Apple TV or Olive O3HD

This won't answer any of your questions, but I must offer a caveat on Olive products: Anything you rip on it, and is stored on Olive, you can't get out as audio files. Only way is to burn audio CDs again from the ripped files.

I learned this the hard way after ripping a few hundred CDs, then wanted to copy those files to my Mac. Nope, no such thing. Can't do. Copyright violation, Olive support claims. When mentioned to them that files from CDs ripped via iTunes can freely be moved from one device to another, they stuck their heads in virtual sand and ignored my question.

Out of spite, I sold the Olive and used a Mac mini since. Disgusting. Especially since this major flaw is nowhere to be found on their website, nor in their terms and conditions or EULA. Too bad I was far away from the purchase date that I could no longer charge back on the credit card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phredd 

I have an Apple TV, which is very convenient for both music and video. I know the Olive is high end, but once they're connected to an amplifier, especially if using the digital output, is the Olive really better?

 

Are all digital outputs the same? Or do they support different bit depths? And would that only matter if using better sources than CDs, which are only 16 bits anyway?

 

Yes, they provide a USB backup capability, but the backup is unreadable by a PC, and organized in a way it required reverse engineering to retrieve from when connected on a Mac or Linux machine. Don't expect neatly organized folder structure a la iTunes.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phredd 

I remember that was an issue. I would have thought they'd catch up with the times. So no backup disk to be connected either? I've got all my CDs imported into iTunes anyway, so I would just copy my library over.

Playing lossless files off Apple TV, then digitally out to a good DAC/amp will yield good results.

I would say no, there won't be a difference, digital is digital. I built a small Atom-based music server with 1tb of storage for $150, then built a coax out from the motherboard to my equipment - this also gives me complete control over the hardware, and (if I wanted to) I can use Foobar's DSPs to change the sound. Way more control than an Apple TV.

What are you missing?

High resolution digital audio? You clearly say no! Using an external DAC means a good leap forward in sound quality.

More storage capacity? There are hacks and ways to upgrade the 1st generation Apple TV with a 1TB hard disk or to connect an USB hard disk.

Multi-room capacity? Recent develepments lead to a number of budget hifi-gear wih AirTunes capability. Or buy an Airport Express.

You will find that music servers or streamers from "audiophile" labels are still quite expensive, are eventually difficult to install. Obviously, a streamer cannot work alone, but requires a computer or file server running.

Home Sharing and AppleTV2 are hard to beat in my opion.  With a nice DAC  you get very, good music.