Would adding a DAC improve playback through Apple TV

[Richh]

I like the convenience of ripping CD's to my Mac Mini using iTunes and using Apple TV to play them on my home system using a Marantz 7400 receiver and Monitor Audio Silver series speakers.

 

I find that the music does not sound as good to me, as when I play the CD's directly through a CD player connected to the receiver. The iTunes music sounds too bright and somewhat tinny. I prefer a warmer sound. I tried several of the available formats for the rips but I'm not happy with the results.

 

Would connecting a DAC between the Apple TV and the receiver improve the quality of the music? If so can you recommend one that would cost less then 500$ and give me enough improvement to be worth the investment?

 

If the Apple TV is the problem, can you recommend an alternative keeping within my budget.

 

Thanks

[alexwgoody]

I like the convenience of ripping CD's to my Mac Mini using iTunes and using Apple TV to play them on my home system using a Marantz 7400 receiver and Monitor Audio Silver series speakers.

 

I find that the music does not sound as good to me, as when I play the CD's directly through a CD player connected to the receiver. The iTunes music sounds too bright and somewhat tinny. I prefer a warmer sound. I tried several of the available formats for the rips but I'm not happy with the results.

 

Would connecting a DAC between the Apple TV and the receiver improve the quality of the music? If so can you recommend one that would cost less then 500$ and give me enough improvement to be worth the investment?

 

If the Apple TV is the problem, can you recommend an alternative keeping within my budget.

 

Thanks

 

First, you should confirm that you ripped and are streaming the music in a lossless or close to lossless format, ie. not 128 or 256kbps. As far as the formats you used, iTunes is fairly limited in its support, what, may I ask, did you compare? Either way, lossless formats should all sound the same as the CD.

 

As far as a DAC, how are you connecting it to the Marantz? If you are using RCA outs, you should use the digital output first. I guarantee that, unless you use pure direct mode (and therefore have no room correction or other processing-assuming your receiver has this option) you are already using the DAC in the Marantz, limiting the benefit an external may or may not give. To turn the signal analog and then back to digital and then back to analog in the receiver is not worth your time and will result in, at best, no difference in sound quality. It certainly won't improve it.

[Richh]

First, you should confirm that you ripped and are streaming the music in a lossless or close to lossless format, ie. not 128 or 256kbps. As far as the formats you used, iTunes is fairly limited in its support, what, may I ask, did you compare? Either way, lossless formats should all sound the same as the CD.

 

As far as a DAC, how are you connecting it to the Marantz? If you are using RCA outs, you should use the digital output first. I guarantee that, unless you use pure direct mode (and therefore have no room correction or other processing-assuming your receiver has this option) you are already using the DAC in the Marantz, limiting the benefit an external may or may not give. To turn the signal analog and then back to digital and then back to analog in the receiver is not worth your time and will result in, at best, no difference in sound quality. It certainly won't improve it.

 

I tried ripping them using Apple Lossless Encoder, and AIFF Encoder. I did not notice any difference between these methods, but they both sound bright compared to playing the CD on my player connected to the receiver.

 

The apple TV and my CD player are both connected to the Marantz using Optical digital cables, so Im using the receivers built in DAC for both. The receiver is about 10 years old but according to the manual is has 192/24 bit Crystal DAC's. The CD player is a Sony CDP CE500 which is not a high end player.

[alexwgoody]

I tried ripping them using Apple Lossless Encoder, and AIFF Encoder. I did not notice any difference between these methods, but they both sound bright compared to playing the CD on my player connected to the receiver.

 

The apple TV and my CD player are both connected to the Marantz using Optical digital cables, so Im using the receivers built in DAC for both. The receiver is about 10 years old but according to the manual is has 192/24 bit Crystal DAC's. The CD player is a Sony CDP CE500 which is not a high end player.

 

I can't really explain this difference. Unless you have a setting somewhere that either down samples or EQs the airplay output, it should in theory and in practice be exactly the same as the CD. Have you gone through all of the preferences?

 

Since you are using the Toslink, another Dac will not help because the analog out of the new dac will still be changed to digital in the receiver, unless you use pure-direct mode, which you probably don't want to use. There is no point in doing these multiple d/a a/d conversions, it certainly won't improve the sound in any way.

[phatoldsun]

I like the convenience of ripping CD's to my Mac Mini using iTunes and using Apple TV to play them on my home system using a Marantz 7400 receiver and Monitor Audio Silver series speakers.

 

I find that the music does not sound as good to me, as when I play the CD's directly through a CD player connected to the receiver. The iTunes music sounds too bright and somewhat tinny. I prefer a warmer sound. I tried several of the available formats for the rips but I'm not happy with the results.

 

Would connecting a DAC between the Apple TV and the receiver improve the quality of the music? If so can you recommend one that would cost less then 500$ and give me enough improvement to be worth the investment?

 

If the Apple TV is the problem, can you recommend an alternative keeping within my budget.

 

Thanks

 

Simple answer to your question is: the Apple TV is the likely problem. If you have an Apple TV 2/3, it is playing everything at 48/16 so your CD (44.1/16) rips are being up-sampled. Apple TVs have a reputation for higher jitter too and this could be contributing to the tinny and bright sound.

Also, your Marantz has totally respectable Crystal 192/24 DACs in it so if you are connecting the Apple TV via optical, you are already using good DACs.

 

What other DACs are you considering?

 

I agree that iTunes & Apple TV can't be beat for convenience. I started with an Apple TV (1st Gen.) connected to my Marantz SR 6003. It was good but not better than my CD player (Oppo BDP-83). I got a box to help with jitter between the ATV and the Marantz ( Firestone Audio Bravo 24/96 Digital Processor | Digital Audio Review by John Darko ) and it helped but probably not enough to justify the cost. You could try to find a decent digital processor like the Bravo and put it between the ATV and the Marantz.

 

I ended up biting the bullet and going with a Mac Mini connected to a VLink192 USB to SPDIF converter into my Marantz in Pure Direct mode and now I have sound that can beat my CD player. Bonus: i can enjoy high resolution files and retain iTunes convenience.

[Richh]

I can't really explain this difference. Unless you have a setting somewhere that either down samples or EQs the airplay output, it should in theory and in practice be exactly the same as the CD. Have you gone through all of the preferences?

 

Since you are using the Toslink, another Dac will not help because the analog out of the new dac will still be changed to digital in the receiver, unless you use pure-direct mode, which you probably don't want to use. There is no point in doing these multiple d/a a/d conversions, it certainly won't improve the sound in any way.

 

If I bought a new DAC I would use analog inputs on the receiver so music coming out of the new DAC would stay in the analog domain. I'm not sure if a new DAC will help because I'm now using the receivers DAC for both the Apple TV and the CD player. The fact that I here a difference in the music must be influenced by something in the CD player or the Apple TV that is affecting the music while it is still in the digital domain.

[Richh]

Simple answer to your question is: the Apple TV is the likely problem. If you have an Apple TV 2/3, it is playing everything at 48/16 so your CD (44.1/16) rips are being up-sampled. Apple TVs have a reputation for higher jitter too and this could be contributing to the tinny and bright sound.

Also, your Marantz has totally respectable Crystal 192/24 DACs in it so if you are connecting the Apple TV via optical, you are already using good DACs.

 

What other DACs are you considering?

 

I agree that iTunes & Apple TV can't be beat for convenience. I started with an Apple TV (1st Gen.) connected to my Marantz SR 6003. It was good but not better than my CD player (Oppo BDP-83). I got a box to help with jitter between the ATV and the Marantz ( Firestone Audio Bravo 24/96 Digital Processor | Digital Audio Review by John Darko ) and it helped but probably not enough to justify the cost. You could try to find a decent digital processor like the Bravo and put it between the ATV and the Marantz.

 

I ended up biting the bullet and going with a Mac Mini connected to a VLink192 USB to SPDIF converter into my Marantz in Pure Direct mode and now I have sound that can beat my CD player. Bonus: i can enjoy high resolution files and retain iTunes convenience.

 

Would you please explain your VLink solution in a little more detail. What would be the cost of this solution? My Mac Mini is in another room so I would need a wireless (my preference) or Ethernet based solution.

[alexwgoody]

If I bought a new DAC I would use analog inputs on the receiver so music coming out of the new DAC would stay in the analog domain. I'm not sure if a new DAC will help because I'm now using the receivers DAC for both the Apple TV and the CD player. The fact that I here a difference in the music must be influenced by something in the CD player or the Apple TV that is affecting the music while it is still in the digital domain.

 

It doesn't matter that you'd use the analog inputs on the receiver. Unless you are in pure direct mode or an equivalent with no processing at all, the receiver will convert it back to digital and then analog again for the speakers. This is fact. Some models only turn off processing in this mode, but still convert the signal to digital and back again.

[phatoldsun]

Yes. First, the VLINK is not wireless. It just improves the sound (significantly for me) vs. direct connection of Mac Mini to Marantz. It converts a USB out of my Mac Mini into a COAX SPDIF that I can use to connect to the DAC in the Marantz. It reduces jitter and provides isolation between the Mac and the Marantz.

Basically I removed the Apple TV and replaced it with a Mac Mini and VLINK for the audio system. I have a second laptop for general computing.

So for you, you would get a second Mini to replace the ATV for your audio system and leave you current Mini where it is.

 

There are wireless DACs (from AudioEngine and NAD for example) that would work for getting music from your current Mini to your Marantz.

[Richh]

Yes. First, the VLINK is not wireless. It just improves the sound (significantly for me) vs. direct connection of Mac Mini to Marantz. It converts a USB out of my Mac Mini into a COAX SPDIF that I can use to connect to the DAC in the Marantz. It reduces jitter and provides isolation between the Mac and the Marantz.

Basically I removed the Apple TV and replaced it with a Mac Mini and VLINK for the audio system. I have a second laptop for general computing.

So for you, you would get a second Mini to replace the ATV for your audio system and leave you current Mini where it is.

 

There are wireless DACs (from AudioEngine and NAD for example) that would work for getting music from your current Mini to your Marantz.

 

Thanks for your reply. I assume the spdif cable would plug into the digital coax input on the Marantz. I did a little research and can buy the vLink for 250$ on Amazon. They sell 50' spdif cables and that would be long enough to run between my Mac and the receiver. (I would just run it down to a crawl space and back up in the room where my receiver is). I could also use the balanced output from the vlink and use a AES cable and a AES to spdif adapter to connect to the Marantz. Do you think the Crystal DAC in the receiver is of good enough quality for this solution? You seem like you are happy with the sound of your setup. This solution is within my budget and seem like it might be a good way to go.

[souptin]

Before you give up completely on the Apple TV, there are a couple of things you might want to try which may improve it's sq. In no particular order:

 

1. If you have a suitably long ethernet cable try using this instead of wireless to connect the ATV to your network. Reason: sometimes wireless networks can be a bit flaky. Even if the signal looks strong, it may still be error prone. Worst case you hear very obvious problems, drop outs and lots of distortion, but I suspect there may a grey area where the problems are not obvious but are affecting sound quality from the ATV.

 

2. There are two ways to get music to play from the ATV. You can stream to it from your Mac Mini or you can use it as a zone player where the ATV pulls the music from the Mac Mini. I reckon option 2 is best. Is not always obvious which method you are using, but if you have a telly connected to the ATV, and use the wee apple remote to browse through your music on the telly, then you are probably already using option 2 (the one I think is better).

 

3. As already mentioned, the latest ATVs will output at 16/48 regardless of the source material (redbook, aka a CD rip is 16/44.1). By any chance do you have anything in your music library that is 16/48? Some HD downloads are at this resolution, also sometimes material from DVD. BTW you will need to be using the ATV as a zone player to have any chance of this getting to your receiver unadulterated, streaming will downsample to 16/44.1 (adding yet another unwanted resampling step).

 

If 1 and/or 2 have any positive effect that you like then great, you just have to decide if you're up for wiring in the ethernet permanently. If 3 works, then TBH I am not really sure what the way forward is, what you'll have learned is that the combination of the resampling in the ATV followed by whatever processing your receiver DACses do is not pleasing to your ears. Unless the receiver has any settings you can change you're probably looking for a replacement for the ATV. Second mac situated next to the receiver being one option.

[DavidL]

Yet one more thing you could try:

 

I assume you are using wireless communication for you ATV. How close is it to your receiver? I found increasing the distance from 1ft to 3 ft gave a significant improvement in sound quality when I used my ATV's wireless connection.

 

I got a further improvement when I went to my current setup: I use an ethernet connection from the ATV to an Airport Extreme 6 ft away from the DAC, with the AE acting as a wireless bridge to another AE connected by ethernet to the computer.

[Richh]

Before you give up completely on the Apple TV, there are a couple of things you might want to try which may improve it's sq. In no particular order:

 

1. If you have a suitably long ethernet cable try using this instead of wireless to connect the ATV to your network. Reason: sometimes wireless networks can be a bit flaky. Even if the signal looks strong, it may still be error prone. Worst case you hear very obvious problems, drop outs and lots of distortion, but I suspect there may a grey area where the problems are not obvious but are affecting sound quality from the ATV.

 

2. There are two ways to get music to play from the ATV. You can stream to it from your Mac Mini or you can use it as a zone player where the ATV pulls the music from the Mac Mini. I reckon option 2 is best. Is not always obvious which method you are using, but if you have a telly connected to the ATV, and use the wee apple remote to browse through your music on the telly, then you are probably already using option 2 (the one I think is better).

 

3. As already mentioned, the latest ATVs will output at 16/48 regardless of the source material (redbook, aka a CD rip is 16/44.1). By any chance do you have anything in your music library that is 16/48? Some HD downloads are at this resolution, also sometimes material from DVD. BTW you will need to be using the ATV as a zone player to have any chance of this getting to your receiver unadulterated, streaming will downsample to 16/44.1 (adding yet another unwanted resampling step).

 

If 1 and/or 2 have any positive effect that you like then great, you just have to decide if you're up for wiring in the ethernet permanently. If 3 works, then TBH I am not really sure what the way forward is, what you'll have learned is that the combination of the resampling in the ATV followed by whatever processing your receiver DACses do is not pleasing to your ears. Unless the receiver has any settings you can change you're probably looking for a replacement for the ATV. Second mac situated next to the receiver being one option.

 

Thanks for your reply. My router is located near the Marantz and Apple TV so I have it hard wired via ethernet cable already. However the Mac mini is connected to my network via wireless, so I could try connecting it with ethernet.

 

I think I'm already using your method 2 because I do browse my music via the Apple TV remote.

 

I do not have any 16/48 files at this time. I did try downloading some sample 24/96 files from HD tracks and they sounded pretty good through my setup. I know Apple TV does not do 24/96 so it must be converting them somehow. What is really weird is that I bought a 24/96 album from HD tracks after trying their sample, and it will not play at all. It just drops the audio after a few notes. The album I bought does play just using speakers attached to the Mac Mini. After I emailed them HD Tracks told me Apple TV was not meant for HI Rez playback.

[phatoldsun]

Thanks for your reply. I assume the spdif cable would plug into the digital coax input on the Marantz. I did a little research and can buy the vLink for 250$ on Amazon. They sell 50' spdif cables and that would be long enough to run between my Mac and the receiver. (I would just run it down to a crawl space and back up in the room where my receiver is). I could also use the balanced output from the vlink and use a AES cable and a AES to spdif adapter to connect to the Marantz. Do you think the Crystal DAC in the receiver is of good enough quality for this solution? You seem like you are happy with the sound of your setup. This solution is within my budget and seem like it might be a good way to go.

You would go Mac Mini>USB>VLINK>COAX (or AES w/ adapter)>coax input on Marantz. That's a long run of coax, but I think it would be ok.

BTW, Music Direct has the Vlink 192 for $199. Also, (not to add complication) you could look for a BelCanto mLINK for a similar price. It's just a different USB to SPDIF converter but gets good reviews.

 

I think the Crystal DACs are good. My Marantz has Cirrus Logic 192/24 DACs that are still used in Marantz CD players (wasn't Cirrus formerly know as Crystal?) and I really think I'm maximizing them with the VLINK and playback software. Using the built in DACs avoids the analog to digital to analog processing that can happen if you use a DAC and the RCA inputs of your receiver that others mentioned in this tread. I also have an HDCD decoder in mine so I can benefit from that too. It all sounds great, is very convenient and we can still do video. My family can pick up an iPad or iPhone and play any of our 20,000+ tracks with the Remote app. AVRs don't get much respect here, but one person's Mid-Fi is another's budget audiophile solution.

 

One other thing to try is to move your MacMini and directly connect it to your receiver via optical. You will need a mini toslink adapter for the mini. Make sure your MIDI settings match the type of file your playing (EX. 44.1/16 for CD tracks) If that is an improvement over Apple TV, then you can move your Mini back to its current location and do the Vlink and it will very likely beat your CD player. If it isn't better than the ATV, you can look at other options.

Good luck and don't forget to enjoy the music.

[Richh]

You would go Mac Mini>USB>VLINK>COAX (or AES w/ adapter)>coax input on Marantz. That's a long run of coax, but I think it would be ok.

BTW, Music Direct has the Vlink 192 for $199. Also, (not to add complication) you could look for a BelCanto mLINK for a similar price. It's just a different USB to SPDIF converter but gets good reviews.

 

I think the Crystal DACs are good. My Marantz has Cirrus Logic 192/24 DACs that are still used in Marantz CD players (wasn't Cirrus formerly know as Crystal?) and I really think I'm maximizing them with the VLINK and playback software. Using the built in DACs avoids the analog to digital to analog processing that can happen if you use a DAC and the RCA inputs of your receiver that others mentioned in this tread. I also have an HDCD decoder in mine so I can benefit from that too. It all sounds great, is very convenient and we can still do video. My family can pick up an iPad or iPhone and play any of our 20,000+ tracks with the Remote app. AVRs don't get much respect here, but one person's Mid-Fi is another's budget audiophile solution.

 

One other thing to try is to move your MacMini and directly connect it to your receiver via optical. You will need a mini toslink adapter for the mini. Make sure your MIDI settings match the type of file your playing (EX. 44.1/16 for CD tracks) If that is an improvement over Apple TV, then you can move your Mini back to its current location and do the Vlink and it will very likely beat your CD player. If it isn't better than the ATV, you can look at other options.

Good luck and don't forget to enjoy the music.

 

Thanks so much for all your help with this. I really appreciate it. If I decide to go with the vlink solution I will come back and post my results.

 

Rich

[mayhem13]

Rich, something that wasn't mentioned and I have personal experience with using a second gen Airport Express instead of the ATV for music. It plays native resolution bit perfect at 16/44.1. The Airport uses the original AirTunes protocol instead of Airplay which was optimized for video soundtracks.

 

Second gen Airports can be found on Ebay for $50 used. Certainly worth a try and I found the Airport sound much more natural and smooth over the ATV. Stay away for the third gen units which look like white ATVs. Although unproven through measurements, claims of hig jitter levels and stuttering playback from many.

[Richh]

Rich, something that wasn't mentioned and I have personal experience with using a second gen Airport Express instead of the ATV for music. It plays native resolution bit perfect at 16/44.1. The Airport uses the original AirTunes protocol instead of Airplay which was optimized for video soundtracks.

 

Second gen Airports can be found on Ebay for $50 used. Certainly worth a try and I found the Airport sound much more natural and smooth over the ATV. Stay away for the third gen units which look like white ATVs. Although unproven through measurements, claims of hig jitter levels and stuttering playback from many.

 

Thanks for the info on the Airport. Is there anyway to tell if a unit on ebay is second gen?

[Audio_ELF]

Stay away for the third gen units which look like white ATVs. Although unproven through measurements, claims of hig jitter levels and stuttering playback from many.

I don't recall the exact details, but Chris C. got one of the new AirPort Express units tested for jitter, etc. and iirc it confirmed the high jitter levels (not that the earlier ones were low jitter).

 

As an alternative to AirPort Express and/or Apple TV can look at streamers such as Denon DNP720AE, Marantz NR7004 (discontinued iirc but some still in supply chain), Pioneer N30 and others.

 

Eloise

[Richh]

Rich, something that wasn't mentioned and I have personal experience with using a second gen Airport Express instead of the ATV for music. It plays native resolution bit perfect at 16/44.1. The Airport uses the original AirTunes protocol instead of Airplay which was optimized for video soundtracks.

 

Second gen Airports can be found on Ebay for $50 used. Certainly worth a try and I found the Airport sound much more natural and smooth over the ATV. Stay away for the third gen units which look like white ATVs. Although unproven through measurements, claims of hig jitter levels and stuttering playback from many.

 

I think I would like to try your airport solution first because it is the most cost effective. I do have a few questions on how it works.

 

Is the right airport express model A1264 MB321LL/A

It looks like you need a special cable that goes from mini to toslink to connect the AE to the receiver.

Do I just use an ethernet cable to connect the airport express into my network.

Is there any setup software that must be used to setup the AE or will my mac mini just find it?

My version of iTunes (11.1.3) does not show an airplay button on the menu bar, so how do I select songs from my library to play through the airport express?

 

Thanks for your help

[souptin]

Is the right airport express model A1264 MB321LL/A

Yes, that's the one to go for. It's the second generation model. The very first generation is M9470LL/A, model A1084, but this one is best avoided because sadly it's no longer supported by the Airport Utility app that you need for setup.

AirPort Express - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

It looks like you need a special cable that goes from mini to toslink to connect the AE to the receiver.

Standard toslink cables often come with adapters to 'mini toslink'. These will work fine. The adapters are pretty horrible plasticky things though - I'd suggest looking for a mini toslink to toslink cable and see if one fits your budget.

 

Do I just use an ethernet cable to connect the airport express into my network.

Yes. Or try wifi, it will work either way.

 

Is there any setup software that must be used to setup the AE or will my mac mini just find it?

Yes. Fire up the Airport Utility app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). There will be a button at the top left of the network diagram window that you click on to connect to the newcomer for setup. Your mac / iTunes won't find it until you complete this process.

 

My version of iTunes (11.1.3) does not show an airplay button on the menu bar, so how do I select songs from my library to play through the airport express?

It will once you've completed the unit's setup with Airport Utility.

[Richh]

Is the right airport express model A1264 MB321LL/A

Yes, that's the one to go for. It's the second generation model. The very first generation is M9470LL/A, model A1084, but this one is best avoided because sadly it's no longer supported by the Airport Utility app that you need for setup.

AirPort Express - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

It looks like you need a special cable that goes from mini to toslink to connect the AE to the receiver.

Standard toslink cables often come with adapters to 'mini toslink'. These will work fine. The adapters are pretty horrible plasticky things though - I'd suggest looking for a mini toslink to toslink cable and see if one fits your budget.

 

Do I just use an ethernet cable to connect the airport express into my network.

Yes. Or try wifi, it will work either way.

 

Is there any setup software that must be used to setup the AE or will my mac mini just find it?

Yes. Fire up the Airport Utility app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). There will be a button at the top left of the network diagram window that you click on to connect to the newcomer for setup. Your mac / iTunes won't find it until you complete this process.

 

My version of iTunes (11.1.3) does not show an airplay button on the menu bar, so how do I select songs from my library to play through the airport express?

It will once you've completed the unit's setup with Airport Utility.

 

Thanks, for your very informative reply.

One more question

What app are you using to control your Mac from your iPhone/iPad? I don't want to have to go into the other room where the Mac Mini lives to select music to play.

 

Thanks,

Rich

[mayhem13]

I use the Remote App from Apple on 4 devices to control now 7'zones of audio, video or both. Works very well with our iPhones, pads and a touch. From the App, you can select the newly installed Airport or your Apple TV. The app also allows direct control of Apple Tvs for typing search words and the like. Very usefull.

[mayhem13]

I don't recall the exact details, but Chris C. got one of the new AirPort Express units tested for jitter, etc. and iirc it confirmed the high jitter levels (not that the earlier ones were low jitter).

 

As an alternative to AirPort Express and/or Apple TV can look at streamers such as Denon DNP720AE, Marantz NR7004 (discontinued iirc but some still in supply chain), Pioneer N30 and others.

 

Eloise

 

No Eloise, Stereophile tested the 2nd gen digital output for jitter and found it very low and bit perfect. A smile google search will reveal the article. And as for the new version of Airport, I've been 'told' a firmware upgrade for it has reduced jitter to levels below the 2nd gen......but until I see a waveform, I remain suspicious.

[Audio_ELF]

No Eloise, Stereophile tested the 2nd gen digital output for jitter and found it very low and bit perfect. A smile google search will reveal the article. And as for the new version of Airport, I've been 'told' a firmware upgrade for it has reduced jitter to levels below the 2nd gen......but until I see a waveform, I remain suspicious.

This -- Computer Audiophile - Measurements: First and Second Generation Apple AirPort Express -- was what I was thinking of...

[Richh]

Thanks, for your very informative reply.

One more question

What app are you using to control your Mac from your iPhone/iPad? I don't want to have to go into the other room where the Mac Mini lives to select music to play.

 

Thanks,

Rich

 

I connected up the airport express and it made a huge difference. The brittle, bright sound is gone. The music sounds identical to playing the cd's. I also tried a 24/96 album that I downloaded from HDTracks and it played great. Do you know if this setup would work with 24/192 files?

 

Thanks again for all your help with this.

Rich