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4.3 (4.2) update and no audio

joeydog said:
I'm having the same audio problem, but also having an issue where one movie will only play from the begining. If you try to scrub forward and start it, it will play for 1/2 a second and then pause. Anyone have that as well.
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Ditto here. This playback/freezing 4.3 bug also presents on other iOS devices through the new home sharing feature. It's not on all my files, but about 50%. I think it's reasonable that it somehow connects back to the Dolby passthrough issue.

Also seeing a weird audio issue where if it does play, it loops the first second of audio over and over again while the video plays through. Ironically, it reminds me of a skipping LP.

When get home, I'm gonna try the above recomendation of turning off the Apple TV's DD option.
 
I'm not sure if this is related to what you're experiencing, but I discovered on another website that there are some issues with the software screen lock/mute switch and some apps.

It seems that if you've set the switch to be a screen lock, a few apps still think it's a mute. Flipping the screen lock off doesn't release the mute. If you set the software to make the switch mute, then you regain control of the sound, regardless of the app (so far.)

Hope this helps someone.
 
These audio problems with user converted videos sounds like people didn't do the conversion correctly. And it may be the software you used wasn't doing it correctly. All of my Handbrake encoded videos play just fine before and after the update. I made sure to include a stereo audio track as track #1 and the passthru 5.1 AC3 track as track #2 per the spec requirements. If you didn't encode it that way, it might have worked in the past but that doesn't mean it will always work.

I remember threads discussing this some time ago where people weren't encoding the audio correctly and we were trying to explain how you were supposed to do it and they said it "worked for them" so they had no intentions on doing anything different. I bet those nonstandard encoding methods got caught in the latest update.

If there is ever a difference between your encodings and iTunes bought stuff (yours not playing, audio missing, etc.) it is always based on differences in how you encoded it and those problems are entirely preventable. This is also true with anything regarding the metadata.
 
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newagemac said:
These audio problems with user converted videos sounds like people didn't do the conversion correctly. And it may be the software you used wasn't doing it correctly. All of my Handbrake encoded videos play just fine before and after the update. I made sure to include a stereo audio track as track #1 and the passthru 5.1 AC3 track as track #2 per the spec requirements. If you didn't encode it that way, it might have worked in the past but that doesn't mean it will always work.

I remember threads discussing this some time ago where people weren't encoding the audio correctly and we were trying to explain how you were supposed to do it and they said it "worked for them" so they had no intentions on doing anything different. I bet those nonstandard encoding methods got caught in the latest update.

If there is ever a difference between your encodings and iTunes bought stuff (yours not playing, audio missing, etc.) it is always based on differences in how you encoded it and those problems are entirely preventable. This is also true with anything regarding the metatarsi.
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I wish this were true. Sadly, this is affecting some encodes with the correct two channel profile applied in handbrake. Been doing this for a while and I'm still looking for a pattern. I could also understand older encodes not working that were done with HB builds from 2008 or earlier, but they are are behaving just fine. Some files created are dating back to early 2007 HB builds, and they play with no issue. Other files made as recently as 6 months ago with stock ATV HB profiles are presenting these issues.
 
Tramalon said:
I wish this were true. Sadly, this is affecting some encodes with the correct two channel profile applied in handbrake. Been doing this for a while and I'm still looking for a pattern. I could also understand older encodes not working that were done with HB builds from 2008 or earlier, but they are are behaving just fine. Some files created are dating back to early 2007 HB builds, and they play with no issue. Other files made as recently as 6 months ago with stock ATV HB profiles are presenting these issues.
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I don't do any encoding at all- only stream stuff bought from iTunes, or podcasts, mp3's, youtube etc. No sound at all whatever type of file I try! Even the menu 'click' is gone.
 
I had one last look at this before my genius appointment at 12 today. Tiny Umbrella magically came back with 4.2.1 blobs, so I was able to restore to that and now I have full sound output back.

They must have started re-signing the blobs? They definitely weren't there a few days ago...
 
newagemac said:
These audio problems with user converted videos sounds like people didn't do the conversion correctly. And it may be the software you used wasn't doing it correctly. All of my Handbrake encoded videos play just fine before and after the update. I made sure to include a stereo audio track as track #1 and the passthru 5.1 AC3 track as track #2 per the spec requirements. If you didn't encode it that way, it might have worked in the past but that doesn't mean it will always work.

I remember threads discussing this some time ago where people weren't encoding the audio correctly and we were trying to explain how you were supposed to do it and they said it "worked for them" so they had no intentions on doing anything different. I bet those nonstandard encoding methods got caught in the latest update.

If there is ever a difference between your encodings and iTunes bought stuff (yours not playing, audio missing, etc.) it is always based on differences in how you encoded it and those problems are entirely preventable. This is also true with anything regarding the metatarsi.
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I see your point, but no dice with me . . . . . ALL of my audio is shot - youtube, iTunes rentals - everything. It plays through my TV but no longer passes to my receiver.

Luckily, I was able to downgrade to the previous firmware . . .
 
Can anyone confirm of today's update (3/22) fixes this audio pass-through issue?

Thanks.
 
Installed 4.2 yesterday:

- General audio still works
- Audio in non-HD (like converted AVI) movies still works fine
- MKV converted HD movies do not play at all. It buffers, but clicking play does nothing or sometimes only skips a few frames. Scanning through it in slow motion does work...
- One of the HD movies plays from the beginning as long as I don't pause or skip anything, but there is no sound (or high pitched blips every 4 seconds)
- One of the HD movies works in which I did a 1-pass H.264 on the video track

20 minutes after installing the update and trying to get it to work (rebooting Macs and AppleTV etc) the 4.2.1 update was out. Installed it but no change...
 
Superb! That fixed the issue for me. Thanks a bunch.

All the non-working videos only had a 5.1 AAC track, or had the stereo AAC as the second track. With the AAC as first track it's working fine.

I still have some things to learn on video encoding :)
 
on the contrary - even after updating to 4.2.2, I still have no audio output from my apple tv - anyone else experiencing this?

EDIT: Nevermind, changed audio output to 16-bit . . . duh.
 
chille said:
I can't seem to get a handle on this.
Since the 4.3 update, none of my m4v-files that i have converted from mkv with MKVtools using passthru on the h264 video and audio converted to AAC 5.1 work.

But just now, I converted a mkv file (h264/AC3 5.1) using passthru on both video and audio, and it WORKS!

Initially, when I first bought my ATV2, AC3 audio seemed to worked just fine. But after the first update, it didn't, and I had to convert all files to user AAC 5.1.

Someone who has any idea what's going on? Which audio codec should I use?! Is ATV2 supposed to support AC3 at all?
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You never should have converted to AAC 5.1 for the Apple TV. I have been warning people on these forums that these type of settings (tracks in wrong order, AAC 5.1, disabled/enabled wrong, etc.) would not always work. I bet everyone here having these audio problems simply did not encode the file correctly or are using software that did not encode the file correctly. A simple test is to see if audio plays from an iTunes rental, Youtube, or Netflix. If they do but your own encodes don't, then the problem is how you encoded it.

I use Handbrake and encode with AAC as the first track and enabled and AC3 5.1 passthru as the second track and disabled by default and all my files work great. Never had an audio issue. On the ATV2 it automatically picks up the 5.1 track and on the iPad and iPhone the AAC track automatically plays.


Here are Apple's recommendations:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25199


Apple Inc. said:
If your Apple TV is connected to a Dolby Digital-capable sound system, your content can have true surround sound.

Apple TV will pass through 5.1 surround sound audio encoded in Dolby Digital AC-3. The AC-3 audio must be properly included in the movie in order for it to pass through correctly.

To create content for use with Apple TV, the movie must have two audio tracks:

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) stereo
AC-3 track for surround
Note: Both tracks should have the same sample rate (48 kHz is normal).

For compatability, the following is required:

Both tracks must be provided.
The AAC track should be first and it must be enabled.
The AC-3 track should appear after the AAC track and it should be disabled by default.
The AC-3 track must also use the appropriate MPEG-4/ISO standard.
Apple TV uses the AC-3 track as a pass-through mode only. For example, it passes data out to an A/V receiver capable of Dolby Digital playback. The AC-3 audio is sent over the HDMI and the optical audio output of Apple TV.

To select AC-3 data through these ports, go to Settings > Audio > Dolby Digital Out and select On.

These movies can be created using applications such as FinalCut Express and FinalCut Pro.

Note: The AAC track is used in any situation where just stereo output is required.
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Also wanted to mention that using the ATV2 preset in Handbrake automatically sets everything up correctly. Many (not all but many) of these other tools people are using do not follow the above guidelines because they don't focus their tools on ATV2 compatibility like the developers of Handbrake do.
 
alfonsog said:
Why don't you just run hdmi to the receiver and be done with the optical cables?
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If his setup is like mine, his receiver is too old for HDMI. It predates it, and optical is our best option.

What sucks is that it limits our sound output to stereo. :(
 
newagemac said:
You never should have converted to AAC 5.1 for the Apple TV. I have been warning people on these forums that these type of settings (tracks in wrong order, AAC 5.1, disabled/enabled wrong, etc.) would not always work. I bet everyone here having these audio problems simply did not encode the file correctly or are using software that did not encode the file correctly. A simple test is to see if audio plays from an iTunes rental, Youtube, or Netflix. If they do but your own encodes don't, then the problem is how you encoded it.

I use Handbrake and encode with AAC as the first track and enabled and AC3 5.1 passthru as the second track and disabled by default and all my files work great. Never had an audio issue. On the ATV2 it automatically picks up the 5.1 track and on the iPad and iPhone the AAC track automatically plays.


Here are Apple's recommendations:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25199
Click to expand...

newagemac - good info and I'm sure your recommendations will be helpful to some. However, I just want to point out, as the OP of this thread, the original audio problem that I was reporting on was the loss of ALL sounds with ver 4.2, not just incorrectly encoded videos. We're talking music files, menu sounds, everything. You could get sound straight thru HDMI to the TV, but it would not pass thru some receivers.

This seems to have been fixed though with the release of 4.2.2.
 
awr said:
newagemac - good info and I'm sure your recommendations will be helpful to some. However, I just want to point out, as the OP of this thread, the original audio problem that I was reporting on was the loss of ALL sounds with ver 4.2, not just incorrectly encoded videos. We're talking music files, menu sounds, everything. You could get sound straight thru HDMI to the TV, but it would not pass thru some receivers.

This seems to have been fixed though with the release of 4.2.2.
Click to expand...

Ok sorry I didn't catch that. Glad to hear Apple fixed your audio problems with the update!
 
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