Question Subwoofer dropout on Apple TV 4K

[SzethSonNechurro]

I have recently bought a new soundbar and subwoofer (Sony HT-ZF9) and am using it with my Apple TV 4K. When I cause the content I am watching to pause or re-buffer (e.g when rewind 10 seconds) it takes a second for the audio track to kick in again after playing (Is this normal?). However quite a lot of the time (maybe around 40%) when this happens the subwoofer does not kick in at all. Then to fix this I can go back or forward 10 seconds again or pause for a few seconds which causes the audio track to kick in again, with the subwoofer.

I have determined that this only happens when the ‘audio format’ setting of the Apple TV is set to auto. When I set it to ‘off’, this never happens. When this setting is auto (default) the Apple TV uses the best audio format available. When off, it ‘converts’ everything to the audio format you then specify (I was choosing Dolby 5.1).
However I obviously don’t want to do this because of the affect on audio quality (and disables the Dolby atmos capability that I have).

Does anyone know what could be causing this? I don’t actually know if this is caused by the Apple TV or the soundbar system.

 

[TimothyB]

I've got the same soundbar and am experiencing this issue. it appears it only happens with Atmos audio and all apps. Are you still getting the same problem?

 

[Xavier76100]

We are on 2021 february the 20th and I've just discovered this issue, a few days after buying the Sony HT-ZF9 soundbar. The issue affects also the rear speakers.
It means that neither Sony or Apple did anything to solve the problem.
I will contact both of the them and I let you know what they will answer.