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Payton Garner Author

Level 2

371 points

Apple Broke Dolby Digital 5.1 Output on Apple TV 4K

Not sure why nobody else is mentioning this, but figured I'd post to help others. One of these last few tvOS updates has completely broken Dolby Digital output (on Apple TV 4K, it seems).

I have a 2nd gen 4K model that had been fine until a recent update. I change the audio output in Settings to force Dolby Digital 5.1 for my speakers (Logitech Z906), but this suddenly no longer works! My speakers do not light the proper "Decode" light to indicate a true 5.1 signal, and the voices clearly come from left and right channels instead of just the center.

This was easy to confirm. I purchased a brand new 3rd gen Apple TV 4K (128GB) and it shipped with tvOS 17.1. I configured the audio output to force DD 5.1 and tested a movie... and everything worked perfectly. The "Decode" light indicated a 5.1 signal and voices, etc, clearly only came through the center channel. Then I upgraded to tvOS 17.4 and immediately tested the same movie, and it's broken! Nothing else changed.

Strangely enough, I have an old 1080p Apple TV running tvOS 17.4 (latest) and it still outputs Dolby Digital just fine.

I have provided this information to AppleCare as well as Apple.com/feedback. Kind of a ridiculous bug to go unpatched still. Hopefully someone will notice while we all sit here with broken audio.

Posted on May 7, 2024 10:30 AM

Top-ranking reply

Mcshoes

Level 1

38 points

Posted on Sep 16, 2024 10:59 PM

updated to TvOS 18 and 5.1 is broken. Apple TV connected to TV Samsung KS8000. HDMI ARC to Yamaha receiver. Only detects stereo. Please fix asap.

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295 replies

Payton Garner Author

Level 2

371 points

Sep 23, 2024 9:44 AM in response to llee

Gotcha.

Yeah, I think the best hope is to keep posting bug reports to the official Apple Feedback form and, if you have AppleCare especially, call them to have it escalated. The more often a senior support advisor sees the issue, the more likely they’ll start digging into whatever they did to break it.

I know you’re doing your part and then some.

Sep 23, 2024 9:20 PM in response to Payton Garner

Having the same issue with first gen ATV 4K, a Sony TV and Sonos beam connected via ARC. Everything worked fine before tvOS 18.

3rd gen ATV 4K connected through Samsung tv and a Sonos Arc not having this issue.

outputting to the Beam via the TV’s apps nets 5.1 again so clearly it’s the ATV.

Sep 24, 2024 12:19 PM in response to dennisfromten mile

Now I am really confused. I was playing a movie that was supposed to be Dolby Atmos (on Netflix) but was reporting on the Netflix banner as "Spacial Audio" ...but going in and out of the movie did something.

Now all of a sudden - it said Dolby Atmos again and when I hit play, the upper right said Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

I did the same in Prime and I once again got Atmos there.

Seems there is a handshake that is not correct initially but eventually kicks in correctly.

Just to be safe, I rebooted the ATV and rechecked Netflix.....it was still reading Dolby Atmos and playing Atmos correctly.

I'm not sure what happened but it is working again.

llee

Level 2

273 points

Sep 24, 2024 12:28 PM in response to dennisfromten mile

I would be interested in knowing whether your Audio Format line in the AUDIO area of Video and Audio settings is displayed as "Auto" or "Dolby Digital 5.1". I'm betting that it's "Auto". Is that right?

llee

Level 2

273 points

Sep 26, 2024 10:23 AM in response to spatialfx

My problem with this approach (please correct me if I'm wrong), is that because you can't provide feedback directly from an ATV, you must enroll another device in the program to report. I won't do that.

Sep 26, 2024 12:19 PM in response to llee

@llee: I'm not sure that's true? You fill out the feedback form and then on your Apple TV you hold down play/pause and volume down for 6 seconds, the ATV generates a debug file and then you just airdrop it to your Mac or iPhone (I think, might be Mac only). The Mac doesn't need to be enrolled; I know mine isn't.

llee

Level 2

273 points

Sep 26, 2024 6:04 PM in response to CowsOfOurPlanet

That is certainly contrary to the pattern I’ve observed from my own experience with the issue.

Is that the most recent available ATV model?

If so, I think it might help explain how so many of us using older models were affected only through the upgrade to tvOS 18.

llee

Level 2

273 points

Sep 26, 2024 6:33 PM in response to CowsOfOurPlanet

Also, it’s been noted here that Home Sharing player, YouTube player, VLC, and perhaps others may not be affected by the issue. Are you able to test using Max, Prime Video, Paramount+, or another multi channel audio capable player?

Sep 26, 2024 6:42 PM in response to llee

If I disable Charge Format I lose 5.1.

Re-enable it and 5.1 comes back.

This was the way it had always been with my 1st Gen 4K until tvOS 18 came along. However, the 3rd Gen doesn’t seem to be affected by the Stereo PCM problem.

Just to cover all the bases, this is a 3rd Gen Ethernet model.

Sep 27, 2024 3:31 AM in response to Payton Garner

I have a Sonos Arc with a eArc TV and the latest Gen Apple TV 4K. I had always received and played Atmos from several TV streaming services and I recently lost Atmos on Netflix, Prime, and Disney. On some it was gone and on some it showed as "Spacial Audio." However, some services (Max, Paramount Plus) were still working OK with Atmos (TVOS 18.1).

After checking all settings I ended up going nuclear and returning the Apple TV to factory settings. That didn't work either. But I later found that if I waited a day, the "Spacial Audio" changed correctly to "Dolby Atmos." I have no idea what fixed it other than time. And it seems to work fine now.

This only happened on Video apps and music apps such as Tidal, continued to correctly sense the Dolby Atmos.

PS: I didn't check for changes the TV firmware but when it updates, it gives me a whirly bird on start-up so it probably is the same.

Sep 27, 2024 5:16 AM in response to llee

I have Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Netflix, Sky Go and YouTube installed on the box. All were affected by the issue on the 1st Gen box. They all work correctly outputting 5.1 on the 3rd Gen.

Although the issue seems to be gone for me for now I utterly, utterly regret not spending the bit extra an eARC TV when I bought my last one.

Sep 27, 2024 7:18 AM in response to spatialfx

So far the beta bug report I made says that there are less than 10 similar reports. I think the threshold needs to be 'more than 10' before apple really starts to take it seriously, but I could be wrong.

Sep 27, 2024 7:21 AM in response to llee

@llee: you might be able to either skip that, or enroll and just not download beta updates. I have them turned off on my iPhone and iPad. Either way, no worries, just trying to get this issue resolved as quick as possible.