Indeed. My ATV is the most difficult device to incorporate in the mix. I just cannot use my android phone, linux laptop and each and every computer to control it. Even with my 2019 macbook pro I cannot play lossless through atv. All my earlier apple devices cannot control it. My 2012 mac mini cannot control it. Discovered the limitations when I signed up for Apple Music last week. Still discovering the limitations. The only method that gives bit-perfect audio is if you use an external dac with iphone/ipad/macbook/mac-mini. And if you just heard a good piece of video on youtube or song on google play or amazon, just don't waste your time playig it on the ATV. ATV hi-res is a big mess currently.
Apple Music’s hi-res streaming is a bit of a mess | Darko.Audio
The promise of Apple's hi-res audio supply is strong but the reality unearths gotcha after gotcha.
darko.audio
And then there is chromecast ultra, which is a much better device than the ATV. There is one thing that google did better than apple. None of their devices have dangerous 240v coming side the device. They are all powered by external 5v power supply. ATV, Airport Express, etc all have a SMPS inside the unit. So you have 240v coming inside the device, rectified by a diode having a bulk capacitor connected to it. Since 240v is RMS, you actuall have 240 x 1.414 = 274 volts being switched to give 5v and 3.3v. One of my Airport Express has already blown. Electrolytic capacitors handling that kind of voltage will fail one day and it is just a matter of time. In case of chromecast, all you have to do is replace the power supply rather than throwing away the unit.
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