2021 new gen Apple tv 4k Dolby Atmos Problems

[JonFo]

It couldn't be the ethernet switch I'm using could it?

Not likely, as gigabit switches, even cheap ones, are pretty solid these days (models from the last decade).
My media room ATV is connected via a cascaded pair of switches, main house 24-port switch in the equipment room feeds an 8-port switch in the media room which then feeds the AV gear and an access point.

But there, one should look at cables (yes, me talking about cables ), as I've seen them intermittently cause connection drops if damaged (either the cable itself or more commonly, connectors).
So check the line feeding the switch and the one from the switch to the ATV.

 

[Robert D]

Not likely, as gigabit switches, even cheap ones, are pretty solid these days (models from the last decade).
My media room ATV is connected via a cascaded pair of switches, main house 24-port switch in the equipment room feeds an 8-port switch in the media room which then feeds the AV gear and an access point.

But there, one should look at cables (yes, me talking about cables ), as I've seen them intermittently cause connection drops if damaged (either the cable itself or more commonly, connectors).
So check the line feeding the switch and the one from the switch to the ATV.

Is there a way to test the cables? I don't know how other than just trying new cables and waiting to see what happens.

I switched out the cable going from the atv to the switch, and put it on a different port. Watched 2 episodes with zero issues. Then put the new cable in the old port I was using and the problem came back. Going by that, it seems like that one port is bad.

 

[Robert D]

Oh, and the new cable I used is CAT 6, both the old and new are that. It doesn't matter if I mix CAT 5e with VAT 6 does it? That seems crazy.

I have not tried switching out the main cable from the wall to the switch.

 

[Robert D]

I might have just got lucky for the almost 2 hours it didn't mess up after I plugged into the different port. I'm considering buying a new switch. Wondering what would be an excellent choice.

 

[barjohn]

I have tried it both ways and it made no difference.

 

[Robert D]

I went ahead and got a new Netgear 8 port switch and 2 new CAT 6 ethernet cables. So now the whole chain from the wall outlet to the Apple TV has been replaced. I will have to see what happens next.

 

[barjohn]

Keep us updated. Personally, I doubt that is the problem but it could be.

 

[Robert D]

Keep us updated. Personally, I doubt that is the problem but it could be.

I will. I didn't test it yesterday, but plan on tonight. I'm hoping this does it. The other night when I got about 2 hours of viewing without a single episode is promising.

 

[barjohn]

Best of luck. I hope it fixed it.

 

[JLasher22443]

Hey Robert D I'm a longtime ATV4K user and have experienced the issues as well. I'm also using a Marantz AV7703 as my processor. I have tried everything from cables, power, to different network switches including brands to get rid of the issues but have had no luck.

For me it sounds like someone stuck a cell phone up next to my Dolby Speakers and I was getting that grounding digital sound from the speakers. I'm going to try and record it tonight so you can hear the sound for reference. Also I noticed with whatever update happened now when I pause a movie or show and hit play again the sound does not come back right away but the video does for like the first 5 seconds. Weird.

 

[Robert D]

Hey Robert D I'm a longtime ATV4K user and have experienced the issues as well. I'm also using a Marantz AV7703 as my processor. I have tried everything from cables, power, to different network switches including brands to get rid of the issues but have had no luck.

For me it sounds like someone stuck a cell phone up next to my Dolby Speakers and I was getting that grounding digital sound from the speakers. I'm going to try and record it tonight so you can hear the sound for reference. Also I noticed with whatever update happened now when I pause a movie or show and hit play again the sound does not come back right away but the video does for like the first 5 seconds. Weird.

Yes, same sound for me! A digital sound of beeps and click. Please call in and report it to Apple if you haven't. If you have, what was their response?

On Wednesday I have an appointment at the Apple store and will most likely get a new Apple tv to see if that works. The techs on the phone seem to not accept that the operating system is junk when it comes to atmos. Maybe it's a problem working with Marantz? I'm using the 8012 AV receiver. 11 channel.

I was able to watch a 1 hour episode of See last night on Apple TV + with no problems. So now I'm thinking maybe I did have a faulty switch. Maybe the 1 port was bad. I will watch more tonight and see what happens. If I can watch 3 hours or more without an issue I may just cancel the appointment.

I'm sure you did the reset and reinstalled the OS. There are 2 options, they had me do the one that reinstalls the whole OS. After that mine still acted up. If mine acts up again after this new switch and cables, then that means it's the OS. I may just get a new device under warranty just to rule that out. I just hate reinstalling all the apps and getting them to run. This last time it took me 2 hours! HBO max is a pain in the *** to get to work because I have to connect it to my cable subscription.

What do you do when watching Atmos? Do you stream with a different device, or just deal with it? Oh, and I get the same 1 second on 2 of silence when first starting a show or coming out of pause.

 

[JLasher22443]

Yes, same sound for me! A digital sound of beeps and click. Please call in and report it to Apple if you haven't. If you have, what was their response?

On Wednesday I have an appointment at the Apple store and will most likely get a new Apple tv to see if that works. The techs on the phone seem to not accept that the operating system is junk when it comes to atmos. Maybe it's a problem working with Marantz? I'm using the 8012 AV receiver. 11 channel.

I was able to watch a 1 hour episode of See last night on Apple TV + with no problems. So now I'm thinking maybe I did have a faulty switch. Maybe the 1 port was bad. I will watch more tonight and see what happens. If I can watch 3 hours or more without an issue I may just cancel the appointment.

I'm sure you did the reset and reinstalled the OS. There are 2 options, they had me do the one that reinstalls the whole OS. After that mine still acted up. If mine acts up again after this new switch and cables, then that means it's the OS. I may just get a new device under warranty just to rule that out. I just hate reinstalling all the apps and getting them to run. This last time it took me 2 hours! HBO max is a pain in the *** to get to work because I have to connect it to my cable subscription.

What do you do when watching Atmos? Do you stream with a different device, or just deal with it? Oh, and I get the same 1 second on 2 of silence when first starting a show or coming out of pause.

Unfortunately I have 3 new AppleTV4k units in the house. Not all purchased at the same time or same store. I've removed and swapped out each to see if the issue remained and it did. I also did the network change and equipment which did not help. I've also went from Wired to Wireless and it was still there. I'm confident its an issue with Apple OS and Marantz. Last night I updated my Marantz in hopes that the latest update would have resolved the issue but it didn't.

My theory is the Marantz and ATV4K don't play well together. The reason I say this is because I don't have any issues on other setups in the house not even with the pausing of a video. Sound works instantly after pause. Also JonFo doesn't have issues with his Denon. My next big purchase was to upgrade the Processor in my room but I've been wrapped up in 2 channel listening so much that TV watching has been at a minimum.

When watching Atmos I just deal with it for the few seconds for now while using the ATV4K. Most movies I know I'll love I do purchase the 4k disc which sound better anyways IMHO.

My hopes were that when Apple put out that notice that all devices would be able to decode and send out Dolby Atmos that a New Mac Mini would have replaced my ATV and act as a music streamer as well. I mean it has all of the hardware needed to be an all in one solution for streaming whether it's Video or Music. Kind of like this but with all of my Apple Movies and Atmos. LOL Rose RS150.

Are there any other High End 4k Movie Streamers out there? Does anyone have experience with Kaleidescape?

I'm almost tempted to purchase another 4k Processor and see if the issue remains. Like try something out from a big box store that has a great return policy.

 

[Robert D]

Unfortunately I have 3 new AppleTV4k units in the house. Not all purchased at the same time or same store. I've removed and swapped out each to see if the issue remained and it did. I also did the network change and equipment which did not help. I've also went from Wired to Wireless and it was still there. I'm confident its an issue with Apple OS and Marantz. Last night I updated my Marantz in hopes that the latest update would have resolved the issue but it didn't.

My theory is the Marantz and ATV4K don't play well together. The reason I say this is because I don't have any issues on other setups in the house not even with the pausing of a video. Sound works instantly after pause. Also JonFo doesn't have issues with his Denon. My next big purchase was to upgrade the Processor in my room but I've been wrapped up in 2 channel listening so much that TV watching has been at a minimum.

When watching Atmos I just deal with it for the few seconds for now while using the ATV4K. Most movies I know I'll love I do purchase the 4k disc which sound better anyways IMHO.

My hopes were that when Apple put out that notice that all devices would be able to decode and send out Dolby Atmos that a New Mac Mini would have replaced my ATV and act as a music streamer as well. I mean it has all of the hardware needed to be an all in one solution for streaming whether it's Video or Music. Kind of like this but with all of my Apple Movies and Atmos. LOL Rose RS150.

Are there any other High End 4k Movie Streamers out there? Does anyone have experience with Kaleidescape?

I'm almost tempted to purchase another 4k Processor and see if the issue remains. Like try something out from a big box store that has a great return policy.

What youre saying is what my guess is too. Now that Im not experiencing the problem though, im starting to doubt myself and maybe it was the switch. Only time will tell. It is so sporadic.

It is really disappointing that Apple hasnt taken care of the problem. Ive seen reports of it online happening all the way back in 2019. Some of the reports were people with Marantz receivers. If you havent contacted Apple yet, you should. Im hoping that enough of us report this that they will do something about it. Try to narrow it down to Marantz maybe. My thought is though that they will just blame the problem on Marantz and do nothing. One of the techs told me that they had seen this problem before. With millions of customers, there is no way that its just you and me.

If they arent going to fix this problem, Apple needs to put a disclaimer on the box and advertising that states there are issues with watching shows in Atmos using Marantz.

 

[Robert D]

Thought I might mention that my old Amazon Firestick 4k streamed Atmos just fine through the Marantz. Maybe I will just switch back to that and not even use the Apple.

The whole reason I bought the Apple was because the Amazon could not stream Atmos of Netflix. Now that I have the Apple things are even worse. Does anyone use the Amazon Firestick 4k? Im wondering if they ever added Atmos support for Netflix.

 

[Robert D]

Hey Robert D I'm a longtime ATV4K user and have experienced the issues as well. I'm also using a Marantz AV7703 as my processor. I have tried everything from cables, power, to different network switches including brands to get rid of the issues but have had no luck.

For me it sounds like someone stuck a cell phone up next to my Dolby Speakers and I was getting that grounding digital sound from the speakers. I'm going to try and record it tonight so you can hear the sound for reference. Also I noticed with whatever update happened now when I pause a movie or show and hit play again the sound does not come back right away but the video does for like the first 5 seconds. Weird.

I just got off the phone with Marantz. Maybe you can call them and report your problem too. That might help raise an alarm. She said they have no reports of this. It is worth a try. She said my case has been reported and if they get enough then they would do something. It is weird that Jonfo isnt having problems because Denon and Marantz are owned by the same company. Youd think it one had issues, so would the other.

I called them at their #
Customer Service Line
1-800-654-6633

Monday to Friday: 10 AM to 7 PM
All hours are Eastern Standard Time

She mentioned it could be a EDID problem, involving the tv. I dont know enough about the tech to understand exactly how the tv would mess up the audio being played from the receiver. The apple tv doesnt even run to the tv, but she said the tv through its connection to the receiver could cause problems. I have an LG OLED. She said there was bad firmware put out to the LG tvs in Early July that caused problems with Dolby Visionn, and that a new patch was put out recently to fix that. Dont know what kind of tv you have. Im using a 78 inch LG OLED I just bought a few months ago.

Below is a copy of the email I had her send me. It has suggestions on what to do. They are saying its most probably a handshake issue. I see you can buy a repeater that links in between the devices that is supposed to fix things up. Maybe have that in between the ATV and the receiver?

"

Subject Marantz Support Response By Email (Customer Care Team) (09/13/2021 05:20 PM) Hi Robert, Thank you for taking the time to contact Sound United Support today. We value you as a customer and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance! The ticket reference number for your interaction with us today is #210914-000459. If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this ticket, please feel free to reply to this email or call our support line again and reference this number. It sounds like what you're experiencing is what we call an "EDID negotiation issue", which is not caused by the AVR but by the TV's EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) not negotiating well with the source when going through an HDMI repeating device, such as our AVR that does HDMI processing. This is a common issue with HDMI negotiation. The best way to test for an EDID problem is to connect the AVR to a different make & model TV if possible. If the issue stops and everything works correctly, this will confirm a likely EDID issue. If the issue persists then it indicates something else is causing the problem. It can be fixed with either an update to the TVs to adjust the EDID string or an EDID management device like the Atlona ETU Sync or Key Digital HDFIX22 (for example). These devices connect via HDMI between the TV and AVR and their primary function is to capture the TV's EDID to use the same data every time (every 3 seconds) for negotiation consistency. You can also report the issue to the TV manufacturer and see if they will alter the way the EDID is presented to the other devices via a firmware update. Some manufacturers are willing to do this and some are not. As well as connect the source to the TV directly and use ARC/eARC (Audio Return Channel / Enhanced Audio Return Channel) from the TV so that the audio track will feed from the TV back to the AVR via the already connected HDMI cable. This method bypasses the video repeating process so it should provide reliable communication between the devices. Now based on the information that you have shared, EDID communication problems can affect just one source device or they can affect all of them. If audio or video is dropping and it happens at natural break points, like when switching inputs, going to or coming from back from commercials or when fast forwarding or rewinding the content. Those are points where the HDMI EDID communication is forced to renegotiate. When you are having an EDID issue the signal can not come back until the communication between your devices is forced to renegotiate, which is done when you do the things I mentioned above. Changing inputs etc.. There are many things that can cause the same symptoms and we do our best to use a logical progression of troubleshooting steps to narrow down the root cause. But, sometimes, even after all steps have been performed, nothing jumps out and declares itself the root of the problem. And in that case, we have to state that the receiver either, is not the cause of the problem, or it is and it needs service. You may try the general HDMI troubleshooting steps. I would suggest first connect a different make and model TV to the AVR and see if the issue continues or not. If the issue stops it is likely EDID. Then if you are still having the same issue connected to a different TV, go through the following steps and if none of them resolve it, I would look into servicing the unit. The troubleshooting steps are as follows. 1. Check multiple devices within the same HDMI input one after the other and see if all of them have the same issue. 2. Check the same device in multiple different HDMI inputs to see if the issue happens with one or all of them. 3. Use a different HDMI output on the receiver if it has one. By default our receivers with a monitor 1 and monitor 2 HDMI output are set to detect which one actually has a display device and send content to that device. 4. Connect the HDMI output from the receiver to a different HDMI input on your TV and switch the TV to that input. 5. Use different HDMI cables. 6. Power cycle the receiver, which is simply turning it off and unplugging it for twenty seconds. This clears the short term memory and does not affect any of your settings. 7. Factory reset the receiver, this clears the long term memory of the receiver and sets all settings back to their factory defaults. After all that has been done, then as I mentioned above, the problem is either not being caused by the receiver, or it is and the unit needs repair. Thank you for contacting Sound United Customer Support. Have a great day! Regards, Trisha Customer Support Representative Denon | Marantz Sound United North America

 

[Robert D]

Not likely, as gigabit switches, even cheap ones, are pretty solid these days (models from the last decade).
My media room ATV is connected via a cascaded pair of switches, main house 24-port switch in the equipment room feeds an 8-port switch in the media room which then feeds the AV gear and an access point.

But there, one should look at cables (yes, me talking about cables ), as I've seen them intermittently cause connection drops if damaged (either the cable itself or more commonly, connectors).
So check the line feeding the switch and the one from the switch to the ATV.

If it were a cable problem, either ethernet or hdmi, wouldnt it mess up the video as well as dolby atmos? Also, the problem never even happens to sound in other formats. It is only Atmos trouble. The dolby vision and dolby 5.1 are 100% fine.

 

[JLasher22443]

So I watched two movies on Netflix last night and it happened at least 3 times. Also I'm a firm believer that Netflix does not broadcast the Dolby Atmos Height Channels in my system. And if it does its so low I can't tell. I watched Kate and it sounded great but I'm pretty sure nothing came out of the 4 overhead speakers.

Tonight I'm going to test by turning off the amps to all other speakers and only keep the amp on for the overheads. Then play a few scenes in Netflix Movies that should have overhead playback and see what I get.

Few movies I'll test with tonight on Netflix are The Millers vs the Machines, Roma, El Camino, and Kate again. I'll let you know.

Also Apple Movies like Ready Player One do work great and is my test/showcase media I it use because I have the 4K Disc as well for reference. So I know its not a AppleTV4K issue as a whole.

If I have time today or tomorrow I'll reach out to Marantz. Thanks for that info.

 

[Robert D]

So I watched two movies on Netflix last night and it happened at least 3 times. Also I'm a firm believer that Netflix does not broadcast the Dolby Atmos Height Channels in my system. And if it does its so low I can't tell. I watched Kate and it sounded great but I'm pretty sure nothing came out of the 4 overhead speakers.

Tonight I'm going to test by turning off the amps to all other speakers and only keep the amp on for the overheads. Then play a few scenes in Netflix Movies that should have overhead playback and see what I get.

Few movies I'll test with tonight on Netflix are The Millers vs the Machines, Roma, El Camino, and Kate again. I'll let you know.

Also Apple Movies like Ready Player One do work great and is my test/showcase media I it use because I have the 4K Disc as well for reference. So I know its not a AppleTV4K issue as a whole.

If I have time today or tomorrow I'll reach out to Marantz. Thanks for that info.

Ok, sounds like a plan. I have never tested the ceiling speakers either. It is really hard at times to tell where the sound is coming from. I also put my receiver on the setting where it uses those speakers even when it isnt Atmos, generating its own output to those 4 speakers. Not sure how well it works or how. I used to do that for my 7.1 setup too because most shows were only 5.1 and not 7.1. I could tell those speakers were working, but my ceiling is 9 foot and I havent gotten up that high to test. Turning off all the other speakers will work for sure. ive just not tried that before.

Tomorrow im going to the mall to the Apple Store and have them look at my ATV. Im not sure what all they will do, but the tech lady on the phone said that they will most probably send me home with a new one. Im taking in the main unit, the remote, power supply, everything.

 

[Robert D]

We both noted that after being paused and hitting play, the sound is mute for a few seconds. I just noticed that mine only seems to do it after it has been paused for a long time. I can pause it and wait a minute or more and it won't do that.

 

[Robert D]

Last night after replacing the switch and ethernet cables with brand new ones from Microcenter, it had the issue again. The funny sound was produced again, but this time it seemed really subdued and hard to hear. I think if I had not been listening specifically for it that I might have missed it. It was very short and not very loud, blended in. I dont know if it was just a coincidence that the problem was reduced in intensity.

I got up on a ladder and I could hear the atmos speaker in the ceiling making sound during See on Apple Tv +. So on there it definitely works.

Today I went to the Apple store and they have to order me in a new replacement. The tech on the phone made it sound like they just give me a new retail box, but no. They have to order in a special replacement ATV box direct from Apple. This way they arent replacing your remote or other components.They dont keep them in stock. So now I have to drive another1 hour round trip to go to that mall. Not excited about that. Traffic sucks around here since covid.

I will report back after I have tested the new one. I should get it on Saturday or Monday.

Jlasher22443, have you called in to Apple yet? You probably should since your's are new too and under warranty. They told me that since I reported my issue all the way back in June that I will be covered going forward on this issue even if its after the warranty expires. You should get a history built up with Apple to secure replacement if you need, especially since you have multiple of the devices. Calling in may help escalate the issue to the engineers too. Is it just coincidence that both of us are using Marantz?

The store tech told me that there is a new OS for Apple coming out soon. Maybe that will fix the issue, or maybe other problems will be created!