amara, channel d and itunes

[jmstpierre]

I all,

 

I am building a hifi system from scratch and will go down the computer, dac road.

I have read everywhere the merit of channel d pure music or amara with itunes, but was wondering if any of those software will be beneficial when using the apple tv.Will i see an improvement in sound quality when streaming with the apple tv with any of those two software or do they only work for mac/computer only straight into dacs??

any info will be greatly appreciated.

the reason for using appkle tv is convenience of course, but if i can t improve the quality over the streaming, i may have to go for a mac, but can i remotely controlled my itune library via an ipad, justy like i can control the apple tv in order to see whats playing or queued.

regards

john

 

[Audio_ELF]

Amarra, Pure Nusic, etc only show an advantage when the Mac is connected direct to a DAC. Via Apple TV (or Airport Express) you won't.

 

Eloise

 

[jmstpierre]

Hi eloise,

thanks for your reply.I did indeed thought so, but was not 100% sure.

I guess i will to have the mac mini straight into dac.However, i have a few more questions, if you don t mind..

1)does amara or pure music work better on a given output such as optical,coax or usb?Does it even matter what output is used, and what are the better dacs that tend to work well with mac minis and amarra/pure channel(or once again, does that not even come into consideration).Please excuse my ignorance and if my questions seem stupid, but m a bit of a mac novice.

2)can i still download hd movies thru the itunes store via mac mini, or are hd movies specific to apple tv?

sincerely yours

john

 

[subjective]

Never mind...

 

[bottlerocket]

I've owned both before and frankly I found the ATV a lot better for movies and easy navigation of all things video like home movies, photos, rental movies and youTube.

 

The reason is that its software presentation allows you to do all of this easily with the TV as the monitor from your couch with the little white remote control.

 

Once I upgraded to a Mini, which was purely for its audio advantages (hi-res support and USB and better support for larger hard drives), I found that movie rentals were a little more difficult. Now I start up rentals from Amazon Prime or iTunes by remote controlling the mini via screen sharing from another Mac. I also re-installed Front Row on Lion to allow easier navigation of my photo collection on my TV.

 

The best solution is to simply get both - The ATV for all things video and the mini for all things audio. Or the screen sharing route is not really that bad. Or you could get a keyboard and mouse and use the TV for your monitor, but in my case, I really did not want a mouse and keyboard on my living room table.

 

I have to wonder why Apple does not just put out software for the Mini to duplicate the UI of ATV. They could make "headless mac mini" movie rentals a lot easier.

 

So to answer your question #2, yes you can definitely still rent and playback movies through iTunes on the mini. It is just that you will actually go into iTunes to do that instead of using the ATV's simple TV centric UI.

 

[jmstpierre]

Hi bottlerocket,

thanks a lot for your advice.I am glad you went thru what m about to go thru and you may be right i may have to get have both, it s just that m trying to simplify the whole hifi set up but still enjoy quality sound.I will try using itunes thru the mini and download/rent movies hd and see how hard it is to do so.I must admit that the apple tv interface is pretty user firendly.

You mentioned that you purchased the mini mostly for audio duties.As such i would be interested in which output you prefered(ie usb, optical...)

thanks again

john