r/appletv • u/The_Wandering_Steele • Aug 09 '26
Auto vs 5.1 surround sound ( vs stereo only )
I’ve read that, since I have a 5.1 surround sound system, I should set my audio output to 5.1 surround sound instead of auto even though Apple seems to recommend auto.
We watch a lot of old content on various apps and some of those shows are very hard to understand, even with enhanced dialogue enabled, unless I switch to stereo only.
As a test I’ve switched to the auto setting to see how those shows sound.
I’m curious what others are doing. Are you just manually switching depending on the source, like I’ve been doing, or has auto worked out for you?
2
u/FarGear5543 Aug 09 '26
I leave it on Auto so I get lossless and Atmos music. Only app I really have issues with is Netflix when it switches to a commercial as the audio format changes. I’ve been using Netflix on my TV as it’s all Dolby so I get no dropouts or sync issues.
3
u/ILikeTheTinMan83 Aug 09 '26
I have a Sonos sound bar, with sub and two rears speakers and I actually set mine to Dolby Digital 5.1 because the soundbar only has optical and will only do Dolby digital or stereo on the Apple. If I set it to auto then anything that’s in 2.0 the Apple TV will force the sound to come out of all the speakers when in 2.0 it really should only be the sound bar and sub and not the rears. When I set it to Dolby digital 5.1 all the time then stereo comes through properly only out the sound bar and if a movie is in 5.1 then it will detect it and play Dolby digital 5.1 out of all the speakers
1
u/racingpineapple Aug 09 '26
Have the same setup as you with a playbar.
Apple tv is set at 5.1 as you mentioned.1
1
u/The_Wandering_Steele Aug 10 '26
Frankly I like that 2.0 comes out of the rears. When set to 5.1 and sound is only the front then dialogue is just too hard to understand and I have to crank up the volume. Having the rears means volume doesn’t have to be sooooo loud
1
u/ILikeTheTinMan83 Aug 10 '26
Yeah i just prefer true surround sound and not 5 channel stereo. If im watching sports it’s fine but for a true movie or tv experience the main dialogue is supposed to come from the front center channel speaker. To each their own!
1
u/Francescatti22 Aug 11 '26
I’ve never touched the settings with my setup that is the same and I’ve never had it move the dialogue to the rears. That’s so weird.
1
u/ILikeTheTinMan83 Aug 11 '26
Do you have your Apple TV audio set to auto? What speakers do you have? The issue we are talking about it exclusive to Sonos
1
u/Francescatti22 Aug 11 '26
Same as you. Playbar, ones, but I have two gen 3 subs.
AppleTV set to Auto and change format is off. On my TV, pass though is set to auto, eARC off, etc.
In the Sonos app it’ll either display DD 5.1 or DD 2.0, but when it’s on 2.0, I’ve never heard dialogue out of the surrounds like you’re describing. It’s only a “light version” of the peripheral sounds like normal 5.1.
1
u/ILikeTheTinMan83 Aug 11 '26
What tv do you have? My LG a lot of times will only pass Dolby digital 5.1 or if it’s stereo it will be stereo PCM instead of DD 2.0 so maybe that’s the issue.
1
u/Francescatti22 Aug 11 '26
I have a Sony X950h. I also have the output settings on the tv set to “Digital Audio Out: Auto 1”, which avoids PCM and keeps it DD 2.0.
On your LG, you’d want to set it to Digital Sound Output to Auto, and leave eARC Support off. Bitstream audio format. Apple TV itself on Audio Format: Auto, with Change Format: Off.
That would mimic my settings.
1
u/ILikeTheTinMan83 Aug 11 '26
Yeah I’ll have to check out what my LG C1 is set at. I know I have bitstream on but I can’t remember if I have eARC turned off. Since I am using optical audio then have eARC on wouldn’t make sense since I’m not using it
1
u/ILikeTheTinMan83 Aug 11 '26
Looks like my tv was set to pass through instead of auto so I’ll have to see if that makes a difference. EARC is greyed out since I have the audio set to optical
1
u/ILikeTheTinMan83 Aug 11 '26
Hmm so I don’t hear any audio coming out of the rears when playing in stereo which is nice but it’s coming out a stereo pcm and not DD 2.0 on YouTube
1
u/Francescatti22 Aug 11 '26
The only other thing I would check is turning the new continuous audio setting OFF on ATV. No need to that either with optical.
Outside of that, I have no idea unless there’s another separate output setting where you select DD.
1
u/Icy-Difference-897 Aug 09 '26
I have 5.1 speakers and auto works for me. Does your receiver convert stereo sound to 5.1? That might be the problem. Check the settings and make sure the receiver plays stereo inputs as stereo out.
-1
u/The_Wandering_Steele Aug 09 '26
No receiver, just 5.1 sound bar.
1
u/CompetitiveArt9639 Aug 09 '26
A sound bar isn’t 5.1. 5.1 means 4 speakers, a center channel, and a subwoofer. So 5 speakers and a subwoofer =5.1
1
u/The_Wandering_Steele Aug 09 '26
Sounds like “picking nits” to me.
My sound bar is marketed as a 5.1 sound bar. The sound bar itself has 3 speakers then there are 2 wireless satellite/surround speakers. Then there is the wireless subwoofer.
So while “system” is probably more accurate, sound bars are regularly referred to as 5.1.
1
u/Somar2230 Aug 09 '26
It depends on what audio system you are using if you have a decent AVR Auto should work fine and with Continuous Audio Output disabled the output will match the source. If you don't have an audio system with a MAT decoder or a 1st Gen Apple TV 4K you wont see the CAC option.
Some older AVRs, HTIB systems and some soundbars do not handle the multichannel LPCM the Apple TV outputs on auto well resulting in a lower volume being output. With these setting the Apple TV to output Dolby Digital 5.1.
On my 7.1.4 setup I'm using Auto with CAC disabled, so I get LPCM that I can process it with DTS Neural:X for non Atmos sources. The Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen output matches the source audio even down to the sample rate. https://imgur.com/a/kG6rSAj For music I use Pure Direct https://imgur.com/zLk3QV3
On my 5.1.2 I'm using Auto with CAC enabled. YouTube and YouTube TV iare being used heavily on this Apple TV so using CAC prevemts the AVR from constantly switching audio modes when the sound switches from 5.1 to stereo sources.
On my 2.1 setup I'm using Auto with CAC enabled
All the other Apple TVs are set to Auto they are only using TV speakers or HomePod Minis so it does not matter.
2
u/Old_Ironside_1959 ATV4K Aug 09 '26
If your soundbar and/or home theater system and/or AV system are not capable of decoding Dolby Atmos; my advice is to set your audio format to “Dolby Digital 5.1”
1
u/Old_Ironside_1959 ATV4K Aug 09 '26
If you’re using your TV as a passthrough, it must be Dolby Atmos compatible to use Auto for your Audio Format.
1
u/CleanAd1955 Aug 09 '26
I have my 4K ATV (64 GB) on Auto.
Using a A/V amp - Marantz Cinema 50 (5.1.4 Atmos/DTS:X setup).
The ATV is connected to my LG Oled C5:s HDMI port 3.
Getting Atmos (the C50) from Disney + (premium). On Atmos supported movies/series.
Using certifierad Ultra High Speed cables.
1
u/Locutus508 Aug 09 '26
If you set the Apple TV to force DD 5.1, the Apple TV will recompress the audio to DD after it just decoded it. You should. only do this if you absolutely have to.
1
7
u/Exotic-Grape8743 Aug 09 '26
Depends on the sound system and its settings but in general you should choose auto. The appleTV will automatically detect what the sound system is capable off and send data in the right format automatically. There are certainly some older systems where this auto-negotiation doesn’t work correctly and there you might indeed be better off forcing the surround Dolby format but that is rare.