New Apple TV -- Anyone planning on it?

@Aberyclark: Form what I understand, anything that AirTunes and AirPlay transmits is converted to Apple Lossless, which makes it 16/44 only. The new AirPlay protocol might change this. Could someone comment on this issue?

Just to clarify, my music is in Apple Lossless. I have about 80GB of music (and gradually loading more) and so it all fits on the 160GB hard drive. (FYI, ATV Flash is a program/hack that allows you to add an external hard drive to the Apple TV if you need it.)

When I was listening to the Apple Lossless being streamed through the Apple TV, it sounded good, but not as good as when I use my CD transport into my DAC. On the other hand, when I listen to the Apple Lossless from the Apple TV hard drive (which is how I normally listen), it sounds equal (if not better) to my CD transport into my DAC.

Darkj, have you noticed this difference between listening to "pure streaming" versus from the Apple TV hard drive?
It is possible that the difference that I hear is simply my wi fi connection. I have an Airport Extreme router (which is an "n" router) and get a very solid signal (usually 4 out of 5 bars) in my listening room, but my listening room is not terribly close to my router and is upstairs (with the router being downstairs).

I agree with Darkj that new Apple TV will likely be able to run Apps in the future. I personally find the 160GB Apple TV to be quiet and do not notice hearing the spinning of the hard drive.

I have the original 40 gig Apple TV and since the old one doesn't stream photos, I use the hard drive to store photos, while it streams music from my computer. After adding a DAC downstream, I'm convinced music sounds as good or better than CD. (I don't know how it can sound better, but the DAC may have something to do with that.)

Since the new one streams photos as well as music, I don't think the loss of the hard drive matters, other than your computer has to be on to stream your music.

As long as you have a decent DAC, the Apple TV is an excellent music streamer and the cheapest one I've found with the best interface - that can also be controlled by the Remote app on an iPod Touch or iPhone.

@Edge22 - I did notice that if I stream from my macbook using AirTunes that the quality isn't there, and indeed AirTunes converts the lossless down into something less.

However, I mainly stream from the LaCie drive that's connected to my iMac. In that case, there is no conversion to lossy formats.

Also, I can say that I tested many different optical cables, and found that while it wasn't a huge difference, there was definitely an increase in quality by using the Wireworld Supernova 6. It's quite good

Regarding the spinning hard disc sound on the older aTV's, mine is out in the open, and not terribly loud, but nonetheless annoying because I often listen late at night with three others sleeping in the house, so I must maintain low sound levels.

Again, if you don't have an Apple TV or Sooloos solution, then the $99 Apple TV is a must-have and will repay you with plenty of enjoyment, for music and for movie rentals. For existing AppleTV owners, the upgrade is less obvious.

How good is the clocking on the AppleTV?
The Airport Express is miserable and the DAC section of my CA840c simply doesn't like it and will periodically lose lock.