Q: New Apple TV--Missing optical connection

One point of clarity, TOS is NOT an analogue output.  It is a digital output, and it is used to transmit digital sources to external DACs or to receivers that have a built-in DACs and input TOS connectors.  There are certainly other, more contemporary ways to provide this digital out feature: coaxial cable, Thunderbolt & USB.   Removing TOS and not replacing it with something better is what I question.  One HDMI cable out is insufficient for a product that also streams digital music.  I tend to believe that this exclusion is less about phasing out technology and more about restricting the use of digital music outputs which give the music owner more flexibility in how he/she manages and plays their own music libraries.  The other unfortunate consequence is that one is forced find work-arounds which often degrade the sound quality.  While that may not be important to most MP3 level users, there are plenty of HiRes and HiFi customers out there that prefer the higher quality recordings.  As to the analogue comments, have that discussion with the resurgence of vinyl record customers.  After all, we listen in analogue, not digital.  God bless.

I set up my new ATV4 yesterday.

My previous set up with ATV3 was an optical audio cable to a Toslink to RCA adapter that then lead to my very old Bose system (no HDMI). It worked a treat.

So no Tos on the new ATV4 was an issue. I read through this thread and concluded that I need to find a splitter/adapter... something, to get back my audio.

Was researching that when I came across an Apple help page informing of the Audio output preference on the ATV4.

To cut a long story short – problem is (almost) solved without any new gear.

All I did was retain the ATV3 with the Tos to adapter to Bose (no HDMI/video) set up alongside the new ATV4 (HDMI to TV – video only).

Set the audio out preference on the ATV4 to the ATV3 and Bingo... all works beautifully. Airplay from iMac works, Audio from ATV4 plays through Bose.

The only 'almost' issue is that the sound output preference doesn't save to the ATV3 on the ATV4.

I need to make that setting each time I use it.

If somebody can let me know how to make that setting permanent, I'll be as happy as a pig in mud (and not spent any further $$'s).

Bless you!  I would have NEVER figured out how to do that.  I received a new Apple TV for Christmas but when I tried replacing my older gen 2 Apple TV, I was stymied by the lack of a digital audio output.  After searching in vain locally to find an HDMI splitter, I finally ordered one from Amazon.  But then I stumbled onto this solution and though I'll probably still buy the splitter, I will use this till I get it, which won't be for another couple weeks! Thank so much!!!

Ron

I did this exact thing today after upgrading to Apple TV Gen 4 from Gen 3. I simply took the optical cable that connected my Gen3 TV to my receiver from the Apple TV and plugged it into my TV still connected to the same input on the receiver. One other thing you need to do is make sure you change the Audio setting on your Television set to use Audio System or external speakers rather than the internal TV speakers. Works like a charm. I have an older Denon receiver with only a couple HDMI inputs so this was the easiest solution for my setup.

I had an AppleTV 3 attached to my NAD T747 via both optical and HDMI. The reason for this was so that I could have two inputs: "Apple TV" with audio/video via HDMI and "Streaming" with audio via optical Toslink and no video (the NAD allows you to do this). This was useful for when I wanted to listen to Airplay-streamed music either from iTunes on my computer as part of a multi-room setup, or via my iPhone or iPad. I didn't have to turn on the TV to get sound, which was nice for energy savings.

Now that the AppleTV 4 has ditched the optical output, I can't stream music to the receiver without also turning on the TV. I had to de-activate the "Streaming" input on my receiver since it's impossible to get audio via HDMI without a video signal. Now my TV essentially serves as a giant screensaver. Inefficient and unnecessary.

I will look into the possibility of adding an HDMI-Toslink adapter, but from what I can tell that's at least a $35 option just for getting back to where it was before - sound with no picture. Sigh.

Having the TV on for music listening can be distracting if you are sitting down to a quiet dinner and would like music. Some TV's can emit a high pitched sound that isn't noticeable while watching dynamic movies or tv shows but might be noticeable during quiet musical passages. So I think the loss of the optical output IS a loss for some of us.

Fortunately previous posters have noted you can buy an HDMI splitting device that can give you back the optical output. I do not know if there is potential to degrade the audio quality though. I also wonder if the HDMI remains active when the TV is turned off. It would be nice to know more about this solution.

I agree about the TV being distracting if one only wants to listen to music. I've ordered the HDMI audio splitter and will post back once I have it hooked up.

Dave. You don't need to have the TV on to listen to music.

With your older model Apple TV & new ATV4 connected at the same time (older ATV audio to amp via TOS & ATV4 to TV via HDMI).

No additional hardware/splitters required either.

Just set your audio out preference on the ATV4 to your older model Apple TV. It works perfectly.

TThank you Paul for taking time to post this

i tried for two days and called Apple but no help

You are now on my Christmas list

it works perfect

Dave. You don't need to have the TV on to listen to music.

With your older model Apple TV & new ATV4 connected at the same time (older ATV audio to amp via TOS & ATV4 to TV via HDMI).

That's not necessarily correct.

Users have experienced differing results when trying to use the Apple TV for audio only. Some have found it works well, others have found that they need to have the TV on to get audio and others have found they need the TV on to start off with, but can turn it off when the audio starts playing.

I suspect these variations result from the type of connection that the TV offers and therefore may vary according to the make/model of TV.

We bought the new Apple TV 4, to replace our Apple TV 3, which we no longer have.

And, it´s a shame, I used to stream audio from the Apple TV 3 to a DAC, to feed my Stax earspeakers, and used toslink to do so. Now it´s no longer music in this house, we have the Apple TV connected to our AV receiver, and the AV reciver connected to the TV.

The AV receiver do not have any audio out at all, neither digital nor analog, and it do not pass the audio out via HDMI to the TV, it only plays the audio from its own amplifier.

I often used to listen to music at late evening with the earspeakers, and does not want to have the TV on for that, but since the AV receiver do not pass the audio from the incoming HDMI, well, this is a pain in the a..

I therefor bought an HDMI splitter, well, I got the audio out, but at a lousy quality, only 48 khz audio out, that´s the half of what I got from the good old Apple TV 3.

So Apple, please give us an AppleTV with optical out.

The Apple TV 3 is still available for sale and still supported. Return the ATV4 and buy a new ATV3.

I know that, but the AppleTV 3 doesn´t have the content that we want, that´s why we replaced it. Otherwise we would have kept it, and it´s not an option to have both an AppleTV3 and 4.

well, I got the audio out, but at a lousy quality, only 48 khz audio out, that´s the half of what I got from the good old Apple TV 3.

I believe that's exactly what you got from the Apple TV 3 too.

At least it was 96 khz.