Apple Broke Dolby Digital 5.1 Output on Apple TV 4K

Not sure why nobody else is mentioning this, but figured I'd post to help others. One of these last few tvOS updates has completely broken Dolby Digital output (on Apple TV 4K, it seems).


I have a 2nd gen 4K model that had been fine until a recent update. I change the audio output in Settings to force Dolby Digital 5.1 for my speakers (Logitech Z906), but this suddenly no longer works! My speakers do not light the proper "Decode" light to indicate a true 5.1 signal, and the voices clearly come from left and right channels instead of just the center.


This was easy to confirm. I purchased a brand new 3rd gen Apple TV 4K (128GB) and it shipped with tvOS 17.1. I configured the audio output to force DD 5.1 and tested a movie... and everything worked perfectly. The "Decode" light indicated a 5.1 signal and voices, etc, clearly only came through the center channel. Then I upgraded to tvOS 17.4 and immediately tested the same movie, and it's broken! Nothing else changed.


Strangely enough, I have an old 1080p Apple TV running tvOS 17.4 (latest) and it still outputs Dolby Digital just fine.


I have provided this information to AppleCare as well as Apple.com/feedback. Kind of a ridiculous bug to go unpatched still. Hopefully someone will notice while we all sit here with broken audio.

Posted on May 7, 2024 10:30 AM

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Posted on Oct 25, 2024 12:50 AM

The problem was solved with the latest update released for the Apple TV 4K.

I signed up on Apple's website to also receive beta updates and then the option to download a beta version on the streamer itself was opened. I downloaded an update and the problem was solved. At first, I manually enabled the Dolby Digital 5.1 option in the settings, then I set it back to auto, after I saw that it was indeed playing Dolby Digital. When I put it back to auto, it now knows how to play Dolby Digital with the appropriate content and Dolby Atmos with the appropriate content. very happy!



[Edited by Moderator]

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305 replies

Sep 24, 2024 5:30 PM in response to Community User

oops, looks as though I've enabled after alpha updates again, and forgot that I did it. Disabling that now. At least it provides some basis for hope... (sorry about that, Chief.)(told you I was old.)


Sep 26, 2024 4:18 PM in response to CowsOfOurPlanet

If you click Audio Format in the AUDIO area after clicking Video and Audio in Settings), then "Change Format" is "Off", right? If it's "On", then maybe that model isn't affected.

Sep 26, 2024 6:10 PM in response to CowsOfOurPlanet

One more question, if you disable Change Format, are you still able to receive multi channel audio, or does that cause you to lose multi channel audio until you reenable it?

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Apple Broke Dolby Digital 5.1 Output on Apple TV 4K

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