Optical Audio Out on Apple TV v3

Question

Optical Audio Out on Apple TV v3

I just got my new Apple TV v3 yesterday and hooked it all up. I have it hooked directly to a Panisonic plasma via HDMI and my Sony AV receiver via optical audio cord. I also have a connection from my optical out on my TV to the optical in on the receiver. I get video and sound fine through the HDMI cable both to the TV and to the optical input coming from the TV to the receiver. The problem is, I do not get any sound from the audio input coming directly from the Apple TV to the receiver. I want to use the Apple TV to stream music to my surround speakers without having the TV turned on. I have tried playing with the settings on the Apple TV as well as on the receiver with no luck. Any ideas?

Thanks

AppleTV 2

Posted on Sep 15, 2012 8:05 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 15, 2012 8:39 PM in response to The Great White Dope

Turns out it was user error. I had to select the proper mode of input (digital / analog etc) in addition to selecting where the cable was plugged into. After that every works like it should with all of the settings on the apple tv set to auto.

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Answer 2

Sep 23, 2012 6:50 AM in response to The Great White Dope

Thanks for the info, I want to do the same. When using optical audio out from Apple TV do you get volume control with the Apple TV? I know you don't when you just use HDMI and the speaker I plan on using don't have a wireless remote. Thanks.

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Answer 3

Sep 24, 2012 7:17 AM in response to Julian88Tex

Yes and no. When you are playing native media on the Apple TV, as far as I know, the Apple TV doesn't have a volume control. It is up to the speakers that you are using to control the volume. If you are using the ATV to mirror content from an iDevice (steaming Pandora from your phone for example) you do have limited volume control through the volume slider on the device.

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Answer 4

Sep 24, 2012 7:21 AM in response to The Great White Dope

Thanks, yeah I've noticed that as well. In relation to that... I've noticed the audio quality greatly diminished when I stream from an iDevice vs. when I play directly from Apple TV. Especially when I stream from iTunes on my mac vs. play from iTunes Match on the Apple TV.

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Answer 5

Sep 24, 2012 7:26 AM in response to Julian88Tex

Hmm, you may have an underlying network issue there. Like maybe your wireless is getting stressed by some other activity so the bitrate on the music is dropping. (just a guess)

Maybe I am just not enough of an audiophile but I haven't noticed that big of a difference between when I am streaming from my iPhone or iPad or when I play directly from the ATV. In fact, if I didn't know the source, the music sounds indistinguishable when played through the living room surround sound, no matter the source.

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