ATV2 Sound Distortion

I reported this problem (distorted sound) to Apple as soon as I got my AppleTV2 (back in early October, 2010). The trouble ticket was open for about 2 months. AppleTV support personnel contacted me on several occasions to obtain more information about my setup (the models of my HDTV and the speakers) and asked me to reinstall the firmware on the device, reset the device, etc. AppleTV2 support reported all the findings to the iOS developers who worked with AppleTV2. I was hopeful that the problem would be resolved in iOS 4.2, but when iOS 4.2 finally came out and I upgraded my AppleTV2 to iOS 4.2, the issue was not resolved. When I contacted AppleTV support again, and they tried to ask the iOS developers on my behalf about the progress of this issue, the response was that this behavior was by design, and that I was the only person who ever reported the problem to them, so they were not going to change the output sound volume levels just to accommodate one person's setup. At this point, my support ticket has been closed. I was forced to purchase an external AV receiver and put it between my Panasonic HDTV and the AppleTV2. The sound and video is now fed from the AppleTV2 to the AV receiver, which has a four-port HDMI switch functionality built in. The AV receiver is connected to the Panasonic HDTV with an HDMI cable. The two front Polk Audio T90e speakers are now connected directly to the receiver and not to the Panasonic HDTV's built-in amplifier. The sound from the AppleTV2 is no longer distorted, but the sound volume is significantly higher when the input of the AV receiver is switched to the AppleTV2. So, the original problem was, in fact, caused by the AppleTV2 pushing too much audio signal out of its HDMI port. The AV receiver that I bought allows me to compensate for the input sound levels that are too low or too high. I had to decrease the sound level by about 10 dB to make it the same or similar to other input sources (DVR, DVD player, and my Mac).

If anyone is interested in an inexpensive 5.1 AV receiver produces great sound, consider Denon AVR-391. It can be had for under $200. It is a little bulky and does not project its information on the TV screen, so you have to navigate through its menus on its small LED screen, but for the money, it's the best quality receiver you can get. It has one optical and one coax digital audio inputs that can be assigned to any source of video, or it can take the audio via the input HDMI ports, which is what I am doing. It has no component inputs or outputs, so you have to rely exclusively on the built-in four-input-port HDMI switch for HD video. It has one HDMI output port to connect to your HDTV. HDMI that it features is 1.4a, which supports 3D video. The Denon AVR-391 also has composite inputs and one composite output for non-HD sources. It also has FM and AM radio built in, and you can purchase an optional Denon dock for iPod, which allows you to control your iPod from the Denon and output the menus to your TV. You can listen to your music or watch your photos on the TV from the iPod if you were to get this optional dock, which I don't think I would ever do.

I have never owned an AV receiver before, so I was a little overwhelmed when I was first setting it up, but I was able to replace my XtremeMac HDMI switch with the Denon AVR-391 and reprogram the activities on my Logitech Harmony remote to work with the Denon instead of the XtremeMac in about 2.5 hours. Now, a week later, I am happy with the Denon AVR-391 receiver. The number of options that it offers is more than enough for someone like me - the person who wants great sound but does not want to pay thousands of dollars for the receiver. Eventually, I will probably buy the surround speakers, the central speaker, and the subwoofer to upgrade my sound to full 5.1. If I got a higher-end receiver, I would have gotten a lot more inputs and outputs, and probably hundreds of options that I would never used, but that would completely overwhelm me. Instead I got a great sound system with just enough options for a very reasonable price.

If you are in the same boat as I am, faced with the AppleTV2 outputting distorted sound through your current speakers, I would strongly suggest reading reviews on the Denon AVR-391 receiver and considering it. I bought mine from Amazon in early December 2010, and I am having absolutely no issues with it. Some people reported Denon AVR-391 locking up on them, but that has not happened to me yet. Perhaps Denon has already fixed that problem with a firmware upgrade.