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Apple TV 4K sound quality

It is very sad that there isn't a single streaming device that offers all of the following:

4k HDR
Dolby Vision
Bitstream Atmos
Video frame rate switching
Responsive, attractive UI
All UK TV catchup (iPlayer, Channel 4)

Please tell me if I'm wrong...

Nvidia Shield TV Pro: No 4k for iPlayer
Apple TV 4k: No bitstream Atmos
LG OLED: Not responsive, no AVR menus

They all seem to have some deal breaking problem. We really need a new generation of streaming devices that actually work properly.

Even if one is prepared to throw money at this problem and build a powerful Windows PC just for TV streaming - are all apps 4k and Atmos compatible?
Apple TV also doesn't do 4K for iPlayer for some reason the only way to get UHD iPlayer seems to be an app built in to a TV.
 
Hello everyone, this is my first post on ASR.

I have a small system from T+A (DAC 200 & A 200) and will also be getting an Apple TV 4K and connecting it to the DAC via HDMI.

Apple Music is great, but I don't want to use AirPlay; I'd rather control the music via my iPad or iPhone.

I'm curious to see how it will sound.

I currently have an Auralic Aries G1 and use Roon.

But Roon is a bit cumbersome at times. For example, I can only favorite with my heart after I've added the album...
 
Apple Music is great, but I don't want to use AirPlay; I'd rather control the music via my iPad or iPhone.
If I recall correctly, in the situation you're describing the iPhone or iPad is actually just acting as a controller, the music is not being beamed from your mobile device. I can always tell when its doing this because hitting pause will take effect immediately, whereas in beam mode theres a noticeable delay.
Even though HDMI is worse than USB?
Not to my knowledge!
 
If I recall correctly, in the situation you're describing the iPhone or iPad is actually just acting as a controller, the music is not being beamed from your mobile device. I can always tell when its doing this because hitting pause will take effect immediately, whereas in beam mode theres a noticeable delay.
Exactly.
The iPad or iPhone then only controls the music, so it's a remote control, but not a player like with AirPlay.
Just like controlling the HomePod via the Home app.
 
Sine tvOS 17 the samplingrate is switching between 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz.
just as it is the case with iPhone and iPad.

I'm going to install the HDMI module in my T+A DAC 200, especially because I sometimes want to hear movie sound through my stereo system.
 
This is another case of people discovering HDMI ends up with quite a lot of clock jitter and assuming it’s terrible for audio and not understanding the level of jitter is perfectly corrected by the input stage of any DAC made this century.

I expect so too. But my question is aimed at getting @Martin83 to think about his reasoning.
 
Hello :)

Everything you feed the DAC 200, it consumes and processes with the highest quality.
I recently connected a Mac mini and compared it with the Auralic Aries G1. Both via USB and also via coaxial and USB.
Conclusion: identical sound!
In fact, the DAC 200's dial instruments show better quality on the Mac mini.
I then compared it with the Apple TV via HDMI. Here, too, there is absolutely no audible difference. In any case, Apple Music Lossless sounds better natively on the Apple TV than AirPlay via the Auralic.
I'm very happy with this combination.

The selectable filters make the biggest difference. Standard FIR sounds okay, but Bezier 1 sounds much more balanced. Bezier 2 sounds super dynamic and extremely clean in the highs. I also think I hear a more powerful bass, even though there's no boost or equalization.
 

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for Itunes purchased movies and to be honest other streaming apps like Netflix etc - is the audio bitrate output for Atmos streaming at the maximum the Codec can handle or is there scope in the near future (without a new audio streaming format) for the bitrate to be increased ?

You'd think even say a 50% increase in bitrate for the audio would make a massive difference

I find the difference in sound quality from 4k Bluray Atmos to be very noticeable compared to streamed Atmos

and if technically possible surely a 50% increase increase in audio bitrate would still be insignificant compared to the bitrate used for the 4k video ?

Itunes/Apple purchased movies are so much more convenient and look fantastic I just find the audio even with Atmos a bit "flat"

I sometimes find even 2 channel trailers on Youtube upmixed with Dolby Surround sound more dynamic than some of the streamed Atmos/5.1 content
 
Bit rate can be increased without any new format. It is just the call from streaming services.

We don't really know or understand what kind of processing, if any, has the Atmos track undergone when prepared for streaming. It might as well been compressed in the dynamic range. Some have obviously not been, but then it's difficult to generalize.

With all that, Atmos sounds great in most streaming as well as the title allows. Having the disc is obviously better but much less convenient. Atmos by itself is a format in development and in more than one occasion I found that upmixing 5.1 soundtrack sounded more inmersive than the same Atmos soundtrack, which is obviously not what the artistic intent was.
 
which is all you need for complete transparency in sound reproduction
Not when Dolby ATMOS is part of the equation. OP will be limited to Dolby Digital plus on an Apple tv. I’d recommend an Nvidea Shield instead.
 
Not when Dolby ATMOS is part of the equation. OP will be limited to Dolby Digital plus on an Apple tv. I’d recommend an Nvidea Shield instead.
AFAIK no streaming service supports Dolby TrueHD at this point, so an Nvidia Shield would be an improvement only in combination with physical media backups and Plex/Kodi.

Streamed media would be all the same.
 
AFAIK no streaming service supports Dolby TrueHD at this point, so an Nvidia Shield would be an improvement only in combination with physical media backups and Plex/Kodi.

Streamed media would be all the same.
The only service which might have TrueHD is Kaleidescape but you are in to custom hardware costing thousands at that point. App based streaming as said only supports Dolby Digital Plus based Atmos at a maximum.
 
The TVos 27 developer beta enables lossless high res for Apple Music over HDMI. I am streaming 24/192 with Apple Music / LG C2 / Cambridge Audio EXN100 as we speak. The EXN100 confirms the 24/192 format. I disabled Atmos (I use a stereo system) and force PCM. Works and sounds great.
 
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The TVos 27 developer beta enables lossless high res for Apple Music over HDMI. I am streaming 24/192 with Apple Music / LG C2 / Cambridge Audio EXN100 as we speak. The EXN100 confirm the 24/192 format. Sounds great. I disabled Atmos (I use a stereo system) and force PCM. Works and sounds great.
Ah a reason to replace my 1st gen 4k, however I’d like them to bring out a new generation first as the current hardware is 3 years old..
 
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