How do I set up optical audio with my 3rd gen Apple TV, an old TV and new external speakers?

[iMore Question]

I recently bought a brand new Vizio sound bar and subwoofer, and it sounds awesome when I use bluetooth from my computer to play music, but I want to hook it up to my apple tv. Sadly, The TV I'm trying to watch it with is a very old, small Dynex tv. I've tried using every cord to hook the sound up with the vizio system, but nothing worked. Then I tried hooking the Apple TV directly into the vizio system via the optical audio cable, and it didn't even seem to register! It just kept playing the sound from the terrible tiny TV speakers. Please help! Thank you.

 

[Rob Phillips]

Welcome to iMore! It should work just fine but optical audio should only be connected while both devices are turned off. Try this:
1. Turn off your AppleTV (unplug it) and sound bar.
2. Disconnect and then reconnect both ends of the toslink cable.
3. Turn both devices back on.
In theory, that should do it. If you're still having an issue here's a few suggestions:
1. Make sure you have optical audio selected on your sound bar and mute your television speakers. Your AppleTV will still push audio to it even if optical audio is connected.
2. Make sure there are no kinks or sharp bends in your toslink cable. Optical audio literally depends on light traveling through the cable.
3. Try tinkering with your audio settings on your AppleTV. It's been a while since I've messed with my 3rd gen but I think the settings are under Settings > Audio & Video.