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New Apple TV -- Anyone planning on it?

I went ahead and ordered the new Apple TV. It is $99 and I will use it somewhere in the house. But I am seriously thinking about coupling it with a decent DAC and using it to stream all of my iTunes content. My system includes Martin Logan Summit speakers, Jeff Rowland amp, BAT pre amp. Any comments on whether this is a good idea?
rickschell
ballan
184 posts
 
@Ericjcabrera: Make sure the Dolby Digital settings is turned "off" and this will allow a stereo PCM signal to be the output.

It works must like a DVD player. If the Dolby Digital bitstream is selected, it will output that when it's available, if not, it will send a stereo PCM signal.
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happybob
33 posts
 
for anyone who actually owns both the old apple tv with hard drive and the new $99 apple tv, can you please compare the sound quality through an external dedicated DAC? thanks!
ballan
184 posts
 
@Happybob: The new ATV sounds better than the AirPort Express and previous ATV. I've been using and installing them over the last week with great success. It's an impressive little piece of gear. If you are an iTunes user and want to stream iTunes content, I highly recommend it.

The interface is quick and easy. The Apple Remote app integrates wonderfully. It sounds great, and even though it only supports 720p HD video, it look surprisingly good. I compared it with some 1080 HD content from Dish Network and DirecTV, and the ATV looks better.
happybob
33 posts
 
@Ballan: please again clarify, are you saying that the new apple tv sounds better than the previous one out of the box, or through a dedicated high-end DAC? Are you saying that the new apple TV through optical connection to a high-end DAC sounds better through streaming than the older apple tv through optical connection to a high-end DAC playing apple lossless files off its hard drive rather than through sreaming?
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