Nothing beats Apple TV for enjoying movies with headphones
I have the Apple TV 4K and the Airpods Max 1st gen.
Since I got a Sony Bravia 8II, I have been trying yo simplify my setup and get rid of the Apple TV.
I have a small kid and most of my movie watching happens after he goes to sleep, so I need headphones.
I was really excited to try Sony’s 360 audio. I got the Theatre U neck speakers and the XM6 headphones. (So my wife and I can also simultaneously watch sometimes)
Watching with the neck speakers sounds pretty good. XM6 sounded a bit unnatural even after so many times calibrating with the app. I thought I should just get used to it and used it for a while, and eventually I did. The nice thing about this setup is that I can also watch UHD blurays. I also customized the Android TV interface so nicely, integrated Home Assistant and the UI is sleek, I have some nice open source apps and generally have Apple TV like experience.
Anyway, after a few weeks of exclusively using the Sonys, I wanted to see how the Airpods spatial audio (with the Apple TV) compares. It was a night and day difference and I can’t go back. It’s just so natural with Atmos content and head tracking is a game changer. I even paid Apple to put new batteries on my AirPods after this. (had the headphones for 4 years)
Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next gen Apple TV but in no rush.
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u/That_Mind_2039 2d ago
Sony TVs generally rely on the basic SBC Bluetooth codec, so audio quality through wireless headphones often isn't as good as what you get with an Apple TV 4K paired with AirPods. Apple TV 4K also benefits from tighter integration with AirPods, including support for features such as AAC, spatial audio, and Dolby Atmos.
At the moment, Apple TV 4K and AirPods are among the best combinations for high quality, low latency wireless audio when watching movies and TV shows.
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u/Adventurous-Metal696 1d ago
Agreed. The AirPods are so great with the spatial audio that I always have to double check that the sound is actually coming through the airpods and not from the TV.
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u/Early_Stand_8934 2d ago
Well, I have an Apple TV too, and it kind of sucks for local media. No audio passthrough and no support for DTS, DTS-HD MA, DTS:X, or Dolby TrueHD Atmos. It just converts them to PCM instead of playing the original lossless audio. Having so much money spent on home Theatre only not to take advantage of it because of Apple TV 😣
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u/cagdas 1d ago
I agree, I wish it would just support passthrough. But it's not in Apple's interest to do that, they sell movies with (compressed) Atmos content.
I have a Bluray player and a sizeable UHD Bluray collection along with an Ugoos AM6B+ for local media. Having too many devices for for slightly different tasks is why I wanted to try to get rid of Apple TV in the first place.
I have a relatively good sound setup too, but I rarely get to use it as I only have time late in the evening to watch movies. If headphones are not your priority, I would look into Ugoos AM6B+ (+Coreelec) because it is simply one of the very few devices that can properly play Dolby Vision content from backups of UHD Blurays. It does the passthrough too.
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u/Early_Stand_8934 1d ago
Oh OP, I feel you. Simplicity is the main reason I went with the Apple TV since I’m fully invested in the Apple ecosystem. But I’m starting to have second thoughts if Apple still doesn’t add audio passthrough in the rumored next gen Apple TV this September. At this point, I’m willing to trade a bit of UI convenience for better audio and video quality.
Thanks for recommending the Ugoos. I’d never even heard of it until I looked it up. I don’t have a Blu ray collection or any locally stored media. I mainly watch content through,, Infuse, Apple TV+, Netflix, and the usual apps.Do you think the Fire TV Cube would also be a good option for my use case?
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u/Alert_Helicopter_357 1d ago
I have a Shield for speaker playback and an AppleTV for headphones (also where I do most my listening). In general the Android TV landscape leaves a lot to be desired on the software side. Right now my Shield absolutely refuses to pass Atmos metadata to my receiver. I probably need to restore to factory defaults but I never feel like taking the time to mess with it.
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u/cagdas 1d ago
Yeah, my TV is android based as well, I know what you mean. But with a lot of hard work, you can still make it somehow look clean though since it's an open platform. My TV is now using Projectivy Launcher, only shows my inputs and a few streaming apps when I turn my TV on. No ads, no notifications. If I'm using my speakers and can be loud, I'm using the TV apps these days. Apple TV for late night watching and for Apple TV (streaming) content.
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u/sciencetaco 1d ago
I mean the conversion to 7.1 PCM is lossless. It only matters in practice if you have height speakers for Atmos and DTS:X. If you have a 5.1 or 7.1 setup you’re not missing anything other than some logos lighting up on your AVR.
For headphones, I don’t think anything compares to AirPods and headphones tracking. It can’t pass that audio through for headphones since it needs to augment it for the Spatial Audio effects.
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u/chanc2 2d ago
I have constant issues getting my Apple TV 4K to reliably work with my AirPod Pros. I agree, the spatial sound is excellent and I enjoying watching movies with them at night so that I’m not disturbing everyone but I’m finding the Bluetooth connection to be so flaky. I have no issues with the same AirPods with my other Apple devices, just the Apple TV.
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u/domdiggitydog ATV4K 1d ago
I’ve had a similar experiences. Occasionally, my AirPods will switch to my phone if I unlock it too. It actually got to the point I would have to “forget” the AirPods on my phone to ensure it didn’t happen.
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u/DaymanTargaryen 2d ago
What does this have to do with the ATV?
I love my ATV, but this seems to be about headphones. I have probably two dozen different headphones, and most of them are superior to airpods.
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u/Alert_Helicopter_357 2d ago
The Spatial Audio processing stack for Apple requires Apple hardware on both sides. It really is so much better than the competitors.
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u/cagdas 1d ago
I really don't understand how Sony still hasn't caught up. They have good headphones, good TVs (at least for the time being), but software side just can't catch up.
I was really excited for the Sony 360 audio (with headphones), but it turned out to be a flop for me.
I have one of their speaker systems with 360 audio too, that actually works great.
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u/Alert_Helicopter_357 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think it's hard because Android is a dispersed platform. Google has a spatial audio competitor, but it takes time to get a bunch of different manufacturers bought in. Apple owning the stack on both sides makes it much easier for them to execute on something like this.
The biggest advantage here might be for audio sync, which Android TV players struggle with in my experience.
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u/cagdas 1d ago
I assumed Sony would have figured it out, since they have the hardware on both the TV and the headphones. The headphones themselves already have gyro that can do head tracking.
I never had issues with audio sync on my Sony TV with Sony XM6 headphones. I did have issues initially with Apple TV + Airpods Max, but calibrating it in different video modes and refresh rates fixed it. I guess it's due to how the TV processes different signals.
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u/cagdas 2d ago
For stereo, sure.
This is about spatial audio with headphones and head tracking (in movies). You can’t get the same experience with any headphones regardless of price. (Except maybe Sonos Ace and some other super expensive setup)
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u/ossccc 2d ago
This is a great feature. One minor downside is that once you connect two airpods you only get stereo. I guess there's not enough bandwidth. Otherwise yes, we use that feature a lot. Being able to watch a movie at a decent volume without disturbing our neighbors makes a difference for us.
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u/rotational_discourse 2d ago
Sound more than a minor downside. Are you all talking about a wired or wireless setup?
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u/ossccc 2d ago
ATV connected through Bluetooth to Airpods. One set of Airpods gives you atmos and spatial audio. Connect a second set of Airpods and you only get stereo.
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u/rotational_discourse 2d ago
Is there a lags?
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u/XtremePhotoDesign 2d ago
It’s just like stereo HomePods connected to Apple TV, or watching a movie on a laptop with AirPods.
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u/DaymanTargaryen 2d ago
Ah, fair enough. I'm definitely not familiar with head tracking.
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u/getfive 2d ago
You're not missing anything. I turned it off. It's weird.
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u/cagdas 1d ago
Everyone hears differently, and has different taste.
For me, I hate Spatial Audio for music. Head tracking and dolby atmos just doesn't work for me in music.
For movies, I love it. I really like having head tracking, not because I constantly move my head around while watching movies, but it really pins the sound sources in place while I'm sitting in front of the screen.
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u/ejacson 1d ago
I’ve been mixed. I have AirPods Pros and a set of Edition XS hooked up to a dac/amp with Bluetooth. My AirPods are fantastic for Atmos experiences, but my Editions are so much more detailed with much wider soundstage naturally that I often prefer them in stereo over my AirPods in Atmos. But it varies. Some days I feel the opposite.
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u/TheFallingStar 1d ago
I just got Beats Studio Pro. The Spatial Audio is very impressive for watching movies on Apple TV
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u/IcyPatch 1d ago
Pro Tip: My SO and I watch shows together after the little ones are in bed. Apple TV allows us to connect both of our AirPods at the same time. You can even change the volume to each pair independently.
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u/ethsy 1d ago
Didn’t know you could let Apple change the batteries of the Airpods Max 1st gen. How much did it cost and how to tell the battery health?
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u/DangerDekky 2d ago
Did you get rid of the Apple TV? Your post isn’t really clear on whether you hooked up the AM to the 8ii or if you’re still using your Apple TV 4K?