Apple TV 4th Gen and Playbar

Hi Jay MacKay

I guess the time difference between the States and Australia is messing with us :8

My reference to "Connect your cable to HDMI 1" was assuming you have a Cable TV provider with some type of interface box. If that is the case use HDMI 1 for it.

You may then connect your AppleTV to any available HDMI port. It doesn't matter which one, although if you only have the Cable box and AppleTV then HDMI 2 would be the most logical.

I'm going to share my connections that I have on 3 TV's using Cable TV and AppleTV each with a complete Sonos HT setup using either a Playbar or Beam.

TV_Samsung Plasma & Panasonic Plasma_Optical Connection to Sonos Playbar
1. Cable TV box to HDMI 1
2. AppleTV to HDMI 2
3. TV internal speakers turned off or set to external (to recognize the Sonos Playbar)

TV_Sony Bravia_HDMI-ARC connection to Sonos Beam
1. Beam to HDMI-ARC port on TV. It matters not which number (i.e. HDMI 1, 2, 3, or 4) it has to be the port labeled as HDMI-ARC. In this case it happens to be HDMI 3
2. Cable TV box to HDMI 1
3. AppleTV to HDMI 2

If you don't use CableTV you would connect your AppleTV to HDMI 1. You are correct to select HDMI as the source connection to your TV in the AppleTV menu.

Regardless if you have Cable TV or not....your AppleTV 4K settings should be as I described above...Go to > Video and Audio > Audio Output > HDMI > Menu Button > Audio Format > Auto > Audio Mode > Auto > Menu Button (Exit Out)


Here's the caveat...
1. If AppleTV is connected to HDMI 1 your TV should default to it and you should see the AppleTV landing page to select whatever you want (i.e. movies, music, apps or anything you desire)
2. If AppleTV is connected to HDMI 2, 3, or 4 you'll have to manually select the input.

If you are not getting sound when using AppleTV...check your TV's audio menu to make sure the speakers are set to an external source and not internal. This can happen with AppleTV as it does with my Samsung Smart TV. Samsung's version of AnyNet Connect for some reason rejects my Playbar as the audio player when I select AppleTV as the source (HDMI 2). I have to manually select External (in the Samsung menu) for the audio output. It only occurs when viewing AppleTV....with Cable there's no issue. I haven't determined what causes that anomaly...yet!

Since you say you are getting sound to your Playbar; when not using AppleTV, I'll rule out a defective optical cable. The only other request is that I would like to know the model number of your Pioneer Plasma; as there maybe something I can research about it.

Cheers!

Hi and appreciate your detailed response, I have tried all of the above and till not working.
Must be something wit the TV lie you say, the TV is a Pioneer Plasma PDP-427XD or XDA, i have had it quite a few years 🙂

Jay, quick bit of input, I see above Airgetlam says his PLAYBAR is connected to his Vizio TV with the optical connection. Reading elsewhere here in the Forum, I think Vizio is among the few TV's that can pass through signal from an external device (like Apple TV) through the TV and out the optical and output DD5.1. This is a very common obstacle and one of the reasons I am still using an earlier gen Apple TV with optical output to my PLAYBAR. See this article: http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/How-to-Get-5-1-Dolby-Surround-Sound-from-a-SONOS-PlayBar.shtml

Well, I think I'd characterize it more as "Vizio is one of the many TVs", rather than "few".

Thanks Tolltec21, I have read the article and was interesting. So basically i should buy a HDMI switch as my TV probably does not pass 5.1 through it correct? Would I still not get stereo out of the sonos system or would a switch solve all my issues?

I do have another question, is this just a playbar issue or would a beam solve this issue, and is a beam better than a playbar?

To be honest I do not mind if i have TV sound through the playbar, I really would be happy If I only had the Apple TV running through the sonos system, would I still need a switch for this to happen? If i do buy a switch I can have both though correct?

Thank you.

I'm still having the same issues and I am not able to use my sonos system with apple TV, any ideas on a fix? is the HDMI switch the best way or is it settings?

I'll try. I am set up similar to you. go to settings/video-audio/audio output and see what it says. If connected to HDMI ARC it should show HDMI selected. My sonos beam is called "Family Room". It shows up as well but is not selected. If you select it, your TV sound will come out of the Beam. If not, Tell alexa to play tv speaker, she will say "family room"? I say yes and then sound comes!

The annoying part for me is family room does not stay connected. So each time I switch to TV I have to go thru this process.

Any ideas from you guys? I only use Apple tv 4k and Hulu live thru Apple TV 4k as a source.

THX