I cannot get my Apple TV to output Dolby digital audio

When you say you know the HBO movie has Dolby, is that because it worked ok on previous ATV?

Streaming services won't always provide DD with a stream even if other devices do offer the stream with DD.

Many if not all itunes movie previews are stereo and don't give DD.

Don't suppose you have an iTunes purchased movie with DD to test - maybe consider a cheap rental to test it - don't have HBO app in UK so don't know if you may be able to choose stereo vs surround in that app, but iTunes movies will have a drop down to choose subtitles/audio track.

I don't know your Pioneer model, but it may have an input setting for HDMI audio - this might need to be configured.

Audio on AppleTV is a moving goalpost and things have changed a lot since ATV 4 came out, they are clearly taking it a bit more seriously but I suspect few of us really like the DD re-encoding which is used to merge in system sounds etc.

Have you tried the best quality available audio setting? It might just work if the Pioneer can understand linear PCM (assuming this is not just for iTunes purchases/rentals).

Surround sound settings on your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV (4th generation) - Apple Support

I have a somewhat similar issue. First, it’s imperative that you establish the the content was produced in Dolby Digital. Virtually ALL Netflix and Amazon Prime TV shows are fully supported in Dolby Digital. My situation is odd in that when I select “Dolby 5.1“ that’s precisely what I get...UNLESS of course I’m watching an older HBO show like Curb Your Enthusiasm that was created in 2.0 Stereo. On most good preamps or receivers you can choose to deploy a type of “simulated“ multi-channel but it sounds lousy.

On the other hand when I select “Best Available” I ALWAYS get PCM 5.1. That shouled NOT be the case but IS. I spent 1.5 hours with a Sr. Level Apple tech and he was confounded as well. Took copious notes and I sent him screenshots as my web browser ties to my Krell Foundation IP address and I get ALL relevant data on my iPad. I ha e a Roku device and both the Roku and the ATV are hooked up to the Krell via high quality HDMI cables. I stream Roku in higher quality Dolby Digital Plus which sounds better than Dolby 5.1. FAR better. Fuller and more natural. ATV is supposed to deliver this format but in my case can only output PCM 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 or Stereo.

Does anyone have a clue what the issue might be? I had the ATV 4th Gen and was likewise never presented with the option to enjoy Dolby Digital Plus. It’s not an issue with my preamp, quite sure, as this box will support ANYTHING I throw at it from an audio perspective - except Atmos. My OPPO Blu-Ray supports DTS Master Audio 5.1, True HD, Dolby Digital 5.1 and of course DTS Surround. It’s only the ATV that’s misbehaving. 😎

Thanks!

Me too. My setup is a little different than yours however. I have an older Sony receiver which doesn't do HDMI. I bought an AvAccess Audio Extractor (Amazon) which gives me a coaxial audio signal as it passes the HDMI through to my TV. I know this box works because I get 5.1 (DTS even) when I drive it with my BluRay player.

With the AppleTV-4K, I never get anything other than Linear PCM, even when I've forced the AppleTV to output Dolby Digital 5.1 (in Settings). Pretty much the only source I've tried is movies on Amazon Prime App. I guess this could be a bug in that new App. I don't have a streaming-netflix account so can't try that.

It sounds like this may be a bug in the AppleTV hardware of software. I hope they find a fix.

I just found an article (http://www.idownloadblog.com/2017/12/08/amazon-prime-video-no-dolby-vision-5-1-a udio/) which says that Amazon Prime Video app is not currently producing anything but stereo sound...so that may explain my problem. I'll have to try another App (or wait for Amazon to fix this).

The answers here are too complex.

Dolby Digital Plus - Set Apple TV Audio to highest quality possible (Apple TV will output audio as PCM 5.1)

IF AVR doesn’t support PCM over HDMI, then set Apple TV Audio to Dolby Digital

If AVR doesn’t support Dolby Digital, then set Apple TV Audio to stereo

11.2.1 seems to have broken this. iTunes movies that were decoding on my HDMI receiver in Dolby are now decoding as PCM 48 in stereo. Somebody needs to fix this then I'm setting my ATV to not auto update!

Go to settings, video and audio. Then select Surround Sound and make sure it’s set to Dolby Digital 5.1. Mine works on this. If it’s set to Best Quality or Stereo, you will will likely see PCM.

Best Quality - up to 7.1 PCM if the receiver handles this.

Stereo - PCM 2.0

I have an Apple TV 4K. I have the Apple TV connected to my TCL 55P605 television by HDMI. I then have an optical cable from the TV to my Yamaha receiver. When playing anything on Itunes and Vudu the sound is fine. When I play anything else like FXnow or ABC or any other Tv app I only get stereo sound. I have checked all of the Apple TV audio settings as well as the TV and nothing works. I have my direct tv receiver connected to the TV via HDMI and all of my TV channels out put in Dolby Digital. I hope there is a solution.

I was having same symptoms, but I've convinced myself that the source makes the difference between Dolby 5.1 and PCM. I bought a movie from iTunes as a test. It was Dunkirk, 4K HDR and Dolby sound. When ATV is set to Audio as Best Available, I only get PCM sound. But when I force it to Dolby 5.1 I get NICE surround sound on my system. Onkyo TX-NR636.

Netflix app on ATV gives me Dolby as well. NBCSN app (watching the Olympics) only gives me PCM. But of course if I watch the NBCSN channel from Spectrum on my TiVo i get Dolby. I've concluded the Apps suck for sound.

Cheers.

On an HDMI-connected receiver like that, PCM should give you surround-sound as well, although the receiver won’t indicate that it’s decoding anything because the decoding was already done in the ATV. If what you hear isn’t surround-sound with PCM (when that same source gives you surround when set to Dolby) then ATV isn’t working as designed.

AppleTV 4 decodes the DD bitstream rather than passing through to the AV receiver - the AppleTV sends multi-channel decoded PCM over HDMI not the actual bitstream:

Apple TV 4 Audio Pass-Through

I'm having the same issue. I get 5.1 audio just fine on my XBox One, but not ATV(4th Gen) after updating to 11.2.1. I'm sure Apple broke the audio stack. I'm on 'Best Quality' in Settings.

Do you have the Apple TV 4k?