I haven't heard AppleTV into the SA8004's DAC, but I'm primarily an analog/vinyl listener too, and I have heard the SA8004. I was very impressed. Many times I find digital playback to sound thin and threadbare, but the SA8004, even playing a std. CD, sounded *really* good. That would indicate among other things that the built-in DAC is excellent. Given that the SA8004 plays both CDs and SACDs, I would guess that it can decode a range of digital datastreams of various bit densities and sampling rates.
Put another way, as a vinyl junkie, if I were to buy one more CD player, it would be the SA8004. Also, if you have any need of amplification, its companion PM8004 integrated amp is *superb* and matches synergistically with the SA8004.
Put another way, as a vinyl junkie, if I were to buy one more CD player, it would be the SA8004. Also, if you have any need of amplification, its companion PM8004 integrated amp is *superb* and matches synergistically with the SA8004.