However if I run ATV into a Marantz receiver and then from the receiver just use a standard HDMI input on the TV (No ARC/eARC) then I don't have the issue. So to me it seems like some kind of handshake between ATV and sound bars.

This is also noticeable if you watch YouTube via ATV as you scroll through video selections you can perceive a faint "beep" if you hold down the scroll button, or just scroll faster the "beep" between selections is a bit louder. Then if you pause on one for more than 2 seconds, then next beep is fainter. It's almost if there is some kind of muting going on when the audio stream is inactive.

See my update on Jan 3, This may also be the answer for you:

Bizarrely I found that turning off Frame Rate matching in the Apple TV video settings fixed the issue of Dolby Atmos dropouts. Difficult to see how frame rates effects sound, so curious to know what’s going on there. Anyway, automatically matching frame rate is not such a crucial function, so it’s an acceptable temporary work around.

It seems to be complicated. Folks are blaming Apple TV, but it seems to be less straight forward than that, and could be an issue between devices. I also had the problem with gen 1 and 2 apple tv 4ks. I can work around it by plugging the Apple TV directly into the receiver, and feeding the receiver output (e-ARC) to the tv. In this config you still get Dolby Atmos, with no drop outs. There are disadvantage of this however - the connected devices don't turn on and off together quite a reliably. And it's a little confusing for other family members to understand what's going on. But it does prove that it's not just Apple TV to blame.. or if it is it's not straight forward issue, and also involves how Apple TV communicates with other devices.. Because some people don't have this problem, and I've read on other forums that dropouts can occur from other sources, not just apple tv. So wonder if it's also an issue with the e-ARC / HDMI standard, under some conditions. It's a tough one.

I have exactly the same issue with the Netflix app! LG C1 + Sonos Arc + Apple TV 4k (2022 version) with latest os update 16.1.1 I found 2 workarounds, if an Apple engineer gets to reads this it would be really time to fix it:

1) Switching to Sonos Arc as temporary audio out fixes the issue. Let us set it as permanent audio out, really simple

2) If I download the exact same show and stream it with Infuse player no issues. It is obviously a software issue. If Infuse can do it, the apple tv os should be able too. Check their Dolby Audio implementation or hire their experts 🤓

Where is the “it just works”?! This is a subpar apple experience, please fix it already!

I'm experiencing the same issue as well. Basically I just got the JBL 9.1 soundbar capable of Dolby Atmos yesterday on 11/20/2022. When I played Dolby Atmos contents in HBO Max app or Apple TV plus app, the audio cuts out and popping/cracking sounds occurred. At first I thought it was the soundbar issues, but after several attempts to find the issue, it's the Apple TV 4k. My set up is Apple TV 2021 model (newest software update tvOS 16.1), with LG CX, and JBL 9.1 soundbar. The way that I have to do for temporary fix is that to change the Sound out on my CX from Pass Through to Auto. This setting will eventually reduce the full Atmos audio format, but I guess it's the only choice now. Another way is that I have to use the native apps on the TV if we want to keep Dolby Atmos, no more Apple Tv.

A recent thing that's been working well for me is that I changed my Apple TV video setting from 4K HDR to 4K Standard.

Since that change last week (fingers crossed) I've not experienced this issue; whereas, this was happening every day before.

I can live with this change for now, but still...Apple needs to get on this.

The problem is the Apple TV, I see on the TV that it constantly changes from stereo to dolby audio every time you access a movie and that causes audio delays. If you force the audio to dolby, it should always be maintained and it doesn't. On the other hand, if you force the stereo, there are no problems.

Hi - Bizarrely I found that turning off Frame Rate matching in the Apple TV video settings fixed the issue of Dolby Atmos dropouts. Difficult to see how frame rates effects sound, so curious to know what’s going on there. Anyway, automatically matching frame rate is not such a crucial function, so it’s an acceptable temporary work around.

I’ll add my ‘me too’ experience. Done all the swapping (HDMI cables, highest grade and reputability I could find), firmware/software updates, settings changes, and even bought the newest Apple 4K TV (2022) just to see if hardware change made a difference from my 2021 version. Problem will seem fixed for a short time but always comes back. Wife ready to either throw me or the Vizio Atmos soundbar out the window. Reading through Apple support page for setting up Dolby Atmos sound bar this morning came across this line “Apple TV 4K uses a high bandwidth form of Dolby Atmos that doesn’t work over ARC connections.” Could this be the root of many users problems. I prefer to use my eARC compatibility because it allows volume control. Tried utilizing direction connection in the past, and I’m pretty sure it still had the issue. Might try again for kicks and giggles. I have noticed that when the sound cuts out, I also lose the ability to alter volume with eARC control. So maybe there is something with eARC/ARC connections that is failing.

I have been experiencing the same issue, especially using the Netflix app (Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen). I have a new Samsung tv 85” QN90B and sound bar that enables the Q-Symphony. After messing around with the settings on the Apple TV 4K and the TV, I changed the audio setting on the TV from Passthrough to Auto. This seems to have resolved the cutting in/out and the sound bar seems to recognize it as Dolby Atmos. The aggravating part now is that the app doesn’t seem to recognize that it is in Dolby Atmos. Not the end of the world, but it would be great for that to be recognized.

it's solved in tvOS 16, become a tester and update. Or switch for now to wireless, solved for many and is at least a hugh improvement for the rest. Or just wait 'til official release

FYI the issue has been fixed with TvOS 16.2, weird... nothing was in the release notes for that.