Apple TV is finally getting HI-RES AUDIO…but there’s a catch

Cant hear it anyways. Go for some better hardware/speakers

Use your old one for a streamer only using hdmi

So my Apple TV connected via Ultra High Speed HDMI to my Yamaha RX-V4A should work right? It says it can process PCM 2-ch to 8-ch (Max. 192 kHz/24-bit), but it doesn't necessarily say it supports it through HDMI. It says Optical x 1 (Supported frequencies: 32 kHz to 96 kHz) and Coaxial x 1 (Supported frequencies: 32 kHz to 192 kHz), nothing is specified under the HDMI section. But the HDMI ports all support 8K60/4k120 with VRR and so on.

The max you can get out of toslink is 24/96

Am I missing something or my AVR will take it from Apple TV higher res signal and send what ever you want tot he TV?

Orei HDA-929 4K is a good solution if your DAC supports HDMI.

Because no one asked for my opinion I’ll just give it anyway…

Final Answer is that a home theater setup is not the place or equipment to be listening to 2 channel stereo music - hi res, LP or otherwise.
They are the wrong tools for the job.

Can Apple update air play from 44 to 92 etc? Or is it future tech problem solving issue?

Spot on about the AVR advantage here. I'm running a 3.1 setup where the Apple TV splits duties: it hits a Yamaha AVR first via HDMI (handling the center and bass), which then sends pre-outs to a Cyrus amp powering my PMC front pair. It’s a workaround for getting hi-fi stereo performance on a multi-channel system without letting a TV operating system ruin the sample rates.

So much complication and hassle for something no human can hear anyway

There's a reason I no longer use an AV receiver to send video through first...since TV post-processing has run amok, you will never get a proper voice sync unless you run everything through the TV first. Mark my words. For hi res audio I use an iPad and a Schiit DAC. Et voila.

Why not simply having an USB audio out of the next generation, Apple TV? It's not a Rocket Science.

@DarkoAudio
Hi John,
Does Roon alter the sound quality? I have seen a large discussion on this topic on Audiogon forums and users are moving away from Roon. Please share your thoughts and experience.

Thanks much as Always

Apple just needs to release AirPlay 3 being able to stream Hi-Res. Problem solved.

AirPlay is still capped at 44

Onkyo Muse Y-50 “integrated amp” HDMI “IN/OUT”

"Relationship .. complicated... Apple can do nothing about it..." Nonsense, of course they can if they wanted to - in their more premium Apple TV model, they can include an "audio-only" HDMI port, like just as el-cheapo UB450 has.

Great video — but there’s a workaround worth flagging for anyone whose hi-fi is built around a standalone DAC rather than an AVR. You can get true hi-res lossless Apple Music into your system, just not by pulling it out of the Apple TV itself.

The trick is an app called Lysoniq. It’s a full Apple Music client (not AirPlay) that you install on both an iPad (or iPhone) and the Apple TV, on the same network. The iPad stays wired to your DAC over USB-C and does the actual streaming — pulling tracks straight from Apple’s servers at native resolution and pushing them bit-perfect to the DAC. The Apple TV becomes nothing more than a controller: you browse your library on the big screen and drive playback with the Siri Remote, but the audio never passes through the Apple TV, so its 48 kHz HDMI cap is completely sidestepped.

End result: couch-based control with the big-screen interface you wanted from the Apple TV, but the audio path is the clean iPad-USB-to-DAC route that already worked. My RME ADI-2 confirms a full 24-bit/192 kHz on its display. ~$12, one-time purchase (with a $2.50 monthly subscription), no HDMI extractors or receivers needed.

Not the fix Apple should’ve given us, but it gets you to the same destination.

Does that mean if I connect my Apple TV directly to my HiFi Amp with hdmi (Yamaha rn-1000a, NAD3050) it’s all fine? I would want the Apple TV just as an Apple Music audio source that’s remote controllable by phone. No video signal needed at all for me.

👍👍👍

what happens with optical output? I use Wiim pro plus

So, just to be clear, I’m using g an AVR, should I therefore route my AppleTV direct to AVR and then AVR to TV? If I do this do I need to use the HDMI arc port on the AVR or TV or both?

You seemed really happy about the supposed Passthrough fail?

We won’t be able to hear the difference so it doesn’t matter.

You do get hdmi extractors that extract audio and output via eARC rather than toslink. You could use that to circumvent the TV downsampling and it also allows you to passthrough Dolby Atmos for movies rather than having atmos downsampled because of your toslink connection.

Objection your honor , of course Apple can do something about it: Put a Toslink or Spdif output again to Apple TV (the hardware). This would solve everything, but I am afraid Apple want do it , because their music quality attempts have been halfhearted all the time since long ago.

Can’t you use an older AppleTv (2nd gen??) that had a toslink? And send that to the amp?

What I’m still waiting for is Dolby Atmos over Dolby TrueHD (lossless) on Apple TV. Blu-rays sound much better than Apple TV movies.