Apple TV 4thGen Audio split to Optical produces Audio drops after silence/ NO Audio on Menus on Soundbar

So here's my problem - I have a Klipsch R-20B SoundBar and whenever the source video, from ATV 4th Gen, has complete silence or right when I start a program, the audio coming through the soundbar doesn't kick in instantly. There is a slight lag of No Audio which causes the loss of half to a whole word of dialogue being missed or the first few notes of an opening song being missed. The source will remain the same but if there is complete dead silence between programs or clips, such as a transition from commercial to show, it will not play the audio as soon as it starts, it seems like it Cuts off the audio to the source when there is silence but then doesn't start up again when it should. This is incredibly annoying.

Most of my video these days is coming from an AppleTV 4th Gen, which goes HDMI to a Panasonic VIERA TC-P46ST30 and then Optical Audio out from the TV to the SoundBar. And it's not the TV, I have tried 2 HDMI switch/Audio extractors. I have tried and hooked up the Optical from the Extractor to the Soundbar with no change in results. I have played with all the settings on the HDMI switch and the AppleTV Audio settings and no change. I was told by Klipsch that if the Adapter could pass-through PCM the soundbar would be happy which both Switches were capable of doing. This problem persists not only when playing video clips but also on the Main ATV OS. When on the Home screen and flipping though apps, or lists of movie/songs, I don't get audio. The small 'boop' menu sounds are missing until I start to speed up and flip through lists or apps really fast and sustain it long enough for the audio to kick it, then I hear 'boops'. Once I slow down or stop the audio drops again.

I also used the HDMI switches to extract the audio to analog RCA L/R and went into the soundbar that way, the sound was perfect, no drops, it was constant audio as it should be in videos and on the menus. This is great but not ideal, I'd rather have the audio be sent in it's Dolby Digital format.

Lastly, I tested out the system with a 3rd Gen ATV connected directly to the Soundbar by Optical Out. The sound was perfect, I did not hear any drops after silence or at the beginning of a program/clip.

So that leads me to believe something is getting lost in translation going from the AppleTV to the TV or Extractor back to the SoundBar through Optical and thus isn't getting the sound as it should from the AppleTV or can't relay the proper signal to the soundbar.

I have scoured the internet for solutions and have not found anyone else that has had this issue. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!