I'm testing out our new Apple TV. It seems to work as advertised, but it has some software glitches (i.e. does not see iTunes movie playlists via home sharing - doh!). I'll do a full review after I've tested it on a couple of our different TVs.

Anyway, I now need a digital audio to analog audio converter to connect to my venerable but excellent Pioneer surround sound system. Monoprice's version of this product is on backorder.

Anyone have a favorite supplier or best suggestion?

Thanks!

Presumably, the more you pay, the better the converter.

I like Gefen products in general, although they are overpriced. Haven't used their audio converters, though:
[www.gefen.com] ($79)

They do have a Dolby Digital version ($129). In case you have videos that only have DD tracks, it will still down convert them to analog. This assumes that the AppleTV doesn't convert to stereo on its own (I don't know if it does or not, but I would assume it can).

I've got a DacMagic which I think is a real good bang for the buck. Not sure if it'll handle surround sound.

Wow - might be cheaper to purchase a new surround sound amp...!

Stereo or surround?

What price range?

For stereo, Roland UA-1G is hard to beat for unde $100. Let's you digitize analog, too.
[www.roland.com]

DacMagic is excellent, too, but more money.

Benchmark DAC is the best for non-insane money (although the approx $1,500 is what some would call insane...)

Looking for surround sound. My Apple TV is a $99 purchase.

Had no idea the Apple TV's digital sound out would be completely incompatible with my classic surround sound amplifier.

Might be easier to move my media center down to the room with surround sound and keep the Apple TV upstairs with audio connected via the HDMI cable to a TV.

Oh, you want a Dolby Digital / DTS to 5.1 analog converter?

The cheapest thing would probably be to look for an older receiver on Craigslist that still has an analog 5.1 output (this is a feature that has been removed from low-end modern receivers).

There was an adapter I saw on eBay that I believe converted the HDMI signal to an analog (via minijack) 7.1 output. It was around $130, but I don't have it bookmarked anymore.
Easy enough to find actually: [cgi.ebay.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2010 08:32PM by Gareth.

I think I have the answer. My Vizio TV has both digital and audio out points for connecting to a home theater setup. So I should not need one of these converters IF the built-in one works well.