No sound from Sonos One stereo pair and Apple TV 4k

9 replies
906 views

Please help! I am using VLC on the Apple TV (HDMI to a projector) to play local video files for a film screening but the Sonos One stereo pair I created won't play sound. The 'room' appears as an output option in the Audio settings of the Apple TV but when I select it (instead of the HDMI) I get no sound. I've tried leaving the HDMI option selected (you can set both) but still nothing. Any leads would be appreciated.
Thanks.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Airgetlam

First off, this is nothing I’ve ever done, so there is only guessing here.

What format is the audio in? The only thing the Sonos will interpret here is stereo, so you may want to go in to the Apple TV’s audio settings and make sure it is transcoding to Stereo. And I’ve never tried that, either. I do know it transcodes from DTS to Dolby Digital, but I don’t know offhand if it goes all the way to stereo.

You may want to start by just playing music first, and making sure the Sonos is taking the signal from the Apple TV. Once you’ve confirmed that, you could move on to video.

My recollection is not all apps have the wiring built in to use AirPlay 2 either, so it might be worth checking more than one video app.

Bruce

H

HDACAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks Bruce,
It does work when I play out of the Podcast app, so I consider that a confirmed connection. On the VLC forums I can find posts about latency/sync issues, and others who say it works fine, but none relating complete silence.

Airgetlam

Well, eliminating some of the equation is a good thing.

I haven't touched VLC in years, and certainly never in an iOS environment on an Apple TV. I'd hazard a guess that there's some sort of audio settings in the app. But now we've gone into Apple TV and not Sonos world, and my knowledge is significantly less, as I suspect many users here are. You may want to check to see if there's a VLC support forum out there somewhere.

Bruce

H

HDACAuthor

Contributor I

Does anyone successfully use a Sonos One stereo pair with their apple tv 4k?

H

HDACAuthor

Contributor I

It's bizarre because when I look at the Sonos app on my iPhone it shows the video is playing, in the app.

H

HDACAuthor

Contributor I

I've paired a little Sony Bluetooth speaker with the Apple TV and the audio plays fine. Why won't Sonos work?

Airgetlam

As I understand it, Bluetooth is a system level process, whereas AirPlay 2 requires additional code hooks built in to the individual app.

Bruce

H

HDACAuthor

Contributor I

YouTube app plays fine so it seems to be an issue specifically with VLC for tvOS. Since Apple TV has no other way of using the built in hard drive for video playback I'll have to return the Sonos and use a Bluetooth speaker (which works with VLC).

Airgetlam

I’d hazard a guess that VLC hasn’t updated their software to allow an AirPlay 2 signal to be generated from the app. You may want to contact them, this is not an issue with Sonos in any way.

Bruce

Sign up

Login to the community