AppleTV "X" Owners & Discussion Thread

[Steever]

2 hours ago, adam0bmx0 said:

I had no idea modding the A4K TV box was a thing until I stumbled across this thread!

 

I have two in the house, one for the OLED TV and one for my JVC NP5.

Would love to do the basic power supply mod on mine but i'm not a capable solderer......

 

 

Adam, depending which model ATV's you have, there are 12VDC conversion kits which, when coupled with a nice LPS, achieves noticeable improvements in performance. I've done this with with an A1842 and while probably not to the same level as the ATV X, is not far behind my dedicated music streamer for sound. It's significantly better than the audio and picture from the TV too.

 

And there's no soldering.

 

 

Edited September 17, 2024 by Steever

[adam0bmx0]

46 minutes ago, Steever said:

 

Adam, depending which model ATV's you have, there are 12VDC conversion kits which, when coupled with a nice LPS, achieves noticeable improvements in performance. I've done this with with an A1842 and while probably not to the same level as the ATV X, is not far behind my dedicated music streamer for sound. It's significantly better than the audio and picture from the TV too.

 

And there's no soldering.

 

 

Hey mate, I have a A2843 (3rd Gen with Ethernet port) and an A2169.

I use Apple Music via the A2843 the most, either from my phone over wifi to the AVR (obviously by passing the A2843), or via the Apple 4K TV through the AVR (the latter requires the TV to be on, which I don't like doing all the time due to putting hours on the OLED).

I'll check out the above.

EDIT: Do you have a lead/link to the kit? 

Edited September 17, 2024 by adam0bmx0
additional text added

[STROP]

2 hours ago, adam0bmx0 said:

the latter requires the TV to be on, which I don't like doing all the time due to putting hours on the OLED).

You can go through the settings on your OLED tv to turn the screen off..

[adam0bmx0]

1 hour ago, STROP said:

You can go through the settings on your OLED tv to turn the screen off..

But i need the screen on to navigate apple music on the apple 4K tv.

I did read another method somewhere, where you can drive the A4K TV from a mobile or iPad without the main screen on, but haven't investigated further.

[Xymox]

You DIY guys are awesome. I am a DIY guy too and make or mod all my stuff. Like I have a Levinson 40 I just reworked completely that is just awesome.

 

A kit ! isnt that cool.

 

Also run your voltage up to 14V if you can adj the linear. Important reasons to do this. The 14V feeds the PWM regulators and setting 14V in makes for a less noisy set of harmonics after these regulators. There is also another reason, APple has a weird thing it does. It senses if the voltage drops below 11.8 and will reboot. Its intentional. It makes for faster power cycle when unplugged. So best to move the linear up higher then 12V to leave room for any fluctuations.

 

Something important... The negative side of the linear needs to be floating - not tied to GND. This is fairly critical. The ATV with its stock supply is floating. The issue is that the HDMI gnd is tied to the power supply gnd. You can end up with a unusable or unstable HDMI link if the TV ( or processor ) the ATV is hooked to is grounded and so is the ATV. Noise can creep into the HDMI signal from a ground loop and cause issue. Well, it WILL cause issues even if its minor it will degrade the pic by causing a higher bit error rate on the HDMI and more HDMI concealment. So either get a linear that has a floating neg OR ground lift the linear. BUT that could be a issue with the linear. My supply is balanced out, so not gnd reference.

 

Use a A2169. It will produce the best AV results. Plus the earlier models will slowly loose support for some things.

 

A reminder, Airplay is lossy, so your going to try streaming music from your phone to control the music and airplay it over, the iphone uses compression ( lossy ) to connect to the ATV. While Airplay supposedly will do lossless, this is never used in real life it seems.

 

I use a Oppo that is highly modded to pick off the 2ch PCM as SPDIF.

 

Rember that the AppleTV is limited to 48/24. It cant do 96/192..

 

There is a option you should check in Apps > Music for lossless, I have seen this come set default to off..

[Xymox]

I have now done some initial shipments for the back log. I have stuff ordered to fill orders and have stock. It looks as tho i will have everyone who ordered recently shipped no later then oct 3rd..

 

I am going to be busy busy till then, hehehe..

 

You guys on Stereonet are so much cooler then other forums, you guys are soldering WHich is really very much a long tradition in the stereo hobby. In the 1950's it was common to make your own gear..

[Steever]

10 hours ago, Xymox said:

You guys on Stereonet are so much cooler then other forums, you guys are soldering WHich is really very much a long tradition in the stereo hobby. In the 1950's it was common to make your own gear..

 

I love the smell of solder in the evenings...

 

 

It's the smell of victory.

Edited September 18, 2024 by Steever

[TP1]

I wish I had tried this sooner .   I Installed infuse  pro on the ATV-X  because I was not entirely happy with the  R.Video and Zidoo  systems mainly from an operational perspective. ,   My goodness, the picture quality with Apple TV-X  playing videos from my NAS is  superb and definitely better than the aforementioned  systems, and better than the Oppo  via USB.   

 

I was looking at buying new hardware to play  my stored video files but now it will just be  ATV-X with infuse .  

 

[StereoNET]

Still no Atmos though, correct @TP1?

It's really the only reason I still use Zidoo for locally stored media, and ATV-X for streamed content.

[TP1]

There is no direct  support for  Atmos and DTX ,  however infuse can pass lossless audio through as LPCM.   I'll probably still use the Oppo  for movies with lossless sound but I'm interested to see (hear) what can be done with LPCM sound.   The thing is , Infuse was so easy to set up and work flawlessly from the outset and that amazing picture quality  (I think  in no small part due to the ATV-X  enhancements)  was too seductive to resist.   It incorporates  the full suite of Apple  menu and playback options which makes it the easiest unit to operate as well.

[StereoNET]

I still have a Pro license from my last go with Infuse.
Might have to fire it up again.

 

[Hi-Fi Whipped]

As far as I’m aware the Apple TV hardware can’t pass DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD and having used the Plex app on the Apple TV to stream my MKV BD rips to my processor using LPCM the sound was dismal in comparison to passing the codecs from my Zidoo and letting the processor decode, it’s a night and day difference with the Zidoo eclipsing the ATV for sound quality. Can’t comment on whether the X improves that alt all though.

[StereoNET]

5 hours ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said:

As far as I’m aware the Apple TV hardware can’t pass DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD and having used the Plex app on the Apple TV to stream my MKV BD rips to my processor using LPCM the sound was dismal in comparison to passing the codecs from my Zidoo and letting the processor decode, it’s a night and day difference with the Zidoo eclipsing the ATV for sound quality. Can’t comment on whether the X improves that alt all though.

 

Agreed. Tried Infuse again last night. As @TP1 suggested, the pic quality via ATV-X was superb, easily rivalling and likely surpassing my usual Zidoo. But no TrueHD sadly.

[powerav]

It’s all so frustrating , just pass through the god damn audio……arghhhh

[TP1]

 

4K  material on Zidoo  in my experience wasn't as good as that displayed by Oppo 203, so I use the latter for  4K Mt2s files.   Mt2s  files are dead easy to extract from BDMV folders with a Mac  computer and you don't have to put up with the warnings and Bluray UOP's. For reasons unknown to me,  Oppo PQ is noticeably better  using mt2s files than MKV,  even though logic  suggests that they should be the same.  

 

We have a lot of TV series on the NAS,  and since  TV shows do not have  lossless Atmos, the ATV-X reigns supreme as the ideal playback device for these. 

 

There is no one  device that  is the best at everything  - I even manually change ATV output  resolution for 1080p material because its upscaling abilities  don't match that of the Lumagen or the Sony projector.   I also prefer the upscaling of the Sony  X7000 PJ to the Lumagen and have set the latter to pass through  source resolutions  as is.   In this context I don't see using more than one source device as an inconvenience. 

[Hi-Fi Whipped]

1 hour ago, powerav said:

It’s all so frustrating , just pass through the god damn audio……arghhhh

For right or wrong Apple made this thing for one sole reason, to sell more streaming content of which none of it comes with the lossless surround codecs we rip, so why pay a license to pass it through.
 

I love the Apple TV, bang for buck you can’t beat it if you stream, and it’s my main source for everyday tv and movies, but if I want quality audio that’s where the Zidoo comes in, and the oppo on disc.

 

As @TP1 mentioned, there’s no one trick pony that does it all and that’s never going to change.

[StereoNET]

Agreed on all fronts. I'm totally comfortable with ATV for streaming, Zidoo for local content.
Looks like it's still the solution for the time being and may well be for some time to come.

 

I did read/hear/see/imagine/dream there is a whole new ATV hardware platform coming though, didn't I?

[betty boop]

I have an Apple TV and love it but even if streaming has atmos it’s of reduced down flavour to what get on disc which is full strength 

[Hi-Fi Whipped]

35 minutes ago, StereoNET said:

 

I did read/hear/see/imagine/dream there is a whole new ATV hardware platform coming though, didn't I?

Not according to the X modifier, he said it’s almost the end of the line for Apple TV hardware and get one while you still can! 
 

Me personally, a souped up ATV with all the trimmings would be the bomb! That’s me dreaming!

[Hi-Fi Whipped]

35 minutes ago, betty boop said:

I have an Apple TV and love it but even if streaming has atmos it’s of reduced down flavour to what get on disc which is full strength 

Do you think that will ever change Al?

[betty boop]

4 hours ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said:

Do you think that will ever change Al?

Hi hw, haven’t seen it change in years so no don’t have hopes. They tick the box with atmos. Most folks wouldn’t be aware it’s watered down very not the full deal. Many folks don’t even run full atmos setups. Quite a few folks just watching on iPads and phones these days. Some at best a large flat panel with sound bar.

[TP1]

22 hours ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said:

As far as I’m aware the Apple TV hardware can’t pass DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD and having used the Plex app on the Apple TV to stream my MKV BD rips to my processor using LPCM the sound was dismal in comparison to passing the codecs from my Zidoo and letting the processor decode, it’s a night and day difference with the Zidoo eclipsing the ATV for sound quality. Can’t comment on whether the X improves that alt all though.

 

4 hours ago, betty boop said:

I have an Apple TV and love it but even if streaming has atmos it’s of reduced down flavour to what get on disc which is full strength 

 

4 hours ago, StereoNET said:

Agreed on all fronts. I'm totally comfortable with ATV for streaming, Zidoo for local content.
Looks like it's still the solution for the time being and may well be for some time to come.

 

I did read/hear/see/imagine/dream there is a whole new ATV hardware platform coming though, didn't I?

 

We need to be  specific here.

 Firstly you will lose absolutely nothing if the lossless audio is 7.1 Dolby True-HD or DTS-HD MA. You must use Infuse pro only  which is licensed by Dolby and DTS .   Infuse uses the industry spec codecs to decode  True HD and HD-MA and pass them as uncompressed  LPCM in the correct channel assignments. On the processor, simply select Dolby or DTS to play it and you should have little if any discernible difference .  The ATV hardware and infuse software with the ATV-X  mods ensures an accurate transcoding.  I tried a couple of sequences I am familiar with with trueHD and DTSMA  and the ATV-X surprised me in sounding  identical to the Oppo and Zidoo on these tracks (both of which passed bitstream  to the Lyngdorf MP-50).    I might find differences as time passes and if I look hard enough but for all audio codecs up to lossless 7.1,  Infuse is so easy to use ,  and gives outstanding results.

 

The problem is  that ATMOS is 11.1 and so far Apple only permits 7.1 lossless processing.  Netflix and others that serve up Atmos do so in  a lossy format. So for the best experience another source for "real" Atmos would be ideal. For me it is  easy to switch . I am currently  using Infuse to index everything and if I come across Atmos ,  DTS-X or Auro 3D ( I have a couple of those too) , I can simply use the Oppo app to select it on the NAS and play it.   In my case it  makes   sense because I was looking at buying a new Zidoo or R.Video player  which I won't do for now.  

 

[powerav]

The Block's cinema room, not much care about Atmos here.

[Totima]

That soundbar is gonna rock the joint! 

[TwinkiesDOexpire]

Does anyone have any experience with the Apple TVx unit? It’s a modified Apple TV that sells for a handsome price and promises to deliver in some unreasonable ways. With a fraction of the bit flow, it’s hard to imagine it could compete with Kaleidoscape, hard discs, etc.