I know I spent several days with apple support. I got to a point i sent one unit back to Amazon. Then bought another from Apple to see if it was the unit. Finally I just download beta16 and all works fine. Their tech support know nothing and I even sent them the link to this site. Very frustrating. I bought an Roku 4K ultra which does very well, but music and photos are subpar on roku, but all the apps work. So I am using both. I have a high end 5.2.4 system and Apple even said it was my unit was the problem NOT. So buyer beware.
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Some Apple TV Users Complain of Dolby Atmos Audio Issues
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There's a thread on Apple's forums with 41 pages. Apple knows for sure.
Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new App… - Apple Community
There's a thread on Apple's forums with 41 pages. Apple knows for sure.
Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new App… - Apple Community
discussions.apple.com
More people reporting in that thread (with different Atmos capable audio hardware, which is important) that it is fixed with tvOS 16. Great news.
Watched an entire movie on Netflix in 4k Dolby Atmos using Beta 16.0. and no stuttering. There are some issues with Netflix app I had to un/reinstall it to get it to work. So if you are having Netflix issues, maybe switch to beta.
I've been watching a lot more Netflix Atmos content with beta v16 and audio drops. Super happy that Apple finally fixed this.
I've had some weird issues like apps not opening or videos not starting in some apps, but I guess it's some weird thing of the beta. Only happened a couple of times though and it was easily fixed with a quick reboot.
I ended up returning my new Nvidia Shield Pro to Amazon. In part because of Atmos finally being fixed on the ATV but also because of some weird stuttering issues with Netflix. The Nvidia cannot do frame rate matching but even when setting the output to be 23.97 fps manually there were some random frame drops which were very distracting.
I've had some weird issues like apps not opening or videos not starting in some apps, but I guess it's some weird thing of the beta. Only happened a couple of times though and it was easily fixed with a quick reboot.
I ended up returning my new Nvidia Shield Pro to Amazon. In part because of Atmos finally being fixed on the ATV but also because of some weird stuttering issues with Netflix. The Nvidia cannot do frame rate matching but even when setting the output to be 23.97 fps manually there were some random frame drops which were very distracting.
@pier
Because it can match 23,97 content, but not integer 24p (24,000), so there is a skip every 48 frames
The Apple TV added support for this (and for 60,00fps instead of just 59,94), with tvOS 14.5, so it suffered the same issue for years.
Glad to hear that. I have been using Roku Ultra. I have it set on Atmos and it works fine also.
I have also been having these issues where the audio just stops or cuts out at first I thought it was just Netflix but it’s also other apps that offer Dolby atmos Disney + etc even when I play movies that I purchased same issue this is def a with Apple TV when use other streaming products no problem but unfortunately I use Apple TV as my main streaming device seems apple doesn’t care can after thousands of people are having this issue hope they fix it somehow or figure it out or even acknowledge it an issue hope they fix it
A cluster of Apple TV owners over the last several months have been complaining about several issues when using external speakers with the Apple TV and attempting to listen to Dolby Atmos audio.
A thread on Apple's support forums, which started in September 2021 and has over 25 pages of users sharing complaints, chronicles how users are experiencing issues with their Apple TV and Dolby Atmos. According to users, when listening to Dolby Atmos content, audio will sometimes either completely cut out and go silent, goes out of sync with the videos on the screen, or is choppy and stutters.
While there are some users who are experiencing the issue across Apple TV apps, a large portion of the complaints come from when users use the Netflix app. Some users have found that changing audio settings and disabling Dolby Atmos entirely solves the issues. Apple released tvOS 15.4.1 last month and that update does not seem to have addressed the bugs. Are you experiencing similar issues? Let us know down in the comments.
Article Link: Some Apple TV Users Complain of Dolby Atmos Audio Issues
Same issue with sound not working on various apps. New Samsung QN90A and Q990b purchased to have dolby atmos capability. i upgraded ATV 4k to beta TVOS 16 but same issues. Did fix NF dropput issues though. Called apple support but will not troubleshhot until I go back to supported version 15.6 Only way to do that is mail in ATV or drive 70 miles to apple store. Or I wait for TVOS 16 release and pray.. Staring at $5k of new equipment without enjoying dolby atmos bites…
Make sure all your HDMI cable are ultra high speed 48gigs., and switch to beta 16. See if that helps.
@pier
Yes it is.
You only can select 23,976 manually in the shield video settings, not 24,00 (the shield do not support integer framerates like I said), hence the frame skip with some content . It is because of that.
At lot of Netflix originals, for example, are 24,000fps, not 23,976.
Glad I found this thread. I have the Vizio elevate sound bar. When playing Atmos the audio from the rear speakers has interference at times. It will crackle and pop on certain frequencies. Thought it was the sound bar and tried to several things to fix it.
I just switched to an Nvidia shield and the issue went away. No popping audio and much much better implementation of Dolby Atmos & Vision. I don't like AndroidTV's interface, but since the audio/video and app experience is so much better on the Shield I am benching the ATV.
Apple seems to still treat this device as a "hobby".
I just switched to an Nvidia shield and the issue went away. No popping audio and much much better implementation of Dolby Atmos & Vision. I don't like AndroidTV's interface, but since the audio/video and app experience is so much better on the Shield I am benching the ATV.
Apple seems to still treat this device as a "hobby".
Maybe you've missed the last pages of this thread but Apple has fixed the Atmos issue in TVOS v16. You can download the beta and try for yourself.
Just like you I got an Nvidia Shield Pro and ended up returning it because, even though Atmos is rock solid, it has all sorts of other issues.
I updated to the beta version of iOS 16 and it still crackles and pops. Also I noticed really bad black pixelation during dark scenes on the Apple TV. No issues on the shield. A bit disappointed.
@pier
Then the 24fps setting on the shield is not really 24,000, but 23,976. So in pure 24,000 fps content (like a lot of Netflix originals), you´ll get a frame skip every 48 frames. There is no other possible explanation.
I’d been using Apple TV since it’s inception and always loved the interface. However, since upgrading my audio to Sonos I have had issues playing Atmos and Spatial Audio tracks. There is consistently cracking and a delay when launching either of these formats, even at the start of each new song in Apple Music. I have tried upgrading cables, upgrading to a Gen 2, trying betas, and combing forums for solutions. Nothing worked. Apple’s solution was to disable Atmos, which is an insult rather than a fix.
Ultimately I switched to the Nvidia Shield. As others have mentioned, there are a few quirks but at least Atmos works, and while not as polished as the Apple interface I gotten used to it. Overall, it is a much more flexible and customizable device, which I have also used to replace my old Plex server.
The only thing it lacks is an Apple Music app, but I doubt that will never happen. After trying alternative music streaming services I stuck with Spotify. Hopefully they will offer Atmos and lossless in the next decade, though Hifi service appears to be in limbo. Their Android TV app is awesome though.
I’m starting to think this problem is a hardware compatibility issue. In any event, Apple TV and Apple Music will gather dust until the next hardware release. Or perhaps it’s time to change platforms permanently. The Shield Pro is pricey but a much better value feature-wise. Between the butterfly keyboard fiasco on my laptop and this issue, I’m starting to loose faith in Apple.
Ultimately I switched to the Nvidia Shield. As others have mentioned, there are a few quirks but at least Atmos works, and while not as polished as the Apple interface I gotten used to it. Overall, it is a much more flexible and customizable device, which I have also used to replace my old Plex server.
The only thing it lacks is an Apple Music app, but I doubt that will never happen. After trying alternative music streaming services I stuck with Spotify. Hopefully they will offer Atmos and lossless in the next decade, though Hifi service appears to be in limbo. Their Android TV app is awesome though.
I’m starting to think this problem is a hardware compatibility issue. In any event, Apple TV and Apple Music will gather dust until the next hardware release. Or perhaps it’s time to change platforms permanently. The Shield Pro is pricey but a much better value feature-wise. Between the butterfly keyboard fiasco on my laptop and this issue, I’m starting to loose faith in Apple.
Nope. You can chose either 24fps or 23.976fps.
And if the issue was related to the HDMI frame rate, the drops would be consistent in time instead of happenning randomly.
I've experienced this in multiple Shield models and devices. I suspect the issue is rather in how Android implements video decoding or maybe how OS stuff in the background might interfere in video decoding. Something weird is that I've never seen this in Plex, only in Netflix and other streaming apps.
I tried using the refresh frame rate app, or the beta match frame rate feature, but these never worked consistently. Sometimes the fps was great but the audio was out of sync by like 2 seconds, sometimes the video kinda froze and ran at 1fps, etc.