tvOS 14.3 & Apple TV 4K - Home Sharing Surround Sound Broken

[worldomination]

Huh. Hadn't noticed this until now. Try downloading this...

3MB Video

...from this web site...

Fraunhofer

I've converted the sound to AC3 (it was originally AAC). Add the 3MB movie to the TV app on your Mac and stream it to your Apple TV 4K.

It may be challenging to tell what's wrong. Listen for the subwoofer... it's absent. One can't hear it at all. In addition, sound should play through each speaker individually, not all of them.

Surround sound is broken.

 

[priitv8]

Although their video is not properly laid out for appleTV (no language tags, AAC soundtrack missing), I have tried it out and it plays perfectly well on my setup. tvOS is 14.3. Used Home Sharing, not AirPlay, as I always do.
PS why have you converted the sound? It is already AC3.

 

[worldomination]

The original sound is AAC; surround sound requires AC3.

priitv8, where do I find the information you posted? Where do I find this screen?

Using Home Sharing I simply can't get surround to work. It functioned fine prior to the update.

 

[worldomination]

I just reinstalled tvOS... for the 4th time.

By definition this makes me crazy... expecting a different result when trying the same thing over and over again.

The Languages menu disappeared... again. Surround sound doesn't work, either.

 

[waw74]

what kind of audio gear do you have?
are you going thought the TV?
how is everything connected?

if you're going through your TV and using HDMI-ARC to get to your stereo, chances are it's your TV messing up the signal.

if you're going though the TV and using optical to the stereo, I've seen TVs send everything out as stereo.

 

[worldomination]

I've discovered something...

tvOS 14.3 is unable to play surround sound... there's a moment’s delay when playing anything with AC3... in Netflix, the Apple TV app, everything.

Something else to try... an app... Surround Speaker Check.

Here’s another problem. The Language menu in Home Sharing’s Audio menu is missing.

 

[worldomination]

waw74...

Yes, everything is connected.

Surround sound was working fine prior to tvOS 14.3.

 

[priitv8]

The original sound is AAC; surround sound requires AC3.

priitv8, where do I find the information you posted? Where do I find this screen?

Using Home Sharing I simply can't get surround to work. It functioned fine prior to the update.

Well, the file I download from your first link up there, I get a file with AC-3 5.1 audio, there is no AAC track.
If I remember correctly, aTV does even not like AAC 5.1 soundtracks.
The image is standard view from Xcode development environment.
What is your audio output setting in tvOS? Is it Auto or is it Change Format > Dolby Digital 5.1?
If the latter, then my earlier comments are irrelevant, as I run it in Auto and am happy to receive LPCM multichannel from aTV (the standard way of its workings).
PS you say you reinstalled tvOS - how do you go about that on aTV 4K (5th gen)??

 

[worldomination]

No, Apple TV doesn't like AAC 5.1 audio tracks... which is why I convert them to AC3.

I have the audio output setting in tvOS set to Auto, too. Surround sound does not work when I change the format to Dolby Digital 5.1, just like it doesn't work in Auto.

Let's see... I also...

• ensured that the HDMI cable was not connected to an ARC connection on my television
• replaced the HDMI cable from the Apple TV to my television
• tried connecting the HDMI cable to other HDMI connections on the television
• replaced the optic cable from the television to the receiver
• reinstalled tvOS to the most recent version, doing a full updated reset... Settings > System > Reset > Reset and Update
• disconnected the Apple TV from power
• reset my Sony television to its factory settings
• played with every sound setting on the television and Apple TV
• replaced my television with a friend's television
• bought another Apple TV 4K (and later returned it)
• using Home Sharing played the Surround Test video from a 2011 MacBook Pro running 10.13.6 High Sierra

Nothing worked; I cannot hear surround sound from an Apple TV 4K.

My receiver is able to display videos; I connected a USB drive directly to it and played the Surround Test video. It works perfectly.

 

[mikes79]

I've noticed this issue as well; I also submitted it to Apple as a bug report. The issue only seems to affect when streaming locally from home streaming libraries. This is on Big Sur 11.1. I noticed this issue on prior tvOS releases as well.

On prior tvOS releases, I was able to work around the issue by starting the video and then pausing the video, fast forwarding beyond the buffer and then resuming the video. The soundtrack would then switch to Dolby Digital Surround. This workaround no longer works with tvOS 14.3. Hopefully the situation will improve with future OS releases.

All of the videos that I tried were purchases from the Apple TV store which feature AC3 Surround tracks. Further I have noticed that if the same video's are streamed from Apple's cloud via the purchased tab, surround sound audio tracks work as expected.

Lastly Surround sound audio seems to work fine via stream service apps (netflix, disney+ etc.) I'd encourage everyone affected by this issue to report it via feedback at the following link:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

Surround sound also works fine on other sources on my setup.

The more noise we make, the higher chances of a fix.

Thanks.

M

 

[priitv8]

Nothing worked; I cannot hear surround sound from an Apple TV 4K.

My receiver is able to display videos; I connected a USB drive directly to it and played the Surround Test video. It works perfectly.

Is your aTV connected to AVR or to Sony TV?

 

[worldomination]

My Apple TV is connected to a Sony television with an HDMI cable. The television in turn is connected to a Sony Blu-Ray receiver with an Toslink digital optic cable.

This set-up has worked flawlessly until recently, providing surround sound.

 

[worldomination]

I purchased an HDMI audio extractor...

Techly Audio Extractor

It splits an HDMI signal, allowing video to pass through an HDMI cable and audio through an optic cable.

Using this I sent the Apple TV 4K's sound directly to my Blu-Ray receiver, bypassing the television altogether.

Surround sound did not work.

 

[priitv8]

Why do you want to run via TV?
Receivers are meant to handle many different audio formats, Bravia TVs only some. As soon as you revert to Toslink, your options become very limited. And Sony Bravia will not convert audio from PCM 5.1 into DD 5.1! You will have to set appleTV to output Dolby Digital 5.1.

Dolby Audio Apple tvOS Overview Dolby Developer | Dolby Developer

Apple TV nows support the most advanced Dolby technologies for cinematic audio and video, including Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby Audio. Read the Overview on Dolby Developer for more information.

developer.dolby.com

 

[worldomination]

I've tried setting the output to Dolby Digital 5.1...

Even with the HDMI audio extractor.

Settings --> Video and Audio --> Audio Format --> Change Format --> On --> New Format Dolby Digital 5.1.

It doesn't work.

In fact, this setting locks up movies in Home Sharing... they won't play at all and the app becomes non-responsive. The same happens to the Surround Test Video app. I have to swipe up to quit each one.

Perhaps that's a clue as to what's going on.

I first had the Apple TV HD, bought in October 2015; in September 2017 I traded up to the Apple TV 4K.

In all that time I have had surround sound.

Until now.

 

[RoTAM]

Huh. Hadn't noticed this until now. Try downloading this...

3MB Video

...from this web site...

Fraunhofer

I've converted the sound to AC3 (it was originally AAC). Add the 3MB movie to the TV app on your Mac and stream it to your Apple TV 4K.

It may be challenging to tell what's wrong. Listen for the subwoofer... it's absent. One can't hear it at all. In addition, sound should play through each speaker individually, not all of them.

Surround sound is broken.

It’s definitely a bug introduced in tvOS 14.0 and I joined the beta programme back then and reported it in each beta... but in every subsequent release 14.0.2, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3 it still wasn’t fixed.

In the end I had my Apple TV’s replaced under warranty and have kept them now at tvOS 13.
I do encourage anyone to use the feedback though at https://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html because finally just days ago the Apple Support agent who I have had a ticket open with since November acknowledged the engineers looking into other reports of it. And I can’t keep these at v13 forever so definitely would prefer it be fixed For us all!

A few weeks ago I could hardly find anyone mention the same issue but now it’s starting to be noticed e.g. this very thread, and https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/news/tvos-14-home-sharing-surround-sound-issue/ so at least now I know it’s not just me.

 

[priitv8]

I've tried setting the output to Dolby Digital 5.1...

Even with the HDMI audio extractor.

Settings --> Video and Audio --> Audio Format --> Change Format --> On --> New Format Dolby Digital 5.1.

It doesn't work.

One more thing came to my mind - how does your file look like? Does the surround audio track have the fallback audio set? If I remember correctly, at one point in time this became mandatory. Subler even introduced action menu to fix this meta.
Secondly, the Surround track shall not be active, if AAC track is present.

 

[RoTAM]

One more thing came to my mind - how does your file look like? Does the surround audio track have the fallback audio set? If I remember correctly, at one point in time this became mandatory. Subler even introduced action menu to fix this meta.
Secondly, the Surround track shall not be active, if AAC track is present.

Just regarding that - I checked that as well in Subler and even tried the naming convention where the inactive AAC track is named ‘Stereo’ and the active AC3 track is named ‘Surround’ but sadly no luck

Note that although Home Sharing is where the bug is Most annoying, some third-party apps are affected too like the excellent “Surround Sound Check” which works perfectly under tvOS 13, but not tvOS 14 if using Dolby Digital 5.1
https://www.jeffperrinmusic.com/support.html

 

[worldomination]

This is an example of a movie file.

I haven't had to set a fallback; surround has always just worked. In fact, a fallback option is not available for either audio track shown.

 

[RoTAM]

This is an example of a movie file.

I haven't had to set a fallback; surround has always just worked. In fact, a fallback option is not available for either audio track shown.

View attachment 1708201

The fallback option is only available when there is an AAC track present as well, but you’re right - even files with just AC3 tracks play perfectly fine in surround in tvOS 13.

For anyone who isn’t seeing the issue in tvOS 14 it’s probably because they have equipment connected that supports multichannel PCM audio, so the Apole TV doesn’t need to output Dolby Digital 5.1 ... which is what’s broken.... (Even when setting “Change Format ON: Dolby Digital 5.1“ which used to work in tvOS 12 and 13)

 

[priitv8]

For anyone who isn’t seeing the issue in tvOS 14 it’s probably because they have equipment connected that supports multichannel PCM audio, so the Apole TV doesn’t need to output Dolby Digital 5.1 ... which is what’s broken.... (Even when setting “Change Format ON: Dolby Digital 5.1“ which used to work in tvOS 12 and 13)

OK, now I understand, that it is the tvOS DD5.1 encoder, that is broken?
But the switchover to DD5.1 output was never automatic, was it?
So I think OP must have enabled it manually previously, because his setup does not support PCM 5.1 or 7.1 (because of TOSLINK connection)?

 

[RoTAM]

OK, now I understand, that it is the tvOS DD5.1 encoder, that is broken?
But the switchover to DD5.1 output was never automatic, was it?
So I think OP must have enabled it manually previously, because his setup does not support PCM 5.1 or 7.1 (because of TOSLINK connection)?

Yes, the switchover to DD5.1 can be automatic. “Change Format” is poorly named, as it actually means “Specify Format”.

So with this set to the default “Off” the Apple TV will detect the best format your equipment supports, and will use it:
- If your AV or TV only supports stereo PCM, that’s what the Apple TV outputs
- If your AV or TV only supports Dolby Digital 5.1, that’s what the Apple TV outputs
- If your AV or TV supports multichannel LPCM, that’s what the Apple TV outputs

...or at least that’s what tvOS 12 and 13 do.

 

[priitv8]

Yes, the switchover to DD5.1 can be automatic. “Change Format” is poorly named, as it actually means “Specify Format”.

So with this set to the default “Off” the Apple TV will detect the best format your equipment supports, and will use it:
- If your AV or TV only supports stereo PCM, that’s what the Apple TV outputs
- If your AV or TV only supports Dolby Digital 5.1, that’s what the Apple TV outputs
- If your AV or TV supports multichannel LPCM, that’s what the Apple TV outputs

...or at least that’s what tvOS 12 and 13 do.

Okay, that sounds very logical. Now comes the tricky part :
Lets take my Bravia as an example.
aTV would understand, that it supports LPCM 5.1 and apparently would select it over DD+ 7.1 (why does it select LPCM on my AVR, that supports also DD 5.1 and DD+ 7.1 and Atmos?).
But because OP uses TOSLINK from Bravia to AVR, now also Bravia would need to transcode audio, before outputting it to TOSLINK out. And there are no user settings on Bravia to control how should it go about it.
What will reach optical out in this usecase?

-----------------------------------------------------
------------ EXTENSION EDID BLOCK   1 ---------------
-----------------------------------------------------


CEA-EXT: CEA 861 Series Extension:
----------------------------------


Data Block Collection #2
    Audio Type Block
        Supported format:    Linear Pulse Code Modulation (LPƒ), on 6 channels
        Supported freq:        32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz
        Supported samples:    16 bit, 20 bit, 24 bit


        Supported format:    AC3, on 6 channels
        Supported freq:        32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz
        Maximum bitrate:    640kHz


        Supported format:    DTS, on 6 channels
        Supported freq:        32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz
        Maximum bitrate:    1504kHz


        Supported format:    DD+, on 8 channels
        Supported freq:        44.1kHz, 48kHz

 

[RoTAM]

Okay, that sounds very logical. Now comes the tricky part :
Lets take my Bravia as an example.
aTV would understand, that it supports LPCM 5.1 and apparently would select it over DD+ 7.1 (why does it select LPCM on my AVR, that supports also DD 5.1 and DD+ 7.1 and Atmos?).
But because OP uses TOSLINK from Bravia to AVR, now also Bravia would need to transcode audio, before outputting it to TOSLINK out. And there are no user settings on Bravia to control how should it go about it.
What will reach optical out in this usecase?

I don’t know anything about yours or the OP’s Sony TV, but I agree: it gets tricky with TVs optical output.

I know some (e.g. my Panasonic) will only output PCM stereo when the TV receives multichannel LPCM to it’s HDMI, but others (e.g. my LG when set to Passthrough) will identify itself to the ATV as DD5.1 when the optical output is active ... and instead identifies as multichannel LPCM when eARC output is active.

Either way the OP confirmed the issue still happened when bypassing the TV and connecting directly to the receiver instead of using TOSLINK, but worked fine in tvOS 13 - so does indeed seem to be the tvOS 14 bug causing that.

... but yes you’re right, all the different combinations of TV HDMI, ARC, Optical, LPCM, DD5.1, file format/audio stream fallback can make it a nightmare to navigate when troubleshooting!

 

[JeffPerrin]

Hello. Jeff here, dev for Surround Speaker Check. Just so you guys don't drive yourselves too crazy with this, you should know there are serious bugs with tvOS 14 and surround sound. Ever since tvOS 14 came out, I've received *lots* of emails from folks reporting or asking about surround failing on Apple TV which previously worked fine on tvOS 13. Most of them are using optical connections (and turning on Change Format), but I have received a couple emails reporting issues with HDMI connections.

I have spent days on this covering all possible encoding and meta variations trying to find a workaround and in December I finally resigned to the fact this is out of my hands. I believe all we can do at this point is keep filing those bug reports so Apple devs get some hard data to work with.