internal DAC

Supposedly Realtek Realtek ALC885 according to Bill.Allen here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1393958&start=15&tstart=0

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Co nn=4&ProdID=138

Why do you ask?

AppleTV is limited to 44.1kHz 16 bit for stereo despite the chip supporting better it seems.

Ya know, this is simply not acceptable. We need to all let Apple know that this limitation is antiquated and unnecessary. I suggest you let Apple know by post your feedback here.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

Jonathan Christensen wrote:
Ya know, this is simply not acceptable. We need to all let Apple know that this limitation is antiquated and unnecessary. I suggest you let Apple know by post your feedback here.

what exactly isn't acceptable?

The internal Realtek DAC is capable of 24 bit 96k performance. Yet, Apple has crippled it's output to 16 bit 44.1k performance for some odd reason. That means any high rez audio files in your iTunes library are truncated at the output of the Apple TV, even if you want to use an outboard, higher quality DAC. Truncation means loss of audio signal...anything higher than the 16 bits are simply chopped off.
Any sample rates higher than 44.1k are converted back down, again at a loss of audio quality.

The Apple TV is the only devise competing in the "network digital audio system" market (against Squeezbox, Sonos, etc) that has this limitation.

the solution would be then to go and purchase one of the other competing products then.

of course, if this was something that you must have, you did investigate before purchasing if the appletv did what you require.

No...the solution would be for Apple to remove the limitation and keep the customers it has for this unit. Apple did not list this specification, and still does not list this specification in any of its documentation. Therefore many users such as myself, who bought the original units way back then were forced to find ways to measure what was actually coming out of the optical port. Not a very helpful reply you've posted.

Message was edited by: Jonathan Christensen

Jonathan Christensen wrote:
No...the solution would be for Apple to fix it.

that would suggest that it's broken, which it isn't.
just because a certain chip supports something, doesn't mean that it's broken if a device doesn't use a feature.

So, you're brilliant suggestion is for everyone to ditch the Apple TV and buy something else, rather than have Apple simply remove the self imposed limitation they put on the internal DAC? That's laughable. And yes I would consider it broken. If iTunes supports higher bit depths and sample rates...and sends them off to your Apple TV where they get truncated at the optical output without your knowledge (because it's not listed in the specs)...that my friend, is not only broken, but highly deceptive.

Jonathan Christensen wrote:
So, you're brilliant suggestion is for everyone to ditch the Apple TV and buy something else

not everyone, just those that require this feature (which won't be many IMO).
as you said, there are plenty of other devices to choose from.

This feature??? You don't think many people use the Apple TV as a music server? You don't think people want higher quality audio from their movies? I think you are quite wrong. Either that or you really do not understand what this issue is all about.

Jonathan Christensen wrote:
This feature??? You don't think many people use the Apple TV as a music server? You don't think people want higher quality audio from their movies? I think you are quite wrong. Either that or you really do not understand what this issue is all about.

i was, of course, referring to your requirement of 24 bit 96k. (which i am sure you knew all along).
and not to nitpick, but the appletv is NOT a music server, it is a client device.

however i am going to leave you to your crusade in trying to get apple to add the features that you want. doing it here though is not going to get you anywhere though is this is just a user-to-user support forum. apple do not monitor the forums for product feedback.

use the link provided above to report your disgust at such a feature not being present and see what happens.

Actually, not to nitpick...but since the Apple TV has an internal hard drive that can store audio, and that audio can be streamed to other devices...the Apple TV can indeed be classified as a music server.

I don't think it's scandalous, rip-off or anything like that, just one of those things it could do but wasn't designed or planned to.

The real shame here is that AppleTv could be the basis of very high qulaity audio playback for those of us who buy high quality downloadable audio online - I don't do it often as I don't have a device that'll output 24/96 or 24/88.2 etc etc, though I could use a Mac Mini.

I have converted some of my downloads to wavs or Apple lossless and they all get downgraded to 44.1/16bit, when the optical out could easily output the native quality.

I suspect it would be a minor software change to support higher quality audio output, allowing an offboard DAC to do the real processing.

There is certainly no harm in requesting an enhancement as we saw with video playlists, but as Chenks says there probably isn't a huge demand from a public so used to compressed audio - call me cynical but we've had iTunes Plus, nect we'll have upgrade to true CD quality, then a few years down the line to near studio quality high res audio, with upgrade fees each time.

With downloadable video of several GB being offered for sale, bandwidth cannot be an argument against selling CD quality audio in Apple lossless format which would be maybe 300-400MB per album at most - I would definitely stop buying CDs and ripping them if this was available.

Jonathan Christensen wrote:
Ya know, this is simply not acceptable. We need to all let Apple know that this limitation is antiquated and unnecessary. I suggest you let Apple know by post your feedback here.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

Done