chriskav73

Chris, Can you play a 96/24 file that is on the ATV internal HDD (i.e. synchronized from iTunes) and see what it outputs to the DAC? What I wouldn't give for a good set of test equipment or DAC like yours. It's been mentioned in a few posts in this thread that streaming to ATV is limited to 16/44, but I am curious if there is a 96/24 file already on ATV, if it will get output at such or 16/44. Just trying to figure out the limitations. Many thanks, Chris

Ash, Thanks for the pointer to Marlcroft Computers. I did a Google search and found such a company in the UK. Is this the one you are referring to? I'm not sure if they found a way to cram a 3.5" drive into the case to get 500GB, but I am definitely interested in finding a larger HDD for the ATV. Given that 2.5" SATA drives are currently manufactured up to 500GB, I feel that it is just a lack of financial desire by the manufacturers to support the same high density platters in their PATA drives now that SATA is the mainstream protocol in modern computers. As far as the 16/44 synchronization between iTunes and ATV, I'll rip out the drive in my ATV this weekend and do a direct connect (I have a PATA-to-FW400 dongle) and verify the files I synchronized to the ATV. I had done this back when I had replaced the old drive, but not with the new higher res files I got from Music Tracks. This will allow me to verify bit for bit if the files are the same 96/24 files in iTunes or if they were indeed downsampled & truncated. Though the understanding of what actually gets synchronized to the ATV will still not tell us what ATV does to hi-res files upon transmission via HDMI, it will at least let us know what happens between iTunes and ATV. One less mystery in the chain. I'll post back over the weekend. Harry, No worries. I just didn't want to have anyone feel like I was entering this forum to complain, as this website appears to be very positive and informative, without personal attacks (like many other technical forums). Chris

Watchnerd, I know you posted your question a long time ago, but having upgraded the internal HDD myself, I can explain why 250GB is the limit. The type of drive that Apple uses in the AppleTV is a 2.5" PATA (or IDE) HDD. The largest capacity 2.5" PATA drive that is available by any HDD manufacturer is 250GB. If some company makes a larger one, I will definitely buy it, format it, and try to upgrade. I do not know if there is an internal AppleTV limitation via the disk controller or drivers, but we do know it currently works with the largest one currently available. And given that SATA seems to be the future protocol for HDD, I doubt we'll see any increases in 2.5" PATA drives (haven't seen one in over a year) to test out. Chris

Ashley, Thanks for the info. I did not know that wireless transmission of music from iTunes would be limited to 16/44. However, I do not think I was succint in describing my setup. I have all of my iTunes songs synchronized to my AppleTV, so when I play music on the AppleTV, the data is not being streamed from my computer but rather read off the internal AppleTV HDD. Since this removes the wireless streaming limit you mention, I'm curious if AppleTV downsamples and truncates my 96/24 WAV files that are read off its HDD for transmission to a receiver via HDMI. I verified that the hi-res songs I transferred from my computer to AppleTV are the same size, so it is now a matter of what the AppleTV does with them. Harry, I did not realize you thought my post was bashing the AppleTV in any way. I was merely trying to determine the full capabilities of the product. I have owned my AppleTV since the day it came out and have been very happy with each software upgrade that Apple provides. I do not look at what it can't do as a reason for bashing it, but simply whether it can output hi-res music like my Macs can. Chris

I've been perusing this site for the last week and have found some very useful information, such as how to properly convert 96/24 WMA lossless to WAV. However, my question is the same as Dave's. Does anyone have any definitive answer on whether the audio output from the AppleTV HDMI's port is limited to 16/44.1 like it is through its analog output? I have a few hi-res albums on my AppleTV that are 96/24 WAV and they play fine, but I wanted to know if the AppleTV was down-sampling & truncating them before sending them to my receiver. Thanks, Chris