I purchased the new Apple TV only to find that they removed the optical audio plug in! 😟 This was how I connected my surround sound to the TV and since I couldn't do that, I ended up returning it. Hopefully Apple brings it back in the next version. It made it so easy to connect to surround sound. Disappointed.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.0.x)
You should send feedback to Apple http://www.apple.com/feedback/ This is a user to user community...
though you you could still install with other setups. For example, I have HDMI to TV and then optical audio out to the receiver from the TV. There are also HDMI/optical converters. This thread may provide some ideas Apple TV4 Lack Of Audio Output - Answers
FWIW since optical cannot support the latest audio formats for movies like 7.1, truehd, etc and the ATV is designed for tv/movies I doubt we see a return Of optical. But send feedback and with enough support we could see a comeback - who knows. But the loss of USB/optical drives on Macs never saw a return either...
I was in your shoes. I believe the optical output was dropped because it is being replaced by HDMI and does not support 7.1 sound. My home theatre however is 5.1 and lacks HDMI audio inputs so I ended up getting a HDMI optical splitter and could not be happier. The ATV4 is the best ATV ever and I have owned them all.
Here is my story Apple TV4 Lack Of Audio Output - Answers
You can get a J-Tech HDMI optical splitter for $19.99 on Amazon.
Hi
The Opitcal cable goes from your main tv to your soundbar
The sound from ATV 4 to soundbar goes to HDMI then to tv.
Mine works fine.
Cheers
Brian
Briansyddall wrote:
Hi
The Opitcal cable goes from your main tv to your soundbar
The sound from ATV 4 to soundbar goes to HDMI then to tv.
Mine works fine.
Cheers
Brian
Not all TV's that support HDMI in have an optical out, indeed in my experience most don't.
Thanks for your feedback. I'll see if I can find a fix. Unfortunately all my speakers are connected to my receiver then directly to the TV and my current Apple TV goes to the TV and directly to the receiver. So that is why it wouldn't work. I'm wondering if there is an adapter I could get or a HDMI splitter that may work? We shall see. I was so excited about the new Apple TV too.
yes, there are many ways to achieve the same end result but since we all have differently aged devices it may take some trial and error to find a solution that works best for you. take a look at the link I included, there are splitters, there are different wiring setups but it all depends on the equipment you have and how they can work together...
the the easiest way is if your TV has an optical audio out. Then you connect all your devices to the tv as normal then just have the single optical wire from tv to receiver and you only have to change input on receiver once - anything that comes through the TV audio would be sent to the receiver...
...and some that do won't relay protected content's audio...
Place the HDMI cable coming out of the ATV into the input of this splitter, Place 2nd HDMI cable to the output of the splitter and into the TV, place optical cable into the output of splitter and to input of receiver.
Done.
Optical audio plug-in in the new Apple TV
