I have the exact same issue for months. I have Sony X90J. My Sonos Arc is connected to the TV via eARC and the apple TV is connected to the TV as well through HDMI. While the apps on Sony seems to work fine with Atmos content at a regular volume, the apps on Apple TV seems to behave weird and I had to turn up the volume 5 hold. It is so frustrating as I love the Apple TV interface but stopped using it altogether
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Some Apple TV Users Complain of Dolby Atmos Audio Issues
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It looks like there was a software update today for the AppleTV 4K: I was on 15.4.1 and now I'm on 15.5. I figured I'd take a chance and see if Apple fixed the problem. The show we watched tonight was "Hanna" on Prime Video but it was 5.1 and I thought it sounded better and more solid than I remember. Afterwards, I played some of "Encanto" from Disney+ in Atmos and that worked fine. I also watched a few minutes of a 4k Dolby Vision+Atmos movie in my AppleTV library and that worked well -- no dropouts. Finally, I tried a bit of Netflix Atmos content and that was also fine. I didn't get a full hour of Atmos content in, but I'm cautiously optimistic since this is a major version jump. Fingers crossed.
Likewise, I’m halfway into For All Mankind and haven’t had any Atmos dropouts since the update.
Still no dropouts... but apparently Reddit users are reporting that the problem has NOT been fixed so I'll be paying careful attention. My fingers crossed. Too bad Apple won't release a list of what each release actually fixes.
Perhaps because there was a restart of the device after an update~?
From this thread the problem almost always goes away upon a restart..... and then comes back.
Do you have a link to that Reddit thread?
uhm. So the solution is go wifi~?
www.martinloganowners.com
2021 new gen Apple tv 4k Dolby Atmos Problems
You should use the same limits for Wired as for Wi-Fi. Only difference is wired is more consistent as it isn't subject to congestion or interference like Wi-Fi. I would start at 30Mbps for the 4K 50Hz Drive to Survive. If you still get Atmos dropouts, lower it in 2Mbps increments until the...
www.martinloganowners.com
Now that you've had more time with the update does it seem fixed still or has the problem returned?
Sadly, the problem has returned, but it might occur less often.
I watched two episodes of "The Essex Serpent" on AppleTV+ today after playing Atmos Apple Music for several hours without any problems. That didn't work very well at all before -- if the box was up for a long time, it would fail on the first song. Unfortunately, "The Essex Serpent" had two dropouts, each near the beginning of each of the two episodes I watched today. They were the same kinds of dropouts from "Drive to Survive" -- silence, then a chopping sound that gets faster and faster until finally the audio resumes and synchronizes. Each time, I backed up and was able to hear the part I missed without any problem.
So the problem might be better. It's odd that it happened within the first minute or so of the show, and then didn't happen again until the start of the second episode. And the fact that Apple Music seems to work (even when showing cover art and the scrolling lyrics) might indicate that there's a conflict between the audio and the video, which was Dolby Vision.
Right now, I'm planning on restarting the box every night and hopefully it won't have the problem the next day as the Atmos sound is spectacular when it works properly.
I've also seen reports that the 15.6 beta might finally fix this No idea when that might be released.
Since installing the 15.5 latest firmware, my audio issues seem to have disappeared!
Glad it's finally resolved, hopefully the other folks with issues in this thread are seeing similar results.
How is everyone else doing with this firmware?
Glad it's finally resolved, hopefully the other folks with issues in this thread are seeing similar results.
How is everyone else doing with this firmware?
********. I'm on 15.6 beta atm and it dropped so bad on S01E01 just after the midpoint that the audio never came back.
I think the issue is - the Apple TV 4K 2nd gen isn't handling cached material correctly.
Ill likely need to sniff the traffic - but I assume its loading over TCP and filling its buffer (basing my opinion on the martinlogan thread). wifi users aren't experiencing the problem as much. so, what could be happening, is over wired is caching at a very high rate of speed - then it stops. its somewhere in that building cache/reading cache/overwriting cache that the sync is being lost. I'm sure it does the same thing on wifi - downloads at max rate, caches, reads cache, purges, repeat - but the wifi is doing it at a slower rate - which isn't overwhelming some code or hardware.
whether that's because storage is sharing the same lane as the wired ethernet controller - who knows - BUT it is worth noting that the Apple TV 4K 2nd gen uses an A12 Bionic - a chip that does not have a wired ethernet in any application EXCEPT on the ATV. so it could just be a poorly tacked on implementation (as opposed to wifi which the chip is built around in all applications).
the solution atm is - unplug the wired ethernet and use wifi, or switch your ATV 4k 2nd for an ATV 4k 1st gen. if you're tech savvy you could try rate limiting the Apple TV over wired.
the fix - start sending links to this thread, the apple thread, the martinlogan thread, the Avsforum thread - essentially all sizable links to this discussion to every major tech YouTuber.
I've helped fight apple for years - the only way to get them to fix anything is to pressure them with negative press.
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@Garage Battle
I think the issue is - the Apple TV 4K 2nd gen isn't handling cached material correctly.
Except these issues also occur on the first gen 4K model.
I think its a firmware/software issue.
I think the issue is - the Apple TV 4K 2nd gen isn't handling cached material correctly.
Except these issues also occur on the first gen 4K model.
I think its a firmware/software issue.
Just an update -- the chopping/stuttering happened twice during the third episode of "The Essex Serpent" with 15.5, wired gigabit Ethernet (200mpbs down, Charter Spectrum cable modem, no Spectrum TV for whatever that's worth). Each time, backing up to, or just before the start of the chopping and pressing play allowed me to hear the dialogue that I missed. There was nothing odd going on at the time (i.e. not an action scene) but the first was near the beginning of the episode, and the second might have been not long after I paused for a bit. There was some speculation that pausing during a show might be what triggers this behavior -- and maybe that is because some buffer fills up as the AppleTV reads ahead. Just speculation.
The theory about wired internet causing this problem is interesting -- that's a data point that I haven't seen discussed in the Apple forum. However, while I don't know how to test the WiFi connection speed on the AppleTV 4K, my iPhone 12 Max can max out my internet connection over WiFi. I just ran a test and I get 234Mbps down, 11.0Mbps up on the iPhone, which is the same as my internet connection. (I have Netgear Orbis RBS50s and both the AppleTV and the iPhone were about 10 feet from the main unit.)
If switching to WiFi does avoid the problem, then, as @Garage Battle speculated, there is a problem with the chip set or wired ethernet firmware.
The theory about wired internet causing this problem is interesting -- that's a data point that I haven't seen discussed in the Apple forum. However, while I don't know how to test the WiFi connection speed on the AppleTV 4K, my iPhone 12 Max can max out my internet connection over WiFi. I just ran a test and I get 234Mbps down, 11.0Mbps up on the iPhone, which is the same as my internet connection. (I have Netgear Orbis RBS50s and both the AppleTV and the iPhone were about 10 feet from the main unit.)
If switching to WiFi does avoid the problem, then, as @Garage Battle speculated, there is a problem with the chip set or wired ethernet firmware.
its almost completely related to firmware (i hope).
the difference might be as simple as "wired ethernet uses the same PCIe lane as the storage cache" - and somehow someone at Apple messed that up.
also its been said - turning off Atmos can help solve the issue for some as well.
regardless - its a highly reproducable problem IF you have Atmos enabled (which im sure a large percentage of ATV users dont - then with it also requiring certain shows/movies to bring it out - which is why the issue is primarily existant on AV tech support forums.
only way to get this fixed is to make a lot of noise - tech youtubers are sometimes happy to poke holes at Apple / happy to parade around reproducable Apple failures.
Code:
Here is the list to send to Youtubers and tech press people:
30 page thread on Apple forums: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253168177
38 page thread on Martin Logan forum: https://www.martinloganowners.com/threads/2021-new-gen-apple-tv-4k-dolby-atmos-problems.18919/
AVSForum threads: https://www.avsforum.com/threads/dolby-atmos-problems-on-apple-tv-netflix-and-denon-receiver.3240331/
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/apple-tv-owners-thread-faq-in-first-post.1278071/page-2061 (mixed in this massive thread are tons of complaints)
MacRumors thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/some-apple-tv-users-complain-of-dolby-atmos-audio-issues.2343989/
reddit threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/tp4jeu/154_atmos_dropouts/
https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/tx1wov/dolby_atmos_stuttering_on_newest_gen_apple_tv/
https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/rqlvgi/dolby_atmos_distortions/
https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/uk2668/some_apple_tv_users_complain_of_dolby_atmos_audio/
Some users have been experiencing this issue since September of 2021 - and Apple refuses to acknoledge it.
This is reproducable on nearly every Apple TV 4k 2nd gen by doing the following:
1. ATV 4k 2nd gen wired ethernet connection
2. 4k output
3. Atmos audio enabled
4. Play Netflix "Drive to Survive" - starts as soon as Season 1 Episode 1
As its been said before - disconnecting the ethernet cable helps to alleviate the issue.edit: sent this to iFixit for starters - will try to make my way around to all the major Youtube tech reporters shortly.
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Turning off Atmos in the Apple TV in favor of 5.1 definitely eliminates the problem.
This is what I did when we got caught up on the first 2 seasons of Netflix's "Drive to Survive" last fall; back then, the AppleTV was the only streaming device I had. Now I have a new Sony TV with built-in Google TV and watching the rest of "Drive to Survive" in the GoogleTV Netflix app over eARC worked perfectly.
Well, I am having this issue as well. I had no problems with Netflix until I updated to 15.5.1. Now I am watching season four of stranger things and the audio dropouts happen every few minutes. The only way I can fix the issue is to let it run and maybe the audio will come back or is to rewind 10 seconds and let it play and it will play with sound. But it is super annoying and I have not had this issue until updating to 15.5.1. I had a feeling I should not have updated.
I guess there is no way to revert back to the prior version of the operating system but this is truly annoying. But add me to the list of persons having issues. And with folks looking forward to version 15.5.1 to fix these issues, it created one for me On my Apple TV 4K second generation.
I guess there is no way to revert back to the prior version of the operating system but this is truly annoying. But add me to the list of persons having issues. And with folks looking forward to version 15.5.1 to fix these issues, it created one for me On my Apple TV 4K second generation.
I'm also trying to watch "Stranger Things", which has a fantastic Atmos soundtrack.
Before the first episode of the new season, in response to @Garage Battle's suggestion above, I unplugged my gigabit ethernet from the AppleTV 4k 2021 (now running 15.5.1) , forcing it to use WiFi. I didn't think this would have much effect since my WiFi is as fast as my wired internet (200mpbs, verified with an iPhone 12 Pro Max which is my internet download speed) but I figured it couldn't hurt. I also rebooted the box.
The first episode yesterday had two dropouts -- the stuttering/helicoptering chopping sound. I backed up a few second both times to hear the dialog.
Today, I plugged the Ethernet wire back in and rebooted the box. Constant dropouts -- 3 in the first 5 minutes! I finally couldn't stand it, so I unplugged the wire and again power-cycled the box. This time there was only one dropout, about 1/2 way through the hour+ long episode.
So there may be something to using WiFi over wired Ethernet. I did notice that shows also took longer to get started at full resolution. The first 30 seconds or so of the first episode of "Stranger Things" yesterday (where the scientist is walking around the hallway) was streamed at very low-resolution and at first, I thought it was supposed to be an old-timey effect but it was pretty awful. I paused hoping the streaming would catch up, and it did after a few seconds, when I finally got a 4k picture. That never happened with the wired connection.
Before the first episode of the new season, in response to @Garage Battle's suggestion above, I unplugged my gigabit ethernet from the AppleTV 4k 2021 (now running 15.5.1) , forcing it to use WiFi. I didn't think this would have much effect since my WiFi is as fast as my wired internet (200mpbs, verified with an iPhone 12 Pro Max which is my internet download speed) but I figured it couldn't hurt. I also rebooted the box.
The first episode yesterday had two dropouts -- the stuttering/helicoptering chopping sound. I backed up a few second both times to hear the dialog.
Today, I plugged the Ethernet wire back in and rebooted the box. Constant dropouts -- 3 in the first 5 minutes! I finally couldn't stand it, so I unplugged the wire and again power-cycled the box. This time there was only one dropout, about 1/2 way through the hour+ long episode.
So there may be something to using WiFi over wired Ethernet. I did notice that shows also took longer to get started at full resolution. The first 30 seconds or so of the first episode of "Stranger Things" yesterday (where the scientist is walking around the hallway) was streamed at very low-resolution and at first, I thought it was supposed to be an old-timey effect but it was pretty awful. I paused hoping the streaming would catch up, and it did after a few seconds, when I finally got a 4k picture. That never happened with the wired connection.
I´m having this problem over a wired connection but only with apple tv+ content. Go figure.
Just had that watching Shining Girls first episode. Had to unplug and replug the apple tv to sort it out. I think the current Apple TV firmware is flawed.
Hoping for an update ASAP.
This has been going on for over a year. It's absurd that it's not fixed. It demonstrates that Apple just doesn't give a fig about the problems their customers are experiencing.
With the number of Apple employees using this thing it is 100% guaranteed that their own ATV developers have experienced this issue.
With the number of Apple employees using this thing it is 100% guaranteed that their own ATV developers have experienced this issue.
They took three years to add 24,000fps support (with 14.5) and thus fixing the infamous frame skip issue (previously they only supported 23,976fps). So everything is possible.