prosoft

I have an Apple TV (V1) configured to sync to an iTunes library on my PC, which syncs up my AIFF format library. I recently connected a new iPhone to the same library and selected the option to convert higher bit rate songs to AAC and to only sync certain playlists, which reflects the 32gig vs 500gig between the devices. Unfortunately, iTunes has applied the same settings to my ATV, which is incredibly annoying as will now take hours to put all my music back. I note that the ATV doesn't have the option to convert higher bit rate, (but it clearly has done as the sound quality is now awful) so why does it inherit it from the phone option? It would be convenient to operate both from the same library as swapping libraries seems fiddly and I don't know how to copy things like ratings between them. What am I missing? Is it possible or do I need multiple libraries? Thanks!

I found myself listening to my iPhone via some Klipsch Image IEMs a great deal whilst traveling. I enjoyed the sound so much that I started to investigate a home setup. Having read lots of reviews (I didn't discover any way to audition in advance) and given that 99% of my listening is rock music, I settled on the LCD-2. Again based on my known personal preferences (Krell Solid State) and reviews, I have paired this with the Lake People Violectric HPA V181. I have no previous experience of other configurations, but am delighted with this setup. I find the overall experience is different to my speaker setup, but I find it equally satisfying and am loving re-listening to my music collection. In terms of value for money I believe it is astonishing! Next step is to figure out which replacement cable to pair with the headphones. I hear just a hint of sibilance on some recordings and I'm hoping that upgrading the stock cable will tame this.

This is curious. My ATV has been completely reliable since the weekend, without restarting my computer or even itunes. My network is wired in the sense that I have structured cat5 in my home (running computer networks is my profession - which is not to imply that I am immune from making stupid mistakes). I have a Cisco AP that my ipod connects to and this has never lost access to the ATV. Itunes has copied 200gig of files to the device a couple of times without any hint of trouble. I could ftp/ssh to the ATV using its appletv.local hostname even though it didn't appear in itunes. I am not familiar with the workings of the bonjour protocol that Itunes installs. I shall investigate with a packet sniffer if it happens again. I would not be suprised if it was something that XP was doing. In summary, the only significant black mark I have with the ATV is the lack of a power save mode. A gigabit interface would be a nice touch, when initially replicating a large library and I'd like Apple to sell one with a larger disk.

Hi Raimund, Unfortunately, I can't help with the details as I didn't modify the unit. Mine came modified from a guy in the UK (http://www.marlcroftcomputers.co.uk/). I know he has fitted a sata interface to allow a larger disk to be installed internally, but I can't comment on the technical details. Whilst researching this, I didn't find anybody else doing this and the 250gb limit is frequently quoted on forums. The extra space is very useful and allows me to achieve a simple one box music server, which is what I wanted. I have various extra software utilities installed, but I understand that the larger hard disk works with the unmodified Apple software, which is not the case with external hard disks.

Thanks for the feedback. Confirmation that I am not missing anything obvious is much appreciated. It is surprisingly difficult to find answers to these questions. My ATV has reappeared exactly as promised. Playback always blips for a second, so I knew immediately. Fortunately my ipod remote has never failed to find the ATV. The lack of a proper standby option is dissappointing, although considering the heat haze rizing from my amps this may not lead to a huge increase in my bills. I assume a MAC mini or laptop would have a standby mode. I admit my concern about the remote does sounds a little petty and the unlock process is very slick! The longest delay on auto-lock is 5 minutes, or about the time it takes to play a track. My impression of Apple is that it is very user friendly so long as you don't wish to stray from a very tightly defined set of capabilities. To be fair, this is what I really want from a music server.

I have a purchased an Apple TV for use as a music server. It has been modified with a 500gb hard disk and loaded up with several hundred CDs ripped in AIFF format. I used dbaudioamp for the ripping as this seemed to do an excellent job of highlighting which disks needed cleaning. I use an IPOD touch to control it. Things I love- I find the sound quality using the DAC in my processor is equivalent to my CD player (and it cost less to purchase than the power cable in my cd player). It uses standard connectors (HDMI, optical) and hence is compatible with cables I already own. The operation of the IPOD touch is fabulous. I have been enjoying music that I haven't listened to in years due to the convenience of having it all at my fingertips. Annoyances/queries The ATV disappears from itunes periodically. This is itunes on Windows. Part of my reasoning in going for ATV rather than a mac was to avoid moving from Windows. How do I get it back into Itunes or force Itunes to scan for it? (this is not a simple network issue - the network is wired and I can ping/ftp to the atv ). I made the mistake of deleting the ATV from itunes, which caused itunes to instantly discover it and wipe everything. Of course it took ages to copy everything back as the ATV is limited to Fast Ethernet, although at least itunes acknowledged its existence! I have to turn my monitor on to put the ATV into standby. Nonetheless, I also note that it seems to generate as much heat in standby as when left on. From some menus it is possible to put it into standby by holding down the play button on the apple remote, but this appears highly dependent on where in the menu it is (back to switching the screen on). Is there a way to switch the screen off on the ipod touch (i.e. powersave) without it locking? It feels like I am constantly unlocking the remote. Or constantly charging it. I would be grateful for your advice/thoughts.