AppleTV 4 surround sound issue

My dolby surround issue is gone, but the more pressing issue is the fact that the new ATV4 is not outputting the full dynamic range even when set to do so. It is muting the loud noises even when the output in the dropdown is set to "full dynamic range" this needs to be fixed asap or the new apple tv is a no go for me and will be returned.

Is your TV4 global "Reduce Loud Sounds" setting by any chance turned on?

Thanks Jon, this is what I will do.

Jon Walker wrote:

Why? then, is it that, when I use Apple Music does it light my DD light on my 5.1 sound bar when ATV 4 is set to AUTO

The TV4 "Auto" unconditionally opens a DD+7.1 compatible PCM connection over the HDMI interface

Under no circumstances should a properly operating decoder signal AC-3 when the ATV is in AUTO mode. There are either seven PCM channels or two. Selecting STEREO should have the same result as AUTO when feed by Apple Music.

Under no circumstances should a properly operating decoder signal AC-3 when the ATV is in AUTO mode. There are either seven PCM channels or two.

I stand corrected. It appears I was testing an AC3 source track when I made this comment. Thanks for correcting me.

Thanks Jon, this is what I will do.

Looks like I may have misspoken here. Don't use the Apple Music service, but I assume it is not encoded as AC3. In any case, if you try it anyway, let use know if sound bar plays any differently. This solution would probably only work on an AC3 music video.

Jon Walker wrote:

Thanks Jon, this is what I will do.

Looks like I may have misspoken here. Don't use the Apple Music service, but I assume it is not encoded as AC3. In any case, if you try it anyway, let use know if sound bar plays any differently. This solution would probably only work on an AC3 music video.

I now listen to apple music with the AT4's audio selected to stereo, this allows my sound bar to apply sound effects or dolby pro logic to it. Any other setting "Auto" or "Dolby Surround", lights the DD light and no sound from the rear's.

I now listen to apple music with the AT4's audio selected to stereo, this allows my sound bar to apply sound effects or dolby pro logic to it. Any other setting "Auto" or "Dolby Surround", lights the DD light and no sound from the rear's.

Am surprised it worked then. Any idea as to how Apple encodes their Apple Music content? It might tell us why this worked here. In any case, thanks for the rapid response. It may help others with similar problems.

Have a good day...

Jon Walker wrote:

I now listen to apple music with the AT4's audio selected to stereo, this allows my sound bar to apply sound effects or dolby pro logic to it. Any other setting "Auto" or "Dolby Surround", lights the DD light and no sound from the rear's.

Am surprised it worked then. Any idea as to how Apple encodes their Apple Music content? It might tell us why this worked here. In any case, thanks for the rapid response. It may help others with similar problems.

Have a good day...

See attached.

Apple MPEG-4 audio, Audio Channels: 2

This is all the info I could find on the file.

"Curiouser and curiouser." Again, thanks for the quick response. Looks like normal encode settings. Afraid the "why" is beyond me at this point.

Take care...

Initially you wrote "Apple Music" and I believe we assumed you meant the Apple Music streaming service. If you meant playing music from a local iTunes instance then things could be different but that would be odd.

when ste to auto after you reset does your receiver show Dolby digital or pcm? My pioneer my shows pcm.

If interested for comparison purposes...

In the "Auto" mode, on my Pioneer AVR it depends of the source track selected. AC3 track playback indicates DD+7.1 decoding "is available" via a PCM connection on the HDMI interface. With the exception of Dolby LFE activity, it does not indicate which\ channels are active and which are empty. For Stereo or Dolby Pro Logic II AAC track playback, the AVR indicates PCM stereo playback which is channelled through the L and R speakers. If I turn on further Dolby processing, I can decode Dolby Pro Logic II audio to left, right, center audio channels with or without a single rear surround channel played through the correct L/C/R speakers with or without the rear surround channel applied to both rear speakers.

Here is a more complete tabulation for my Pioneer AVR tests:

According to Apple Apple Music content is the same as iTunes downloads.

Jon Walker wrote:

Any idea as to how Apple encodes their Apple Music content?

According to Apple Apple Music content is the same as iTunes downloads.

And so it would appear. Looks like we have another TV4 "mystery" here. Please post back if you come up anything more.

Take care...

bodosom wrote:

Initially you wrote "Apple Music" and I believe we assumed you meant the Apple Music streaming service. If you meant playing music from a local iTunes instance then things could be different but that would be odd.

Yes, Apple Music steaming service is this way, as well as purchased music. I just made available offline a streaming song, which downloads the file, and it has the same file info as the purchased song.

Steve Waite wrote:

Yes, Apple Music steaming service is this way, as well as purchased music.

If your ATV is not producing two channel PCM when you're using Apple Music it's defective. As I said the PCM channel counts from iTunes Radio and Apple Music are the same so if you still have an ATV3 you can compare behavior.