Airpods Max and AppleTV problem

[AeroBar]

Hi,

I haven’t been on the site in a while.

I bought Airpods Max when tvOS 15 was released.

For the few days I was watching TV shows bought from iTunes and a few scenes from movies. They all sounded great in spatial audio except one episode where the audio would go dull and then suddenly become loud. And yestersay I watched several episodes of another show and the audio was not as loud as other episodes I had watched during the week.

Then, I was watching my first movie last night (one I have seen a few times so I could focus on the spatial audio) using the Airpods Max and there is a bad problem.

It was like the spatial audio kept dropping out. Sometimes it was very noticeable and other times I didn’t notice (I do tend to get lost in a movie I really like no matter how times I have seen it) until it suddenly came back on and the audio got louder.

I don’t see anything that could be interfering with the Bluetooth connection.

I was wondering if it was due to my internet speed but I checked it a few times during the movie and it was more than enough for HD streaming - however in the last couple of days I had streaming videos that are fuzzy for a few minutes when they start or suddenly get fuzzy during an episode. The same happened when I was the movie.

I am currently listening to Natasha Soars from the Black Widow score on AppleTV bought from iTunes and the sound is fantastic with no sign of the problem I described above.

Can anyone help with the problem?

It has Happened again on another movie I was just testing.

It is like AppleTV or the Airpods Max are suddenly switching to stereo.

 

[johntw]

I had this issues mainly with AppleTV+ streaming/iTunes TV show purchases and using AirPods Max. It is worse when the new video player is used than when streaming with apps that use their own or not yet updated. AppleTV is hardwired and HomePod minis setup in a stereo pair. I updated from tvOS 15.0 to 15.1 Beta and it has definitely improved, although still occurs occasionally. Hopefully it gets cleared up by 15.1 final release.

I think it has to do with head tracking. I wish we could keep Spatial Audio on but disable head tracking (similar to iOS 15).

 

[AeroBar]

Thanks for replying so quick.

it is good to know that the issue is not just with my devices and that Apple seem to to be working on it.

However, I watch either from a chair or my bed and my head isn’t doing any moving most of the time so I don’t see how the problem could be head tracking.

 

[johntw]

It seems to get worse whenever I move my head or get up and walk around. I’ve seen a similar thing happen on my iOS devices, though not as bad. With iOS 15, I disabled head tracking and have no issues. I think it’s just too much processing for the AppleTV to handle efficiently, so I’d prefer to turn it off.

 

[AeroBar]

so you having the problem on iOS too?

just to confirm - when you watch an Atmos or 5.1 movie or show on AppleTV it switches between stereo and spatial audio?

 

[AeroBar]

There is also something wrong with the control centre.

When I select the headphones icon it often shows that noise cancellation is OFF but noise cancellation is actually always on.

And at times when I am getting spatial audio/Atmos it shows that it is playing stereo.

 

[johntw]

so you having the problem on iOS too?

just to confirm - when you watch an Atmos or 5.1 movie or show on AppleTV it switches between stereo and spatial audio?

On AppleTV wit tvOS 15/15.1 beta, it will randomly switch between stereo/surround and occasionally have popping/artifacts in the sound like the Bluetooth connection is being interrupted. It seems worse at the beginning of playing content, then it gets better, but is never 100% perfect.

On iPadOS 15, with head tracking disabled but Sptial Audio on for all sources, no issues at all.

 

[AeroBar]

On AppleTV wit tvOS 15/15.1 beta, it will randomly switch between stereo/surround and occasionally have popping/artifacts in the sound like the Bluetooth connection is being interrupted. It seems worse at the beginning of playing content, then it gets better, but is never 100% perfect.

On iPadOS 15, with head tracking disabled but Sptial Audio on for all sources, no issues at all.

Yes that is exactly what I am experiencing on AppleTV too.

I used the feedback forums to report the issue to Apple. I also contacted Apple support - I figured starting a case would also add to any complaints that I hope others are making too.

 

[johntw]

I can’t believe I missed it when looking before, but I was able to turn off “Center on TV” under Settings, Accessibility on the AppleTV. So far so good. Spatial Audio still working, virtually no audio cutouts or drops. I like having head tracking off on all my devices as I really don’t need that and if it makes it easier to process/stream surround, I’m here for it.

 

[AeroBar]

Thank you. I will give that a try after work.

This might a stupid question but on your AppleTV in Accessibility under Hearing is Mono Audio set to OFF ?

I was scrolling to see that AirPods setting and I think I pressed on Mono Audio but I don’t know. It makes sense that it should be off and I am most likely over thinking it.

 

[johntw]

Thank you. I will give that a try after work.

This might a stupid question but on your AppleTV in Accessibility under Hearing is Mono Audio set to OFF ?

I was scrolling to see that AirPods setting and I think I pressed on Mono Audio but I don’t know. It makes sense that it should be off and I am most likely over thinking it.

Yes, it is set to Off.

 

[AeroBar]

Yes, it is set to Off.

Thank you.

 

[limey91]

This is still an issue, "occasionally have popping/artifacts in the sound like the Bluetooth connection is being interrupted" the advice of turn off “Center on TV” under Accessibility Settings seems to have improved the issue for me here. Will log a ticket with Apple also.

 

[Hugh_Mann]

I bought airpodsMax for my wife for Christmas. One major consideration was that they would allow her to listen to TV thru AppleTV while blocking external sounds. This has not been possible, despite my best efforts. They work fine with our phones, noise cancellation is stellar, etc. The appleTV is 4k with 15.2 update (but is first iteration so no Siri remote). Is that remote a requirement? I'd consider buying the remote if it would resolve the issue but am not even sure it's available separately.