I just got the Beam and done some testing with Apple TV 4K. With the "normal" setup (Apple TV > HDMI > TV > HDMI ARC > Beam) everything works perfectly fine and sound quality is great. However, I wanted to use Beam with Airplay 2 from Apple TV only, and not hook up the HDMI from TV to Beam (for various reasons). With this setup things are not all that great though. It sort of works, but the volume is a lot lower than through HDMI. Maximum volume is less than half the volume with HDMI (or Spotify) input, and quality (details) also seems worse (first impressions only). The volume control on Apple TV (with on-screen display) seems to be directly linked to the volume control on the Beam, so I can control the Beam separately from the AirPlay volume.
Anyone else experienced this, and have any tips on what can be done? Is it the same problem with AirPlay from Apple TV to Playbase and One as well?
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Some additional testing. Volume is also low when using AirPlay from Mac and iPad. Maybe a tad louder, but that might be that it's stereo downmix from these devices(?). I assume Apple TV sends 5.1 on AirPlay, but Sonos app is not showing input source from AirPlay so it's hard to say for sure.
When I AirPlay music from Spotify on iPad to Beam however, the volume seems to have normal levels, so I'm confused.
When I AirPlay music from Spotify on iPad to Beam however, the volume seems to have normal levels, so I'm confused.
I have the beam connect to my TV through HDMI as well, that seems to be OK. But as you said, we also have the option to Airplay 2 to the beam from Apple TV, but should we do that? Is that better?
It is a a bit cumbersome that you have to airplay to your beam every time you want to watch something on the Apple TV?
Edit: By doing some more testing; you should not airplay 2 to the Sonos Beam if you have a surround sound setup ? I forgot about that. Airplay 2 doesn’t seem to pass the 5.1
It is a a bit cumbersome that you have to airplay to your beam every time you want to watch something on the Apple TV?
Edit: By doing some more testing; you should not airplay 2 to the Sonos Beam if you have a surround sound setup ? I forgot about that. Airplay 2 doesn’t seem to pass the 5.1
HDMI is probably the recommended option, and if that works fine for you I don't think you need to worry about AirPlay. In my case I want to use AirPlay instead of HDMI since I don't want to use the Beam for all TV sound, but just activate it when I watch a movie on Apple TV. It's very easy to switch audio output from HDMI to AirPlay on Apple TV, so in theory this is a good option for me, but since I'm not able to get a decent performance on movies using AirPlay this option is still a no-go.
Going back to the original topic, I've read a lot of comments on various forums that HomePod-owners have the same problem when they AirPlay movie audio to their HomePods (single or stereo-paired). Seems like this might be a problem with the AirPlay protocol in general - which is a shame. In retrospect I'm glad I waited for the Beam with the HDMI option at least, and didn't buy two One's where AirPlay would have been the only option for movies.
Going back to the original topic, I've read a lot of comments on various forums that HomePod-owners have the same problem when they AirPlay movie audio to their HomePods (single or stereo-paired). Seems like this might be a problem with the AirPlay protocol in general - which is a shame. In retrospect I'm glad I waited for the Beam with the HDMI option at least, and didn't buy two One's where AirPlay would have been the only option for movies.
Homepod volume is louder for TV if you set it to PCM on the Apple TV.
For music it already gets plenty loud, much louder than I will ever use.
It works great for that but I'm also getting a Sonos 5.1 setup for home theater and using Homepod with Apple TV for music only via Siri commands and Pandora and Apple Music app on the Apple TV.
Homepod sounds so much better than anything Sonos makes for music (I sold my stereo paired Play 5's and have four HomePods in two stereo pairs) I'm good with having both plus using the HomePods for voice control of lights etc too.
So perhaps if you set the Apple TV for beam use to PCM you can get louder sound but I found the beam sounds much better when set to Dolby Digital 5.1 than PCM.
I'd really try to use optical or HDMI for the beam because of this.
For music it already gets plenty loud, much louder than I will ever use.
It works great for that but I'm also getting a Sonos 5.1 setup for home theater and using Homepod with Apple TV for music only via Siri commands and Pandora and Apple Music app on the Apple TV.
Homepod sounds so much better than anything Sonos makes for music (I sold my stereo paired Play 5's and have four HomePods in two stereo pairs) I'm good with having both plus using the HomePods for voice control of lights etc too.
So perhaps if you set the Apple TV for beam use to PCM you can get louder sound but I found the beam sounds much better when set to Dolby Digital 5.1 than PCM.
I'd really try to use optical or HDMI for the beam because of this.
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