So sad about Netflix sound quality. No one can hear it

@traubr I remember the thread you started back in August where you had briefly mentioned the ATV-X, which piqued my interest. This probably isn’t fair, but in terms of sound quality, how close does ATVX get to physical format (Blu-ray/UHD)? Something close to 75% of the sound quality we would otherwise hear from Blue-ray? 

the atvx appears to be a device that redid some of the internal circuitry and then attached a Power supply and created a better sounding streaming situation, offer for a couple thousand dollars.

But if you have all the great cabling and power supply supporting Apple TV box then why would you wanna do all this?

@traubr 

Unfortunately no one has any idea what this glorified Apple TV box is supposed to accomplish..  It may change the sound but it doesn't say anything about improving the sound and any rationale whatsoever as to why it's been accomplished.

Adding a better power supply hardly says anything since most people already have this stuff so it's very unfortunate that this is a product that seems a bit smoke screenish. Very happy you are enjoying it

@toro3 , @emergingsoul ,you both ask fair questions and raise good points about what the ATV-X can squeeze from streaming.  The ATV-X affects and improves both video and audio quality, so in fairness it has to be viewed as an overall improvement to the streaming experience.  Early on, I was rather disappointed with it, given the price of admission and the lack of knock-me-over-the-head improvements.  The changes were subtle, and like most electronics, took a while to show themselves.  Now that it has settled, are the changes huge?  No.  Was it a smart move?  Er, um, maybe, perhaps... yeah, I think so.  More on this in a bit.

I pored through the thread on WBF where I first encountered the hopped-up streamer, and people with projectors and OLED TV's were claiming big video improvements.  My Sony Bravia TV is coming on 6 years old and I still really enjoy the picture.  With the ATV-X, it got better.  Not night and day, but it is clearer, brighter and more engaging.  It's not like SD to 4K UHD, but it's still better than before.  How can I tell?  I put the Nvidia Shield back in and the picture was blah.

As to sound, streaming audio has never approached that of a recorded disk for me.  I would prefer to watch a Blu-Ray movie any day of the week for optimal video and audio quality.  Vis-à-vis the audio portion of streamed programming, it is better with the ATV-X than before.  I'd say the SQ improvement alone was (guess-timating) 25%.  That doesn't seem like much, but I found it enhanced my pleasure.

I have a small DVD collection which includes movies and concerts near and dear to me.  I haven't purchased any disks in at least 3 years, nor do I foresee purchasing any in the future.  Why?  The volume of content available via streaming (movies or series) is considerable, and watching in my home theatre is good enough that I just don't need it.  It's certainly not as good as sitting in an IMAX theatre, and I'm always on the lookout for equipment upgrades to provide an even better home experience, but upgrades make sense now?  I've thrown enough $$ at my 2 channel system that it sounds extremely good, dare I even say great.  Some big purchases have produced better, yet subtle, improvements.  After a point, my humble experience is demonstrating the investment in dollars is not directly proportional to the amount of improvement.

I've spun my wheels and made some bonehead moves while upgrading my 2 channel audio system, and given that I spend 80% of my time watching stuff in my HT, the comparatively small expense of a better streamer for an activity where I spend the majority of my time was worth it. Isn't it odd the tens of thousands you can spend on streamers and DACs, yet the best video streamer out there is around $200?  I felt taking the chance on the ATV-X (no return policy) was worth it.  Would you feel that way, sitting on my couch and watching?  Probably not, but we all travel our own paths.

Robert

@emergingsoul , I have to wonder (afraid to, actually) whether the soon to be released upgrade Apple TV 4K will sufficiently bridge the gap between what's come before and my ATV-X as to make my purchase look silly.  The cost of the first Blu-Ray players was crazy, and after a few years they were under $100.  The engineer who makes the upgraded ATV-X naturally says that his product will still be better than the new product that Apple will come out with.  I'm not here to proselytize, only share my experience.  If it helps, great; we all benefit from shared experience.