Can not get Apple TV 2 to output 5.1 Dolby audio

Thank you. This worked for me. I was on the verge of re-encoding a bunch of movies and all I had to do was set DD to on!!!

Hold the phone, I have a new wrinkle I need help with:

I have a Pioneer 1021x amp & a panasonic 42" plasma.

I run the ATV2 via hdmi through the pioneer & then into the TV (for simplicity & general upscaling).

I have no problem getting 5.1 audio on movies that are supposed to have it.

My problem is: I only get PCM on audio thats playing through! ie: My iTunes catalog.

That means I only get stereo sound & Im not able to engage the Subwoofer. That *****.

The icons on the Pioneer show only the front left & right speaker & it says PCM. On movies it shows all speakers lit up & says DD or DTS.

Ive gone into settings & changed the DD from auto etc, but to no avail.

Any idea how I can get my itunes music recognized properly & engage the sub?

Please help.

99% of music is only 2 channel. If you want to engage the sub you need your amp to do post mixing. It's nothing to do with the ATV.

Sounds like the right answer.
Im frustrated as I dont know how to do that, & clearly its working on a different Amp/ATV2 in my house that has the same set up.

On my problem amp all 5 of the speakers are engaged (although its only a 2 channel signal), so its spoofing the surround, but not the LFE! very frustrating. Any help is appreciated.

From memory there is a 'Standard' button on the very bottom row of your remote. Hitting that will cycle through faux surround modes.

Are you saying in your post that all speakers have audio except the sub? Have you go bass turned up?

Let's see if I can get some help here with plying Netflix movies with surround sound.a

I have Apple TV 2nd generation connected to Yamaha RX-V567 Receiver (2010 model).

The Yamaha setting "Straight" detects surround signals automatically.

When I play a DVD on a connected DVD player, the Yamaha decoder switches automatically to "Dolby Digital".

Same thing happens when I use the AppleTV to airplay a movie made by Handbrake.

But when I stream Netflix movies (and I've tried quite a few), the audio remains "PCM" (plain stereo).

What gives?

BTW, When I select Yamaha's DSP Movie setting as "Standard", the audio decoder switches to "DD PLII Movie" and the multi-speaker indicators light up. Is it detecting an encoded surround signal, or is it an artificial processing of a plain stereo signal?

TIA!

Netflix doesn't send 5.1 audio to AppleTV.

Many thanks.

Now about

> BTW, When I select Yamaha's DSP Movie setting as "Standard", the audio decoder switches to "DD PLII

> Movie" and the multi-speaker indicators light up. Is it detecting an encoded surround signal, or is it an

> artificial processing of a plain stereo signal?

Is the receiver recovering "matrixed" surround channels from the stereo channels? It sounds decent.

Just received new AppleTV with 1080p. Same thing - had to switch Dolby Digital to ON instead of AUTO. Once I changed that setting, 5.1 audio works fine. Thanks!

I had the same problem. I fixed it by going to audio and video settings: select audio output and choose 16 bit. make sure Dolby digital is "on".

To Schultz and Pghterp

Thanks for you comments, but it doesn't work for me.

I have even upgraded to AppleTV 3 --- but Netflix audio is only PCM (reagrdless of the setting of Dolby Digital = "on" or Audio Output="16 bit").

I am seeing "Dolby Digital" on my Yamaha receiver for other sources (DVD, handbrake encodings, live TV) -- but not Netflix.

:-(

Kloomnik,

Perhaps it's the content or Netflix is serving you reduced quality.

Not all Netflix content is 5.1. Try Breaking Bad season 2. I just watched an episode from that and it definitely was 5.1 on my ATV2 (with optical connection and set for 5.1 rather than "auto"). Try playing that for a minute or two as a test.

I have 6Gb DSL. From time to time my connection is a bit slower than that and I get reduced quality audio and video. Can you verify that you have a connection speed where Netflix is able to deliver premium audio? I've found that a speed test slower than 4Gb/sec results in reduced audio quality.

Lastly, Netflix often starts at 2.0 for a few seconds then improves to 5.1 once it is buffered up. Test your setup with the above show and let it play for a minute or so, to be sure it doesn't switch to higher quality after a bit.

Lastly, try logging out of Netflix then logging back in. Maybe it speed tested you when it had a bad connection and is defaulting to lower bandwidth content (a shot in the dark, but it can't hurt).

One other thought: is your wifi connection good? Is it getting solid "n" speeds? Is there an antiquated device on your network causing your router to switch to a lower wifi standard?

> Not all Netflix content is 5.1. Try Breaking Bad season 2.

Solved!

It's not my equipment, or my network connection, or my settings.

It's simply that I have been trying the "wrong" content.

In my defense, I tried two dozen titles, most of them streamed in HD, before I concluded that somthing must be wrong.

Nothing is wrong. It's just that Netflix choices of 5.1 content does not overlap with what I watch...

Thanks for the discussion.

And, by the way, it works even when Dolby Digital and Audio Output are set to "Auto".

Thanks! This solved the problem for me!