Apple TV vs DAC

[Terryff]

Hope this is the right forum for this topic. I am currently using apple tv to pick up my spotify in hi res from either my mac book pro or my ipad/iphone and going from the atv via an optical cable straight into my marantz pm6005 optical in.

Was wondering, would there be an advantage to getting a dac, maybe a dragonfly or something meatier if it would help things? I have a few problems with the wifi and it annoys a little, so felt a wired solution would at least solve that.

Any ideas?

 

[Overdose]

External DACs?

I wouldn't bother, they will not offer much over what you already have. There are better ways to spend your money if wanting to improve your system.

 

[Terryff]

Overdose, thanks for that, would you care to expand on that, as it is less than constructive?

 

[relocated]

Overdose, thanks for that, would you care to expand on that, as it is less than constructive?

If you're having problems with the "wi-fi" then an external dac isn't going to make a difference. A seperate dac is unlikely to do a better job of digits conversion than the one in your Marantz. Properly implemented dac chips should sound very similar unless they have been specifically engineered to sound a certain way. Sort out your wifi issues and then you might feel better about your system.

 

[Overdose]

Overdose, thanks for that, would you care to expand on that, as it is less than constructive?

If you're having problems with the "wi-fi" then an external dac isn't going to make a difference. A seperate dac is unlikely to do a better job of digits conversion than the one in your Marantz. Properly implemented dac chips should sound very similar unless they have been specifically engineered to sound a certain way. Sort out your wifi issues and then you might feel better about your system.

What he said!

 

[Terryff]

Thanks guys. I guess i was wondering if i would gain anything quality wise by hard wiring and, on that note, i suppose the optical out on my mbp would be as good into the amp as a dac? I have to be honest and say i hear little difference beween a well produced lp record and the high quality spotify tracks.

 

[iMark]

It sounds to me that the only problem you have is wifi-related. Of course you would make the connection to your ATV extremely stable if you ran an ethernet cable from your router to your ATV. But not everyone wants or can run a cable. I suggest that you try to improving the wifi first. There are many things you could try. My favourite one as a starter is looking at broadcast channel of your router. Find one that is not used by anybody else in your area.

As a stop gap measure you can certainly use an optical cable from your MBP to your Marantz. That will give you the best sound from your MBP, but not necessarly better than an optical cable from your ATV. When using Airplay to send audio from your Mac to your ATV that is a lossless technology at 16/48.