Apple 4K TV Box Audio Crackles

Question

Level 1

11 points

Apple 4K TV Box Audio Crackles

2 part question:

My setup is Apple4kTV >HDMI(HDR10+)/Dolby Atmos> Samsung 4K new 2024 model TV >(optical) old Yamaha receiver with Dolby Digital

Old setup was with 2013 HD TV

1) Since I switched TV some days ago, there was nothing anormal. I have to admit I watched more netflix than apple original. But then I watched my first Apple Series on the new TV, and in midst of the 4th episode (3 episodes were fine) a crackling in the audio began.

The strange is I paused, checked audio settings and stuff, played again and crackling was gone for some minutes and then began again.

I first blamed the optical connection because the cable had a slight tension but no, The crackling noise is also audible on the TV itself, which reduces the faulty point to: HDMI-Cable, Apple TV Box Hardware, or the software setting to DOlby Atmos, but as the crackling noise comes also through the dolby atmos capable TV it can be only the Cable or Hardware and I strongly believe it's the cable as I made the AppleTV HDMI test and it gave errors with high bandwith.

Also to blame the cable makes sense, as before I only used HD out and had enough bandwith.

I also read that netflix and other use basically DOlby Digital which explains, why the problem appeared when watching the first Apple Original Series. (Strange though that it began on episode 4, not before)

So I'll buy a better cable and see/hear.

2) The other question, well it's more a doubt, I have is:

Would it be better to switch my apple TV Box to dolby digital? it is probably unrelated to the crackling, but with this setting I anyway would not get Dolby Atmos, or Dolby Atmos would default to a 2.0, 2.1 or 5.1 setting (which it can as far as I know as the audio gets rendered to the specific output available anyway). But I wonder if I'd change to Audio-output Dolby Digital: if that'd be better in any case, or in the end it's irrelevant because the signal is transformed anyway from dolby atmos to dolby digital implicitely...

Thx

Posted on Dec 8, 2024 8:52 AM

Reply

Answer 1

vazandrew

Level 8

40,948 points

Dec 8, 2024 1:47 PM in response to p_reolon

The TV may support Atmos, but you still need a compliant speaker to output Atmos. If you have a receiver connected that is only capable of Dolby Digital 5.1 then that is what will output. If you have audio on Apple TV set to auto then it will attempt to send out the best format and then the receiver may be attempting to transcode it down, that could be where the issue is.

I would switch the audio setting to Dolby Digital 5.1 on Apple TV. This way it will transcode the signal right on the Apple TV so it is sent as 5.1 (unless the source is stereo only).

Reply

Answer 2

vazandrew

Level 8

40,948 points

Dec 8, 2024 6:16 PM in response to p_reolon

The full chain needs to support the format, and then it will scale. Anything connected using optical tops out at Dolby Digital 5.1. The TV can support Atmos passthrough, but the built in speakers themselves don't necessarily support Atmos unless specified.

Similar experiences have been had with those using even a soundbar that doesn't support atmos. The ideal setting for those whose setup only supports DD5.1 is to set Apple TV to change format to avoid issues.

But having a better cable never hurts

Have a good one.

Reply

Answer 3

p_reolon Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 8, 2024 5:29 PM in response to vazandrew

You're right, it's although a bit strange...

I have tested with: Atmos, Auto but atmos off, and dolby digital and only with Atmos the crackle appears (on TV speakers and receiver).

Although and that is strange the great about Dolby Atmos is: It should be fully retro-compatible (I have read meanwhile), so it fully adapts even when you have a simple plain stereo source, there's no transcoding, because it doesn't split up the signal into channels... That's why it even works for headphones.

Having said that, the fact that the crackling is also hearble over the tv speakers (the TV is actually atmos-compatible), so therefore my theory of the HDMI cable saturating.

Although I don't have the crackling on all shows, just, until now, a specific one (Sunny on Apple TV+ if that's of any interest), which makes it harder to analyze...

I'll try anyway with a better cable too, but for now, with atmos off no crackling.

Thx & cheers

Reply

Apple 4K TV Box Audio Crackles

Similar questions