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Apple TV Streaming Sound Quality vs Streamer?

I am looking for the weak link to improve sound quality.   Seems logical it is the Apple TV as a source.  Would a moderate streamer inside of $1500 make much of a difference when streaming Tidal and the like?  

Current Equipment:
Speaker: Dali Euphonia MS-4
AMP: Modwright KWA 150 SE
Preamp/ DAC: Peachtree Grand Integrated
Source: Tidal / Apple TV
puffbojie
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
Stick to hard media like LP's and CD's for the best SQ!
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
On most MQA contents my DAC shows 96 and sometimes 192 rates. And they do sound better than the same music when played using my CD player through the same DAC. The rest of the system is a constant.
So streaming can sound better than CD and in my system does most of the time.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

You could replace the ATV with another streamer, but it will have high jitter just like the ATV.

Jitter is the thing that you must reduce, the thing that most digital audio suffers from.

The Synchro-Mesh will reduce jitter to 8 psec and you can have 44.1, 48 or 96 for output, your choice. Most DAC’s sound best with 96.

Here are some jitter measurements, before and after the Synchro-Mesh:

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=154310.0

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=154408.0

There are no streamers that will deliver 8psec of jitter at the end of a coax cable. The only way to get there is the Synchro-Mesh.  Cheaper than buying another streamer.  If anything, get a Sonos Connect and reclock it with a Synchro-Mesh.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

tonocasa's avatar
tonocasa
35 posts
 
Steve from Empirical:

Does the Synchro-Mesh improve the optical out of most TVs, especially Sony?

Does the Synchro-Mesh improve the optical out of the Apple AirPort Express (sadly becoming legacy)?

Do you know of a high quality AirPlay streamer (source only) that can take the place of, or improve upon, the AirPort Express?
kahlenz's avatar
kahlenz
274 posts
 
I use an Apple TV with an optical out into my DAC.  I also have several Airport Express devices (with optical out) that I can use.   I cannot tell the difference between the bit-perfect Airport Express (16/44.1) and the upsampled Apple TV (16/48).  In my casual testing, the sound quality of either apple device equals the sound quality of the CD I ripped the files from.  As long as I'm not concerned about high res (higher than redbook) or "fully unfolded" MQA I am completely satisfied with the sound quality.

I guess I don't have the gilded ears (or revealing enough system) to hear jitter.  As much as I have obsessed over this, I have come to the conclusion if I cannot hear it (including long listening sessions), I won't worry about it.  My observations match other observers who have written about this on the internet.  I'm sure that somewhere along the line, it makes a difference.  That said, I do think I notice a difference between USB and SPDF (at least with my equipment).  After much listening I prefer the SPDF connections over USB.  Before I invest in a Remedy reclocker or USB "Decrapifier", I think it's more likely I'll move to a Micro Rendu (or something similar), or an asynchronous USB input DAC (lots of upgrade options here, and more hitting the market every day).

Note that the newer Apple TV and AEX units do not have SPDF out.  Plenty of older models of both available on the used market for around $50 or less.
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