agentsmith Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 Currently a Squeezebox 2/Benchmark/Naim user and am getting sick of the slow and clumsy Squeeze interface and also the restriction to 24/48KHz output. Like some others I just bought an iPod Touch and found the Remote interface to iTunes slick and much superior to the Squeeze in usability. As a result I am thinking of changing the music player to iTunes based. The most seamless way seems to be an AppleTV Vs a Mac Mini since I can access the AppleTV much easier using Windows based laptops. My main question is the suitability of the AppleTV connecting to a DAC: - Is it capable of 24/96 or even 24/192 output to a DAC? - I know it does not have SPDIF, can it output audio via USB? - How does it compare sinically to the Mac Mini? The Mac Mini is the causing quite a stir over at the Naim forum connecting to a Lavry DAC, being compared to a $6K CDX2 and even a CD 555. Macbook Pro/MacMini/dCS Debussy/Cambridge 650BD[br]Vitus Audio SS-010/Living Voice OBX-R2 Speakers/Ultrasone Edition 8 phones[br]Airport Express/Meridian AD88[br] Link to comment
Olive Empithrie Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 From the spec sheet it looks as if the Apple TV has an optical audio out so it should connect to a Lavry DAC in the same way as the Naim guys are doing with the optical outs on their MacBook/ mac minis and it should sound the same. I believe it will not output audio via USB. I see Ashley uses an Apple TV as a music server, so perhaps he'll read this and confirm. hFX Classic fanless i7 SSD > Locus Nucleus / SW Diverter HR > RWA Isabella LFP-V Pro / New Sensor Genalex Gold Lion E88CC > ALO Sennheiser HD 800 balanced[br] Link to comment
audioengr Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 A number of my customers are using both AirPort Express and AppleTV with a Pace-Car reclocker, which outputs either S/PDIF coax or AES/EBU to the DAC of your choice. The Pace-Car was developed to reduce jitter for these types of music servers. Jitter is the biggest problem with them, besides the fact that most do not support 24-bit/96kHz sample rate. Here is a recent review of the Pace-Car used directly from Toslink from a Mac laptop: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue39/ramblings_computer.htm Steve N. Empirical Audio Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 "My main question is the suitability of the AppleTV connecting to a DAC: - Is it capable of 24/96 or even 24/192 output to a DAC? - I know it does not have SPDIF, can it output audio via USB?" So far my Apply TV is downsampling everything to 44.1 kHz, but it is playing native 16/44.1 tracks bit perfect. The sound is another thing altogether. Apple TV is not my favorite compared to the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC / Lynx combination :-) As far as I know it can only output audio via Toslink, HDMI, and analog not USB. Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
thequietman Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Can the 16/44 limit on the optical output be changed/hacked? thequietman Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Good question. I'm not a huge fan of hacking these things, but it may be possible. I have a feeling any new updates would wipe the slate clean though. Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
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