Apple TV atmos sound drop outs

[vdtl]

Hello everyone. So i have an apple tv 4K 3rd gen and its connected directly to a samsung QLED TV. The TV is connected to a samsung soundbar through eARC. While watching atmos content on any app the sound drop outs for a second or so every 20-25 mins. This doesnt happen while watching stereo or 5.1 content.

If i connect the apple TV directly to the soundbar, these drop outs disappear but I lose out in a samsung feature called Q-symphony, where it uses both TV speakers and sounbar to create a wider soundstage. Anyone else experienced this issue and found a fix for this?

Thanks

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

1. Try a different HDMI cable(s) to rule out a bad cable. While not a perfect rule: bargain HDMI is more likely to have problems than more expensive HDMI. Be sure you have good cables when you are trying for MAX standards.
2. Be sure your Samsung TV OS is up to date with software update.
3. Check your audio settings in the Samsung. Anything special to set or try for full ATMOS?
4. Use a Blu Ray player to play an ATMOS disc in the "as is" setup through the same HDMI cable currently connected to the AppleTV to rule out an issue or setting in AppleTV (in other words, slug in the BD player in place of AppleTV so that everything else remains the same). Or maybe you can rent/stream something with ATMOS via one of the apps on the QLED itself (though the first option would be testing the HDMI cable too)? If a separate source of ATMOS also drops out at 20-25 minutes, you can rule out the AppleTV or AppleTV settings. If you can't replicate it with another ATMOS source, dig deeper into AppleTV settings.
5. Try each HDMI port on the Samsung to see if maybe the port you are using has an issue. You probably have upwards of 4 ports. Try up to all of them and maybe you'll get lucky on one.
6. Is AppleTV wired (ethernet) or Wifi? If Wifi, temporarily run an ethernet cable between router and AppleTV and watch a video that drops that way. No drops? Perhaps Wifi interruptions/interference is the cause? It doesn't matter how fast your broadband if you are leaning on wifi for that last little bit. There are MANY things that can cause streaming video to hiccup over wifi... even if you have Wifi 6e and a seemingly-great signal.
7. Dump using the TV speakers for anything and add 2 dedicated speakers if you want the wider soundstage. As is, you are basically asking for some processing inside the TV and you have no control over that processing. Cut it out of the equation by creating your own audio setup and using only the screen for the video portion.
8. Add a good AV receiver and let it own your signal processing. Video only out to TV. Audio only out to soundbar and (I strongly suggest) dedicated speakers. Over time, replace soundbar with a dedicated center channel, then maybe add some rear surrounds and a good sub. This will sound much better than any Soundbar... especially since you care about wider soundstage. You can set left & right speakers to the width of your room if you want widest stage.

Once someone wants more than a soundbar or stereo-only, #8 is the best way to go IMO. I have a QLED and have #8 set up with great speakers for 5.1 Dolby Digital. It is noticeably superior audio for home theater. Go for it. Great sound makes a big difference in the experience. And a good system via #8 will likely last for upwards of 20+ years.

As is, you've laid out above average money for the TV (picture) and choice of streaming box. Why not do the same with the audio... the part that will likely outlast the TV and AppleTV by maybe 2 or more generations? Delight your ears too.

 

[mpetrides]

1. Try a different HDMI cable(s) to rule out a bad cable. While not a perfect rule: bargain HDMI is more likely to have problems than more expensive HDMI. Be sure you have good cables when you are trying for MAX standards.
2. Be sure your Samsung TV OS is up to date with software update.
3. Check your audio settings in the Samsung. Anything special to set or try for full ATMOS?
4. Use a Blu Ray player to play an ATMOS disc in the "as is" setup through the same HDMI cable currently connected to the AppleTV to rule out an issue or setting in AppleTV (in other words, slug in the BD player in place of AppleTV so that everything else remains the same). Or maybe you can rent/stream something with ATMOS via one of the apps on the QLED itself (though the first option would be testing the HDMI cable too)? If a separate source of ATMOS also drops out at 20-25 minutes, you can rule out the AppleTV or AppleTV settings. If you can't replicate it with another ATMOS source, dig deeper into AppleTV settings.
5. Try each HDMI port on the Samsung to see if maybe the port you are using has an issue. You probably have upwards of 4 ports. Try up to all of them and maybe you'll get lucky on one.
6. Is AppleTV wired (ethernet) or Wifi? If Wifi, temporarily run an ethernet cable between router and AppleTV and watch a video that drops that way. No drops? Perhaps Wifi interruptions/interference is the cause? It doesn't matter how fast your broadband if you are leaning on wifi for that last little bit. There are MANY things that can cause streaming video to hiccup over wifi... even if you have Wifi 6e and a seemingly-great signal.
7. Dump using the TV speakers for anything and add 2 dedicated speakers if you want the wider soundstage. As is, you are basically asking for some processing inside the TV and you have no control over that processing. Cut it out of the equation by creating your own audio setup and using only the screen for the video portion.
8. Add a good AV receiver and let it own your signal processing. Video only out to TV. Audio only out to soundbar and (I strongly suggest) dedicated speakers. Over time, replace soundbar with a dedicated center channel, then maybe add some rear surrounds and a good sub. This will sound much better than any Soundbar... especially since you care about wider soundstage. You can set left & right speakers to the width of your room if you want widest stage.

Once someone wants more than a soundbar or stereo-only, #8 is the best way to go IMO. I have a QLED and have #8 set up with great speakers for 5.1 Dolby Digital. It is noticeably superior audio for home theater. Go for it. Great sound makes a big difference in the experience. And a good system via #8 will likely last for upwards of 20+ years.

As is, you've laid out above average money for the TV (picture) and choice of streaming box. Why not do the same with the audio... the part that will likely outlast the TV and AppleTV by maybe 2 or more generations? Delight your ears too.

While I completely agree with #8 there are circumstances in which it won't work. My TV sits next to the fireplace on one side and the door to the outside on the other. This makes using wired speakers highly infeasible. The best I have been able to come up with thus far is using OG HomePods as default audio from the AppleTV 4k v2.

The biggest problem is that the HomePods disconnect at random, frequently highly inconvenient times, sometimes in the middle of a movie or show and often requiring restarting both the ATV and the HomePods. A secondary problem is significant lag speech on the screen and what's coming from the HomePods when watching streaming TV--but this may well be a function of the TV streaming app from my ISP.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, while I can appreciate HPs along with all other Apple people, I really don't see them as ideal as television speakers. For those happy with stereo and willing to deal with some of the experiences you shared, OK. But if there is any way to achieve #8, I strongly encourage that option. Some ideas about that below.

For #8 (AV receiver potentially becoming a 5.1 setup) here's a few "where there's a will" ideas:

• Reposition the television? Maybe rotate the furniture setup to put that door beside or behind some of your seating? If the fireplace is angled corner, hang the TV over the fireplace and set up speakers accordingly? Or consider a different room as your home theater, better set up for putting audio where you want it. As is, it sounds like you have a lot of "purposes" jammed into a single wall (fireplace, main television, door). Is there no other wall that might be a better home for a TV with an added eye towards scratching this "better sound" itch? If it doesn't HAVE to be in that one spot, move it to a better spot.
• Have a basement or attic? If so, work an option to get your speaker wiring into those non-living spaces, get them where they need to go and then fish them up/down walls to where you would like to place speakers. Or, if attic, consider:
  • downward firing ceiling speakers for stereo and surround left & right with a center speaker going in place of your soundbar. In the ceiling, that would get you up to room wide separation. And an in-ceiling speaker could go right over that door without blocking the door. This is not ideal but good ones can sound great and may be a good option for your difficult room challenges.
  • dropping the speakers down a bit from the attic but hanging them from the ceiling or on the left & right walls, where you can then angle them towards your exiting seating area. You'll have to leave room for that door to open & close but that's not a big deal. Maybe they could be partially recessed in the left & right walls but still able to be somewhat angled to your own taste?
• If no basement or attic available, would it work to use wire hiding-things like hollow baseboards and door trim, which exist especially for this kind of purpose? From receiver positioned around the TV area, get wires into hollow trim and then run it to where they need to go (including around that door). This makes the wires invisible while keeping them out of trying to fish them through walls, attic or basement spaces. This is a fairly inexpensive solution that doesn't involve challenging work in walls and crawl spaces, etc.
• (Least desirable but might work): run weatherproof wiring directly OUTSIDE and bring them back in where you want your speakers. This gets into other issues but can work and keep the wires invisible on the inside. Wires could even go through the wall and be buried in PVC to the point where you might bring them back up a wall(s) and into where you want a speaker. This would be last resort for me but it could work. If you have any desire for some music outside too, get a receiver with "zone 2" and run some extra wire through the same hole in preparation. I have some outside deck speakers set up as Zone 2 and enjoy them often when outside.
• Look into wired left + center + right FRONT speakers (and use one of the suggestions above for the wiring for those 3 speakers) then wirelessly send the sub channel to a sub that is designed to also play the surround speakers. There are many such systems available that can work very well for situations where the above options can get the fronts wired but no good way to get wire back to the rear speakers and sub. These can work well for such situations.

For a potentially simpler option, replace the soundbar with a WIDE one or one with detachable left & right speakers to spread them out as wide as possible for your space and perhaps point them more left & right to somewhat direct their sound out a bit wider than their physical reach. I'm no soundbar fan but I do have a Sonos Arc, which is a pretty wide soundbar with side-firing left & right speakers. I use it like the primary use of HPs- for music in a spare room. I'm pleasantly surprised with the quality of the sound and the separation from a bar that is only the width of a good-sized television.

You might seek out a much wider bar, maybe side-firing too and/or one with detachable speakers on the ends that can be spread out as wide as your space will allow. Maybe move the existing into a spare room to enjoy as a source of music for that room (again, like one might use a HP)?

If I had any way to do #8, that's the way I would go. But those 2 latter options might work for you too and both are simpler than a full #8 option.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[musicman0725]

Hello everyone. So i have an apple tv 4K 3rd gen and its connected directly to a samsung QLED TV. The TV is connected to a samsung soundbar through eARC. While watching atmos content on any app the sound drop outs for a second or so every 20-25 mins. This doesnt happen while watching stereo or 5.1 content.

If i connect the apple TV directly to the soundbar, these drop outs disappear but I lose out in a samsung feature called Q-symphony, where it uses both TV speakers and sounbar to create a wider soundstage. Anyone else experienced this issue and found a fix for this?

Thanks

This is happening to me as well with my Samsung Q80T using eARC and a 3rd gen ATV4K with a Denon X4500H receiver. I never had audio dropouts with my 1st and 2nd gen ATV4Ks connected directly to my receiver, however, in order to get HDR10+ (which my receiver doesn't support), I need to connect directly to my TV. Before I got the 3rd gen, I connected my 2nd gen ATV4K directly to my TV and that is when I first noticed the Atmos audio drops, however, I surely thought this was something that would be fixed. I've tried different HDMI cables (now using only HDMI 2.1 certified cables) and although you can improve the issue with better cables (i.e. audio comes back faster), the dropouts are still noticeable.

Another huge clue that this is a software glitch is that the dropouts are not random. Watching the new Super Mario Bros movie (which I purchased on iTunes), the dropouts occur exactly every 18 minutes. It only happens with Dolby Atmos content on the ATV4K (I've noticed it on Netflix, Disney+ and the ATV app). I have not noticed it with any other audio source (PS5, FireTv 4K Max, or internal Samsung TV apps) which makes me think it is specific to something with the ATV4K and eARC. I've also seen the issue reported with other TV manufacturers so I don't think it is isolated to just Samsung. I did notice that I can still get Atmos audio from my ATV4K if I disable eARC on the TV, however, I haven't confirmed whether that will workaround the issue or not.

EDIT: Confirmed this issue no longer happens with my 2021 ATV4K (2nd gen) by first attempting to reproduce on a similar setup in a different room (2020 QLED w/ eARC and Samsung sound bar) and then swapping the devices between rooms. This appears to now be isolated to the 2022 ATV4K (3rd gen).