Advice required about Apple Airport / Apple TV...

[ol]

Hi chaps,

We're about to move into a new house, and I want to be able to play the music from my i-tunes on the stereos around my house without having to use one of those battery powered radio transmitter things.

Someone said I need Apple TV, but I don't really get what it does... It seems more for sending videos to the tv than music to stereos. From googling it, it looks like the Airport might be what I'm looking for, but again, I've never hear of it before so don't know what I'm looking for, and don't know if this works alongside Apple TV or would I need to buy a basestation that is connected to my mac?

I see the old version of Apple TV can 'store' your i-tunes music like an external hard drive, so I guess that would mean that I wouldn't need the mac to be turned on all the time, but would this be able to transmit the music to other stereos? And would I do this by having an Airport connected to each stereo around the house?

I also want to be able to control it through my iphone if possible.

Confused.

Edited by ol on Monday 15th November 17:23

[Driller]

Apple TV needs a video screen for the interface so you'd need to have a screen next to each audio system (why not). Bloody brilliant though. I just got one to put in my multiroom system, does all your iTunes plus radio stations, photos and movies and you can get stuff off the Apple store with it. It's an older hard disc model so is totally independant of the main Mac.

Apple TV will work on wifi but as I said you'll need a video screen next to each one.

I believe the airport is what you would want if you don't have TVs all over the place, the Airport being used to channel iTunes stuff to various (powered?) speakers.

From iTunes you choose which Airport/s you want the music to play on and you can play music on more than one at a time but only the same music though (I think).

Actually, just remembered if you fancy the extra functionality of Apple TV you can control it with the Remote app with an iPhone or iPod touch which removes the need for a video screen.

Another advantage with using Apple TVs is that you can have different things running on each one simultaneously.

Edited by Driller on Monday 15th November 21:49

[Leithen]

Airport Express will do everything you want. Currently, it requires a computer with iTunes to be running. However, in the next couple of weeks Airplay will be enhanced with the release of iOS 4.2 that ought to allow direct wireless playback from iPhones and iPads.

Over the next few months more manufacturers are likely to release Airplay compatible hardware that will allow direct connection without the need for an Airport Express.

You might however find other solutions, such as those provided by Sonos are better suited to your needs.

[LD1Racing]

Driller said:

From iTunes you choose which Airport/s you want the music to play on and you can play music on more than one at a time but only the same music though (I think).

Not so, If you had a dozen Airport Express units around your house, you could have a dozen different iTunes accounts playing different music on each one, or one account playing the same music in all zones. As long as all the computers are on the same network. A nice touch on the updated release of the Remote app allows control of the volume to individual zones, rather than one master volume on previous releases.

[Driller]

LD1Racing said:

Not so, If you had a dozen Airport Express units around your house, you could have a dozen different iTunes accounts playing different music on each one, or one account playing the same music in all zones. As long as all the computers are on the same network

I understood that the OP only had the one computer running iTunes. I'm not 100% sure but wouldn't only one computer mean only one song at a time with Airports connected?

[hostyle]

Yes it would. Only one account can be active on one pc/mac at the same time. If you however have more computers than one (i.e. also laptops and whatnot) running iTunes, you have more than one account. So more than type of music being played at the same time requires more than one active account and thus more than one computer.

Back to the OP's answer, here's my experience. I have an Airport Express connected to my home cinema set for playing music in my living-room. The iMac it is using as a source is in my workroom and it is controlled using my old iPhone 3G running the Remote App. All that is needed is a wireless network, wich you can set-up with the Airport Express if you haven't got one.

I have another Airport Express hooked up to my USB-printer in my workroom. This way I can print wirelessly from my MacBook from anywhere in the house.

[LD1Racing]

Driller said:

LD1Racing said:

Not so, If you had a dozen Airport Express units around your house, you could have a dozen different iTunes accounts playing different music on each one, or one account playing the same music in all zones. As long as all the computers are on the same network

I understood that the OP only had the one computer running iTunes. I'm not 100% sure but wouldn't only one computer mean only one song at a time with Airports connected?

With one computer and one iTunes account then yes, that is correct. However if he and his O/H have separate accounts (or kids with their own iTunes accounts) then she can stream music to the bathroom while he streams his own music into the garage for example.

It only really causes problems when one user forgets to disconnect when finished as it prevents anyone else using that zone. We have 20+ Airport Express here and around 16 iTunes accounts so it can get a bit confusing who is connected where sometimes. It would be nice if Apple would incorporate a 'ranking' or override system for multiple users.

[Tycho]

Slightly OT but if I got a new Apple TV and have an iTunes server on my nas, can I control it through my iPad so I don't have to have the tv on?

[Driller]

Tycho said:

Slightly OT but if I got a new Apple TV and have an iTunes server on my nas, can I control it through my iPad so I don't have to have the tv on?

http://www.apple.com/itunes/remote/

[Tycho]

Driller said:

Tycho said:

Slightly OT but if I got a new Apple TV and have an iTunes server on my nas, can I control it through my iPad so I don't have to have the tv on?

http://www.apple.com/itunes/remote/

Thanks!!!

[ol]

Thanks for the replies.

We've only got one itunes account and just share our music, so would only have one mac running.

Ideally (as Leithen mentioned) I would like to be able to stream it directly from my iphone to each stereo in the house, so looks like airport is what I'm after when the new software is released.

Would this then mean I just have an airport connected to the back of each stereo I want to to be able to play the music through, and then my iphone will connect to the individual stereos through my wireless network? Sounds perfect.

[Leithen]

ol said:

Would this then mean I just have an airport connected to the back of each stereo I want to to be able to play the music through, and then my iphone will connect to the individual stereos through my wireless network? Sounds perfect.

Yes - using the Airport Utility on your Mac, you can give each Airport Express a specific name for Audio, so that when using the Remote App, you can select which Airport (or multiple Airports), the music ought to be directed to.

Only caveat is that until 4.2 is released, we won't know if direct iPhone/iPod works/is identical to Mac streaming etc.

[ol]

Perfect. I'll wait until 4.2 is released then get it set up. Thanks again for the advice.

[matts360]

Apple Airport Express

Just thought I would add to this

Have got the latest OS on the ipad and iphone, and the Airport Express speakers in the house just appeared on the Ipod app, or youtube app, infact any app that plays sound. You can choose which ones to play through in one touch. Most excellent, and no setup whatsoever!

Highly recommended.

Matt