2021 new gen Apple tv 4k Dolby Atmos Problems

[user 49813]

Update on my "repair" status.

Received automated email Thursday from Apple that "repair" was complete, and replacement unit was shipping. Yup, replacement. Was furious. Decided to wait until it arrived before getting too worked up in the event that perhaps they replaced with a "good" unit. Nope. It arrived Friday and went through setting it up, updating, etc. and let it have a few sleep cycles. Sure enough, after spooling up some Atmos content, problem still there.

I am beyond annoyed. Will be phoning Apple in what will be another fruitless attempt to move this issue forward.

 

[Robert D]

Update on my "repair" status.

Received automated email Thursday from Apple that "repair" was complete, and replacement unit was shipping. Yup, replacement. Was furious. Decided to wait until it arrived before getting too worked up in the event that perhaps they replaced with a "good" unit. Nope. It arrived Friday and went through setting it up, updating, etc. and let it have a few sleep cycles. Sure enough, after spooling up some Atmos content, problem still there.

I am beyond annoyed. Will be phoning Apple in what will be another fruitless attempt to move this issue forward.

Thanks for going through all of this. I did that last June and had the same experience, only my new one seemed to work great until the fall around November when it messed up again! Im pretty sure there was an OS during that summer that did not have the Atmos trouble, or at least it must have been rare. I had zero issues and thought my problem was hardware and that the new one wasnt "broken". Then in November it went to crap again. It seemed to happen after an OS update.

This is a software issue I would say. I hope that having us go through the trouble helps them figure out whats wrong, but so far it seems to be doing no good.

 

[dsratx]

Oh, im still using hardwired ethernet and not wifi.

Running latest OS, WiFi, Peaky Blinders, had one drop out first episode, none second, will see what happens with third.

In general, WIFI has made a big difference for me; no idea why....

 

[Robert D]

Running latest OS, WiFi, Peaky Blinders, had one drop out first episode, none second, will see what happens with third.

In general, WIFI has made a big difference for me; no idea why....

Yeah, thats much better than the results I had with ethernet. Mine was dropping out an average of probably 4 times or more each episode. It got bad enough that I would reboot the device and then be able to finish the episode with no dropouts. So rebooting it does something beneficial.

 

[JonFo]

This is clearly a software issue, as the behaviors change with TVOS versions, content, and even connectivity.

One possible reason why Wifi connections might exhibit fewer issues is that the WiFi stack uses more buffering than the wired link, so the odds of having a large amount of data to consume by the playback process go up. Although, given that WiFi is a shared spectrum media (only one device on the air at a time), the odds of a gap go up as well.

BTW- I just spent the last two days chasing down what looked like a software issue on an embedded Linux system (router), and it turned out to be a hardware issue (SSD beginning to fail). So you never know until you chase it all down.

 

[Robert D]

For now, I just put up with the sound problem. It's not real bad because most of what I'm watching is only 5.1. When it becomes a daily event I will most probably try the nvidia shield and hope that's better. I don't think Apple is going to be able to fix this. They would have done it by now. It's been more than a year.

 

[Bonscott]

For now, I just put up with the sound problem. It's not real bad because most of what I'm watching is only 5.1. When it becomes a daily event I will most probably try the nvidia shield and hope that's better. I don't think Apple is going to be able to fix this. They would have done it by now. It's been more than a year.

IMO if this was a widespread problem for APTV 4k box’s Apple would have released a statement on it. No such issues for me although I see why there would be frustration.

 

[user 49813]

...if this was a widespread problem for APTV 4k box’s Apple would have released a statement...

That kind of a naïve take. Not to mention the use of the word "if" here. There is clearly a widespread problem, so much so that even popular Apple sites are reporting on the issue, as seen here:
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/05/06/apple-tv-dolby-atmos-audio-issues/

 

[Bonscott]

That kind of a naïve take. Not to mention the use of the word "if" here. There is clearly a widespread problem, so much so that even popular Apple sites are reporting on the issue, as seen here:
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/05/06/apple-tv-dolby-atmos-audio-issues/

Sorry I used the word widespread which you obviously got confused with Some or a Cluster of users according to the website you referred. Mac RUMORS. How about Majority of users. Because if the Majority of users had this issue and Apple acknowledged it publicly.
They would not have told you send yours in for repair.
There is a whole forum complaining about the same issue and you think by sending one unit in it will come back somehow repaired. Yes that would be Naive

 

[Robert D]

Took my chances last night and updated to the latest OS.Its been a month or more I think since it came out. I'm watching Raised By Wolves on HBO Max, and it's in dolby 5.1. At least season 1 is.

 

[Fidji99]

Just an Update on my status; My Trinnov Altitude 16 was installed on Monday and it sounds Amazing with Apple Movies and Blu-ray Discs. However I tried playing The Adam Project on Netflix again and only lasted about a minute or two into the movie and $Hit got crazy. Was so bad I had to quickly scramble for the Mute Button. Today I restarted the ATV4K and made sure the Netflix app was updated. Played the first 10 minutes of the movie again and didn't experience any issues but that's normal for Netflix and the spontaneity it has had. So for all Marantz users like I was; its definitely not a Marantz issue. Like I said in the past, I'm going to hold off on playing any Netflix Dolby Atmos content until I know for a fact its been fixed on the ATV4K.

Another new TRINNOV/ML Owner here. I can only confirm, that it sounds amazing - quick q. please, do you have any "secret tips" for ML's in Optimizer settings? I am pretty familiar with TRINNOV, just do not want to spend next 3 years searching for some hidden option, that is intended specifically for dipoles ...

Just out of curiosity - you run Fronts with ARC on or off? I can not decide, honestly what is better.

 

[IraG]

It seems that tvOS 16 has fixed the Gen 2 Atmos problem. I installed the beta and was able to play DtS S01E01 completely through on a wired connection without issue. In my experience, this was not possible on tvOS 15.x. It took Apple long enough.

 

[brockrohl]

Long time lurker but I have also had the Atmos issues (random audio drops) on my 2nd gen Apple tv 4k in Netflix. If this is true that TVOS 16 fixes this I will be so happy. Ii just downloaded now. I will have to test it in a couple hours. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[msimanyi]

I'm not a fan of beta product, but @IraG if you still haven't encountered any problems in the next few days, please report back and I'll give it a shot too.

Mike

 

[Robert D]

It seems that tvOS 16 has fixed the Gen 2 Atmos problem. I installed the beta and was able to play DtS S01E01 completely through on a wired connection without issue. In my experience, this was not possible on tvOS 15.x. It took Apple long enough.

OK, so this is the OS that is in beta right now? Ive not installed a beta yet. I guess in the menu where you install the updates there is a box somewhere that you check off if you want to try beta? I cant remember where its at.

I will probably wait a bit before trying it, but it sounds promising! Lets hope they did it. Is season 1 a season that has a lot of issues? I seem to recall from discussion on here that some seasons are worse than others for the audio drops? I dont watch the show. I did test it once and it screwed up in the first 5 minutes. Never had it happen so fast and often as on there. I think that was season 1 I tried.

 

[Robert D]

Ive been watching the latest episodes of For All Mankind on Apple tv and had just one little minor clicking sound or two happen so far this season. Apple TV isnt as bad as Netflix. I dont think ive ever had it happen on HBO Max, but ive not watched much in Atmos on there.

Im using the latest OS that is a regular version, not beta. I have up to date apps too.

 

[IraG]

OK, so this is the OS that is in beta right now? Ive not installed a beta yet. I guess in the menu where you install the updates there is a box somewhere that you check off if you want to try beta? I cant remember where its at.

I will probably wait a bit before trying it, but it sounds promising! Lets hope they did it. Is season 1 a season that has a lot of issues? I seem to recall from discussion on here that some seasons are worse than others for the audio drops? I dont watch the show. I did test it once and it screwed up in the first 5 minutes. Never had it happen so fast and often as on there. I think that was season 1 I tried.

For Robert D, and any others that prefer not to use a search engine such as Google, you have to first sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program. Then, in the System settings, turn on "Get Beta Updates".

I have had every tvOS 15.x beta on my ATV4K Gen 2 since I joined the Apple Beta Software Program, and I never encountered any issue aside from the Atmos dropouts. In my opinion, getting rid of the huge Atmos problem is worth the very slight risk associated with an Apple beta. I recommend installing the tvOS 16 beta releases -- the final release should only be about 2 months away in September.

 

[Robert D]

For Robert D, and any others that prefer not to use a search engine such as Google, you have to first sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program. Then, in the System settings, turn on "Get Beta Updates".

I have had every tvOS 15.x beta on my ATV4K Gen 2 since I joined the Apple Beta Software Program, and I never encountered any issues. In my opinion, getting rid of the huge Atmos problem is worth the very slight risk.

Thanks for the info and heads up.

 

[brockrohl]

I just watched a 2 hour movie in Dolby Atmos on Netflix and had no issues yet on TVOS 16 beta. Fingers crossed!

 

[Robert D]

I just watched a 2 hour movie in Dolby Atmos on Netflix and had no issues yet on TVOS 16 beta. Fingers crossed!

If someone installs beta, can you revert back to the standard version if you want? I'm going to guess no.