Can I use Apple TV for music without TV

[Moriske]

I am looking for a simple way to listen to Apple Music via Apple TV without a TV.

What have I already tried:
The Bluesound is connected to the TV with an optical cable and produces sound, but as soon as the TV is turned off, the sound also disappears.
When I use Apple Music with only Bluesound and Apple TV, the TV always turns on, even if I turn off ARC (Simp-Link).
Unfortunately, Apple Music does not play directly within the Bluesound app, which means that using Apple AirPlay is the only option, which is something we do not want here.

My hardware:
Tv Leg Oled
Apple TV 4K (latest generation)
Bluesound PowerNode Hdmi eARC + Optical-in

I want a separate Hifi listening setup addition in the living room for pure music experience, so without the intervention of a TV.

Is there a solution to use both audio only for Apple Music and video/audio for films with an Apple TV by means of some kind of splitter, and what type of splitter do I need exactly? Preferably a type of splitter without a switch, something that works automatically.

The intention is not to connect the Apple TV directly to the TV via Hdmi, because then the TV will turn on anyway when I use Apple Music.

Apple TV -> Hdmi -> splitter
Splitter -> Hdmi -> LG Oled
Splitter -> Optical -> Bluesound

Bluesound PowerNode has an Optical input.

[img=800,384]https://www.ayreborn.com/cdn/shop/products/POWERNODE_BLK_Back_800x.jpg?v=1621115675[/img]

 

[waw74]

its an appleTV, it's designed to be used with a TV, and won't work well without it. When it wakes up, which it has to to to play audio, it also turns on the HDMI output. They're not really designed to be used without a screen.

You could get an HDMI audio extractor. it has HDMI in and out, and optical out
It may or may not pass HDMI-CEC to the TV, will depend on the model. You'll also want to make sure it's capable of passing the video types (4k, dolby vision, etc) that you want to use.
The TV will probably still power on, but you might be able to power it off and have the music still go.


The LGs do allow you to turn just the display off, so the rest of the electronics are on, but not the actual panel. You should be able to add it to the quick settings menu.
With homebridge, you can also add that control to homekit, and then be able to turn the panel off using your phone or siri.

or you could just airplay to the soundbar. assuming it supports that, hard to tell from a picture of ports.
You'd have to use your phone as the source, since using the aTV as the source would wake the aTV and the TV. A HomePod as the source would also work.

ARC is not simplink.
ARC is audio return channel, used to send audio backwards down an HDMI cable, so out of an input on the TV.
simplink is the same as HDMI-CEC, consumer electronics control, which is used to send commands over the HDMI cable.
they usually exist together, but not exclusively.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

This USED to be easy when AppleTV also had analog audio out. I enjoyed this for YEARS as a GREAT benefit- basically replacing the old multi-disc CD functionality with my entire iTunes collection... no TV (on) required.

Remember the original pitch line for AppleTV 1 was "an iPod for your television." But then Apple being Apple decided to "improve" the box by jettisoning that analog option (also taking out the direct & easy connection to Zone 2 Receivers at the same time).

So the task to do it now is much more complicated. First, you have to dump CEC functionality as On-Off (TV) is probably the most basic CEC function as you need an ON AppleTV to have a shot at this. That's a matter of going through the menus of the various devices and turning off CEC. And I can't remember for sure, but I think I read somewhere that even with that OFF on AppleTV, TV ON-OFF is still "on" but that's a foggy memory that may be wrong. It's easy enough to test.

If that's OK with you, the next need is to get some kind of audio-out option again (stepping in for something that used to be built into AppleTV). There are HDMI dongles for this usually called "HDMI splitter" or even more so "HDMI Extractor." These little boxes take HDMI out of AppleTV and then provide an HDMI out to TV as well as adding 1+ other jacks for audio. The latter might be analog RCA but sometimes they include optical or coaxial digital too. With one of these, you can then pass audio from this extractor to whatever will power speakers- presumably your "Bluesound" device.

Unfortunately, many of these extractors come with other tradeoffs- particularly HDR (but also CEC passthrough) limitations. It's quite the challenge to find one that persists the equivalent of a direct connection (AppleTV to TV). In my own efforts, I worked through a number of them and never found one that worked flawlessly like that. But maybe there are newer units now that work better.

Ultimately, I gave up on the idea and addressed the want by buying a "Bluesound" alternative in the form of an Airplay-capable AV Receiver and now it scratches this itch, basically cutting AppleTV out as if it is not even there. Others buy used AirPort Express devices to use the audio out jack for this purpose. I think there are some other devices that support Airplay and have audio out from which you could feed a signal into your "Bluesound." One that does is Sonos Port. Belkin makes something too: Soundform or some name similar to that. There’s probably others. Do a search for Airplay 2 audio player and similar and it should lead you to such devices.

What you may want to do is work towards replacing what I presume is the Bluesound amp piece sooner or later and be sure the replacement includes Airplay functionality. Many AV Receivers do this. Else, you probably need to think about buying a separate device to add Airplay capability to your Bluesound. One possibility is maybe an old Mac from which you can make a direct audio connection and then "home share" and/or airplay through it to Bluesound.

 

[Moriske]

To solve the problem of the TV automatically turning on while listening to Apple Music, I have already tested the following, unfortunately without result.
Waking the Apple TV box, would wake the TV. Setting the Apple TV box to sleep, would send a signal to the TV to do the same.

In the settings of the TV I have turned off HDMI-CEC, but I no longer get any sound, both via HDMI and optical.

In the settings of the Apple TV I have also turned off HDMI-CEC, here too no sound comes through at all. Very strange.
TV: Settings﹥Remotes and Devices﹥Control TVs and Receivers﹥On
Furthermore, I am so satisfied with the BlueSound PowerNode that I do not want to replace the device with alternatives.
The only option I see is something in the form of a splitter, which lets the image pass straight through untouched and sends the sound separately to the Bluesound. But what type of audio extractor then?

A Sonos Port works, just like Bluesound, exclusively via Airplay, so streaming Apple Music directly is not possible without an iPhone.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Sonos Port works fine with Apple Music directly... as well as pretty much all of the other services too.

If Bluesound must stay, you'll very likely need something like a Port or similar to accomplish this goal.

Else, it's a game of working through available HDMI audio extractors until you find one that can work (assuming there is one). I went in pursuit of this option years ago when Apple first cut off the easy option direct from AppleTV. I probably worked through 4 or 5 of them before realizing none could preserve CEC passthrough (and later HDR passthrough too) while doing what I (and now you) want. But maybe new models have improved on all of that. If none are still able to work as you want, Apple may have "evolved" AppleTV to only output audio when connected to a video screen that is "ON" forgetting- on purpose or accidentally- that one great use of an AppleTV is as a music jukebox too.

Again, it's been years since I tried this. Ultimately, I gave up and went with an option to cut AppleTV out of the chain for this kind of use. I would bet you'll have to do the same with Port, the Belkin option or something similar to that Belkin... or a used Airport with audio jack.

Basically, you need a new audio "source" for your Bluesound amp. AppleTV USED to (also) be an "iPod for your television" but now something else is probably needed to stand in for that. Port will do it in a pure way (meaning, not having to lean on Airplay). But Belkin and similar will be cheaper, at the expense of depending on airplay.

 

[waw74]

I did some searching earlier, and some (maybe all) of the blue sound players do have airplay2 built in, so the port shouldn't be needed. But without a model number, and just a pic of the ports on the back panel, it's really hard to tell what their model is capable of.

In the settings of the TV I have turned off HDMI-CEC, but I no longer get any sound, both via HDMI and optical.

CEC shouldn't affect audio output at all. Turning it off will probably affect your ability to control the volume though, It is possible that your volume is just all the way down?

Does your blue sound support IR control? Have you programmed those codes into the aTV?

If the bluesound doesn't support IR control. you may be able to...

• turn off CEC on the aTV
• turn on CEC on the TV.
• Use IR from the Siri Remote to control the volume and power of the TV.
• Adjusting the volume on the TV should then control the blue sound via CEC.

We've laid out what will work, but you don't seem to want to accept that the way you want to do what you want will not really work. The more pieces of gear you add, the more points of failure you're going to have. And the more chances of something not working right with another piece. There's nothing like finally being able to sit down and watch TV, and turn it on and not have sound, so you now have to trouble shoot which one of the 5 pieces of gear has stopped working.

your choices

• assuming Spotify works on the blue sound, ditch Apple Music, and change to Spotify, or other service.
• airplay AM from your phone to the blue sound
  • or a HomePod or other apple Device.
• use AM on the aTV, and turn off the panel of your TV
• get a different amp that supports AM directly, like Sonos.

one thing I just thought of, you can get a HDMI splitter, and put a CEC blocker on the HDMI cable going to the TV. You'll still have to use the TV remote to turn the TV on and off. but the aTV remote should still control the volume on the BS.
Since the BS wants the audio over HDMI-ARC, you'll need something like the arcana fury for the splitter, since you need the audio going to the BS on the ARC pins, and not the regular HDMI audio pins.
If you've got a newer LG, you should be able to add it to homekit, and can use your phone or other apple devices to turn the TV on/off. either though the control center, home app, or using Siri.

 

[Spock]

This sounds incredibly complicated, just leave the display turned on... It will just show track information. Or set a custom display setting that shuts the backlight off or sets it to its lowest setting.

 

[priitv8]

 

[Moriske]

This sounds incredibly complicated, just leave the display turned on... It will just show track information. Or set a custom display setting that shuts the backlight off or sets it to its lowest setting.

Doesn't seem like an ideal solution to me for using the TV for a long period of time as a regular home worker, and certainly not for an OLED TV

This is an option I didn't know before. Seems worth trying this out for a while to see if it works. Can this setting be automated?

_________________

In the meantime I have gone through all the settings, unfortunately without the desired result.

Spotify works on the BlueSound within the BluOs app without using an iPhone. But since I have a bundle discount with Apple, I see no advantage in switching to Spotify. Both apps seem to me to be equivalent.

That leaves me with 1 option, namely dumping the BlueSound and replacing it with Sonos. This gives us the advantage at home that we can control Apple Music via Homekit and Siri within one and the same device.

@ Thanks everyone for the help here.

 

[priitv8]

This is an option I didn't know before. Seems worth trying this out for a while to see if it works. Can this setting be automated?

Sorry, I do not know about LG TVs, just found it on the internet.
On my Bravia, I have to do it manually.
Another thing worth checking - maybe your CEC settings also allow to individually change the commands TV will react to.
On mine I can disable the automatic power on together with aTV.

 

[waw74]

This is an option I didn't know before. Seems worth trying this out for a while to see if it works. Can this setting be automated?

if only someone had mentioned that a few days ago.

The LGs do allow you to turn just the display off, so the rest of the electronics are on, but not the actual panel. You should be able to add it to the quick settings menu.
With homebridge, you can also add that control to homekit, and then be able to turn the panel off using your phone or siri.

 

[mtbdudex]

My family room still working 2016 LG OLED B6 55” showed screen burn in after 12,500 hours of usage … my Spotify usage since Covid 2020 estimate it 3 hours a week gives about 600 hours for that.
Just replaced it with a Sony A95L 65”.

Did this 5 times, still showed burn in.

 

[HDFan]

My family room still working 2016 LG OLED B6 55” showed screen burn in after 12,500 hours of usage

What was burned in?