Using HomePod speakers with Apple TV and a blu-ray player.

[George Colgrove]

I have a Sony Bravia TV (capable of 4k ultra) with ARC HDMI that I connected an Apple TV 4K 2nd gen to. I have dual HomePod (gen 2) speakers.

All is great.

I want to add a 4k ultra blu-ray player to this system so I can take advantage of the excellent Dolby Atmos when playing 4k ultra disks.

What player should I consider and how do I make the connections?

 

[BigSmurf]

I think there is no easy way for that, unfortunately, The HomePod does not have an audio or optical input, alas.
Unless your TV can use airplay **output** to your HomePod

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

See this article for a favorable probability to get that to work.

However, once you want to start embracing sources outside the walled garden, you are likely much better served to repurpose those HomePods for their original intent- which is not home theater- and get yourself a good Receiver and dedicated speakers. Receiver is an excellent "central A/V hub" for everything. For example:

• AppleTV HDMI to Receiver, Receiver HDMI out to TV
• Blu Ray HDMI to Receiver, Receiver HDMI out to TV
• Anything else HDMI to Receiver, Receiver HDMI out to TV (or just to connected speakers if wanting to listen to audio only).

All that Receiver HDMI to TV is a single cable (one output from up to many inputs).

Bonus, this can help you get true surround sound instead of stereo only. Want deeper bass than HPs can render? Add a subwoofer. Want real ATMOS? Put some "dumb" speakers in the ceiling. Etc.

A receiver leaps over the walls in the walled garden. Enjoy ANYTHING on the best speakers in the house.

The HP "smarts" already exist in AppleTV, any iDevice or Mac. For example, I can tell Siri to play something in my home theater and it does it.

If you like using the AppleTV remote, it will turn on the receiver when it turns on the AppleTV.

 

[waw74]

I think there is no easy way for that, unfortunately, The HomePod does not have an audio or optical input, alas.
Unless your TV can use airplay **output** to your HomePod

the newer appleTVs will take an HDMI-ARC input from the TV, and forward that audio to the homepods.

In theory any audio going into the TV, should be sent out of the ARC port on the TV.

You may run into issues if your TV doesn't have e-ARC. As most of the HD audio tracks, as well as ATMOS need the extra bandwitch that the "e" (enhanced) version of ARC gives you.

Use HDMI ARC or eARC with your Apple TV 4K - Apple Support

With HDMI ARC or eARC turned on, your Apple TV 4K (2nd generation and later) can receive high-quality audio from a supported TV, then play that audio through your HomePod or HomePod mini speakers.

support.apple.com

Most third party airplay devices (like TVs) are only airplay receivers. So you can't airplay audio out of the TV.

 

[chadamorrill]

I can't help with "what player for 4k movies," but I will share that we use an XBox One S for that purpose. Rarely play games, though, it's a "nice to have" whenever we're in the mood for something other than Nintendo.

The post by @waw74 just above is accurate, and I can confirm... As long as the AppleTV is plugged into the ARC port on the TV and set up on the AppleTV, the Homepods will play audio from whatever other devices are plugged into the TV via HDMI. So our XBox, Nintendo Switch, the mini Nintendo, etc etc, plays out of our stereo pair Homepods without issue.

To enable it, from the AppleTV home screen, go to Settings > Video and Audio > Audio Output > then configure "Audio Return Channel" to be "ON (Arc)". This is assuming that your Default Audio Output is already set to the Homepods. TV settings may need to be altered to allow for ARC, eARC or HDMI-CEC.

 

[AL2TEACH]

I have a Sony Bravia TV (capable of 4k ultra) with ARC HDMI that I connected an Apple TV 4K 2nd gen to. I have dual HomePod (gen 2) speakers.

All is great.

I want to add a 4k ultra blu-ray player to this system so I can take advantage of the excellent Dolby Atmos when playing 4k ultra disks.

What player should I consider and how do I make the connections?

What is your price point, you will not get Dolby Atmos from two HomePods.

 

[HDFan]

I want to add a 4k ultra blu-ray player to this system so I can take advantage of the excellent Dolby Atmos when playing 4k ultra disks.

Get a player that has both HDMI in, out and headphone ports. Connect the Apple TV to HDMI in and the TV to HDMI out. You can then listen via your HomePods, bluetooth (from the Apple TV) or wired headphones (from the player).

As above with just 2 speakers Atmos support is limited. You might get better results with headphones.