Heads up, if you're using an Apple TV 4K box - New audio setting

[Artsfols]

I always try to play a soundtrack as presented by the source without altering it, other than equalizing it. I was surprised when watching a youtube video on my Apple TV box that the sound was coming through my receiver as multi-channel. (Denon X3700H). Youtube videos, for me, are always stereo. I checked the same video using my HT PC as source, and it was stereo. The Apple TV box was the culprit. I then dinked around with settings for an hour, without success, and I finally figured something must be up.
About two weeks ago, Apple TV added a new option "Continuous Audio Connection", upgraded my box, which is okay, and turned on this setting, not okay. Apparently the effect is to present all sources as multi-channel. Dolby Atmos is still passed through as is. Anything else is decoded by the box. A stereo Youtube video comes through as multi-channel with no sound in the surround speakers.
I left the setting for a time, but noticed that Neil De Grassi Tyson, a baritone or bass voice, was especially boomy tonight. (Love Star Talk, but I digress). I turned the continuous audio connection setting off, and my subwoofer went back to the sound I expected. Clearly the Apple box was passing bass through the LFE channel, perhaps even doubling the bass. No thanks. I would rather my receiver break out the bass from the stereo signal using the carefully tuned cross-overs and equalization I had set up.
Watch out for this setting. You may want to turn it off.

 

[Tre2023]

The setting was designed to fix certain issues but introduces more. Two channel signals will appear as multichannel but then cannot be up mixed. Similar behavior is present in other streamers using certain settings. Macs using multichannel output via HDMI also have up mixing quirks at the receiving end. The new setting is not available in updated Apple TV 4K Gen 1 units.

 

[Artsfols]

The setting was designed to fix certain issues but introduces more. Two channel signals will appear as multichannel but then cannot be up mixed. Similar behavior is present in other streamers using certain settings. Macs using multichannel output via HDMI also have up mixing quirks at the receiving end. The new setting is not available in updated Apple TV 4K Gen 1 units.

"Two channel signals will appear as multichannel but then cannot be up mixed"
I don't upmix, but this is a very bad consequence.
"The new setting is not available in updated Apple TV 4K Gen 1 units."
Does this mean that "Continuous Audio Connection" is always on and can't be turned off? Or does it not exist at all because they solved the quirks a different way. It'd be good to know, because these Apple 4K boxes multiply like rabbits.

 

[Tre2023]

The new feature is not available at all on Gen 1 units. I still use one because Gen 2 and Gen 3 offered nothing I felt was essential for me to upgrade and I do not have to worry about that “Continuous Audio Connection” setting.

When a new Apple TV 4K can Passthrough/Bitstream signals, I may reconsider. Silly that it was never updated to do so. My Mac mini M1 was updated to do so, though only from the Apple TV and Apple Music apps. But, I digress.

 

[OCA]

It doesn’t really feel like a meaningful feature. Instead, it comes across as another questionable implementation layered on top of an already flawed approach. Apple’s effort to curb potential misuse such as restricting TrueHD HDMI pass-through ends up penalizing regular users, effectively blocking proper Dolby Atmos playback for many who just want a high quality audio experience they have paid for.

 

[kyuu]

All this crap is really irritating. I've considered getting an Apple TV just for some multichannel music streaming goodness, since I can't do any multichannel music streaming on my PS5 that handles the rest of my streaming needs for some reason. All these weird decisions and restrictions definitely tamps down on that desire, however. Guess I'll have to stick with trying to source the dwindling supply of multichannel DVD/Blu-ray releases.

 

[-Matt-]

So sad that Apple still refuses to just implement proper passthrough audio.

 

[DavidMcRoy]

Thanks for the heads-up. I have three Apple TV4Ks, none of them updated, because two only get used seasonally on my deck, and the third is just collecting dust since I find myself just using the apps running on my LG OLED evo TV.

I use the one on the (indoor) LG to run an AudioTools app for Dolby Atmos test signals. I tried to use it for that the other day, and it refused to put out anything but 2.0 PCM on ANY source from ANY app. Time to update and troubleshoot.

 

[RiverStreamSounds]

I hope they release an updated Nvidia Shield. That was (and continues to be) the streaming king.

 

[Bobby Bass]

Frustrating to hear about issues with the latest update. I use Apple TV 4K to stream Dolby Atmos for music. I have the feature turned on and it doesn’t impact the channel signal sent to my Marantz Cinema 30. If it’s in atmos or 2 channel stereo it sends the proper signal. One thing I have noticed since the update is that occasionally the music on Apple Music will stop playing mid-song. Sometimes it will restart on its own. Other times I can restart it using the remote and other times it goes back to the main menu and I have to start over. Very frustrating. Come on Apple you can do better!