Apple TV running 5.0, optical out not working, no sound

Hi guys, first of all thanks for this thread, it lead me to the answer.

I too used the optical cable from my ps3 which has been working fine and had no audio on my Apple TV.

When I plugged in the optical to the atv I noticed it was a little tight and didn't seem to click on, after reading on here and seeing the cable change fix for someone I looked closer, with audio playing I pushed the optical cable in the atv hard and heard audio briefly, took a better grip and it eventually clicked and now the audio is fine through optical. I guess some cables have a slightly thicker casing than others.

This is totally silly. Why would anybody need audio through HDMI when he has a FIBER OPTIC out????

Just experienced this same issue and solved it after an hour or two. I swapped out the Toslink cable and the problem was fixed. HOWEVER, please note there was NOTHING wrong with the Toslink cable. After swapping it out, I tested the cable with other components and it worked flawlessly. The cables worked with a $1500 pre-pro, ps3 and oppo DVD player. But not with ATV3. Clearly, the ATV3 is flaky when it comes to optical cables.

I urge anyone having this problem to SWAP OUT THEIR CABLES before they go crazy.

For me it worked just by connecting and disconnecting the toslink on both ends while airplaying music a couple of times...

Thanks Coolerking!

Guys are you sure your optical cable is plugged in all the way? Mine required more strength than your usual cable. It was loose at both ends.

My theory is that given that this kind of cable relies on light rather than an electric signal it needs to fit snuggly and not move at all.

Try this before you waste any more time with settings and reading manuals like I did.

I thought I had cable problem too, but then I realized the little remote control clicks already came from the speakers. I went to Settings>General>Restart and that fixed it. That trick has now fixed the issue every time.

Maybe, if you don't use the optical out often (my 5.1 Converter Box is not always on) ATV will get frustrated after not getting a handshake from the other end and will switch the optical audio off for good.

I know this is an old thread. but since last December when apple rolled out a software upgrade, I lost my audio out over optical. But I have verified that audio out over HDMI does still work.

Anyone else have this issue?

I was having almost similar issue, My set up is ATV3 connected to LG TV via HDMI, and External speakers (Edifier Studio7). I was not getting sound from Optical out from ATV3. I had to plug Optical to TV out, and from there to the speakers, and I had to change output from TV to Ext. Optical, then only I would get sound from speakers. If I connect speakers to ATV3 optiocal out, no sound!

I just tried playing from my iPhone5 via AirPlay to speakers, connecting Optical cable to ATV3, it worked, I could keep the TV off and play music from iPhone to my speakers using optical out on ATV3. Then I turned TV on, turned off AirPlay from iPhone, and speakers continued to work. So I can now only browse to iTunes Playlist from my MBP using TV, sound still plays on Ext. speakers, and I can turn the TV off and it continues to play!

just got a new ATV for my birthday. Easy hookup but HDMI sound through the TV was lame so I installed a Toslink cable but like everyone else I couldn't get the sound through my Sony Blue Ray surround sound receiver. Turns out that I had to switch the Function on the Sony from Dmedia to TV and it works fine. Now I have awesome sound!

T U R N O F F D O L B Y D I G I T A L.

After struggling to get my Apple TV to output audio through the Optical Cable to my sound system, only being able to hear an annoying buzz, I finally turn the Dolby Digital setting in the Apple TV from Auto to Off. Once I did that, it started working beautifully. You'd think Auto would be more clever than that.

You can find this setting by navigating as following:

Apple TV > Settings > Audio & Video > Dolby Digital > Off

I hope this helps others.

JP

I had this problem at the school I work at. The apple TV is connected to a projector and then to a sound system in our library via optical audio. One of our teachers upgraded to Yosemite, and the sound was only coming out of the projector, but another teacher running 10.8.5 the sound would come out of the sound system. All I had to do was change the HDMI output settings on the Apple TV to RGB Low, and then both machines achieved the desired output, which was playing through the sound system.

my findings too... ATV doesn't like certain optical cables. Nothing wrong with the cables as work perfectly with other equipment, but not with ATV, eventually dug out a cable which works.

Flaky, flaky.

HI there,i have the same problem,optical from ps4 to surround system working fine,but from ATV3 to surround not working!! do you suggest that i buy i new optical cable??