THjs his is ridiculous that Apple TV 4 cannot stream 7.1 surround. I tried so many movies on iTunes and netlfix. Only plays in 2 channels, when I go to settings on Apple tv and click surround setting and take it off auto and select Dolby it plays in 5.1 surround even though it's a 7.1 movie.
Apple TV had this same problem before with Netflix and 5.1 audio and same thing now with 7.1. Only reason I bought this is because of 7.1. I'm returning it.
Its not my brand bew 2000k Yamaha receiver and nothing else. I leave my receiver in straight mode and it plays whatever codec it gets. It's funny because in auto surround mode on Apple TV it displays 7 speakers but plays 2 speakers. When I manually change it to Dolby surround on my Apple TV it will just play regular 5.1 Dolby digital and not the 7.1 Dolby digital plus.
MY old Apple TV works with 5.1 fine, my rocky 3 works with Dolby digital plus 7.1 when streaming Netflix. My blue ray plays all 7.1 discs perfectly. I repeat it is not my system it's the Apple tv4.
I Will be shocked if anyone has 7.1 speakers and their receiver displays Dolby digital plus and all seven speakers work. This is a joke. $200 for nothing.
And......everything works as it should. Audio set to Auto as before. My music plays in Stereo by default and my movies play in Dolby Digital without having to touch a button. Same with Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu, etc. I'm waiting it out on the ATV4.
The ATV4 is not passing through bitstream so your Pioneer should not/is not doing the decoding, the ATV4 is and sending the decoded signal for the Pioneer to distribute to the channels.
Regardless, you are correct in that there seems to be a problem here. Specifically, when using 7.1 (TruHD 7.1, DD+7.1, or DD AC3 5.1) I only get 5.1, regardless of ATV setting (auto or dolby digital). My AVR display will read 7.1 [PCM] when the ATV is in auto, but the rear surrounds are silent.
I did extensive testing using Dolby sourced surround files meant to "show Off" and Test the various codecs. Here are my results:
I am using various Dolby .mkv files converted to .m4v then imported into iTunes. My setup is ATV4>HDMI>Denon AVR>HDMI>Panny Plasma. The denon can handle all the codec mentioned in this post on its own, if it were allowed to! But its not, since the ATV doesn't pass through a bitstream but decodes and then sends a decoded signal.
The files include the intro trailers from theaters (see picture) and other dolby-specific clips.
Dolby "Spheres" / Dolby True HD 7.1 / passthrough / Auto / "7.1 [PCM]" Dolby "Spheres" / Dolby True HD 7.1 / passthrough / Dolby Surround / "Dolby D" Dolby "Spheres" / Dolby True HD 7.1 / AC3 5.1 / Auto / "7.1 [PCM]" Dolby "Spheres" / Dolby True HD 7.1 / AC3 5.1 / Dolby Surround / "Dolby D" Dolby "Spheres" / Dolby Digital 5.1 / passthrough / Auto / "7.1 [PCM]" Dolby "Spheres" / Dolby Digital 5.1 / passthrough / Dolby Surround / "Dolby D"
This is the clip you see in the theaters with the bouncing balls and the voice that says "all around you". In each instance above, I got (high quality) sound from the 5.1 speakers and zero sound from the rear surrounds.
This file is a Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 Surround Speaker Test, where a voice and cool swirling noises go around the room with synch video animation "This is your right front speaker, etc"
In each instant above, again the sound quality was very good but the announcement "this is your rear right (left) surround speaker" came out of the side right (left) speaker. Zero sound from rear surrounds.
I am not sure whee the breakdown could be here other than ATV or the .mv4 file format? Obviously, there is no "7.1" signal being distributed to all 8 speakers.
Any thoughts?
Again,anyone who is successfully getting 7.1 sound from a 7.1 speaker setup please share with us.
It very very simple. The atv4 is the one doing the decoding and sending the signal to the receiver.
The reciever shoukd should be in STRAUGHT MODE or PASS THROUGH and just play whatever codec it gets.
The atv4 cannot decide the dolby digital or dd+. I was wrong earlier, if you force Dolby surround in the audio settings on Apple TV it is not playing true Dolby digital surround. I guarantee you this.
I'm so annoyed at this as a 6 year old Blu Ray player can stream Netflix in dolby surround no problem. What a joke.
I'm back to my Apple TV 3 and have returned the Apple tv4. On a side note, does your Apple TV 3 play Dolby digital plus or Dolby digital 5.1 only?
who or what is coding or decoding gets confusing. As I recall, the ATV could pass through a bitstream (although only 5.1 channels) and allow the AVR to do the decoding.
ATV3 did not support DD+ 7.1 (E-AC3) only DD 5.1 (AC3).
I too called Apple. I basically walked through my whole testing explained above. Then I was sent to a senior tech and we walked through my whole AV setup. He said it should be a week or so. He was diligent.
BTW, I can't find the 7.1 Terminator genesis, only a DD 5.1 version on iTunes? Just looked...
The ATV4 is not passing through bitstream so your Pioneer should not/is not doing the decoding, the ATV4 is and sending the decoded signal for the Pioneer to distribute to the channels.
Okay. However, if this is true, then the TV3 and TV2 devices are also not passing through the AC3 bitstream since my TV2, TV3, and TV4 all play the same H.264/AC3 source content in the same way with the exception that I must either manually select the source AC3 track or modify the enabled/disabled and/or "fallback" track options so that all OS/IOS/tvOS players can automatically default to a desired and/or compatible audio track. I.e., my Pioneer decoder says it is decoding mono, stereo (with or without active PL II), or DD5.1 surround AC3 content dependent on actual content encoded in the original source AC3 track.
Regardless, you are correct in that there seems to be a problem here. Specifically, when using 7.1 (TruHD 7.1, DD+7.1, or DD AC3 5.1) I only get 5.1, regardless of ATV setting (auto or dolby digital). My AVR display will read 7.1 [PCM] when the ATV is in auto, but the rear surrounds are silent.
As previously noted on more than one occasion, I cannot test, confirm, nor deny any statements regarding 7.1 PCM encoded files since my only PCM files are AIFF stored music CD content with which I am not concerned here—this includes any questions of 7.1 source content being limited to 5.1 audio output. On the other hand, I don't see why you would be surprised that AC3 5.1 source content would be limited 5.1 channelization since this seems self-evident or implicit in the base proposition, As to empty rear surround channels in the "Auto" mode, I can confirm this when sourcing DD5.1 content and forcing output as 7.1 PCM in the "Auto" mode. Again, as previously noted, the fact that the TV4 can open 7.1 PCM or 5.1 AC3 HDMI connections to the AVR does not necessarily mean that it will "populate" all available channels—especially if there is no source data channel to be mapped to a particular output channel.
I am using various Dolby .mkv files converted to .m4v then imported into iTunes. My setup is ATV4>HDMI>Denon AVR>HDMI>Panny Plasma. The denon can handle all the codec mentioned in this post on its own, if it were allowed to! But its not, since the ATV doesn't pass through a bitstream but decodes and then sends a decoded signal.
I am using the same basic workflow to create iTunes managed M4V files sourced from BD. What confuses me here is the format you contend your TV4 is sending to your AVR. The "Auto Surround" (AKA "Stream Direct" and "Pure Stream Direct") setting on my system always defaults to the Dolby Digital decoder on my system when I play an AC3 audio track on my TV4 set to the "Dolby Surround" option correctly displaying the originally encoded channels and always defaults to the 7.1 PCM decoder (with corresponding "empty" channels for unencoded original channels) when I play the AC3 track in the "Auto" mode. So just what is the format of this "decoded signal" being sent to your Denon that is neither PCM nor Dolby Digital content? Your own test results confirm my own findings with regard to TV4 output received/displayed by the AVR. The only difference I see is that you contend that a source AC3 audio track sent from the TV4 in the "Dolby Surround" mode is unconditionally re-encoded as DD5.1 content. This is not true on my system. A mono AC3 audio track is received and decoded as mono AC3 content, a stereo AC3 track is received and decoded as stereo content, and an AC3 DD5.1 track is received and decoded as DD5.1 content.
I am not sure whee the breakdown could be here other than ATV or the .mv4 file format? Obviously, there is no "7.1" signal being distributed to all 8 speakers.
In re-reading your post for the umpteenth time, I'm beginning to suspect the problem may be in your TV4 playback workflow. You indicate you used Handbrake to create M4V files for testing. This implies the your files contain both AAC and AC3 or AAC and PCM audio tracks. It is unclear, however, which track was being tested for TV4 output nor did you indicate the number of channels decoded (actively played) by your AVR for each test. Since the TV4 does not automatically default to the "Surround Sound" track as the previous TV2 and TV3 models do, a question arises as to whether or not you manually selected a correct track for TV4 tests, and if not, whether or not you modified the enabled/disabled and/or "fallback" track settings to force the TV4 to automatically default to the surround sound tracks rather than the AAC tracks during tests.
Not sure why everyone is over complicating this. If anyone here is into audio for hometheater it's very basic. The unit sending the codec or signal for surround, I think this case Apple TV 4, is not sending or the proper signals for the ab reciever to play back the 5.1 dd or dd+ or 7.1 dd+ etc. It's a joke really. I have a Yamaha avantage 3040 and apple is not sending any Dolby digital signals to my unit at all. I'm breaking the Apple cycle I'm in and buying an anroid box.
Discolap summed this up quite simply. The ATV4 is not sending the right signal, period.
Yes, Jon Walker, I understand that I would not expect a 7.1 signal to come from a 5.1 encode....my point was to just list for the sake of a test sample pool that no matter what I throw at it....the outcome is 5.1.
As far as handbrake and multiple tracks, I encoded with a single track each time...did not include the standard standby core like ACC or something....for example.
Between this thread and the thread Im involved with on AVSForum its quite clear that we have a problem here....we are all just explaining it based on our own equipment/history/verbiage.....
It's frustrating as it renders the Apple TV useless for a hometheater setup. I have a dedicated hometheater with 133 inch screen and I've also noticed video is much better on Apple tv3. The Apple tv4 doesn't play the video smoothly and looks artificial like in some scenes.
Problem is that an update fix could be months away addressing this specific issue. I've already returned my unit, I have now tried two Apple TV 4's and multiple receivers and surround sound is a no go.
I Bought this specifically for Dolby digital plus and 7.1 support. Way to go Apple, years late with this tech and it doesn't work. As well as clicking letter by letter to enter my password and email address to log into apps is outrageous. No remote app is a joke. $200 gets you junk in my opinion.
I guess if you have no surround speakers you won't notice but wait until the av hard cores chime in.
my point was to just list for the sake of a test sample pool that no matter what I throw at it....the outcome is 5.1.
Still confused by the point you are trying to make here. You refer to a channel limitation (5.1) but fail to mention the source compression format or the TV4 output mode—both of which determine the scope of channel limitations and totally ignores the fact that, in the case of AC3 at least, when the source compression format is the same as the target output mode, the TV4 passes through the original data rather than unconditionally forcing non-AC3 audio content to AC3 5.1 output with or without empty channels.
As far as handbrake and multiple tracks, I encoded with a single track each time...did not include the standard standby core like ACC or something....for example.
Then I do not understand why your AC3 results would be different from mine or why you would conclude the that the AC3 content was not being passed through "as is" by the TV4. (I assume you tested mono, stereo, and active PL II, as well as, AC3 5.1 content to compare output with input content.)
Between this thread and the thread Im involved with on AVSForum its quite clear that we have a problem here....we are all just explaining it based on our own equipment/history/verbiage.....
So what exactly is the problem here? I have more than 9,000 files encoded with AC3 secondary audio tracks which play correctly for me on the TV4 at this time. Is this "problem" limited to 7.1 PCM playback? Or are you saying you have an AC3 playback problem also? Frankly, I am more concerned about the way the TV4 now selects the default audio playback track, the loss of chapter marker access, and the scope of Siri searches in my iTunes library.
John walker, you know nothing about hometheater audio and codecs. You are talking jibberish, and if you want to talk straight audio head over to audioholics so I can write you a lesson.
this thread here is simply for everyone having problems with Apple TV 4 streaming dolby digital content. Dolby digital plus does NOT work on many people's av recievers.
this is the very basic of basics in audio, Apple TV 4 is having problems streaming Dolby content PERIOD. Go read Dr Floyd tooles book before talking about Bitstream and multi channel. This is a thread about a streaming box NOT working properly.
Okay. However, if this is true, then the TV3 and TV2 devices are also not passing through the AC3 bitstream since my TV2, TV3, and TV4 all play the same H.264/AC3 source content in the same way
Perhaps your AVR is misleading you, it seems some report/display the surround mode rather than the input signal just as my AVR foolishly reports MPCM as analog.
If I watch movie X with an AC3 soundtrack on my ATV3 my AVR (Denon 4311) reports Dolby Digital input (3/2/.1). If I watch the same movie on my ATV4 my AVR reports multi-channel PCM input (3/4/.1).
No matter what configuration or source I've used so far on the ATV4 I always get MPCM. The number of channels reported is a product of the ATV4 Audio mode and the source. The ATV4 does let me select between AAC and AC3 pass-through sound tracks but the result is the same MPCM.
I've speculated over on AVS that Apple has decided to go old-school and do the decoding in the ATV4 since they know they can send 8 PCM channels over HDMI while they can only speculate if your AVR can decode DD+. In this case they means the staff at Apple (the ATV4 itself should be able to tell if you can decode EAC3). The problem my speculation is the nature of EAC3 chips. If they are using EAC3 as a transport and decoding it in the box then they should be able to bitstream AC3 and EAC3.
It could be an oversight but it might also be a known (to Apple) issue in one of the target markets for the ATV4. Or it could be much simpler to set up the EAC3 core to always decode. Or they might have a special license with Dolby and they're not using an off-the-shelf decoder. Or lots of other things that Apple doesn't talk about.
