ATV3, Sonos Playbar = distortion while streaming from iTunes

I've had this issue for quite some time - I had fixed it at one point but I'm not sure if I had hard reset my device or a software update undid my fix.

Here's the setup - Apple TV 3 hooked to my tv, Sonos Playbar connected to TV by optical.

When I watch movies or play music from my Home Shared iTunes library, the sound is horribly distorted and clipped. For example, I was just watching A New Hope and that entirely opening chase scene clipped during all of the low rumbles. Any explosions in the scene where the Storm Troopers first breach the rebel ship clip horribly. When listening to any music, the whole thing sounds very distorted.

This ONLY happens when streaming from iTunes. All streaming services, AirPlay videos from my iPad, or music played through the Sonos app sounds awesome. It is only the one instance in which the media sits on my desktop and is pulled from Home Sharing.

I've tried every option within the Audio & Video settings with regards to Dolby Digital (on, off, and auto) and have toggled the Audio between auto and 16 bit.

Has anyone else experienced something similar and been able to fix this?

waw74 said:

try turning down the volume on your TV.

a lot of times TV sets don't directly pass the digital signal, so it's possible it's taking the digital signal, converting it, then boosting the volume for whatever your TV is set out,

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Wouldn't this also impact the other Apple TV channels? Or the Playstation running through it? Or the cable box? The TV volume never changes. In fact, the TV volume is disabled.

For example, if I were to rent a movie from iTunes, it would sound fine. If I watch the same movie on Netflix, sound is fine. If I stream it from my iTunes library from the Computer section, it's terribly distorted at low frequencies (explosions, music, etc...)

This also happens with any music streaming from my iTunes library, but not when any other music app streams to the Sonos (using the same source file).