Listen to Music & Watch Regular TV @ Same Time?

[cubbie5150]

I'm thinking of getting ATV, primarily for music. I would connect it via optical cable to my AV Receiver; I live in a small condo, so all my AV gear is together in one room. If I listen to music via ATV, can I also watch TV (say, a football game, w/ no volume for the TV, obviously) at the same time? Or will my HDTV have to remain on the ATV screen to play music?

I know, a horribly worded inquiry... I hope I'm making sense.

 

[MikieMikie]

The only reason you might need the AppleTV visible (i.e.: on your television screen) is to pick the music you want to play. If you are content to have it select your listening choices via shuffle, you can do whatever you like with your TV, including keeping it off.

There is nothing in the AppleTV that requires the TV connection. It will run with no video connection once its been through its initial setup.

 

[peeaanuut]

you can also create a few different playlists and set the playlist than switch your video source to TV, keeping your audio on the aTV. I do this quite often. Since I have the DirecTV running from HDMI to the TV and than the TV out to the receiver, I can put on the aTV and play some music. Than switch the video source on the TV and watch whatever is on. If I need to hear it, I can turn the volume up on the TV, which is usually set to zero since it routes to the receiver for usual TV watching.

 

[cubbie5150]

^^Cool..thanks guys. That was one of the few minor things I was wondering about. Now I've got to research ATV's DAC quality; i.e., whether I'd want an external DAC between ATV & my receiver, or whether I'd be content connecting ATV to my AVR via analog...too bad I'll have to wade into the so-called audiophile world now!! [j/k; sound quality is actually VERY important to me]

 

[MikieMikie]

Search for posts (in this forum) by Avatar. He is an audio engineer, and he has some interesting things to say about discernible audio quality.

In essence, unless you have "golden ears," you'll find AppleTV's DAC just fine.