I have been researching this, and it depends on your system. SB Touch advantages:
it has an internal dac (not so big a deal when your DL-III is considered), you don't need a monitor, I've read that it has less jitter when used as a transport, it has a digital coax out (better than optical), bigger hard drive (I think), will play apple lossless and AIFF (your iPod library will stream to it)
Apple TV advantages:
None that I can see for audio, it has video features that SB Touch just doesn't have
I would go with the SB Touch in my 2-channel system, it is a much better option for me to get my iPod library wirelessly into my Halo pre-amp. Its both a DAC and a wireless transport solution. Plus - I'm a PC.
But I'll probably wind up buying an Apple TV for the upstairs HT system first, because I want to stream Netflix and access my iPod library from upstairs.
it has an internal dac (not so big a deal when your DL-III is considered), you don't need a monitor, I've read that it has less jitter when used as a transport, it has a digital coax out (better than optical), bigger hard drive (I think), will play apple lossless and AIFF (your iPod library will stream to it)
Apple TV advantages:
None that I can see for audio, it has video features that SB Touch just doesn't have
I would go with the SB Touch in my 2-channel system, it is a much better option for me to get my iPod library wirelessly into my Halo pre-amp. Its both a DAC and a wireless transport solution. Plus - I'm a PC.
But I'll probably wind up buying an Apple TV for the upstairs HT system first, because I want to stream Netflix and access my iPod library from upstairs.