When the Apple TV is connected to the TV via HDMI the tv limits max audio bitrate to 24/48khz. I’m thinking of getting a hdmi switch with an optical out, but I think the tv will still limit the max bitrate output of the apple tv to 48khz. Anybody know if it’s possible to get lossless audio from apple tv 4k to an external dac? Thanks.
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What about a HDMI audio extractor between the AppleTV and the TV? Easy to find some with optical outputs like this one:
A3830B - Dynalink HDMI Audio Extractor 2CH/7.1CH - Altronics
Some also claim ATMOS compatibility. Is that the sort of thing you want?
A3830B - Dynalink HDMI Audio Extractor 2CH/7.1CH - Altronics
Some also claim ATMOS compatibility. Is that the sort of thing you want?
flargosa, at the outset I hope you are not confusing "lossless" audio with "high-res" audio, since these terms are interrelated, but distinctly separate.
Also the term "bitrate" is often erroneously used instead of "sample rate". Again, these are two different things.
So back to your original question:
But if you really meant to ask "is it possible to get hi-res audio from AppleTV" the answer is no.
In order to give you better advice and assistance, you should give us some more context;
- what type of source(s) are you accessing from your AppleTV? ie. are those sources hi-res?
- what devices and applications are you using to play those sources?
Also the term "bitrate" is often erroneously used instead of "sample rate". Again, these are two different things.
No, the Apple TV (all models) has, by design, a fixed audio sample rate output of 48kHz.
No, if you mean the new Apple Music lossless streaming service, these are 44.1kHz with ALAC (lossless) compression. The only downside of using an AppleTV is that it upsamples the 44.1kHz stream to 48kHz. Some people claim there is no audible quality loss, but on earlier model AppleTV's, I definitely heard a "softening" effect.
So back to your original question:
Of course. The audio stream which is encapsulated within the AppleTV's HDMI output is uncompressed 48kHz PCM.
But if you really meant to ask "is it possible to get hi-res audio from AppleTV" the answer is no.
In order to give you better advice and assistance, you should give us some more context;
- what type of source(s) are you accessing from your AppleTV? ie. are those sources hi-res?
- what devices and applications are you using to play those sources?