[Apple TV 4K] Support Dolby TrueHD and DTS:X passthrough

There's a growing consensus that the Apple TV 4K is arguably the best, all-around media streaming device currently available, particularly with the Nvidia Shield beginning to show its age (it has no support for newer codecs such as AV1, HLG, HDR10+, VP9.2, runs an older version of Android, has a bunch of ads, etc.). However, there's ONE huge omission that's kept folks who care about the best possible playback performance from proclaiming the Apple TV 4K from being the king. For those who may not be aware, **Apple TV 4K does not support Dolby TrueHD or DTS:X passthrough**. At a software level, the Apple TV 4K can't send these lossless audio formats directly to a receiver or soundbar. Instead, it either decodes these formats to PCM (lossless, but losing metadata required for height and object-specific effects in Atmos, etc.) or plays a lossy version like Dolby Digital Plus for streaming services. These are limitations that many Android devices like the Nvidia Shield, Dune 4K, Zidoo, Homatics, etc. often do not have. They are capable of passing the full, unaltered audio through to a device that does the decoding (receiver, etc.). Diving a little deeper, Dolby MAT (Metadata-enhanced Audio Transmission) is how Dolby prefers to deliver Atmos audio. Dolby MAT is fully capable of delivering True HD Atmos, but Apple has blocked this capability on Apple TV devices (it made a brief appearance in tvOS 12 beta builds, but never became broadly available). Going further, software options like Infuse have the license for TrueHD decoding, but Apple gets rid of the metadata layer and just transmits the BASE layer. WHY does any of this matter? Because if you've ever owned a device like a Zidoo media player (and I have), you've heard the difference full audio passthrough can make. I was a skeptic myself, but the increase in clarity, dynamics, spatial clarity, and even things like bass depth and punch aren't subtle. Unfortunately, the Zidoo and many other devices aren't fully licensed for streaming services, and the Nvidia Shield is limited in what modern formats it can decode (plus has ads, etc.). So, there is no ONE perfect streaming device... but there could be! All we need is for Apple to **free the bitstream**. Now, I'm not the first person to discuss this... not even close. It's been discussed *for years*. And now, finally, we might be getting close. In fact, [Apple Insider reports](https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1749568309): We've confirmed with Apple that that by enabling the new passthrough audio when it's available and supported by a streaming app, a high-quality audio stream could be left alone by the Apple TV. This allows for hardware after the Apple TV to process the audio, which could give a higher quality result to the listener But no one has been able to independently confirm this, AND it's entirely possible Apple will limit this functionality to streaming apps and/or their own content (continuing Apple's penchant for being seen as delivering higher quality media). And for enthusiasts, that would suck. A lot. So, what can we do? Not much. But we CAN continue to petition Apple. In fact, the amazing team behind Infuse (FireCore) have been developing workarounds and [petitioning Apple for bitstream passthrough for years](https://community.firecore.com/t/help-get-more-dolby-atmos-on-apple-tv/16477). Here are the shortcuts to make your voice heard: * Provide feedback directly to Apple: [https://www.apple.com/feedback/apple-tv/](https://www.apple.com/feedback/apple-tv/) * Sign the Change. org petition: [https://www.change.org/p/dolby-mat-v2-0-or-full-bitstream-audio-passthrough-support-on-the-apple-tv-4k](https://www.change.org/p/dolby-mat-v2-0-or-full-bitstream-audio-passthrough-support-on-the-apple-tv-4k) https://preview.redd.it/wpyx1n7x34df1.png?width=1452&format=png&auto=webp&s=25b1bfb7801a21b7945bc65a5d3d910314059800 If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. And if you happen to sign one of the forms above, thank you for the support. After living with various devices (Shield Pro, Fire Cube, Google TV, Roku Ultra, etc.) for years, I keep coming back to Apple TV 4K. It's already one of the best... audio passthrough could make it truly the king.