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Apple TV 4K vs Network Player for streaming via Air Play

I have all my CDs ripped to iTunes as 16/44.1 AIFF files. 

I want to stream them wirelessly to my stereo 

My current way of doing this is through my Apple TV 4K, connected to my TV via HDMI, with the TV connected to my stereo amp's DAC via optical cable. 

Thus it's iTunes -> Airplay -> Apple TV 4K -> TV (HDMI) -> Onkyo A-9150 (optical).

Is the sound quality suffering with the above setup? Does the Apple TV 4K introduce jitter (via HDMI to the TV)? Does it upsample my 16/44.1 music to 16/48 (or is that just for movies)?

Would an older Airplay-capable network player/DAC (like the Pioneer N-50) sound better than the above setup? In this scenario, it would be iTunes -> Airplay -> N-50 -> Onkyo.

Or are there other (better) options?
macauley86

Showing 1 response by macauley86

macauley86 OP
3 posts
 
For now, I have connected an Airport Express to my wireless network and to my Onkyo via optical, so I can stream music from my Macs to the Onkyo. Sounds pretty good and does not do any upsampling.

I might consider an Airplay-compatible network streamer in the future.

Thank you.
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