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Does Apple TV 4 still resample everything to 48kHz?

W

wmy5

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 27, 2012
393
131
upstate NY
Hello everyone,

I am considering buying a new Apple TV 4, but one of my concerns is that Apple TV may resample all audio to 48kHz as previous generations do. I plan to use it for streaming audio and I wish it can play in high quality. I am not expecting it to be able to play 96 or 192 (so called Hi-Res audio) but I really hope it can play native 44.1kHz. Could anyone confirm this? Big thanks!
 
We don't know. I think yes. Most DVD/Bluray Media has sample rate of 48KHz, why change it?

Alternatively, you can output the audio to an Apple Aiport Express and video to an Apple TV (Gen 2-4) at the same time. Obviously you lose multichannel audio, but most to all music is stereo. The Apple Airport express has a miniTOSlink digital OR Analog output.

Here's the real paranoia question; can you tell, with repeatability, what is 44KHz and what is 48KHz sample rates?
 
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o0OBillO0o said:
We don't know. I think yes. Most DVD/Bluray Media has sample rate of 48KHz, why change it?

Alternatively, you can output the audio to an Apple Aiport Express and video to an Apple TV (Gen 2-4) at the same time. Obviously you lose multichannel audio, but most to all music is stereo. The Apple Airport express has a miniTOSlink digital OR Analog output.

Here's the real paranoia question; can you tell, with repeatability, what is 44KHz and what is 48KHz sample rates?
Click to expand...

Because all songs in iTunes Store and Apple Music have sample rate of 44.1kHz.

I am not confidant that I can tell the difference in a double-blind test but I am sure that aTV 3 has pretty poor sound quality. I think this unnecessary 44.1kHz->48kHz resampling is one of the reason.
 
wmy5 said:
Because all songs in iTunes Store and Apple Music have sample rate of 44.1kHz.

I am not confidant that I can tell the difference in a double-blind test but I am sure that aTV 3 has pretty poor sound quality. I think this unnecessary 44.1kHz->48kHz resampling is one of the reason.
Click to expand...

Restated: Why does the AppleTV resample all the iTunes Music Store and Apple Music to 48KHz?

Because it's Video oriented device and the TV and Movie industry, generally, has adopted 48KHz as the sample rate for audio tracks for Video media. There are some higher sample rates, but they aren't specified to play, in the native sample rate,on the AppleTV at this time.

Remember, you can use an AppleTV to output it's audio to an Airport Express (or multiple AirPlay renderers). In the case of playing your HomeSharing enabled account, iCloud Music, iTunes Music Purchases, iTunes Match Library and or Apple Music Account AND you want a 44KHz Sample Rate.

I agree with you; about the AppleTV 2/3 Sound quality, it's not as enjoyable to me as the optical output (and even Analog output) of the Apple Airport Express. I'd venture I wouldn't be able to positively identify a certain sample rate with repeatability. Still, before I knew about these technical details I always felt that the AppleTV (all versions) was not an idea audio device. I prefer the Apple Airport Express for Music listening.

Now, if you truly seek higher bit-depths and sample rates, the $499 MacMini does it all. I mean all. Every streaming service, Over-the-Air TV, 24bit, DSD, MKV, and anything else you can throw at it. It's a computer- I know. Paired up with a the Apple iOS Remote app, I don't think you'd miss out on Siri voice commands (found on AppleTV 4-- and projected to come mid-2016).

Further, using the Apple App Store approved BitPerfect ($25) allows you to use a variety of the highest quality Sample Rate Converters created.

There is always a way, it's how much time and money you want to spend. ;)
 
o0OBillO0o said:
Alternatively, you can output the audio to an Apple Aiport Express and video to an Apple TV (Gen 2-4) at the same time.
Click to expand...

Can you? I was disappointed to read on Apple's site that the Airport Express is for music audio only.

If that's wrong, can you send movie audio from ATV to Airport Express?
 
LiveM said:
Can you? I was disappointed to read on Apple's site that the Airport Express is for music audio only.

If that's wrong, can you send movie audio from ATV to Airport Express?
Click to expand...

Grab some popcorn and watch :)

And the Apple Airport Express is for anything STEREO and devices that can output an AIRPLAY stream. So you could send your audio from a video playing on your mac. Still, there may be latency and sync issues. The Apple Airport Express is best for music.
 
wmy5 said:
Hello everyone,

I am considering buying a new Apple TV 4, but one of my concerns is that Apple TV may resample all audio to 48kHz as previous generations do. I plan to use it for streaming audio and I wish it can play in high quality. I am not expecting it to be able to play 96 or 192 (so called Hi-Res audio) but I really hope it can play native 44.1kHz. Could anyone confirm this? Big thanks!
Click to expand...

Hey friend, this oughta wet your whistle. https://www.macrumors.com/2015/12/20/apple-high-resolution-audio/
 
o0OBillO0o said:
I think at this point, no one knows.. or really cares.
Click to expand...

People definitely care. Or to put it differently, people with good systems care about audio quality, whether or not they know about sampling rate conversions. I do not know the answer, but I suspect it resamples to 48 kHz. At any rate, I am dissatisfied both by the audio quality itself and the way ATV4 handles audio. For me, the biggest issue is the fact that audio encoded in stereo is not being transmitted to my receiver in stereo. Rather, for some reason, music played from the ATV4 comes out on more speakers than just my mains. That should never happen with a digital connection, and the ATV4 is the only device that has this issue. That for me makes it unusable for music, a significant disappointment.
 
bluespark said:
For me, the biggest issue is the fact that audio encoded in stereo is not being transmitted to my receiver in stereo. Rather, for some reason, music played from the ATV4 comes out on more speakers than just my mains. That should never happen with a digital connection, and the ATV4 is the only device that has this issue. That for me makes it unusable for music, a significant disappointment.
Click to expand...
When playing your music, what does your receiver say on the display (DD, Stereo)?
 
satcomer said:
If you actually read the Apple TV 4 Specifications you will see the truth.
Click to expand...

The Apple TV 3 notoriously resampled from 44KHz to 48KHz. The resample was in the AppleTV box and the implementation sounded much worse when compared to the Apple Airport Express via it's optical out. (The AAE outputs at 44KHz).

I do care what the sample rate is. Right now, if it's 48KHz output only, then it's not the end of the world. It just means that most of your music will be resampled and there may be some noticeable differences. 48KHz is sort of the industry standard for Audio that accompanies video. i.e. Almost all Blu-ray discs are 24 bit / 48KHz multi channel sound.

I find that if this issue is brought up to most that own an AppleTV 4 and play music through it, it's something that isn't interesting to them. I do recognize that many, like myself, want the utmost fidelity, we can always asking in future models.
 
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