Questions about Apple TV

madmax

With Apple TV do you just plug an internet connection into it and hdmi out to a tv and thats it? Thinking of one of these and netflix combo. Is there a better way? Is netflix any good? Would something be better than Apple TV, I'm not into games.
Thanks
madmax

EDUBAG

that is it. that and sincyng or opening an itunes account for it to operate.

i have an older generation 160 gb and am very very happy with it. mine does not have netflix but only the itunes store.

good luck

packetjones

I do not have an apple TV but have heard good things about them. Some other alternatives would be the boxee, roku, and WD live. Netflix is amazing in my opinion. The streaming does not have new releases but there is a ton of things available.

LuSh

I have Apple TV 2 (the smaller one with no internal hard drive). I purchased it for the sole intent on creating a music library on iTunes and using an itouch to control all my music (stored on a PC upstairs) remotely. I love it.

My laptop has over 260 albums ripped in either WAV/AiFF format and it streams wireless to my Apple TV connected to an external DAC via optical. Not only do I control everything from an iTouch and recently purchased iPad, I can control all my media through one device now. I stream photos downstairs and the odd movie. The Youtube implementation is a little weak and I never use it however I have a laptop for Youtube. I don't have Netflix but the icon is there if I want to subscribe.

Sound quality was at first VERY good. I packed up my dedicated transport in favor of Apple TV. I believe much better quality can be achieved via a Mac Mini running third party software however I'm so happy with my current setup for the first time in my 'audiophile life' I've stopped critically listening and I'm just so happy I have access to all my music at the flick of my fingers. You would be hard pressed to hear a difference between Apple TV and a sub $1000 transport (my belief anyways). Having fiddled around with more expensive transports I'm confident in saying better sound can be had. But not only for more money but at the expense of listening to less music.

'Airplay' is a new feature I've seen pop up on mid to higher end AVR's this year and I'm baffled how anybody could upgrade to an 'Airplay' receiver when Apple TV adds so much more, is wireless and at the cost of 100 bucks. Buy one at a big box store with a return policy and fiddle around for a weekend. That's what I did and I couldn't return it.

Libertyc

I also have Apple TV, the latest version with no internal storage. I use it for Netflix and sometimes listen to internet radio. I don't have a receiver with HDMI so I don't use it for iTunes yet. The setup is very simple and the picture quality is good even though I have a slow DSL conection.
You could also use a network ready DVD player of TV to stream Netflix.

LuSh

Libertyc

There is an optical output that you can use as well as HDMI for audio.

Libertyc

Thanks Lush I forgot about the optical output.

LuSh

No problem, enjoy!

Don't forget to rip in Lossless, WAV or AIFF encoding with error correction on.

Cheers.

madmax

I think I really want something with analog audio output, 2 channel. (This is the way I watch movies.) Is there a good choice out there with analog audio out?

BlueFox

There have been three seperate posts by people in the recent past that state the audio via Apple TV is sub-par compared to a direct connection to a DAC. This is streaming lossless files via Apple TV. Apparently, it is doing something to degrade the audio performance.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I have the Apple TV and really like it overall, and have decided to keep it despite the audio quality.

The audio quality on the Apple TV is not very good, the music just sounds flat and very little extension - I was actually shocked at how bad it sounds. I'm streaming from iTunes over a wireless connection.

To be fair, I have not tried streaming lossless and really should try that before I make a final decision to not use it for audio. The problem is that all my lossless audio track are in FLAC and it doesn't support that out of the box. I did to a comparison with an mp3 compressed at 320, and compared 3 different devices, the Apple TV, the Oppo BDP-83 with those files burned to a CD, and streaming via my PS3.

The Oppo did sound better because of the DACs, but the Apple TV was by far the worst of the 3. I had to listen to hear differences between the other 2, the Apple TV just reached right out and slapped me in the face and said "hey, I suck for music playback, don't do that"

The reason I'm keeping the Apple TV is the video support. I can get my Netflix and access to movies on my media server through my TiVo box, but the Apple TV does it better and has a cleaner interface and is just quicker overall. I recommend the Apple TV for photo and video, and maybe for background music, but not even remotely serious listening.

The Apple TV is limited to 720P though, so if you want 1080P you'll need to look elsewhere.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Also, the Roky XD does have analog outputs and 1080P support. Honestly, if you're not an Apple guy and have other devices that would benefit from Apple TV integration the Roky is probably a better choice

brgman

I looked at several streaming devices and bought the AppleTV for convenience and cost.It works great.I also use Mezzmo and that works nice as well for FLAC stuff.
IMHO no streaming audio device will give me what i have paid for in my 2 channel system so if i want to hear the best i can get, i get off my lazy arse and use the good chit.

bobman1235

LuSh wrote: »

I have Apple TV 2 (the smaller one with no internal hard drive). I purchased it for the sole intent on creating a music library on iTunes and using an itouch to control all my music (stored on a PC upstairs) remotely. I love it.

Not to be a dick but there are WAY cheaper ways you could have accomplished this feat. AppleTV seems like a neat product but if all you're doing is streaming music... seems like a waste.

ivansfo

If your primary goal is to do video, then ATV gen2 or any of the other streaming devices will work fine. However, if you want it to play music the original ATV gen1 with 160GB storage is the way to go. My CDs are ripped in Apple Lossless and it get copied to the ATV internal disk.

Playback between AppleTV gen1 and my CD transport is nearly identical. Both devices feed to the internal DACs in my preamp. I love my AppleTV.

WGDB

I have an Apple TVII - I love it. All my itunes are apple lossless format and it makes a very big difference in sound quality. Does just what I wanted it to do with an easy to use interface.

LuSh

bobman1235 - Apple TV is $99. I'm all ears for a cheaper solution.

AsSiMiLaTeD - While not a reference piece, citing Apple TV sucks for sound quality while admitting you never tried Lossless is like me citing an Ayon CD-MK2 CD player is garbage, but I used MP3's copied Cd's at my local dealers for audition.

BlueFox - Apple TV is sub par but it has less to do with Apple TV and more to do with PC/MAC related issues of dither and trans-coding.

madmax - curious as to why you wouldn't want to use digital outputs and use the internal D/A device or a superior audio product.

bobman1235

LuSh wrote: »

bobman1235 - Apple TV is $99. I'm all ears for a cheaper solution.

Wait, really? Wow. SOrry, I totally thought it was a few hundred.

AsSiMiLaTeD

LuSh wrote: »

AsSiMiLaTeD - While not a reference piece, citing Apple TV sucks for sound quality while admitting you never tried Lossless is like me citing an Ayon CD-MK2 CD player is garbage, but I used MP3's copied Cd's at my local dealers for audition.

Did you read my whole post?

I tried comparing THE SAME MP3 file on the Apple TV, Oppo BDP-83, and the PS3. The SAME FILE, sounded MUCH worse on the Apple TV than it did on the PS3 or Oppo.

Now maybe Apple is doing something where they only fouled up compressed music, which is why I mentioned that I had not tried lossless to begin with. So, at a MINIMUM, the Apple TV sucks worse than other devices I've tried with compressed audio.

My guess though is that when I do try a lossless file I'm going to find the same results.

LuSh

Try using AIFF with error correction ON when ripping the CD. Then play the same CD through the Oppo and give it another try. Should take 5minutes to perform the demo. You might be surprised at the results.

madmax

LuSh wrote: »

madmax - curious as to why you wouldn't want to use digital outputs and use the internal D/A device or a superior audio product.

I normally feed to the analog outputs (such as with my BR player) to the inputs of my 2 ch system. Throwing something like a receiver in the mix usually degrades the sound more than necessary.

AsSiMiLaTeD

You wouldn't need a receiver in the mix though. Just run from the digital out on the Apple TV or whatever to a DAC then to your 2 channel system.

You're going to get much better sound letting an outboard DAC handle the D/A conversion than letting a cheap streaming device handle that.

I'm sure you know this already, just sayin'....

madmax

It would have to be an hdmi input type dac, right? Or is there another connection for the audio out to a dac?

AsSiMiLaTeD

It depends on the device. The Apple TV has an optical output, so you'd use that running to a DAC

mutelight

I own two of the second generation Apple TVs. I don't really use them for Netflix since my PS3s offer 1080p video streaming but I absolutely love them for AirPlay.

It is very nice having the ability to beam any music, photos, or videos from my phone, iPad, or any of my friends iOS devices to my systems in my house.

If you don't own any iOS devices, you may want to look at a Boxee or Roku box. However, if you do, as I mentioned I bought two just for AirPlay alone.