Apple TV Audio Randomly Dropping Out...

Have not had this happen, sorry. Have you tried unplugging the ATV for 10 seconds and then plugging it back in order to restart and clear all caches?

Try adding an optical cable in addition to the HDMI cable if your TV will support both connections simultaneously.

I had an HDMI handshake issue running my devices via HDMI through my receiver. When pausing/FF/rewinding either my Apple TV or DVR I would sometimes lose audio (~25% of the time).

By adding an optical cable from both the Apple TV and DVR to the receiver it has never happened again. But the catch is that your TV (in my case my AV receiver) has to allow for video via HDMI and audio via optical.

The other catch is for people using audio greater than Dolby Digital, as the optical cables don't carry advanced audio types. That was not relevant to me because I do not use a. Bluray player.

Note: In my case I am pretty sure it is a firmware issue on my AVR, but I don't have any way to update the firmware as it is an older AVR.

i1280 said:

Actually have figured it out that it is the actual TV HDMI Input that is the problem...something with the TV is dropping out.

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That was my same problem (although not with the TV but with my receiver). The HDMI "handshaking" between devices is often problematic. And that's why I suggested adding the optical cable to carry the sound. I still have yet to have 1 single audio dropout since I added the optical cable (I used to have it happen daily).

I've had similar issues with both of my ATV3's. You'll hear the audio "click" or "chirp" as you navigate through the menus, etc. but when you start playing a show there is no audio. Restarting the ATV's works every time but it's a hassle. Both of these are on two completely different systems. Different manufacturers for the receivers as well as video displays (1 is a TV, 1 is a projector).

audio dropping out on apple tv streaming netflix

I had a problem with audio dropping out when streaming from netflix on my apple tv3. I also had problems with the tv screen going black for a few seconds.I found the problem was the apple tv setting for audio was set to dolby.changed this to mono .The screen res was set to auto ,changed this to 720p as per tv i was using.After making these changes no more problems.Hope this info helps.

Hello Everyone,
I'm not an Apple TV user, but I've stumbled on this thread after searching for a solution for my Macbook Pro (late 2013) audio drops during video playback.
I'd like to add an important fact about the described bug. This is not just happening with Apple TV.
For a long time, I am seeing audio drops problems while streaming video using Plex to my Google TV. At first I thought this was a Wifi problem (since Apple acknowledged wifi problems fixed in the recent Yosemite updates), nevertheless, the problem still happens.
Then I thought it was a problem with my Google TV's optical out, so I switched to audio through its HDMI out. But the problem stayed.
Today, this bugged me so much while watching a film, I connected my computer to the TV directly with an HDMI cable (instead of streaming through the Google TV), in hope this will solve the problem. However, even with the cable running directly from the computer, and checking both Plex and VLC, the audio still dropped for a few seconds every once and awhile while video kept playing.
In any case, I'm not sure what the cause of the problem is, but it seems it is not wifi related. Wish I knew more.
Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Turning off Dolby in the audio section on Settings of my AppleTV solved the sound drop-outs. Too easy!

i1280 said:

Has anyone else experienced this or is it normal? Thanks...

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This issue started for me a few months back and i was finally frustrated enough to try a few things. Last night I did some troubleshooting, and it appears that the problem only occurs when i use HDMI-1 input on my Samsung TV. HDMI-2 input works fine. So I think it is likely that this type of problem is an HDMI interface hardware problem. I also notice that when the audio cuts out, there is a video "flicker". If I immediately pause the playback, and restart after 5 seconds, the audio resumes.

Par4 said:

Turning off Dolby in the audio section on Settings of my AppleTV solved the sound drop-outs. Too easy!

Click to expand...

[doublepost=1517639592][/doublepost]Turning off dolby vision worked/minimized, But what if i want dolby vision....
Fyi, running thru denon 4300 on an LG OLEDB7. I know running straight to TV works better with other issues as well (white/static screen happened a lot on start up too). Wondering if its issues running with LG or Denon

I've had the same Audio loss problems for ages (it seems to differ for different videos ... thought for ages that it was a network communication problem and / or a codec / auto-conversion problem. But tonight am trying swapping the HDMI lead for one of a (supposed) higher quality - so far, it's worse... now changed HDMI input port on the TV - 7 minutes in and the sound has gone again.
[doublepost=1551579851][/doublepost]Changed to 4K HDR... same Audio Loss
[doublepost=1551580752][/doublepost]Changed to 4K SDR... 10 mins in... no Dropped Audio... I know very little about this tech, but my (un-informed) thoughts are these: Could it be due to data transmission rate ? Is the HDMI port / cable struggling to transfer data at the required speed ? Is it the video format (mkv) that's causing problems ? Is it PLEX that's having the problem ? (Amazon Prime doesn't have the same Audio issues). Now 13 mins in on 4K SDR settings and the audio has failed. Like all other failures a pause and restart brings back the audio.

Anyone have any other ideas ?
[doublepost=1551581348][/doublepost]1080P SDR also has the same audio problems
[doublepost=1551581782][/doublepost]Forgot to add...
Apple TV 4K - tvOS 12.1.2 - 65" LG 65SJ81
[doublepost=1551581916][/doublepost]...and Apple TV to PLEX Server is Ethernet not wifi

Check your Plex server. It seems it has to do heavy transcoding and your server may not be keeping up.
What is your mkv file?
Formats, Bitrates etc?

Plex Server is running on a Mac Mini, details - along with mkv specs - are below





Plex is running on an Apple TV 4K over ethernet

I was more thinking about the server Now Playing status window:

But from the media info, I'd say the file is having fully compatible codecs and nowhere near high bitrate.
Are you sure the encode itself plays back OK? There are known problems with AAC-HE encoder on Windows platform.
As a test, you can simply take Subler and re-wrap this into m4v file (no transcoding required) and add to iTunes library. Does it play back then?

@priitv8 - Haven't had a chance to try your suggestion yet but just wanted to say thank you for your interest and help.
[doublepost=1551658167][/doublepost]I'm on Mac platform not Windows btw

ringoroo said:

I'm on Mac platform not Windows btw

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This GPAC-DEC-rev part made me confused. I wonder what tool was used to encode those files? Does it play back normally on the iTunes computer itself (Mac mini)?

I've recently had the same thing happen on a brand new ATV 4K. Didn't seem to matter what app (Hulu, NBCSports, iTunes, Infuse.)

The problem ultimately was a crummy HDMI cable. Even though the one I had passed the tests, it was 'high speed' but not 'high quality'.

My first indication was when I switched it from chroma 4:2:2 to 4:2:0 it worked fine, no audio dropouts.

But since I'm pedantic and want all my features to work, I bought a new HDMI cable that cost more than seven bucks and it's been tip top ever since.

So, check your cable, and/or downgrade to 4:2:0 chroma on the ATV and see what happens...

It seems like this thread has been going for a while. Nothing particularly definitive, except that the problem exists.

I have an older (>8 years old) Panasonic LCD TV, feeding a 10 or more year old Sony 5.1 amplifier through TosLink. The audio is fine from the Dish set-top and a Sony Blu-Ray. I noticed the cutting out described (as second or two every 20 or more minutes) when playing Amazon Prime videos through a Microsoft tablet, through a mini-DP adapted to HDMI. The problem went away when I used my partner's MacBook Air with the same adapter. Likewise my own MacBook through the Mini DP or HDMI direct, no problem.

I am disappointed now that I have put in an AppleTV to see the problem return. An un repeatable audio drop of 1 or 2 seconds every 20 or so minutes.

I am planning to buy a 4x1 HDMI switcher with a TosLink out from Monoprice and to skip the TV for audio entirely. Will post the result.

Does anyone know what kind of splitter I could use from Apple TV 4K to LG C8 tv and Sonos Arc soundbar? And wouldn't this break DRM protection?

Was interested in asking about @KMcCMedia's splitter, but apparently he's gone missing. The dropouts have returned after being gone for almost a year.