Apple TV 3 via a stereo amp

[Jetson]

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[rhett7660]

Running a Pioneer Elite VSX-03 with one hdmi cable coming from my receiver to the TV with blu-ray/apple tv/xbox connected to my receiver via hdmi. No complaints what so ever.

 

[davidoloan]

I assume whatever is input into the TV from ATV flows through the optical out.

Yes

Does not seem to change the signal and the same problem occurs. The DAC just wants a stereo signal I think to work properly

This should be working for you. What is the model of your DAC?

And what problem do you have? Does the DAC output any analogue signal to your Amp?

 

[cappers]

Yes



This should be working for you. What is the model of your DAC?

And what problem do you have? Does the DAC output any analogue signal to your Amp?

the DAc is a Cyrus DACX.
The Dac takes the Optical in from the ATV, and Analogues it out to my Amp via L and R (RCA) Cables.
Problem I think uis that my DAC only really likes a stereo in, and cant cope with anything else. Even though the DAC can take 48 khz signal, I suspect it does not like something the ATV is doing

 

[dj4hill]

help please

I also have this setup. I have my ATV 2 plugged into my TV via HDMI and into my stereo amp via optical. The first is for TV programmes and films, the second for music.

I have been reading lots of the past few days and I cannot seem to find what is the best answer to my question, from your post I think you know, so here goes!

I want to have an ATV3 on my roof / balcony. Most of the time it will be a headless streaming device for music, controlled by iPhone remote app. However, occasionally it will be hooked up to a micro portable projector. Now comes the question, how best to manage the sound.

In all case when video is required, it will be HDMI to the projector.

However, for audio, as I understand, my options are;

1) Optical to a amp that can accept the signal (all in once device such as the http://www.amazon.com/Kanto-YARO-Ho...40381667&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=kanto+yaro+amp will probably win out here).
2) Optical to analog audio converter http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-D3-Digita...4877384&sr=8-3 then any small amp onto speakers.

Pricewise they come out similar, but I am sure the quality could be better with option 2. The problem is I am worried about the video and audio not being in sync. This was mentioned on this thread as well.

The micro projector only has a 3.5 output jack, so sending the audio onwards to the amp via this method when I want to watch video is not a good option. Anyone know the best solution?

 

[EmpyreanUK]

I have been reading lots of the past few days and I cannot seem to find what is the best answer to my question, from your post I think you know, so here goes!

I want to have an ATV3 on my roof / balcony. Most of the time it will be a headless streaming device for music, controlled by iPhone remote app. However, occasionally it will be hooked up to a micro portable projector. Now comes the question, how best to manage the sound.

In all case when video is required, it will be HDMI to the projector.

However, for audio, as I understand, my options are;

1) Optical to a amp that can accept the signal (all in once device such as the http://www.amazon.com/Kanto-YARO-Ho...40381667&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=kanto+yaro+amp will probably win out here).
2) Optical to analog audio converter http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-D3-Digita...4877384&sr=8-3 then any small amp onto speakers.

Pricewise they come out similar, but I am sure the quality could be better with option 2. The problem is I am worried about the video and audio not being in sync. This was mentioned on this thread as well.

The micro projector only has a 3.5 output jack, so sending the audio onwards to the amp via this method when I want to watch video is not a good option. Anyone know the best solution?

When I click the link to the optical to analogue converter (something which is often referred to as a DAC) I get a 404 page, so I don't know which particular unit you're thinking of getting, but it is debatable as to which setup would yield the best quality.

A dedicated, standalone DAC is likely to be of a higher quality than one you would find in a comparatively priced amp. Yet any improvement in sound quality, which would anyway probably be slight, could end up being lost over the analogue pathway from the DAC to the amp, especially if the amplifier itself is cheaper.

I'm by absolutely no means an expert in this, but my understanding is that it's generally agreed to keep the signal in a digital format for as much of the 'chain' to the speakers as possible. As long as the equipment is functioning properly, a digital signal should suffer no degradation at all as it moves along the various cables and devices in your audio set-up —*the information is, after all, represented as digits, and a one or a zero will either arrive at its destination or it will not. Analogue signals can suffer from such degradation.

Therefore, it's probably better to opt for the amp with an integrated DAC, as the signal will remain digital for longer, and you also have the advantage of removing an extra device, and thus an extra layer of complication, from your setup.

Having said all of this, whether you'd actually be able to tell any difference in quality whilst listening to the music outside seems doubtful to me. Factors out of your control, such as traffic, wind and hopefully the clinking of wine and beer glasses will have a far greater effect on the sound quality of your music than an extra metre of analogue audio cable. It would therefore again seem more sensible to opt for the simple option: less wires and less things that could potentially break.

The audio/video sync issue seems more problematic to me. If you have video going from the Apple TV to your projector via HDMI, and audio going separately to your DAC/amplifier via optical, then they will be out of sync to a degree I expect you would be likely to notice. This is because, when converting a digital signal to an analogue one (be it audio or video), an element of processing must take place to decode the digital signal and then to convert it to an analogue format. Your projector, decoding the video signal, and your amp, processing the audio, would probably perform these computations at differing speeds, thus introducing the asynchronicity between the two.

I can see two solutions to this problem. One would be to simply use the 3.5mm jack, which you've rightly mentioned is not ideal. I have absolutely no idea how much of difference to the quality of audio outdoors it would make, though, as I live in England where it is almost constantly raining and hardly ever warm enough to warrant sitting outside. I suppose it would depend on how good your hearing is and how critical a listener you are.

The second solution would be to purchase an AV receiver instead of an amp. In such a setup, you would connect your Apple TV to the receiver via HDMI only; the receiver would output audio to the speakers whenever you were listening to music or watching a movie, and it would output video to your projector via HDMI when doing the latter. As the decoding of both audio and video is being performed by the same unit, there should be no issue of audio-video lag.

Generally speaking, if an AV receiver and a dedicate amplifier are the same price, you could expect the latter to produce superior audio. Yet I remain sceptical that the difference would actually be discernible outdoors. And regardless, a minor difference in audio quality, even if you were able to notice it, is going to be endlessly preferable to out-of-sync audio and video.

 

[dj4hill]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

The Kanto looks better and better, it might not be the best sound around, but it looks to solve the potential problems.

here is the other link that i made a mistake with:
http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-Digital-Converter-Micca-Optical/dp/B005K2TXMO

the AV receiver looks good as well.

If I could find a small unit with preferable not too many extras but nice sound, it may be a good option.

Thanks again,

 

[dj4hill]

lag lag lag

Hmm,
Here the NuForece Dia amp even provides a diagram showing most of what i want to do, suggesting lag is not a big problem?

http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/dia/index.php

I have emailed NuForce to see what they say.

 

[EmpyreanUK]

Hmm,
Here the NuForece Dia amp even provides a diagram showing most of what i want to do, suggesting lag is not a big problem?

http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/dia/index.php

I have emailed NuForce to see what they say.

The product you're linking to only handles audio, so you'd still need to connect the Apple TV to your projector and to this unit independently, meaning that you're still liable to get out-of-sync audio and video.

 

[dj4hill]

The product you're linking to only handles audio, so you'd still need to connect the Apple TV to your projector and to this unit independently, meaning that you're still liable to get out-of-sync audio and video.

Thanks, yes, i suppose what is mean is NuForce specifialy markets the use of an ATV in the fashion i want (even in a diagram) so it will be interesting to see how they respond to the question of lag.