Apple TV 4K + Samsung TV Passthrough Issue!

if I connect ATV directly to the soundbar then everything works fine. but I'd like to connect ATV to my TV and let my TV passthrough (but something is going on and it can't just pass through the audio)

That is an important clue, as I think it shows that the connection and/or passthrough is the issue.

1. Verify that the HDMI port on the TV that connects to Apple TV is configured for high bandwidth data streams. That may have an on|off settings on some TVs initially for compatibility reasons (e.g. support for HDMI 1.4 devices).
2. If the TV has Settings﹥General﹥External Device Manager﹥Input Signal Plus﹥… then activate that when HDMI 2.1 ports are on both devices. I think that is what that does, Samsung is a bit vague about it.
3. Set HDMI eARC Mode in the Expert Settings.
4. Verify that you are using HDMI cables rated for high bandwidth (rated 48 Gbps if possible, else rated 18 Gbps can be made to work as well by ensuring 4:2:0 chroma on Apple TV.)

can I raise a ticket with Apple?

You can ask them, but there’s no fix for what they will think isn’t broken on their part of the setup.

Same issue here. Have an Sonos arc & Apple TV. Dolby atmos content plays just fine. When trying to play regular 5.1 content it switches back to pcm stereo. Anybody found a solution yet?

I have Apple TV connected to a New LG-C3 OLED and a BOSE soundbar 600 connected to the OLED's ARC/eARC Port.

5.1 and DolbyAtmos plays well from TV speakers, but on the Bose Soundbar, 5.1 doesn't play at all, No Sound, and Dolby Atmos plays well.

Funny part is that everything worked well for one month with the BOSE. Just suddenly one evening 5.1 stopped working.

All content plays well from TV's Native Apps, when same content is tested.

BOSE and LG service engineers have visited and checked the same. Both have no answer.

Well known pass through issue on Samsung TVs

Have you found a solution to this? I have the same soundbar and am having similar issues. Also some atmos movies will have no audio into the soundbar.

… 5.1 contents playing as stereo and not as 5.1

Note that Apple TV box is designed to output surround sound as PCM Multichannel (PCM doesn’t mean stereo, it means uncompressed), and not output as Dolby Digital 5.1 (compressed) unless that fallback setting is chosen. If your soundbar plays Atmos from Apple TV fine, then it should support PCM Multichannel as well.

If your issue is different, then I don’t know what is happening.

… all the voices sound sluggish and slow.

As timing is fixed, I assume this is some sort of distortion? Not sure what you are hearing. It is not something that I recognize from your description.

Hello I wanted to ask a question about my Samsung tv paired with my nakamichi 9.2.4 earc soundbar system, So usually I was able to use passthrough on the Samsung tv, then I realized that it switched to PCM and it wouldn’t let me change it back to passthrough on my Samsung tv, I was wondering if this is a Samsung issue or an Apple TV issue.

As Apple TV outputs PCM Multichannel in its Auto setting, the result of passthrough or PCM on the TV would be the same in this case: PCM in→PCM out.

Your options for settings on your TV would depend on the exact model. Please see its manual. Else contact Samsung Support.

Were you able to find a resolution for this?

I have a newer LG LCD (not sure the model) that has eARC and have the same issue with my Apple TV 4K (3rd gen) outputting Atmos to my Bose soundbar 900 just fine. However, all other content seems to comethrough to the Bose soundbar as LPCM 2.0

I am looking at upgrading to a LG-G3 OLED and am/was hopeful that this might resolve the issue (since it seems to be a TV passthrough problem). However, since you are seeing this same issue with the C3, I am not as hopeful.

So I just switched over to the latest Apple TV4K, from the first gen ATV4K, and found that this has started happening with my Sonos Arc. Zero issues with the first gen 4K.

Atmos content plays fine from Netflix. Hit anything 5.1, starts as 5.1 PCM, then the audio cuts out twice, and it comes back as Stereo PCM.

Updated to latest firmware, reset the tv, and still no luck. Will power cycle the TV and soundbar tomorrow, may try re add the sound at to the Sonos system.

Strange thing is even with TV showing the I put as HDMI and not eARC, Atmos plays fine on Netflix.

I can’t figure it out.

Hey guys.

Managed to fix this. Follow the steps as described and it will work, including switching all devices off and unplugging for a few mins.

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-229129/arc-keeps-disconnecting-from-samsung-tv-6878104/index2.html#post16705258