AppleTV / Dolby Digital Problem

[bucksaddle]

No, they do not use DD for the previews and yes, if you were to buy or rent a movie with the DD symbol you would get DD.
Sounds like to me that you don't have any issues with your set-up but you have not yet tried any appropriate material, apart from the start up movie. If that's OK then your movies should be also.

 

[Cave Man]

IWhen I boot up, as I said, I get the Dolby Digital symbol AND it plays DD - sounds great.

This means your Apple TV is functioning properly.

When I play the move or tv show previews, even the ones w/ DD, it goes immediately into Pro Logic II mode - it has never once gone to DD yet. It could be that they don't broadcast the 'previews' in DD - I have yet to rent a movie, but all is hooked up well, same hookup that works for every other device.

There's your answer. Only purchased or rented movies or TV shows can have DD. None of the trailers or previews do.

Again, the way to verify this is to simply transcode a DVD rip using Handbrake and its Apple TV preset.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

While I appreciate the discussion this question has spurred, I stilllll haven't been offered any solution to the problem. Anyone have any ideas? We seem to be talking about everything except the actual issue.

Too many variables, and too many different points of view and problems being discussed in this thread. My suggestion is to simplify, and specifically isolate what is at fault. I too have an TV plus Onkyo setup, I have updated to 2.4, and am having no trouble getting Dolby Digital sound out of Handbrake encodes or rented iTunes movies. So...

Step 1. Isolate the problem. Pull the HDMI cable out of the TV and plug it into the HDMI out jack on your Blue Ray player. Put in a disc with Dolby Digital and see if the Onkyo auto-switches to Dolby Digital. If it does, the problem is your TV (factory restore TV, update back to 2.4, and test again). As an alternative, switch to a toslink cable hookup to see if TV is passing DD (don't forget to adapt your Onkyo audio input settings if you try this option).

If you've hacked the TV don't reapply the hacks until you first test the unhacked software to verify you do indeed get DD.

It you rule out TV with this test, the problem is either the cable or the Onkyo.

Step 2. Eliminate a problem with the cable by testing a different HDMI cable. If switching cables yields DD in the Onkyo (Blue Ray to Onkyo), try the working cable between TV and the Onkyo with a known DD sourced TV video. If you don't have any such video, I suggest ripping one chapter of a DD DVD with Handbrake (using the TV setting) and using that as your "for sure" DD test video. A one chapter rip will only take a short while to encode.

To this point, you should have ruled out TV and a bad cable.

Step 3. With the problem isolated to the Onkyo, try unplugging it, waiting a good while, then plugging it back in. A little power fluctuation recently had my Onkyo exhibiting some odd behavior (in spite of battery-based surge suppression)- but not your particular problem. A unplug-wait-replug did the trick.

Step 4. If you are definitely getting DD auto-switching from the Blue Ray, connect the TV to that same HDMI feed. In other words, pull the cable out of the Blue Ray, and put it into the TV. Then, try a "for sure" DD video via TV and see if Onkyo auto-switches to DD. If that works, the HDMI jack to which you've previously had your TV connected may be having an issue (but I bet Step 3 would lick that problem).

Step 5. Dig out the Onkyo manual (a glorious read for one & all) and carefully go through everything- even the helpful(???) smaller print tips in the margins- related to enabling HDMI, DD, etc, checking to make sure all related Onkyo settings are correct. It's not that hard for Onkyo settings to be accessed accidently, and then changed (even a cat or dog can do it- no joke). Especially check and re-check the audio setup in the menus vs. the specific jacks to which you got stuff connected; and check your HDMI setup vs. your digital input setups.

Based on your feedback, my gut guess leans to the Onkyo, and I'm betting it will be solved with Step #3 or #5. But either way, if you'll try the above steps, you should be able to narrow it down to one component (vs. 3).

 

[bkkress]

I have to support the poster of this issue. I have a Pioneer Elite SC-07. I formerly had a Yamaha DSP A1; they are similar although the Pioneer supports more formats, HDMI, etc. I use it for EVERYTHING. I've had enough receivers to know the problem I'm experiencing w/ my new Apple TV is absolutely not a receiver setting. I have the same issue, I have it wired via HDMI Monster High Capacity cables, when the unit boots, i have it set as everything else (PS3, DirecTV, Elite Blue Ray player, etc. to auto-surround. Its not in NEO mode or any others, I have also tried PCM, Pure, Pure Direct, etc. for signaling. When I boot up, as I said, I get the Dolby Digital symbol AND it plays DD - sounds great. When I play the move or tv show previews, even the ones w/ DD, it goes immediately into Pro Logic II mode - it has never once gone to DD yet. It could be that they don't broadcast the 'previews' in DD - I have yet to rent a movie, but all is hooked up well, same hookup that works for every other device. Since I do get the broadcast during the plug in/start up, it is recognizing the DD as well when it's sent. It means to me that either a) Apple does not support Dolby Digital or b) They just don't use it for the previews but if I actually 'buy' or 'rent' the movie, it will be in DD. Any thoughts? (DD is enabled on my ATV)

For anyone still reading this chain, I tried the test tonight. I ordered a move - The Lake House off the Apple TV. After watching the preview multiple times, it only did Pro Logic II, HOWEVER, once I ordered the movie and payed for the rental, the actual movie lit up DD-Dolby Digital and sounded great/worked perfect. It appears to me from above that they don't use Dolby Digital for previews (maybe they once did) anymore.

 

[osohardy]

I noticed a similar issue when I was exclusively using HDMI. In my case the ATV and TV were both connected to a Sony receiver. Sometimes with my handbrake files, which always have the AAC + AC3 combo it would only play the stereo track. I could sometimes get it back by powering down the TV and receiver, but it was a bit unpredictable. I'm still not sure if it is the receiver or ATV, but it seems like they don't always handshake properly with audio over HDMI. I connected an optical cable instead and zero problems passing the AC3 that way...try that too if that wasn't mentioned.

...kinda a side note but I often use the ATV to play music via Remote app through the receiver with the TV off, which is a nice side benefit to the optical. But I do notice that sometimes it will only want to play through HDMI input on the stereo, for example if I was watching 'regular' TV on the TV input, turn the TV off and switch to the ATV optical input it wont play UNLESS I briefly play anything with AC3 with the TV off first

 

[MacBlackBook22]

I have the same problem here. Only 1 of my handbrake ripped movies plays the surround 5.1 track all the rest go to the PCM sound.
This is so frustrating as I had ripped all the movies to the appleTV setting.

I guess I will have to try the optical cord set-up as the hdmi is not cutting it for getting the sound to work

 

[bucksaddle]

I have the same problem here. Only 1 of my handbrake ripped movies plays the surround 5.1 track all the rest go to the PCM sound.
This is so frustrating as I had ripped all the movies to the appleTV setting.

I guess I will have to try the optical cord set-up as the hdmi is not cutting it for getting the sound to work

Well, if 1 of your movies is working then I guess the problem is with your rips and not HDMI. Does the start-up movie play in 5.1 over HDMI?

 

[MacBlackBook22]

Well, if 1 of your movies is working then I guess the problem is with your rips and not HDMI. Does the start-up movie play in 5.1 over HDMI?

Yes it plays over the HDMI. I don't have an optical cord connection

Funny enough I think the problem lie's with the transfer of the movie to the attached hard drive. I the ATV Flash program installed in the ATV and normally I was using FTP to move them from the computers to the hard drive. Tonight I moved a ripped DVD to the hard drive by bringing the laptop to the drive and using the usb direct transfer. In doing so it played the 5.1 soundtrack.
Now for a moment I thought I had the total answer to I tried copying some of the other movies I had backed up on another hard drive to the laptop and then moved them via the usb... no go though they all still wouldn't play the 5.1 soundtrack still just the 2 channel stereo. So now I am ripping another dvd on the laptop and once its done I will see if this one does transfer with the 5.1 intact.

 

[GermanSuplex]

What about 5.1 AAC? Some of my HDTV shows I've purchased have AAC 5.1 audio... do any recievers decode this, or am I just going to get downmixed stereo or silence with these shows unless I revert to the standard stereo track? And has Apple stopped the 5.1 AAC in favor of AC-3 or are they still doing some shows with 5.1? And how can you tell what you're getting before purchasing?

 

[futsoulja]

I have the same problem as the original poster. Some rented HD movies play in Dolby Digital and others do not. I also have an Onkyo receiver.

 

[Cave Man]

What movies didn't work with Dolby Digital?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

What about 5.1 AAC? Some of my HDTV shows I've purchased have AAC 5.1 audio... do any recievers decode this, or am I just going to get downmixed stereo or silence with these shows unless I revert to the standard stereo track? And has Apple stopped the 5.1 AAC in favor of AC-3 or are they still doing some shows with 5.1? And how can you tell what you're getting before purchasing?

AAC5.1 is not the same as AC-3. Your receiver will need to explicitly decode AAC5.1 to be able to render it as intended. I don't think there are any consumer receivers yet that can do that (someone correct me if I'm wrong). As a result, AAC5.1 encoded audio is rendered as stereo (not discrete surround).

AC-3 is Dolby Digital- the standard for DVD-based 5.1 surround sound. Many modern consumer receivers (if not all) will be able to decode this standard.

From what I've read, AAC5.1 is a better standard than the older AC-3, but no standard is much good unless you have a way to actually use it.

As to how you tell, the listings in iTunes seem to explicitly show whether a film has "Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound." If you don't see it, my take would be the film won't have it (see post #38 for a specific example).

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I have the same problem as the original poster. Some rented HD movies play in Dolby Digital and others do not. I also have an Onkyo receiver.

I know it looks like some trouble, but run through the steps in post #28. It is always important to isolate the problem. With what you share, the problem could be TV OR the cable OR the Onkyo OR the source material (not having a valid 5.1 Dolby Digital track).

My suggestion in your case is to do this first: Handbrake 1 chapter of a DVD with a Dolby Digital soundtrack. This way you have a "for sure" Dolby Digital 5.1 source video on which to evaluate which link in the chain is giving you trouble.

In your case, my guess is that some rented movies have a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and some do not. I went into the iTunes store, HD movies, looking for a tell-tale sign. I notice that a newer film like Casino Royale explicitly lists Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound in it's specs, while an older film like This is Spinal Tap does not show that same feature in its specs. So there's at least one example where either Apple forgot to list that the latter is in 5.1, or perhaps it is NOT in 5.1.

 

[msprouls]

I skimmed through the thread so I hope this has not been posted.

Make sure your Onkyo's HDMI output is not set to "Through"