For me, the change came immediately with 9.1, as I wrote earlier:
ATV4 Surround Sound Issues
Nevertheless, now the aTV properly selects the surround channel, if one is available.
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ATV4 Surround Sound Issues
- Thread starter iphonetravel
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ATV4 Surround Sound Issues
Nevertheless, now the aTV properly selects the surround channel, if one is available.
When you are at home play a video from your home share and see if you can choose between the stereo and surround tracks as on 9.1 it only offers me a single track, the stereo one. On 9.0.1 it offers a choice of both.
The AC-3 track may show up as a second language track. Regardless, you may need to "re-mux" your video file for "normal" ATV 4 compatibility/usage, as Apple changed the way Apple TV 4 reads the files. Subler can handle this. (And I read not too long ago that Handbrake is working on a fix as well.)
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For me this single track always plays the surround track, if there is one in the file. And my sound output is set to Auto. And my MP4 is muxed as per iTunes compliance requirements: stereo AAC track as default and AC3 surround as inactive secondary track. I do not understand what makes you say this single track in the list is the stereo one.
Although Apple has yet to post any official documentation, iTunes compliance requirements have been updated. This is why there is so much confusion everywhere regarding 5.1 behavior for pre-existing tracks. There are some workarounds floating around, but the easiest way to fix for now is to re-mux the files in Subler...
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Ok, what do you need to do in subler and why do my purchased movies and Netflix play in stereo in 9.1 But in DD in 9.0.1?
I mentioned Subler because, having mentioned Home Share, I thought you were talking about your own disc rips (which a lot of people have had problems with). Not sure why purchased movies or Netflix won't play in surround. A few things to try:
- Double-check that Surround is set to "Auto" or "Surround" in ATV4 and not set to "Stereo"? (you never know...)
- Check your receiver settings. One method I used for trouble-shooting the Apple TV 4 in early beta stages was to keep the Apple TV 3 (confirmed with surround) next to it and simply hot-swap the HDMI cable.
- Restart the Apple TV? (not to be confused with reset)
- I know there is a bug currently where some apps will not play surround properly if you have changed the Surround setting (ie. from "Auto" to "Surround" for example). Try quitting and restarting the app: Go back to home screen, double-tap the Home button until a horizontal row of running apps appears, and then swipe up on the app in question (just like in iOS 9)
That's about all I can think of right now. Hope it helps!
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Could you disclose the specifics of the change? Can I download them from a free developer's account? How exactly am I supposed to go about remuxing in Subler? Just let Subler save the file again, after some change?
PS Just to be clear - I do not experience any problems with my own M4V files so far. aTV correctly selects the surround track, if one's available. If not, or if playing back stereo music, it correctly plays back a 2-channel stereo. Prior to 9.1 it used to play my stereo tracks in DD5.1 formatting as well, although the C, LFE, SR and SL channels were just silent.
No, the publishing guidelines are not available, and were relayed to me via email. However, I should clarify that they have not changed so much as have been "updated" so that the audio files; 1. be in the same alternate group and 2. have a track reference of type 'fall' from the AC3 track to the AAC track.
Maybe your home-brewed tracks already meet the requirements and is why they work properly? At any rate, Subler has been updated to more closely follow the guidelines for setting up the Dolby Digital tracks for the new Apple TV.
Yeah, that was probably a bug that has since been fixed. Curious though, do you recall if the rear speakers contained duplicate info as the front speakers, or was the (phantom) center image audio phased/cancelled out for the rears?
I dont have mac, which alernaive to use with pc?
i use plex app, i have my at4 connected to tv by hdmi and then from tv optical to hometheater, i have set up dolby in atv4 and get 5.1 sound but with lip sync issues and horrible sound compared to atv3.
Will re muxing resolve this issue?
thanks
No, unfortunately remuxing will not solve these particular issues. I reported the lip sync issue as a bug early on and Apple's response was that this particular set-up (AVT4 -> TV -> AVR via optical) was not recommended. Apparently, the ATV4 needs to be connected to the AVR via HDMI for properly synced Dolby surround audio.
Doesn't sound like they're going to really look into the sync issue unless enough people complain... I have seen other threads from people with similar problems who resolve the issue with a reboot or similar action. So maybe there's hope. I guess it depends on the individual TV/AVR set-up?As far as sound quality, check to make sure "Reduce Loud Sounds" is off in the Audio Settings menu. (That setting will kill dynamic response.) There are some performance issues regarding reduced sound levels and unwanted compression for Dolby audio tracks, even when "Reduce Loud Sounds" is off, but these issues are relatively minor and shouldn't make things sound "horrible", as you say...
I'm out for the holidays. Cheers, everyone!
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Strangely enough - that's exactly my setup! And I experience no lip-sync issues. Might be my telly (Sony Bravia) is doing it's part in between. Actually I know it does because bitrate is different from when connecting my aTV directly to AVR. It also has configurable audio delay in menu.I reported the lip sync issue as a bug early on and Apple's response was that this particular set-up (AVT4 -> TV -> AVR via optical) was not recommended. Apparently, the ATV4 needs to be connected to the AVR via HDMI for properly synced Dolby surround audio.
Merry Christmas!
No, unfortunately remuxing will not solve these particular issues. I reported the lip sync issue as a bug early on and Apple's response was that this particular set-up (AVT4 -> TV -> AVR via optical) was not recommended. Apparently, the ATV4 needs to be connected to the AVR via HDMI for properly synced Dolby surround audio.
As far as sound quality, check to make sure "Reduce Loud Sounds" is off in the Audio Settings menu. (That setting will kill dynamic response.) There are some performance issues regarding reduced sound levels and unwanted compression for Dolby audio tracks, even when "Reduce Loud Sounds" is off, but these issues are relatively minor and shouldn't make things sound "horrible", as you say...
I'm out for the holidays. Cheers, everyone!
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Thanks Jeff for your quick reply. So im ****ed up with my setup ? Connecting directly to home theater by hdmi resolves this? What about no optical cable is there any difference?
My home theater does not support hdmi in only optical. My only solution is to by a new home theater? I read there are boxes for 30 dolars that has hdmi in and hdmi out and spdif will this be the same comparibg to buying new gear? Thanks
No more than these boxes cost, it's worth a try. This is the box I'm using. No lip-sync issues here.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIQER0E?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIQER0E?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Just want to chime in with my experience.
Before my two ATV4's I had an ATV3 and an ATV2 both set to Dolby Surround in settings with optical out for audio and HDMI for the video from the ATV to their respective receivers. I got proper 5.1.
When I got my ATV4's I was initially upset that the optical out was removed, for no perceivable reason, I might add, so now am doing HDMI for both audio and video...
Anyway, I have found that I was only getting a stereo signal even though I had set the audio to Dolby Surround. My receivers were also not reporting PCM stereo either. Both would simply display Decoder Off.
My solution was simple though, I changed the audio setting to Auto, and then played up a film. The receiver came to life and switched to PCM. I then went back into setting and changed the audio back to Dolby Surround. Went and played the same film, and boom - full glorious 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, receiver reporting properly DDII Movie decode as I had it set.
It seems like it was just stuck somehow. I tried the same on the other one and got the same result. I actually had to play media with the Auto setting on first and then go back and change to Dolby Surround again in order for it to "awaken."
Hope this helps people out there pulling their hair out!
- Edit!
Have realised that it appears this is a recurring issue - I had to repeat these steps again today to get surround sound working...it is extremely irritating!!!
Before my two ATV4's I had an ATV3 and an ATV2 both set to Dolby Surround in settings with optical out for audio and HDMI for the video from the ATV to their respective receivers. I got proper 5.1.
When I got my ATV4's I was initially upset that the optical out was removed, for no perceivable reason, I might add, so now am doing HDMI for both audio and video...
Anyway, I have found that I was only getting a stereo signal even though I had set the audio to Dolby Surround. My receivers were also not reporting PCM stereo either. Both would simply display Decoder Off.
My solution was simple though, I changed the audio setting to Auto, and then played up a film. The receiver came to life and switched to PCM. I then went back into setting and changed the audio back to Dolby Surround. Went and played the same film, and boom - full glorious 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, receiver reporting properly DDII Movie decode as I had it set.
It seems like it was just stuck somehow. I tried the same on the other one and got the same result. I actually had to play media with the Auto setting on first and then go back and change to Dolby Surround again in order for it to "awaken."
Hope this helps people out there pulling their hair out!
- Edit!
Have realised that it appears this is a recurring issue - I had to repeat these steps again today to get surround sound working...it is extremely irritating!!!
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The problem now for you is when playing stereo audio, it will also report as dolby digital with same sound in all 5 speakers.
The thread is getting a little confusing, I'm not clear what the status quo is now. I have a limited range of test cases at my disposal, but for my setup (ATV4 9.1 > Sony AVR > TV as monitor only, all via HDMI) I find that when I set the Surround Sound setting to Dolby Surround I'm getting (as reported by the AVR):
There appears to be a Plex specific issue that when jumping out of a DD 5.1 movie to the home screen (which switches audio to PCM 2.0) and then resuming from the home screen the sound is stuck at PCM 2.0. To resume in DD 5.1 I have to go into Plex, to the the movie and press Resume. This is not an issue with the Movies app, it always resumes with the correct audio.
- DD 5.1 when I play iTunes movies
- DD 5.1 when I play movies with AC3 5.1 track from my NAS through Plex (even when a Stereo track happens to be selected in Plex)
- DD 5.1 when I play movies with AAC 5.1 track from my NAS through Plex
- PCM 2.0 48kHz when I play movies with Stereo only tracks from my NAS through Plex
- DD 5.1 when I play movies with DTS 5.1 track from my NAS through Plex
- PCM 2.0 48kHz when I play music (both Apple Music and from my own iCloud Music library)
There appears to be a Plex specific issue that when jumping out of a DD 5.1 movie to the home screen (which switches audio to PCM 2.0) and then resuming from the home screen the sound is stuck at PCM 2.0. To resume in DD 5.1 I have to go into Plex, to the the movie and press Resume. This is not an issue with the Movies app, it always resumes with the correct audio.
Correct it will temporarily work and the stupid ATV4 will revert again. Apple dropped the ball with ATV 4 handling this.
Sorry to revive an old thread, but: I am having trouble getting any surround sound from the HBOGO app in my AppleTV 4. Other apps (Netflix, Movies) correctly send the surround signal to the receiver (a Denon S720W) but the HBOGO always sends stereo.
I have already changed from Auto to Dolby Digital and it's exactly the same. I have restarted the AppleTV, reinstalled the HBOGO app, tried a couple of different contents (Game of Thrones for sure it's 5.1 at least, isn't?) but nothing, just stereo.
I have the AppleTV connected to the AVR via HDMI, then to the Samsung TV over the Monitor out, HDMI too. As I said, other apps do output audio correctly in surround, it's just this one that does not.
Anyone experiencing something similar?
I have already changed from Auto to Dolby Digital and it's exactly the same. I have restarted the AppleTV, reinstalled the HBOGO app, tried a couple of different contents (Game of Thrones for sure it's 5.1 at least, isn't?) but nothing, just stereo.
I have the AppleTV connected to the AVR via HDMI, then to the Samsung TV over the Monitor out, HDMI too. As I said, other apps do output audio correctly in surround, it's just this one that does not.
Anyone experiencing something similar?
You seem to have covered your bases in terms of trouble-shooting. And since the other apps send surround fine, it really sounds like there's a software issue with the HBOGO app and the ATV 4. Not much more you can do except send an email to HBOGO customer support and wait for an app update.
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