New AppleTV or Airport Express for music streaming to Receiver

Hello,
I am wondering if it would be better to get a new AppleTV for streaming music to my AV Receiver than my my trusty Airport Express (n). I have always used ethernet cable to link the AExp to the computer and an optical cable for the audio link to the Onkyo 875 AV Receiver.
I was recommending the AExp to a friend yesterday and had say "Hold On!" as I was not sure if the AExp was the best choice anymore, given that the new ATV costs the same price and does video too via HDMI. My main interest is audio, but video is a welcome bonus. All my music is in Apple Lossless format.
Appreciate some feedback to help decide on the best solution.
Regards, Jim.

JimSix wrote:
I don't think the audio quality can be worse (esp. from Apple Lossless), perhaps only better if you are running a HDMI cable from the ATV to the AV Receivers input port (I hope this is the case! Anyone know for sure?). The receiver should have a good DAC, but I believe the ATV (and AE) would use it's own DAC.
I must say the AE has been a wonderful device and people are still amazed after all these years that ALL my music that resides on the computer can be played wirelessly (wired in my case with a 20m long ethernet cable) from our HiFi speakers.
Trust me, the DAC on the AE is nowhere near the quality of CD. All of my Apple Lossless was getting converted with the AE DAC and going to my analog receiver. It sounded tinny, all the mid-range and upper range seemed to be compressed or something, and there was no bass response. Seriously, with a mediocre analog receiver and some affordable but good speakers, you can get incredible sound from a CD. But the AE sounded horrible compared to that. That's why I got rid of the analog receiver and bought a receiver with a DAC. However... the quality hasn't even improved that much, even with using the toslink and comparing to simple 1/8" jack to RCA. I'm pretty disappointed.
This is why I want to know if the AppleTV is literally going to have a better DAC than the AE. That's the only way I can see it sounding better. Either that or getting a separate DAC (because I can't afford a nice digital receiver, they're just too expensive).

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Could I use Airport Express for streaming music only?
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Music tab
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Hello Birdman325. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Because my home network is PW protected, I would have thought it could not "connect" to it on its own, but from just plugging it in to the wall outlet, I never get solid green, just flashing yellow, which apparently is bad.
Not necessarily. A flashing amber status light generally indicates that the AirPort Express Base Station (AX) is not connected to a network. Since the default configuration of the AX is a wireless Internet router, the flashing status light would be normal.
Anyways, I use the software (updated over the net of course) to set up and it is looking for a "base station" (which is confusing to me because I don't have an Apple base station, I have a linksys router and the stupid Airport Express box plugged into the wall).
The AirPort utilities are specifically designed to work only with AirPort base stations, so it would be normal for it to try to "find" base stations.
At any rate, it "finds" the Apple base station and appears to treat it as an unsecured Apple network, with some funny id.
Again, normal. Remember the default configuration of a powered AX is a wireless Internet router ... since you don't have it connected to the Internet, the utility will find it as a stand-alone wireless network that is unsecured.
While I am able to get a message that it is ready to use (and I no longer see "Apple XXXX" as one of the available networks when I scan for available networks) the light on the Airport Express never stops blinking yellow, and it has done something to my home network because my laptop now is unable to keep a wireless connection to the router.
Let's double-check your AX's settings ...
Perform a "factory default" reset of the AX
o (ref: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108044)
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New AppleTV or Airport Express for music streaming to Receiver

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