Post Continued ...
(3) Prefer my CDP as a transport over the ATV. In particular, I used my Shanling T100 as a transport into the same DAC (MF VDAC and MHDT Havana) as the ATV. I feel that there is a notable difference in that the CDP has better timing (i.e., PRaT). However, CDP was connected via coaxial versus the ATV that was connected via optical. Cables were comparable (i.e., cheap). I am going to experiment with better optical cables for the ATV, potentially, DH Labs. The ATV only has an optical output, which may be a drawback of the ATV solution versus other sever solutions (e.g., squeezebox which also has coaxial or MacMini's USB). Has anyone been able to determine if the optical link of the ATV is potentially a weak spot?
My Conclusions:
The 1TB ATV is my new favorite STAND-ALONE transport that can be had for under $200. This solution seems to be significantly cheaper than the Squeezebox, Sonus, Airport Express, or ATV2 style solution (which requires a computer from which to stream the data). This solution is also cheaper than the MacMini style solution. I do wish that the ATV had digital coaxial output. One caveat: I am not including the cost of an iPhone (or iPod Touch) to use as a remote because I already had one. This is needed if you want to run the ATV without a TV/Monitor.
Any suggestions on how to improve this transport? Re-clock? Toslink cable recommendations?
Thanks!
(3) Prefer my CDP as a transport over the ATV. In particular, I used my Shanling T100 as a transport into the same DAC (MF VDAC and MHDT Havana) as the ATV. I feel that there is a notable difference in that the CDP has better timing (i.e., PRaT). However, CDP was connected via coaxial versus the ATV that was connected via optical. Cables were comparable (i.e., cheap). I am going to experiment with better optical cables for the ATV, potentially, DH Labs. The ATV only has an optical output, which may be a drawback of the ATV solution versus other sever solutions (e.g., squeezebox which also has coaxial or MacMini's USB). Has anyone been able to determine if the optical link of the ATV is potentially a weak spot?
My Conclusions:
The 1TB ATV is my new favorite STAND-ALONE transport that can be had for under $200. This solution seems to be significantly cheaper than the Squeezebox, Sonus, Airport Express, or ATV2 style solution (which requires a computer from which to stream the data). This solution is also cheaper than the MacMini style solution. I do wish that the ATV had digital coaxial output. One caveat: I am not including the cost of an iPhone (or iPod Touch) to use as a remote because I already had one. This is needed if you want to run the ATV without a TV/Monitor.
Any suggestions on how to improve this transport? Re-clock? Toslink cable recommendations?
Thanks!