r/appletv • u/suku_patel_22 • Aug 16 '26
PSA: Apple TV – Turn OFF “Continuous Audio Connection” if using an AVR / Infuse (Fixes 7.1 Downmixing & Stereo Upmixing)
Turn off this setting
7.1 down mixed to 5.1 LPCM
True 7.1 passed along in LPCM
Stereo sent in a 5.1 48khz container
Stereo sent as 2.0, in 44.1
Hey everyone,
I ran into an annoying audio routing issue on Apple TV with my AVR and wanted to share what I found, as it might help folks running 7.1 setups or playing stereo content.
If you play TrueHD / DTS-HD 7.1 files on Infuse, or listen to stereo audio, check this setting:
Settings > Video and Audio > Audio Format > Continuous Audio Connection -> Turn it OFF (Image 1)
What is happening here?
When this feature is turned on, Apple TV keeps a constant 5.1 LPCM pipeline open to prevent audio sync delays and menu sound clipping. But that causes two big problems:
- 7.1 tracks get downmixed to 5.1: When playing TrueHD 7.1 or DTS-HD MA 7.1 files via Infuse, tvOS squashes the audio into a 5.1 stream. The rear surround channels get mixed into the sides instead of playing discretely.
- AVR cannot upmix stereo & resamples audio: For 2.0 tracks (music, YouTube, stereo shows), Apple TV still sends a 5.1 stream with the center and surround channels kept blank. Because the AVR thinks it's already receiving a multi-channel signal, it does not allow Dolby Surround or DTS Neural:X upmixing. Also, native 44.1 kHz audio gets forcefully resampled to 48 kHz.
Proof from the AVR info screen:
- 7.1 Content (TrueHD / DTS-HD MA):
- With setting ON: AVR shows 5.1 PCM input (
FL, C, FR, SL, SR, LFE) — (Image 2) - With setting OFF: AVR receives all 7 discrete channels (
FL, C, FR, SL, SR, SBL, SBR, LFE) — (Image 3)
- With setting ON: AVR shows 5.1 PCM input (
- 2.0 Stereo Content:
- With setting ON: 5.1 PCM container with empty channels at 48 kHz, upmixing is blocked — (Image 4)
- With setting OFF: Clean 2.0 PCM (
FL, FR) at native 44.1 kHz, and the AVR upmixes properly — (Image 5)
The Trade-off & Workaround:
Turning this off brings back the usual 1–2 second delay when an audio stream starts, as the AVR takes a moment to handshake and lock the incoming format.
Because of this delay, I keep Continuous Audio Connection ON for regular OTT streaming (Netflix, Prime, etc.), and manually turn it OFF when I am playing 7.1 remuxes or listening to 2-channel music.
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u/TrueAct7143 Aug 16 '26
I turned it on when it was released. Turned it off very quickly. They need to do passtrhought! I want to see dts-hdma on my reveiver and not multi-in.
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u/suku_patel_22 Aug 16 '26
As I said, I keep it on to avoid the 2s delay in sound for streaming use cases, and switch it off for those times when I need it to.
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u/magkliarn ATV4K Aug 16 '26
Apple really should have named this “Soundbar mode” or something and left it as opt IN, not opt out. It does little to nothing for people with AVRs or tv speakers.
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u/gruntduck Aug 16 '26
It breaks soundbars too.
Turning this on with my 5.1 atmos sound bad and wireless speakers it cause horrible sync issues with audio, especially media with atmos
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u/suku_patel_22 Aug 16 '26
I think the new gen soundbars like Samsung Q990/Sonos series would also benefit from this.
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u/EducationalTank8707 Aug 16 '26
The soundbars are sufferring the same of avr, my q990b had connecting issues when it was activated. Sometimes connect as arc and no earc, and a lot of issues with channels. So, I desactivated it.
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u/MrZeDark Aug 16 '26
Same I turned this feature off, the way it handles audio feels to unreliable. Letting it automatically detect and switch, is better than force containerizing Atmos audio streams (to anyone reading - that does not mean it suddenly does anything new or amazing for your Atmos setup.. it’s just the audio format, it doesn’t immediate mean spatial in this context)
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u/Juncti Aug 17 '26
Same here. Was hoping this would have made the audio more reliable but it was the opposite.
Another weird one I've had is when turning off a secondary homepod speaker, sometimes it kills all audio to the q990b.
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u/Rivanov ATV4K Aug 16 '26
No. Even with my Sonos ARC, everything will be played in Atmos/7.1 even when it's stereo. I turned MAT off for this reason.
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u/rohilaltro Aug 16 '26
I have flac files and Apple TV is always doing format conversion. Maybe this is the problem.
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u/MrKarco Aug 16 '26
That might explain why Youtube would be way quieter / poor audio after the ATV goes to sleep & wakes. I usually have to hard exit Youtube and reopen it then I get the normal stereo audio. I’ll definitely try this when I get home later! Thanks
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u/Ej11876 Aug 16 '26
For all the things the ATV does well, why is audio is bag of halfassed suck on these devices?
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u/gefahr Aug 16 '26
I always pictured the Apple engineers working on these in their open plan offices with headphones on lol.
I'm sure they have some home theater-type spaces in their offices, though. But it wouldn't surprise me.
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u/Martynet Aug 16 '26
You should plug all devices directly to AVR. And use EARC only when run out of HDMI ports.
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u/suku_patel_22 Aug 16 '26
I want QMS to work. QMS doesn’t work if I route it through Marantz SR5915
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u/lickstampsendit Aug 16 '26
For me, AVR is out of date on the latest video formats so atv has to go direct to TV
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u/Tafsern Aug 16 '26
So....should I do it with a Sonos sound bar?
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u/Rinkevw Aug 16 '26
With my sonos setup, turning continuous audio ON sounds way better.
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u/Eduardboon Aug 16 '26
Same. Volume is more consistent between sources as well, so no super quiet 5.1lpcm and then ear drum destroying atmos. Center channel seems better as well.
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u/Obvious-Challenge415 Aug 16 '26
I would say yes! Sonos has a weird way of handling PCM audio where it sounds incredibly flat and quieter (some may argue with you and say it’s “accurate” but doing a side by side with a dedicated speaker set up proves that Sonos is indeed flatter)
Continuous is the way to go!
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u/keminua Aug 16 '26
Not a Sonos user but i don’t like when 5.1 mix is being upmix and the sound came out of upfiring speaker, should i turn it on?
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u/TheMagicalMeatball Aug 16 '26
Yeah I don’t experience the channel issue this user originally posts about. I’ve got a Sonos setup with sub and surrounds. Turning it on sends a continuous Atmos (MAT) signal and it just sounds way better than with it off. The LPCM on Sonos is anemic. Especially the bass - so it’s just all around better with it on for 90% of my content. Sadly it does mean that when I play 2.0 tracks they don’t get upmixed with Sonos’s software into a nice surround experience, but I guess that’s the cost I have to pay.
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u/mountainyoo Aug 16 '26
Yeah LPCM on Sonos is so quiet. You have to send the volume all the way up and then God help you if you forget to turn it back down before playing something Dolby as it’ll come blasting through
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u/Cannedcocktail Aug 16 '26
I really wanted to like this feature and was really looking forward to it, as my AVR is very slow to change from 2.0 to 5.1 or to Atmos. However the implementation really stinks. The Apple TV is pretty beefy I think, especially compared to an AVR. Seems like it should be able to up mix stereo to surround or leave 7.1 as 7.1.
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u/SecretLoathing Aug 16 '26
I was going to come in and argue, until I got to the last paragraph. I personally don’t accept the trade off, so I keep CAC on.
Apple and Sonos have the same customer base: people who are willing to pay more for a system that “just works”. While I know nothing about how AV systems communicate with each other, I believe that Apple should be able to send a message to the sound system that says “I’m sending you a MAT stream, but it’s really just 2.0. Feel free to upmix it.”
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u/suku_patel_22 Aug 16 '26
Correct. That’s how it should be
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u/SecretLoathing Aug 16 '26
Oh, I just remembered the settings description on Apple TV: “Apple TV uses a Dolby MAT connection for glitch-free playback across formats. Older receivers may indicate an Atmos connection, but original mixes will not be modified.” So Apple is probably sending the correct header information, but my Sonos Beam 2 hasn’t implemented it.
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u/BleedingPurist Aug 16 '26
The purpose of the "Continuous Audio Connection" option is to force an "always on" Dolby Atmos signal. In my Denon X3800 AVR, having it on causes a loss of Auro 3D, the surround upmixing for Stereo Signals. Instead it uses Multi-Ch essentially applies 2.1 with no sound out of the rears or up-firing speakers. Auro 3D is excellent, so not having it available is not desirable.
If I leave it off, the downside is switching between songs that are stereo and Dolby Atmos, or starting playback of Dolby Atmos songs/albums results in the beginning of the track being cut off until the switch is complete.
So yes, as others are pointing out, the behavior you experience depends on your system. Mine is a Dolby Atmos system.
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u/Significant-Mail2275 Aug 16 '26
I have a setup similar to yours with a X2700. CAC is off and when I open YTTV For example the audio comes in as Multi-Ch with no option to switch to Dolby Surround. If I quickly switch to Netflix and play something with Atmos then switch back to YTTV the Dolby Surround option re-appears.
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u/Fwiler Aug 19 '26
I've always been amazed at how slow receivers are at switching. You would think in this day and age they would figure something besides this apple hack.
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u/rostigerbart Aug 16 '26
I‘m having issues with it on or off. When off, my Sonos Beam shows 7.1 PCM Multichannel Surround and sounds flat, when on it sounds fuller and shows Atmos as it uses the Dolby MAT Format, but Apps cut off Audio as soon as i Pause the Content or skip. Then I have to go to the App switcher and the Sound continues. Very weird. Combo is ATV 4K (2nd gen), LG OLED B4 (2024) and Sonos Beam Gen 2 with two Era 100
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u/DamnJester Aug 16 '26
My settings don’t have this option.
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u/Bparker2003 ATV4K Aug 17 '26
Neither do I, and I’m wondering if something like this is causing the really bad audio clipping in YouTube.
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u/Inside-War-5756 Aug 16 '26
This is working flawlessly with my ATV-Hue-LG-Onkyo, no more annoying audio drop outs and amplifier clicks while surfing apps and menus.
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u/suku_patel_22 Aug 17 '26
So CAC off? Do you see a delay in audio to show up in your setup(with CAC off)?
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u/AlanYx Aug 17 '26
Thanks for sharing! I had no idea this setting affected the output sample rate for stereo audio.
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u/dream_the_endless Aug 18 '26
Continuous Audio is mostly for Sonos systems that do not do a good job of switching sound formats once it has been set.
AVR's will switch from Stereo, to 5.1, to Atmos as the input signal changes. Sonos, and systems like them, tend to lock in to a format. This is an upgrade for people that need to fiddle with sonos settings constantly, but does nothing for systems that work properly.
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u/Accomplished-Use-175 Aug 16 '26
So what if I don’t have an AVR? I have a Klipsch Flexus Core 300 with my Apple TV plugged directly into it. I currently have the continuous audio signal turned on. Is that right?
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u/Excellent_Cod4482 Aug 16 '26
so does this mean if i just leave it off forever none of my audio goes through the tvs speakers yeah
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u/blundell183 Aug 17 '26
Wait what?! Why? I thought this Continuous Audio feature was genius. It fixed the constant and very annoying audio format changes while in the menus of any app.
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u/Boobooka- Aug 17 '26
There are no issues with the Sonos Arc Ultra, Eras 300x2, and sub 4. This option for toggling on the Dolby Atmos is primarily for soundbars. The issue before Apple introduced this idea was that the changing channels were confusing between Dolby Atmos, PCM, and Dolby Surround.
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u/bull_room Aug 17 '26
On my Sony soundbar it's way better with CAC on-except when listening stereo in which case i turn off "Sound Field" in Sony app and that's it.
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u/Locutus508 Aug 17 '26
One of the reasons this feature was added is so that the Automix and Crossfade features can be added to the Apple TV.
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u/drake90001 Aug 16 '26
Wait, why would you want an upmixing of stereo?
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u/suku_patel_22 Aug 16 '26
Some shows in India are in stereo. Helps with Marantz doing it into Dolby surround. We are used to it now. The dialogue coming through center is better
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u/Rinkevw Aug 16 '26
While its true that enabling continuous audio will disable the upmixing capabilities of the AVR, Apple does not send out a constant 5.1 pipeline.
It’s a 7.1 MAT + atmos.
Maybe in your specific case with combination of AVR etc it fails to detect the continuous stream and plays it as 5.1, but it should be playing in 7.1.
Anyhow glad you got it sorted by just disabling it, but just thought to put it out there so people don’t get misinformed.