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Audio dropout from Sonos with Apple TV 4k

  • 7 October 2017
  • 14 replies
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Since purchasing the Apple TV 4k, I get about 1/2 second audio dropout once every three songs or so and during shows or movies. I don’t have this issue if I am streaming to the PLAYBAR from my iOS device from the Sonos app, but just when watching something or playing music directly from the new Apple TV. However, if I listen to audio from the Apple TV with Bluetooth headphones, there are no audio dropouts. Any help is appreciated!
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Best answer by Theocritus125 9 October 2017, 00:56

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14 replies

Same issue as Theocritus125. Was working fine for many days but just today, dropouts and same symptoms as described above.
I seem to have fixed it for the moment by moving my HDMI cord from the Apple TV to an input on my Sony Bravia TV that has HDMI/ARC.
I set my audio setting on my Samsung TV to PCM vs Dolby Digital. Funny thing was I had this problem with the tv and the FIOS box until a recent sonos patch. My old Apple TV worked fine with Dolby setting. Now I have to set my audio to Dolby when watching FIOS and downgrade it for Apple TV 4K to PCM. Someday I hope all can work together.
I am showing that Sonos is using Dolby 5.1 in the setup I described above. Might be worth your while to see if one of your HDMI ports is ARC. After working on it all day, I finally have it just as I want it with no dropouts.
Well now that fix on my side is failing. Even in the audio format that was working for my FIOS box fix is now failing. I will try direct into the tv as this Samsung has a mini hub that takes all the outputs from devices and then has master input to tv for video and optical to the playbar. I switched watching a show on Apple TV for showtime directly to my on demand in FIOS and sound is fine with Dolby set again. So the problem is centered on the Apple TV unit with sonos but will keep trying options related to hardware setup.
I have the same problem.. anyone an idea how to fix this?
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I’ve been experiencing this issue as well. Also with a Sony Bravia TV. I’ve tried brand new HDMI cables thinking that was possibly the issue and that did not fix it. I will try using input 3 which is HDMI/ARC and see if that fixes it. That seems like a strange fix which I don really understand. Is this still resolving the issue for you Theo?
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Still getting this issue. Tried the ARC input, new HDMI cable and new optical cable. I’m at a loss here
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well after switching inputs, changing HDMI cables, and buying a new optical cable, I've finally figured out the issue....WiFi. I've been using WiFi on my apple tv and I tried switching to a wired connection and since then I've no longer had any audio drops.

This is curious to me because when I experienced the issue the video quality never degraded, it was only ever audio drops, which is what led me to suspect a cable or hardware issue. Now I need to try and figure out why WiFi was not working optimally as my router should be able to handle it
I would have never guessed that, either. I was under the impression on a digital signal that the video would get messed up first, before the sound. I'm delighted you figured that out, I'll have to keep an eye out for it as well.
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I'm wondering if using Apple TV with Sonos via optical (the apple TV has to convert everything to dolby 5.1) exacerbated the issue which resulted in the audio drops. So while the root cause was a bandwidth issue for streaming, the symptom was audio drops due to the nature of how optical works
well after switching inputs, changing HDMI cables, and buying a new optical cable, I've finally figured out the issue....WiFi. I've been using WiFi on my apple tv and I tried switching to a wired connection and since then I've no longer had any audio drops.

This is curious to me because when I experienced the issue the video quality never degraded, it was only ever audio drops, which is what led me to suspect a cable or hardware issue. Now I need to try and figure out why WiFi was not working optimally as my router should be able to handle it


Funny enough I tried the opposite. I have a similar setup but with an LG tv. I switched my Apple TV 4K to WiFi and my audio issues are resolved with Dolby 5.1. Makes absolutely no sense to me.
Seems like this isn't 100% resolved. My Apple TV is hard wired to the router, and connected via HDMI cable to my new Sony Bravia x900e via HDMI/ARC port and yet my volume continues to deteriorate to a point I can hardly hear anything from the Playbar. All other audio inputs work fine such as the TV controls and apps, PlayStation etc.Can someone please advise?
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Experiencing these drop outs as well on a new Beam. Never had this problem when was using AudioEngine powered speakers.