iFi Zen Blue v2 vs Apple TV 4K (1 Viewer)

[Maximus Pain]

Why does music played through the iFi Zen Blue v2 sound better than through the Apple TV 4K, to me?

Signal Chain:

Samsung Galaxy S21 (wifi on & bluetooth connected to Zen) > Zen Blue v2 ( stock power adapter) > cheap optical cable > Denon x6700h (Stereo Direct Mode) > Pre-outs > SVS RCA interconnect cables > Emotiva XPA-3 > SVS Ultra Speaker Cables > SVS Prime Pinnacles

Apple TV 4k (wired connection to home network) > cheap ultra high speed HDMI > Denon x6700h (Stereo Direct Mode) > Pre-outs > SVS RCA interconnect cables > Emotiva XPA-3 > SVS Ultra Speaker Cables > SVS Prime Pinnacles

Additionally running a pair of SVS PB-3000s.

I mostly stream music using Tidal. To me, the Tidal app on the hardwired Apple TV 4k does not compare in quality to streaming via Bluetooth from my phone to the Zen Blue V2.

How could this be?

Could it be due to:

1. Low quality HDMI cable?
2. MQA on Zen Blue v2 compared to no MQA on the Apple TV 4k?
3. Quality difference of the external power supplies?
4. Playback limitations/capabilities of the source devices
5. Something else?

Thank you

 

[Maximus Pain]

.................

 

[Maximus Pain]

Did I just go over everyone's head?

Lol

 

[DaveF]

Probably it’s unanswerable. “Sounds better” is completely subjective and so devoid of information it doesn’t point to anything at all.

It might be as simple as the bias volume of iFi is higher than AppleTV, and people perceive “louder” as “better”.

Maybe you’re so accustomed to Bluetooth streaming, you prefer that sound to what music sounds like with less compression played direct?

Maybe the Tidal app on iFi (Android?) is better than the AppleTV app and does just sound better?