quadrant6

Thanks, I think I will. I've read a few comments about customers complaing the ATV HD is noisy but it appears to be the minority. The ATV will sit below our flat screen LCD and I plan to install the ATV flash so I can play downloaded divx movies etc. The fact I can control music playback with my iphone, without having to have the TV on is cool. I do have a macbook but don't won't it to involved in music playback. I'm cool with having to copy across playlists to the ATV HD though, don't want to stream. Later on I might look at the cambridge dac magic, also I've heard reports of the Scott Nixon tubedac being used with ATV and getting good results. Cheers!

I have an iPhone and am still very keen on the apple tv idea (old 160gb inbuilt drive). I'm on a real budget here. The way I see it there are 3 choices: 1) get the apple tv and use the analog rca ouputs to my amp. (later I'll upgrade with a DAC in between) 2) get an arcam irdock, I'm guessing the end result won't be much better than the apple tv (?) price about the same 3) Get a minijack to RCA and simply connect the iphone straight to the amp. I'm thinking this will be the worst sounding but is the cheapest.

I'm considering an AppleTV (the old model with hard drive) to use as a music server. I have a Rega Brio amplifier so my options would be: 1) connect analog from AppleTV to the Rega. I imagine the sound would be poor and similar to connecting from the line out on my imac to the amp? 2) connect the optical from AppleTV -> a DAC -> analog on the Rega. Can anyone confirm the the sound quality of #1 and/or suggest a good cheap-mid priced DAC that I could use in scenario 2?

The V-DAC looks very good - in terms of comments posted around. I think I'm getting closer to purchasing - between the HRT Streamer or paying the bit extra for the V-DAC. Actually because of where I live, it's a difference of 100% – the V Dac will cost 2x but I'm suspecting it might just be worth it.

Which of the following DACs is likely to give me the best sound and lowest chance of noise? I mostly listen to mp3s from itunes but have the occasional uncompressed file. Proposed Setup: New Apple Imac -> DAC -> Rega Brio Amplifier RCA inputs -> Rega Brio Loudspeakers DAC Options arranged low->high $ HRT Streamer KECES DA-151 MK2 Scott Nixon TD2.2 (tube) DAC Apogee Duet

Thanks guys. Ok, getting a DAC and keeping my Brio seems like the way to go. I live in Christchurch New Zealand and there isn't too much choice here of things I can try out first. I found this locally: HRT Music Streamer (cheapest) http://www.soundline.co.nz/store/product_info.php?products_id=248 I could order these in: Cambridge DACmagic Apogee Duet (http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php) KECES DA-151 Mk2 (ebay) The HRT music streamer seems to have mixed reviews. The last three would end up costing me about the same. I like the look of the Duet because it will allow me to record stuff if I need to in future but I'm not sure it's really intended for use with a hifi amplifier.. wheras the other 2 clearly are for this purpose. Anyway, I think you've put me on the right track. I guess I just need to look round a bit more and make a choice. Thanks

I have the following macbook pro 13" Rega Brio Amp Rega Planet Cd Player Rega Jura Speakers Instead of constantly burning different cds, I was contemplating hooking my macbook up to the amp somehow. I'm not that technically inclined and don't want to spend a fortune but from reading different posts it seems I have a few options. 1. get a cable (stereo jack -> rca) and hook the MBP directly to my Amp. Cheap option & would probably sound crap 2. Put a DAC in between and connect the MPB to it via usb/firewire or optical. Then connect that to the amp with RCA? (The brio I have doesnt have optical) Perhaps I could sell the cd player and amp and get something more integrated? like a DAC & Amp in one ? Forgive my ignorance