@mm1tt77 , the Apple TV-X is a conundrum for me. It was disparaged above, but I appreciate it nonetheless, despite the price of admission. How does it work? Secret sauce. The engineer is quite experienced in the video world and passionate in what he does. He will not say what specific changes he’s made inside a typical Apple device, aside from a standalone power supply that is critical, and I don’t blame him. His passion and expertise come across readily in the WBF thread, link here. I pored over that lengthy thread before I invested, and was finally convinced to push forward, despite their no backsies policy—you buy it, you own it, no home trial, no credit cards.
I’ve been through many iterations of TV streamers: Roku, Fire TV sticks, Fire TV Cube and Nvidia Shield. I’m not an Apple person and avoided the Apple TV devices. My last streamer battle was the new Fire Cube versus Shield, and the Shield won due to its AI ability to slightly improve video, and menu. Why can you spend tens of thousands for music streamers, but TV streamers are under $200? Well, an opportunity to spend way more presented itself.
When I first got the ATVX, I was underwhelmed and kicking myself for being sucked in. I reached out to both the seller and engineer, and they counseled patience. It took a month, but during that time the ATVX composed itself in its new surroundings and finally showed its mettle. I have a six-year-old Sony Bravia TV, and the picture has always been its strong suit. The picture now is nothing short of outstanding, so much vibrancy, color and definition. Clarity when streaming is better than 4K videos played on my 4K player (what a waste that was). If you are familiar with The Bear on Hulu, a great deal of their episodes are close-ups of the actor’s faces. The picture now is so clear, you can count every pore. Per advice of the seller, after the month, I put the Nvidia Shield back into the system for comparison. Yikes, what a difference! Where I thought the Nvidia was excellent before, it paled in comparison to the ATVX, just no contest.
Sound is a different story. Whereas ATVX gives video a significant boost, the sound is perhaps a bit better, but still does not compare to such as True HD or Atmos on a recorded disk. As many here have pointed out, blame compressed audio when streaming.
Interestingly, the newest Apple TV iteration will debut in a month or two or three, and purportedly it contains an upgrade to pass native audio, rather than process it on the device. This, according to the cognoscenti, will result in better audio quality. I believe that change is a software upgrade, so Apple devices like the ATVX will benefit as well. Btw, the engineer strongly cautions against automatic upgrades, as some wreak havoc on his modifications. He wants to test them first, then will alert his user community when it’s OK to update the software. He has not offered info on the coming upgrades, so the value of my investment is still unsettled.
The ATVX has improved my TV streaming. Transformative? No, but an improvement. Note that I also upgraded my ethernet cable from the network switch to it, and that made a nice improvement as well. Plus, I use a good power cord. Beauty, and value, are in the eye of the beholder. Glad to answer more questions, even via message, so as not to bore others.
Robert