How do I connect Apple TV to external speakers and my TV?

Question

Level 1

8 points

How do I connect Apple TV to external speakers and my TV?

I just bought an Apple TV for my studio apartment and have it connected to my TV via HDMI, and use AirPlay to stream my music and videos. Video works great, but the my TV's internal speakers are low quality. So, I would like to have my audio come from external speakers (which I have not bought yet), for the following 2 scenarios:

Listening to music via AirPlay, preferably without having to turn my TV on.
Watching videos on my TV, with the audio coming through my external speakers rather than the TV speakers

I see my Apple TV has an Optical Audio (Toslink) port, but the salesperson at the nearby electronics store said none of their speakers have Toslink cables, only 3.5 mm (or USB). The only solution I found is an AV receiver box that has optical input but costs hundreds of dollars. I am looking for something cheaper and am willing to settle for "pretty good" sound quality.

Is there another way to get this to work?

This article recommends using a digital audio converter (DAC) to connect the Apple TV to a stereo amplifier. This seems like it would satisfy scenarios (1) and (2) above.

Also, I found this "Toslink to 3.5 mm adapter" for a few bucks; could I just plug that into my Apple TV and then connect it to any speakers (like computer speakers) with 3.5mm input?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Posted on Aug 4, 2013 4:05 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Sep 18, 2013 7:10 PM in response to RexE

Rex,

Since the toslink is optical, the 3.5mm adapter will not work for you as it is only ment as a conversion to a mini-toslink cable. Your first option of using the DAC, is in my opinion the best and perhaps only way to get audio out without going to a fancy amp or tuner first.

One option that I'm considering is the Bose Solo TV sound system. It might set you back about 4-Grant's, but I generally enjoy the sound of bose for most music/tv/movie purposes; and it has a direct optical audio input that you can run either from your tv or your ATV. Whatever audio you're sending to your TV via the HDMI, should go to these speakers through your HDTV's toslink output with equal digital clarity.

I've read a few other posts on the apple discussion forum which lead me to believe that the optical output of the ATV might not work so well after the 5.2 update... so whatever I do, it won't be JUST for use with the ATV.

Reply

Answer 2

Sep 19, 2013 8:21 AM in response to RexE

I had an old Aiwa bookshelf stereo system that had a connection on the back of the system itself to connect left and right audio RCA type plugs to the audio input of a tv. The speakers of course were connected to this system. By connecting this stereo system to my tv, anything coming out of the tv came thru these speakers. I then connected the Apple TV to the tv with an HDMI cable and its sound came thru these speakers. It was a cheap deal for me to improve my tv sound because this stereo was just being stored in a closet.

Reply

Answer 3

thims

Level 1

29 points

Jan 16, 2014 2:24 AM in response to thims

Follow-up on my question at 2:58 today, above.

I assume my options on the digital side are Airport Express and Apple TV. Which of the two would be likely to work better? Are there other options? There'd be no cable to the router - either Apple TV or Airport Express would be picking up the signal from the wifi.

Reply

Answer 4

Jan 19, 2014 4:10 PM in response to thims

Thims, in reply to both of your posts.
Assuming that your Arcam bookshelf system requires RCA style audio inputs... I would say "yes, the Arcam SPDIF DAC device should work just fine."

On the digital side:

The Airport express goves you have the option to push your airplay content to the device.

The Apple TV gives you the same option, but you can also pull content from your itunes library with the A-TV connected to a tv set using the IR remote or a bluetooth keyboard.

Reply