2021 new gen Apple tv 4k Dolby Atmos Problems

[Robert D]

Everything else but this dolby Atmos problem is top notch on the Apple tv in my opinion. Thats another reason I keep using it. If the whole thing stunk I would just throw it in the trash.

Maybe we can get a good number of Shield users on here reporting their feelings about the Shield. Is it overall as good as the Apple, worse, or better? Sounds like the Atmos works like it should on all of the major services that offer Atmos, even Netflix?

 

[IraG]

I just tested mine out using Se. 4 Ep. 8 of DTS, and it took 10+ minutes in before I got the drop.
I verified on the latest OS (15.4.1) and the Netflix app was in the 'Recently updated' list. The UI is the Apple player UI, so it's current.

I hit pause to do some other things for 15 minutes, and when I restarted it, it was massively dropping twice a minute for a bit. This was when the show was doing rapid quick-cuts of the start of the race, and drops seem to align with those transitions. So possible the authoring of the show has some issues that make these drops more likely, but who knows.

Your experience supports my speculation that a busier Atmos track, and perhaps higher BW video such as during the more intense DTS scenes (the reasons I use DTS S1E1 as test material), contributes to more frequent Atmos dropouts, but I respectfully disagree that it is an authoring issue. I believe an authoring issue should also affect other streamers and shouldn’t result in such randomness in where the dropouts occur.

That would leave the audio decoding and the creation of the Atmos MAT 2.0 metadata as possible candidates. Again, I would expect a decoding issue to be less random and affect other streaming boxes, including the Gen 1. That leaves the MAT 2.0 creation, which is the only thing that the ATV4K does that other streamers do not do. I also believe that is where a busier Atmos track would be most likely to cause timing or other errors.

But who knows? And who cares? Just us. Certainly not Apple.

 

[dmb219]

I have a Shield Pro and I like it a lot. It passes through audio data perfectly including DTS MA, DTS True HD and DTS-X which is lossless. This would come from remuxes using Plex or a similar source. All the audio from streaming services work fine including stereo, Dolby, DD+ and Atmos. HDR and Dolby Vision are supported and the AI upscaling improves HD video nicely. The Shields from 2015 and 2017 are getting the same updates as the newest model. Who knows when or if a new model will come.

 

[JonFo]

Your experience supports my speculation that a busier Atmos track, and perhaps higher BW video such as during the more intense DTS scenes (the reasons I use DTS S1E1 as test material), contributes to more frequent Atmos dropouts, but I respectfully disagree that it is an authoring issue. I believe an authoring issue should also affect other streamers and shouldn’t result in such randomness in where the dropouts occur.

The authoring contrast was vs other DV/Atmos content on the ATV itself. If the bitrates used in DTS are higher than other content, or have transitions that occur more frequently, they could be exposing bugs in the areas you mention due to the decode/re-encode process the ATV performs.

Like the Shield Pro I also have, other streamers simply pass the raw DD+ stream with no further changes and thus seem to not suffer from the drop-out. I had to finish Season 4 of DTS on the Shield when it first came out, as that was the only way to get a decent audio experience.

 

[Robert D]

I have a Shield Pro and I like it a lot. It passes through audio data perfectly including DTS MA, DTS True HD and DTS-X which is lossless. This would come from remuxes using Plex or a similar source. All the audio from streaming services work fine including stereo, Dolby, DD+ and Atmos. HDR and Dolby Vision are supported and the AI upscaling improves HD video nicely. The Shields from 2015 and 2017 are getting the same updates as the newest model. Who knows when or if a new model will come.

Ok, so the newest model was released around 2017?

 

[Robert D]

The authoring contrast was vs other DV/Atmos content on the ATV itself. If the bitrates used in DTS are higher than other content, or have transitions that occur more frequently, they could be exposing bugs in the areas you mention due to the decode/re-encode process the ATV performs.

Like the Shield Pro I also have, other streamers simply pass the raw DD+ stream with no further changes and thus seem to not suffer from the drop-out. I had to finish Season 4 of DTS on the Shield when it first came out, as that was the only way to get a decent audio experience.

So what's the reason that Apple tv decodes the Atmos signal rather than just pass the raw stream on? Something to do with Sirri?

I'm guessing that it decodes all of the audio formats, or is it just Atmos? If it decodes all formats, why just trouble with Atmos? Is it because the stream has more data?

 

[IEnjoyOLED]

Ok, so the newest model was released around 2017?

My Shield Pro was released in 2019 and AFAIK is the most recent. It’s what I use in my main system. It works fine; I find the UI a bit clunky.

My second system uses a Roku. My bedroom system just uses LG smart features. The ATV 4K is an expensive dust magnet that one of my kids says he wants.

 

[Robert D]

My Shield Pro was released in 2019 and AFAIK is the most recent. It’s what I use in my main system. It works fine; I find the UI a bit clunky.

My second system uses a Roku. My bedroom system just uses LG smart features. The ATV 4K is an expensive dust magnet that one of my kids says he wants.

So the Apple UI is better, but other than that the Shield is better? How does the Dolby vision picture compare? I like how the Apple upscales the picture to Dolby Vision if it's not natively. The Amazon Firestick does that too. I'm guessing the Shield does that too?

How does the sound quality compare to the Apple? Not considering the obvious Atmos bug.

I think the Shield is probably my obvious choice if the picture and sound are as good as the Apple. I'm tired of the bug.

 

[Robert D]

The web page for Shield lists some formats as being pass through, but doesn't say so for Atmos.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/shield-tv-pro/

 

[IEnjoyOLED]

Ok, so the newest model was released around 2017?

I bel

The web page for Shield lists some formats as being pass through, but doesn't say so for Atmos.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/shield-tv-pro/

I don’t know, but I definitely play Atmos over it and sounds darned good. One of my “go to” demos is the opening titles for Roma which has a lackluster B/W video but detailed Atmos track. I close my eyes and I’m right near the cleaning lady. And, the plane reflection tracks well across the top. Imo, it’s the “acoustic bubble” that everyone talks about.

 

[Robert D]

I bel

I don’t know, but I definitely play Atmos over it and sounds darned good. One of my “go to” demos is the opening titles for Roma which has a lackluster B/W video but detailed Atmos track. I close my eyes and I’m right near the cleaning lady. And, the plane reflection tracks well across the top. Imo, it’s the “acoustic bubble” that everyone talks about.

Thanks, That's the kind of feedback I was looking for. I want to be able to sit down and enjoy that without having to pause and rewind the show to get through it.

 

[JLasher22443]

Update for my setup; watched the almost 3 hour movie "The Batman" last night on HBO Max and no issues at all. Even paused the movie for about 15 minutes to heat up some dinner. No drops pops, or clicks at all.

 

[Robert D]

Update for my setup; watched the almost 3 hour movie "The Batman" last night on HBO Max and no issues at all. Even paused the movie for about 15 minutes to heat up some dinner. No drops pops, or clicks at all.

I plan on watching that also. I have never had an issue with Atmos on HBO Max either. My only problem with declaring HBO to have no problems is the fact that I've not watched near the hours of Atmos Content that I have on Netflix. Maybe I just got lucky on HBO Max? Probably not.

 

[JLasher22443]

I plan on watching that also. I have never had an issue with Atmos on HBO Max either. My only problem with declaring HBO to have no problems is the fact that I've not watched near the hours of Atmos Content that I have on Netflix. Maybe I just got lucky on HBO Max? Probably not.

Hey Robert I'm just curious; when you buy a new movie what App do you purchase the movie on and watch it with? Like did you purchase the latest Spider-Man? Just curious.

 

[Robert D]

Hey Robert I'm just curious; when you buy a new movie what App do you purchase the movie on and watch it with? Like did you purchase the latest Spider-Man? Just curious.

I've not bought a movie for streaming in a long time, but when I do I use Amazon. Most things I care about, I buy on 4k blu-ray.

I think the last streaming movie i bought was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. No problems on Amazon, but I've only watched 1 or 2 Atmos shows on there. I'm not a Prime member, so only use it to watch shows I've bought.

I plan on trying Prime out when Lord of the Rings comes out.

 

[Robert D]

Update for my setup; watched the almost 3 hour movie "The Batman" last night on HBO Max and no issues at all. Even paused the movie for about 15 minutes to heat up some dinner. No drops pops, or clicks at all.

Just finished The Batman Movie. It was flawless until one of the very last scenes. When Batman and Catwoman were riding through what looked like a graveyard, it happened. 1 second the sound muted but then came back on. That was it. So for 3 hours, it did pretty good. It still happened though.

That was the very first time it has happened to me on HBO MAX. So for me, it has happened on :Netflix, HBO MAX, and Apple tv+.

 

[Robert D]

Any software updates lately? I've gone back to not doing updates for awhile. Wondering if anything has changed.

 

[Robert D]

Anyone else have a Paramount plus sub? I do and I'm watching The Stand now. It's only Dolby 5.1. I did look at the series Imfinite and its in Atmos. Wondering if anyone here has watched much Atmos content on this service and what's your experience like?

 

[JLasher22443]

Anyone else have a Paramount plus sub? I do and I'm watching The Stand now. It's only Dolby 5.1. I did look at the series Imfinite and its in Atmos. Wondering if anyone here has watched much Atmos content on this service and what's your experience like?

Yes I have the subscription. Needed it for 1883 and Mayor of Kingston. I did watch the movie Infinite and I can't remember if it had any issues.

 

[Robert D]

Yes I have the subscription. Needed it for 1883 and Mayor of Kingston. I did watch the movie Infinite and I can't remember if it had any issues.

Ok. I've not watched it yet. I got the service too for those 2 shows.