I have the original 40 gig Apple TV and since the old one doesn't stream photos, I use the hard drive to store photos, while it streams music from my computer. After adding a DAC downstream, I'm convinced music sounds as good or better than CD. (I don't know how it can sound better, but the DAC may have something to do with that.)
Since the new one streams photos as well as music, I don't think the loss of the hard drive matters, other than your computer has to be on to stream your music.
As long as you have a decent DAC, the Apple TV is an excellent music streamer and the cheapest one I've found with the best interface - that can also be controlled by the Remote app on an iPod Touch or iPhone.
Since the new one streams photos as well as music, I don't think the loss of the hard drive matters, other than your computer has to be on to stream your music.
As long as you have a decent DAC, the Apple TV is an excellent music streamer and the cheapest one I've found with the best interface - that can also be controlled by the Remote app on an iPod Touch or iPhone.