Audio on Mac and Video on Apple TV

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alasta

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#106081 17-Jul-2012 21:16

I've done a bit of searching online but can't find an answer to this query.

I want to install an Apple TV in a room where the most appropriate audio output device is a set of Hifi headphones. The only problem is that neither the Apple TV nor the TV itself have an amplified analogue headphone jack.

My question is a pretty simple one : Is it possible for iTunes to stream video to an Apple TV while playing the audio locally through the headphone port on the Mac, or is this disallowed due to audio/video sync issues?

Ventura

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#657261 17-Jul-2012 21:28

Unless you have an amp for the headphones with an optical input you are out of luck.
You could use the monitor out from the TV to feed wireless headphones maybe.

alasta

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#657384 18-Jul-2012 08:25

Ventura: Unless you have an amp for the headphones with an optical input you are out of luck.
You could use the monitor out from the TV to feed wireless headphones maybe.

Thanks for that. I had considered the possibility of trying to get a reasonably price headphone amp and DAC, so I guess I may have to go down that path.

nickb800

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#657388 18-Jul-2012 08:42

I have gone down a similar path, instead driving a small amp with the ATV. I went with a Fiio D3 DAC, which was $45 new (and also has quite good reviews online) from these guys http://www.soundessentials.co.nz/. They may also have a headphone amp variety.

alasta

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#657408 18-Jul-2012 09:15

nickb800: I have gone down a similar path, instead driving a small amp with the ATV. I went with a Fiio D3 DAC, which was $45 new (and also has quite good reviews online) from these guys http://www.soundessentials.co.nz/. They may also have a headphone amp variety.

Awesome, thanks for sharing that. It looks like I could get the D3 plus a seperate headphone amp for about $100 together which is much less than the cost of other solutions that I've looked at this morning.

Alternatively, the Fiio E17 looks like it could be a great combined DAC/amp solution with some added versatility. Has anyone used one of these?

alasta

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#657502 18-Jul-2012 11:13

I guess the other question I should be asking is if I go with wireless headphones then should I be using an amp, or just a DAC on its own.

The plan is to pick up the Sennheiser RS160 which I imagine are designed around the assumption that the sender unit will be connected to a run-of-the-mill amplified headphone jack, but I'm a bit concerned about the implications of having a device like the E17 converting from digital to analogue, then amplifying the signal, then the Sennheiser sender unit converting the amplified signal back to digital, then the wireless headphones converting back to analogue and amplifying again. I'm not a hifi nut so I don't require perfect fidelity, but this seems like an awful lot of links in the chain for the signal to degrade.

Would I be best to go with wired headphones, perhaps?