2. digital
  3. 136393-19072

Apple TV Streaming Sound Quality vs Streamer?

I am looking for the weak link to improve sound quality.   Seems logical it is the Apple TV as a source.  Would a moderate streamer inside of $1500 make much of a difference when streaming Tidal and the like?  

Current Equipment:
Speaker: Dali Euphonia MS-4
AMP: Modwright KWA 150 SE
Preamp/ DAC: Peachtree Grand Integrated
Source: Tidal / Apple TV
puffbojie
junzhang10
166 posts
 
ATV Gen 3 doesn't TIDAL APP. Gen has Tidal but without optical out. You would need a good DAC to sound better from ATV.
puffbojie OP
50 posts
 
Imo-A cd in my $200 lg blue ray player sounds much better than the Tidal. This is what sparked my feeling that the source was the weakest link. Is a cd always better than streaming? I ask because I think I would be satisfied if a streamer could offer a similar sound quality. 
don_c55
823 posts
 
MQA is 14.4khz just like CD

The quality deference is in the mastering and not anything else IMO.

Sometimes it sounds better, sometimes worse.

roberjerman
2,086 posts
 
Mastering from the original source is the most important factor in SQ! And with streaming and downloads the provenance is never certain, compared to LP's and CD's! Authenticity is given up for convenience! A bad bargain, indeed!
roberjerman
2,086 posts
 
Stick to hard media like LP's and CD's for the best SQ!
More to discover