AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => The Apple Core => Topic started by: wdlvwdlv on 9 Nov 2020, 06:57 pm
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Hello,
I recently decided I needed to make some improvements to my system, note, I primarily listen to music in vinyl format as a personal preference, however, I also to a lesser degree listen to digital music on Apple Music or streaming from BBC Sounds. I also do not have any Hi Res Audio files or resources so cannot comment on that.
So, why am I writing this, well I am considering adding a DAC to the system. In the process I began questioning why am I using Bluetooth to transmit the audio, yes it's convenient but is it killing my sound? Ok, once that was decided it could be a culprit, I thought should I introduce a Raspberry Pi streamer and then thought to myself, why? That's when I remembered that I had an Apple TV Gen 3 with Toslink optical out. I connected this to the system and wow, there was quite a difference compared to Bluetooth. The audio was much clearer, more noticeable highs and midrange, tighter more responsive bass. I continued A/B testing and will not go back to Bluetooth unless necessary. Bluetooth by comparison sounded muffled and distant, clearly less concise (likely due to the lossy compression in BT).
Other considerations:
- Airplay is lossless streaming via WiFi up to 16bit/44.1KHz anything above that gets downsampled
- Noticed occasional jitter on my receiver with it's older internal DAC (Pioneer Elite VSX-32) - 10yr old technology
- A DAC within the range of $200-250 may be in order (considering Schiit Modius or Topping DX3 Pro or other)
- Apple TV Gen 3 is limited in its native apps, but can stream anything from new apps running on an iPhone
- Home Sharing enables to see audio files on my MacBook Pro
I'm set on using AirPlay for now as it's clearly an upgrade but a DAC could be in order as well and should help with the jitter I experienced. I'd love to hear feedback and your own experiences with streaming.
TIP: For anyone with an Apple TV 4 or 4K, Apple has unfortunately deleted a Toslink optical out, however all is not lost, apparently you can stream the audio from there to an Apple TV Gen 3 (if you have one). This is a more elegant way of doing it than getting an HDMI audio extractor or god forbid going Bluetooth out. This is a great tip from Darko Audio, link below.
Apple TV 4
Settings > Audio and Video > Audio Output
https://darko.audio/2016/03/connect-the-4th-gen-apple-tv-to-a-dac-without-hdmi/
So, clearly in terms of audio out the Apple TV Gen 3 is a winner.
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If you can find one, I had great luck with the Arcam Rplay which supports AirPlay 2
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Since the new Bluesound Node has been released, people have been selling their old Node 2i's in the low $300 range, might get lucky and find one in your budget.
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I have an Arcam RPlay in mint condition I would be willing to sell. Contact me if interested.
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With Apple Music going to Lossless and High-rez, I too am tempted to move to a DAC. Research led me to similar: Schitt seems to be a top contender. I currently have an Audio Engine D1 for my headphone setup. A 4th gen Apple TV, so no optical out. Was thinking of upgrading to a 4K, but my Marantz A/V receiver’s DAC isn’t great. The AudioEngine fed by an iPad sounds better. May have to look into your 3rd gen Apple TV solution. Dang, I sold mine over eBay when I upgraded :-P
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I am using Apple Airport Express A1392. It has a great DAC built in for streaming from the iPhone. Ken Rockwell did a glowing review on it: https://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/airport-express-audio-quality-2014.htm
Pretty good for what I consider ancient tech. I have been using Apple Airport Express 2nd gen since I was living in Seattle back in 2012. I generally use the iPad to stream from Spotify. I am able to stream to all 3 of my Airport Express units and control the volume independently from the iPad. This is a feature that didn't exist back in 2012. I had to buy a special app just to do this.