2021 new gen Apple tv 4k Dolby Atmos Problems

MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum

Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
So, is anyone here running the newest OS 15.2? I can't remember if anyone said they are. I think the 15 OS is available now for download on the Apple tv 4k? My daughter installed it on her old I phone.

Wondering what results are on our device. I'm not touching it for awhile I think. Dont want to screw up mine since it's working flawlessly now

I've been on 15.2 and seem to only have issues now with Netflix. I've watched a lot of episodes of For All Mankind and didn't hear it. I've also rented a few movies and had no issues. Only time I have heard the issue is within Netflix thus far.
 
I've been on 15.2 and seem to only have issues now with Netflix. I've watched a lot of episodes of For All Mankind and didn't hear it. I've also rented a few movies and had no issues. Only time I have heard the issue is within Netflix thus far.
Ok. With the older 14.1.1 OS mine has no problems even on Netflix.
 
A NOTE TO MARANTZ USERS

Today appears to be the first day for a new firmware update, at least on my receiver. I just installed it. Who knows, maybe there are some fixes in there, or with my luck it will mess up everything again! :rolleyes:

So if you have a Marantz, check for updates. Im pretty sure I checked for one yesterday or the day before and there was none. Seems brand new.

I havent tested it much yet. Just watched a few minutes of tv and turned it off. Not sure if its just a coincidence, but today my Yamaha receiver I use on my PC just had a firmware update as well. Just got my new Definitive subwoofer for it, Fast service! They are doing free 3 to 5 day shipping now. Ordered it on Saturday and got it today. Came from Nashville if I remember right. Not bad considering I ordered it over the weekend. No shortage on the Descend 10. Small price discount on them too. Ordered right from their site.
 
All great info; I'll have to check my Marantz for updates. Thanks everyone for keeping this thread active with findings. If I see any f/w updates, I'll hold off until I can successively test 15.2, the Apple HDMI cable (yet to receive), and finally AVR updates. Hopefully I'll get to it this weekend; been busy with work, holiday stuff, new girl, etc. I did do some music listening via Apple Music that including Dolby Atmos tracks after updating to 15.2 and didn't notice any issues. Also, I think the issue might be the same, but manifests itself in several ways; some of us experience the popping, some the muting, some both. It seems like something is losing its sync and we hear that as popping, but perhaps it gets so far out of whack that the audio drops as the AVR tries to reestablish the connection and start decoding again. On my setup, I actually experience both; sometimes 5 sec of popping, and sometimes several seconds of muting (when muting happens, I see my Marantz drops decoding altogether, and then goes down to stereo, then to multi-ch, and finally back to Atmos before audio resumes, almost like it has to sync back up). Will be very interesting if the new HDMI cable has any affect as I'm running what I thought were 8k HDMI 2.1 cables (tried several already). But, going to go in steps so that if anything does indeed fix the issue, I'll hopefully know what part of the chain was failing.
 
All great info; I'll have to check my Marantz for updates. Thanks everyone for keeping this thread active with findings. If I see any f/w updates, I'll hold off until I can successively test 15.2, the Apple HDMI cable (yet to receive), and finally AVR updates. Hopefully I'll get to it this weekend; been busy with work, holiday stuff, new girl, etc. I did do some music listening via Apple Music that including Dolby Atmos tracks after updating to 15.2 and didn't notice any issues. Also, I think the issue might be the same, but manifests itself in several ways; some of us experience the popping, some the muting, some both. It seems like something is losing its sync and we hear that as popping, but perhaps it gets so far out of whack that the audio drops as the AVR tries to reestablish the connection and start decoding again. On my setup, I actually experience both; sometimes 5 sec of popping, and sometimes several seconds of muting (when muting happens, I see my Marantz drops decoding altogether, and then goes down to stereo, then to multi-ch, and finally back to Atmos before audio resumes, almost like it has to sync back up). Will be very interesting if the new HDMI cable has any affect as I'm running what I thought were 8k HDMI 2.1 cables (tried several already). But, going to go in steps so that if anything does indeed fix the issue, I'll hopefully know what part of the chain was failing.
I was experiencing all of those symptoms, and nothing I did cured it. It wasn't until I got the replacement apple tv 4k that the problems stopped. In my case it seemed to be a hardware problem with the APTV. I used the exact same other hardware and OS as I did with the old Apple tv, so the only thing that changed was the APTV.
 
Downloaded the software update last night on my Marantz. Was actually shocked it was there when I turned on the system since its so old in electronic years. LOL Watched a few episodes of, For All Mankind and the latest episode of Hawkeye on Disney+. Didn't experience any issues and both series are in Dolby Atmos. But again I haven't had the issues on anything except for Netflix as far as I can remember. Will test watching the same episode of True Story tonight and see if I can replicate the sound again.
 
Downloaded the software update last night on my Marantz. Was actually shocked it was there when I turned on the system since its so old in electronic years. LOL Watched a few episodes of, For All Mankind and the latest episode of Hawkeye on Disney+. Didn't experience any issues and both series are in Dolby Atmos. But again I haven't had the issues on anything except for Netflix as far as I can remember. Will test watching the same episode of True Story tonight and see if I can replicate the sound again.
Werid, because I also had issues with watching See on Apple TV. I wasnt watching Disney then. I was having more problems with Netflix, but I think its because I was watching most of my dolby atoms content on there. THe problem on Apple TV service was identical to what was happening on Netflx.
 
Downloaded the software update last night on my Marantz. Was actually shocked it was there when I turned on the system since its so old in electronic years. LOL Watched a few episodes of, For All Mankind and the latest episode of Hawkeye on Disney+. Didn't experience any issues and both series are in Dolby Atmos. But again I haven't had the issues on anything except for Netflix as far as I can remember. Will test watching the same episode of True Story tonight and see if I can replicate the sound again.
So just confirmed issue still present with tvOS 15.2. Currently installing Marantz f/w update on SR7013 and will report back. Can’t find a changelog for this update, but I guess any fixes will be nice to have. Still awaiting HDMI cable replacement from Apple to arrive.
 
So just confirmed issue still present with tvOS 15.2. Currently installing Marantz f/w update on SR7013 and will report back. Can’t find a changelog for this update, but I guess any fixes will be nice to have. Still awaiting HDMI cable replacement from Apple to arrive.
Issue still present after f/w update on the Marantz. Fingers crossed the new cable does the trick!
 
I have a Denon and I'm so sick of this problem.
I have an x4700h.
Sound united says the same EDID nonsense no matter what problems you have.
I can literally hack my edid to say anything I want it to and force it to accept certain things, not that anything here is being denied in the first place. It raised my blood pressure to see them making those responses to others on here.
I have had so many problems with sound united that they no longer respond to my emails.
They say "Our engineers tested this and it wasn't the case"
The issue u was talking about was tested over 12 months ago and there were variables.
(This was on a different issue than the atmos issue)
Have their new free box that fixes the hdmi 2.1 issue? That has audio cutouts ONLY IN ATMOS.
When I bring that to their attention, they say they aren't aware of the issue, and I sent them 5 other support ticket numbers from various community members all saying the same thing.
Every single person who got one of those stupid adapter boxes has audio cutouts in atmos, and I never even put it together that we could be experiencing the same problem here.
I'm at the point where I just need to sell this false advertised pos and get a processor. I'm in preamp mode anyway

The EDID LOL. I will never support this company again, and anything short of a full board swap is not sufficient, as I am someone who paid the extra money for an hdmi 2.1 device, and still have to use earc for my PC because the damn avr doesn't support any of the features that were advertised.

They are now selling the "HA" models that have the new boards. I bet those don't have these issues. I don't know how we aren't in lawsuit territory, when I could've saved a grand, gotten a 4500 with the same features that are available to me now.
 
Last edited:
So just confirmed issue still present with tvOS 15.2. Currently installing Marantz f/w update on SR7013 and will report back. Can’t find a changelog for this update, but I guess any fixes will be nice to have. Still awaiting HDMI cable replacement from Apple to arrive.
Ok. My Marantz is an 8012.
 
I have a Denon and I'm so sick of this problem.
I have an x4700h.
Sound united says the same EDID nonsense no matter what problems you have.
I can literally hack my edid to say anything I want it to and force it to accept certain things, not that anything here is being denied in the first place. It raised my blood pressure to see them making those responses to others on here.
I have had so many problems with sound united that they no longer respond to my emails.
They say "Our engineers tested this and it wasn't the case"
The issue u was talking about was tested over 12 months ago and there were variables.
(This was on a different issue than the atmos issue)
Have their new free box that fixes the hdmi 2.1 issue? That has audio cutouts ONLY IN ATMOS.
When I bring that to their attention, they say they aren't aware of the issue, and I sent them 5 other support ticket numbers from various community members all saying the same thing.
Every single person who got one of those stupid adapter boxes has audio cutouts in atmos, and I never even put it together that we could be experiencing the same problem here.
I'm at the point where I just need to sell this false advertised pos and get a processor. I'm in preamp mode anyway

The EDID LOL. I will never support this company again, and anything short of a full board swap is not sufficient, as I am someone who paid the extra money for an hdmi 2.1 device, and still have to use earc for my PC because the damn avr doesn't support any of the features that were advertised.

They are now selling the "HA" models that have the new boards. I bet those don't have these issues. I don't know how we aren't in lawsuit territory, when I could've saved a grand, gotten a 4500 with the same features that are available to me now.
Not sure if I understand what problem you are having. Your problem lies in the Denon receiver you think? Seems like with us the problem lies in the Applt TV 4k new gen box.
 
I have a Denon and I'm so sick of this problem.
I have an x4700h.
Sound united says the same EDID nonsense no matter what problems you have.
I can literally hack my edid to say anything I want it to and force it to accept certain things, not that anything here is being denied in the first place. It raised my blood pressure to see them making those responses to others on here.
I have had so many problems with sound united that they no longer respond to my emails.
They say "Our engineers tested this and it wasn't the case"
The issue u was talking about was tested over 12 months ago and there were variables.
(This was on a different issue than the atmos issue)
Have their new free box that fixes the hdmi 2.1 issue? That has audio cutouts ONLY IN ATMOS.
When I bring that to their attention, they say they aren't aware of the issue, and I sent them 5 other support ticket numbers from various community members all saying the same thing.
Every single person who got one of those stupid adapter boxes has audio cutouts in atmos, and I never even put it together that we could be experiencing the same problem here.
I'm at the point where I just need to sell this false advertised pos and get a processor. I'm in preamp mode anyway

The EDID LOL. I will never support this company again, and anything short of a full board swap is not sufficient, as I am someone who paid the extra money for an hdmi 2.1 device, and still have to use earc for my PC because the damn avr doesn't support any of the features that were advertised.

They are now selling the "HA" models that have the new boards. I bet those don't have these issues. I don't know how we aren't in lawsuit territory, when I could've saved a grand, gotten a 4500 with the same features that are available to me now.
Interesting you are experiencing a similar problem with Atmos audio cutting out when using the "2.1" box. What are you using for a source? I'm only vaguely familiar with the issue you mentioned as my SR7013 is only 4k/2.0, but I would also be pretty PO'ed had I purchased one for 8k/2.1 and this was their resolution. On top of it, sounds like it doesn't even fulfill the requirements stated in the specs.

We're pretty convinced our problem is in the AppleTV when using both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, as no other sources capable of these features exhibits this behavior, and there are reports of other AppleTV users using non-Denon/Marantz units claiming to also be affected. It does, however, seem likely it is something to do with the HDMI 2.1 (my gen1 ATV4k doesn't seem to exhibit this). There is quite a bit of info detailed out earlier in this thread.
 
I have a Marantz AV7706 with Gen2 APTV4K and have zero issues with Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision.
 
I have a Marantz AV7706 with Gen2 APTV4K and have zero issues with Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision.
How long have you owned the APTV4k new gen? Wondering basically how long you have been field testing it. I had mine on the 1st day, by preorder, and noticed the problem the first week I had it. That was around March this year if I remember right.
 
How long have you owned the APTV4k new gen? Wondering basically how long you have been field testing it. I had mine on the 1st day, by preorder, and noticed the problem the first week I had it. That was around March this year if I remember right.
I have had the APTV4K Gen 2 since August
 
So, no updates really; still awaiting the delivery of the HDMI cable from Apple.

But, I got to thinking about this, so started researching reviews of my 8k/48Gbps/2.1 cables (monoprice) which are presumably certified for 48Gbps. Came across many complaints about these cables (but mostly positive reviews), with one reviewer even stating they are only good up to 20Gbps, and another complaining about use with an AppleTV. These cables also show up in a bunch of "best HDMI cable" lists, but I'm really starting to wonder. Also, the wording is somewhat deceptive for these. Instead of saying they are "ultra high speed" it says "ultra 8k high speed", which could be awkward wording, or more likely marketing BS. But, easy to miss nonetheless.

Throwing this out there in case anyone else wants to do their own testing with HDMI cables. If I don't receive my Apple-shipped cable soon, I'm just going to pick up the Belkin one locally that Apple is shipping. Many people out there are stating these are the defacto standard and everything else is garbage. While I don't necessarily believe that, I'm starting to lean towards the current cables possibly being the culprit based on the reviews I've been reading, and will use the Belkin as my control for tests going forward. If anyone experiencing the "issue" happens to have an ultra high speed Belkin cable to test, let us know if it clears it up.
 
Well, the Belkin cable seemed to have solved it for me, paired with the Marantz AVR. Also, two weekends ago I swapped in a different processor - non-Marantz - and it too works without any dropouts.

I *do* notice a very slight, short click when the AppleTV changes sound encoding, but it's quite quiet and since that didn't happen on the Marantz AVR, I'm crediting it to the new processor rather than the ATV.
 
So, no updates really; still awaiting the delivery of the HDMI cable from Apple.

But, I got to thinking about this, so started researching reviews of my 8k/48Gbps/2.1 cables (monoprice) which are presumably certified for 48Gbps. Came across many complaints about these cables (but mostly positive reviews), with one reviewer even stating they are only good up to 20Gbps, and another complaining about use with an AppleTV. These cables also show up in a bunch of "best HDMI cable" lists, but I'm really starting to wonder. Also, the wording is somewhat deceptive for these. Instead of saying they are "ultra high speed" it says "ultra 8k high speed", which could be awkward wording, or more likely marketing BS. But, easy to miss nonetheless.

Throwing this out there in case anyone else wants to do their own testing with HDMI cables. If I don't receive my Apple-shipped cable soon, I'm just going to pick up the Belkin one locally that Apple is shipping. Many people out there are stating these are the defacto standard and everything else is garbage. While I don't necessarily believe that, I'm starting to lean towards the current cables possibly being the culprit based on the reviews I've been reading, and will use the Belkin as my control for tests going forward. If anyone experiencing the "issue" happens to have an ultra high speed Belkin cable to test, let us know if it clears it up.
In my case it doesn't appear to be a hdmi cable or other hardware besides the actual Apppletv 4k box. I'm using the same everything, including the same wire world sapphire hdmi cable I was using when I had the problem earlier this year. It's working well now. The only thing I changed out was the Apple box. Prior I did try a new ethernet switch, but the problem was still there. It wasn't till I got the new box from Apple that my problem went away.

Just watched the new The Matrix movie on HBO and it sounded great. No bugs.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top