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hobro19 Author

Level 1

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Apple TV does not play sound in dolby / surround

Configuration:

ATV3 (SW6.2) -> HDMI -> Samsung TV -> HDMI -> Sony BluRay / Home Theatre System

ATV3 -> optical -> Sony BluRay / Home Theatre System

Video files created with Handbrake 9.9 with two audio tracks:

1) AAC (Core Audio) / Dolby Pro Logic II

2) AC3 Passthru

When I create a .mkv file, put it on an USB stick and play it from my TV I get full dolby

When I play the same file directly from the USB port in the Sony works fine as well.

When I create a .m4v file and play it directly from the USB port in the Sony I only get Stereo.

When I play the .m4v file via home sharing from my iTunes Library on my Mac I only get Stereo.

Change:

I used the same source and created a .m4v file (with Handbrake) that contains ONLY AC3 passthru.

When I play this file directly from the USB port in the Sony I get full surround sound

When I play this file via home sharing from my iTunes Library on my Mac I get no sound at all

Question:

Does ATV3 with home sharing support Dolby / surround sound at all?

If so - how do I get that running in that configuration or what do I have to change?

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Aug 1, 2014 5:35 PM

26 replies

hobro19 Author

Level 1

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Aug 3, 2014 6:59 PM in response to Loner T

Loner T wrote:

On your TV Speaker Settings -> Digital Audio Out, what are the available formats when ATV3 is connected via HDMI and is set to DD=On?

Audio Format = PCM (Dolby Digital, DTS and DTS Neo 2.5 are grey and can't be chosen - haven't found any set up where I could use one of the last three options, it's always PCM)

Loner T wrote:

The Sony has a Coax for a SAT box, which the ATV3 cannot use, so

1. the Optical directly to Sony or

2. HDMI (to TV - non-ARC) -> TV (Optical) -> Sony Optical are your two paths for Audio from ATV3.

If the Speaker settings let you allow to pass DD 5.1, you can disconnect the Optical from ATV3 to Sony and use Option 2.

Instead of the coax I just used a stereo audio cable for now. That works. Use option (1) as on the TV I can't choose anything but PCM.

ATV3 -> Optical -> Sony (sound path ATV3)

Sat -> stereo cable -> Sony (sound path Sat)

ATV3 -> HDMI -> Samsung TV (video path ATV3)

Sat -> HDM -> Samsung TV (video path sat)

Sony -> HDMI (non ARC) -> Samsung TV (video path Sony)

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 3, 2014 7:16 PM in response to hobro19

hobro19 wrote:

Loner T wrote:

On your TV Speaker Settings -> Digital Audio Out, what are the available formats when ATV3 is connected via HDMI and is set to DD=On?

Audio Format = PCM (Dolby Digital, DTS and DTS Neo 2.5 are grey and can't be chosen - haven't found any set up where I could use one of the last three options, it's always PCM)

This is fascinating. It has the capability to pass multi-channel, but we do not have the right source.

If you disconnect the ATV3 Optical to Sony,

1. then you have ATV3 HDMI to Samsung HDMI (non-ARC) for Audio and Video both. With DD=on on ATV3, are you allowed to choose anything other than PCM on Optical Out? If yes,

a. connect the TV ARC to Sony and see what formats you get on the Sony. This is HDMI pass through.

b. switch to Optical on Sony and see what formats you can get on the Sony. You can try all available Optical formats that are not greyed out in Speaker

Settings to check for sound.

2. The same tests as 1 (both - a and b) with ATV3 set to DD=Off

3. The same test as 1 (both a and b) with ATV3 set to DD=Auto (this should be PCM).

Thanks for allowing me to learn. 😉

hobro19 Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 3, 2014 7:49 PM in response to Loner T

optical disconnected!

ATV3 -> DD = On or Off or Auto = only possible setting on TV for Digital Audio Out = PCM

Changing to HDMI ARC on Sony = no difference

The only situation where I get something other than "PCM" for Digital Audio Out is when I choose "External Speaker" in the Speaker Setting. Then I can choose also DTS Neo. Which is useless because I have no external speakers connected.

Somehow TV does not support any Dolby settings.

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 3, 2014 7:56 PM in response to hobro19

So multi-channel passthrough only works, if the TV internal speakers are disabled.

Disable Internal Speakers, Choose External Speaker (Sony is you external speaker) and now test with DD=(on,off,auto) and see what you get from Optical connected, HDMI regular and HDMI ARC. My guess is that HDMI ARC+External speakers will allow multichannel to pass to Sony and it can decode and play via speakers connected to the Sony speaker jacks.

hobro19 Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 3, 2014 8:02 PM in response to Loner T

I thought it would be confusing :-)

Sony is NOT my "external speakers" (I think "external speakers" means physical external speakers). As mentioned somewhere before Samsung and Sony use Anynet+ on HDMI for some additional features (e.g. when I switch on / off the Samsung the Sony switches on / off as well). Using Anynet+ the setting for "speakers" switches AUTOMATICALLY to "receiver" which is my Sony. Options for Digital Audio only "PCM" (whatever input source I choose).

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 3, 2014 8:12 PM in response to hobro19

Nomenclature is confusing. What you describe is called HDMi-CEC short for Consumer Electronics Control, which allows commands to be sent over HDMI for connected equipment. If you disable it for test purposes, does that make any difference to the formats available to be output via Optical or HDMI-ARC at the Sony?

HDMI-ARC is independent of HDMI-CEC. ARC just puts the Audio back on the wire for downstream Sony to output via it's speakers. CEC is bidirectional.

hobro19 Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 3, 2014 8:56 PM in response to Loner T

Anynet+ off - no change.

Anyway - I downloaded the complete instruction manual for the Samsung TV and found that in the Anynet+ / HDMI-CEC section:

●● A home theatre system that has been connected to the TV using an HDMI cable and an optical

cable supports 2-channel audio only. However, the home theatre is capable of supporting

5.1-channel audio from digital broadcasts.

●● To listen to 5.1-channel audio from an external device, connect the device to the TV via an HDMI

cable and the device's digital audio output connector directly to the home theatre system.

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 3, 2014 9:32 PM in response to hobro19

If you look at http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/hdmi_1_4_faq.aspx#14

Which audio formats are supported over the Audio Return Channel?

The Audio Return Channel supports all the same audio formats that can be sent through a traditional S/PDIF audio connection, including Dolby Digital, DTS, and PCM audio.

This is what the standard says, but there are very few who actually implement it, as shown by the C-net link. These are bitstream and should be passed as is, instead of the TV sound path interfering with ARC.

hobro19 Author

Level 1

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Aug 3, 2014 9:44 PM in response to Loner T

That's all good. ARC applies to the connection between the Samsung TV and the Sony sound system.

But the TV itself obviously does not pass thru any dolby signal from an external device:

To listen to 5.1-channel audio from an external device, connect the device to the TV via an HDMI cable and the device's digital audio output connector directly to the home theatre system.

That's what I did in my setup and it's working fine. The only issue I have, that if I watch something on Sat AND I wand the sound on the Sony, I have to switch the audio source in the Sony manually from Optical In (which is the ATV3) to Stereo Audio (which is Sat).

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 4, 2014 5:15 AM in response to hobro19

Are you not connecting the SAT Coax Out to the Sony Coax in? That should give you multi channel sound on both.

hobro19 Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 4, 2014 2:05 PM in response to Loner T

I have to build / buy a cable for that first :-)

My major issue was really Dolby from the ATV3 to the Sony system because most of my movies are stored in my iTunes library.

Apple TV does not play sound in dolby / surround