appletv sound problems, somewhat detailed

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lazydays wrote:
I have an appletv that is distorting on any loud music. It is acutely noticeable when listening to piano music where a single key might come through very loudly. I'm hoping to get some help diagnosing the problem. I used David Lanz Improvisation Friedensengel as my test song and Grado SR125 headphones.

I have the appltv hdmi running into a tv and then the tv's normal audio outputs to my accuphase (fairly high end) amplifier aux1 input. I also have the appletv normal audio outputs running into the tape2 inputs of the amplifier.

I started by playing the song using the appletv, going thru the tv, and then to the amp aux1. Massive distortion even if I turned the volume on the appletv down to 2 bars and the tv volume down to 15%. No way to eliminate the distortion.

Then I tried going straight from the appletv to the amp using the tape2 input. Very little, but still noticeable distortion at approx 22 seconds.

I hooked my ipod up to the tv and played the same song. No distortion as long as I kept the ipod volume to about 75%.

Then I went downstairs and played the same song on another appletv connected to a tv using hdmi and then to another accuphase amp using standard audio inputs. No distortion at all.

So I carried appletv number 2 upstairs and hooked it up. Using hdmi massive distortion but absolutely no distortion using the standard outputs.

Last, I updated the original appletv to the latest software but it still distorts.

I'm up pretty late but I think this means I have a bad appletv. Anything left for me to do before I try to return it?

first, disregard the problem when going though the TV. You don't know if it's the Apple TV or just the TV that does the distortion.

Now do this: take Apple TV [#1] downstairs and see if you get distortions there. then you can pinpoint the problem more accurately.

Also try Apple TV [#1] upstairs on a Aux1 input.