About surround sound settings on your Apple TV (4th generation)

Learn about the audio settings on your Apple TV (4th generation). 

Audio settings on your Apple TV

From the Settings menu on your Apple TV, you can go to Audio and Video > Surround Sound and choose Best Quality Available, Dolby Digital 5.1, or Stereo.

Best Quality Available

To automatically output the best audio quality possible, go to Settings > Audio and Video > Surround Sound and choose Best Quality Available. This setting plays Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 or 5.1 by sending it over HDMI as full surround-sound quality, multichannel LPCM or re-encoded Dolby Digital 5.1. The output depends on the HDMI device directly connected to your Apple TV.* 


* To hear surround sound, the HDMI device connected directly to your Apple TV should support LPCM or Dolby Digital. For example, if you play 7.1 content and connect your Apple TV directly to a TV that only supports stereo audio, you'll hear stereo instead of 7.1—even if you connected your TV to a 7.1 LPCM-capable receiver.

Dolby Digital 5.1

The Dolby Digital 5.1 setting re-encodes surround sound to Dolby Digital 5.1. This setting might help when your TV or receiver has compatibility issues with multichannel LPCM audio. Go to Settings > Audio and Video > Surround Sound and choose Dolby Digital 5.1. 

Stereo

The Stereo setting plays only stereo audio. Go to Settings > Audio and Video > Surround Sound and choose Stereo.

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