PSA: For those of you having volume and dialogue clarity issues with the Apple TV and the homepods...

[B/D]

Disable Dolby Atmos in the Apple TV audio settings. Dont enable "change format", either to 5.1 or stereo (which should be set to "No"), because that will deteriorate audio quality by reencoding things unnecessarily. Just disable Atmos in the tab below.

You still will get surround sound (dolby 5.1 and 7.1), just not the Atmos metadata.

And that´s it. Boom. Much louder and clearer, and dialogue is so crisp now.

I can´t believe it. Months with this issue. Thank you, u/Zaphod1620 (fellow redditor).

 

[ScrumpyDaniel]

Interesting, I'll try this when i'm home from work. Usually the audio settings for me are greyed out when my HomePods are set as the default output but i'll check later.

 

[B/D]

Interesting, I'll try this when i'm home from work. Usually the audio settings for me are greyed out when my HomePods are set as the default output but i'll check later.

Yeah, you need to revert back to your tv internal speakers, make the changes, and then switch back to the homepods.

 

[Mindnoise]

Thanks for this. Unfortunately I see no selections to disable Dolby Atmos. I don’t see an option to do what this member is suggesting: “And FYI you don´t need to disable change format to disable Atmos (so you dont have to deteriorate audio quality unnecessarily). You just have to go to the audio settings on the apple tv, and below "change format", which is set to No, and below is dolby Atmos. Just turn that off and you re set.”

I’m running the AppleTV through an AV receiver and have to set an increase of 4.5db to get the unit to the same sound level as other sources.

 

[B/D]

Thanks for this. Unfortunately I see no selections to disable Dolby Atmos. I don’t see an option to do what this member is suggesting: “And FYI you don´t need to disable change format to disable Atmos (so you dont have to deteriorate audio quality unnecessarily). You just have to go to the audio settings on the apple tv, and below "change format", which is set to No, and below is dolby Atmos. Just turn that off and you re set.”

I’m running the AppleTV through an AV receiver and have to set an increase of 4.5db to get the unit to the same sound level as other sources.

I see.

I can turn off Dolby Atmos without enabling "change format". Maybe its because my internal tv speakers support Atmos, so I can turn it off.

 

[Mindnoise]

Thanks!

Confirmed “Atmospheric Audio” doesn’t show up for me. I guess because my AV receiver doesn’t do Atmos.

 

[B/D]

Thanks!

Confirmed “Atmospheric Audio” doesn’t show up for me. I guess because my AV receiver doesn’t do Atmos.

Ah yes, of course. But then, this intrigues me. Are you saying that you suffer for low volume in Apple TV apps even without Atmos?.

 

[Mindnoise]

YES! I’ve always suffered from low volumes and lack of dynamics with the Apple TV.

My old ATV 3rd gen, I set my Yamaha AV receiver to +2 db to match volumes to other sources. The brand new ATV 4k, with the same receiver I had to set +4.5 db to match volumes. I have no idea what they are doing with these outputs but they should at least match industry standards, right?!

Playing a movie from a blu-ray player is such a different audio experience. I understand that streaming is all compressed data and such but at least match volume levels. Just give us the basics.

 

[priitv8]

Are you sure you have not accidentally turned on the Reduce Loud Sounds compression?

 

[B/D]

Are you sure you have not accidentally turned on the Reduce Loud Sounds compression?

Yes, completely sure.

 

[Mindnoise]

Thanks.
If only it was that simple to solve, but I’ve never ever enabled “Reduce Loud Sounds” or any sort of “Night Mode” on the ATV or AV receiver.