HELP: Is it possible to use ATV as Airplay device without the TV?

Deleted wrong answer.

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I've got a HDMI cable going to the tv (via a HDMI switch) & an optical cable going to my amp.
It works fine so far and helps not having to have a 50" plasma turned on for no reason!

Can anyone confirm that the following set up will work in general?

Connect an ATV2 to the receiver via both HDMI and Optical audio. Connect the receiver to the TV via HDMI.


Thanks

Not sure why you would need the optical connection. The HDMI connection to the receiver should work for audio whether or not the TV is on.

My ATV1 is my primary source for listening to music. Most of the time, I have the TV on. However, I often turn the TV off and use the Replay app on my iPod Touch to control it. I am using the HDMI for audio regardless of whether or not the TV is on.

This works!

that works just fine for me. I have a ATV2 hooked up to my TV woth HDMI and with Digital Audio to my HiFi system. I can play anything from my iTunes Library over Airplay to my HiFi system without the TV turned on.

As long as your Digital Audio cable is attached to your audio output device (HiFi, receiver etc.) and not your TV it works as you stated.

I have a HDMI going to an AV amp, when using airplay from iphone,ipad & mac this works fine for audio. My TV being switched on/off does not effect the system.

I use the ATV for this purpose daily and I have no problems.

vonvestergaard said:

- Thanks for all the answers

Okay, so the conclusion is that this could actually work. I mean using the ATV2 for Airplay from the iPhone or iPad, without having to turn the TV on, if the optical audio goes around the TV, and not though the TV. Did i get that right?

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Yes. That is what I do.

Apple TV2 connected to TV via HDMI
Apple TV2 connected to A/V Receiver via Optical

This gives you the best options: You can watch movies on the TV with or without the receiver on (I HATE routing HDMI through the receiver because it requires me to turn on the receiver EVERY time I wanna watch TV or movies!)

Secondly, you can get audio from the Apple TV (via Optical) WITHOUT the TV being on (which answers someone's question about "why you would need the optical connection").

You don't need the TV on for the Apple TV to play music through your receiver and for Airplay to work. And the ATV also outputs sound on both the HDMI port and the optical port simultaneously so this means you have multiple options of doing it.

I have mine setup with an HDMI cable to the receiver and when I want listen to music without the tv on, I just turn the tv off and leave the receiver on.

I also have another receiver hooked to the optical port of the ATV that leads to speakers on the back porch so for example when I'm barbecuing outside when watching live NBA games on the ATV2, I can still hear what's going on outside.

newagemac said:

I have mine setup with an HDMI cable to the receiver and when I want listen to music without the tv on, I just turn the tv off and leave the receiver on.

Click to expand...

yes, but you can't watch Apple TV without the receiver on. That's why I set mine up as indicated above. That way, I can use either TV speakers or surround speakers thru receiver with movies, but I can still listen to music from the Apple TV without the TV on when necessary.