Thanks for all the replies. I'm a little confused. 4est says that Apple TV doesn't support Airtunes and that I should use Airport Express. Doesn't sound like what I'm looking for since it sounds like I'd have to control everything from the computer two floors away rather than using the Front Row remote.
On the other hand, Thymanst (and others elsewhere in this forum) say they are using Apple TV to stream wirelessly.
Can someone explain?
Thanks again. |
Thanks for the responses.
Has anyone thought about the new Apple Time Capsule as an alternative NAS device?. Looks like you could set up a second wireless network with one of these and use Apple TV for very little coin (about $730 for a terabyte of memory with an 811.n network plus an Apple TV)
Plus, it looks like Apple has upgraded the Tv and dropped its price.
Too many choices!
Thanks! |
Thanks to all who replied. I ended up going the Apple TV route and couldn't be happier. I am now looking for an appropriate DAC.
Question to Rbstehno: Can you elaborate a little on how to use and Ipod Touch as a control device? Sounds like the ideal solution for my second system.
Thanks |
Thanks Rbstehno. A point of clarification. Will Remote Buddy work to control an Apple TV or must I use a Mac Mini? I am considering a second system with no HD TV attached. Can I just use another Apple TV or should I go with a Mac Mini? My 1500 CD Apple Lossless files reside on a HD plugged into my iMac which I now access over my Airport Extreme Wi-Fi network.
Thanks again. |
Thanks Rbstehno. Maybe I am confused about Remote Buddy. My CD's reside on a 1T HD attached to my imac. My "secondary" system (actually pretty nice: a Magnum Dynalab receiver, EPOS speakers, Sony SACD player, ROKU Soundbridge, Proceed DAC) is a floor away from my imac. I don't mind having the imac on all the time. If I understand you correctly, I could just use Airport Express (I have a new one in the box somewhere) to distribute music to the DAC via Toslink and control it with an Ipod Touch or Iphone using Remote Buddy.
Thanks for taking time to reply. |
Thanks Rbstehno. I appreciate your reply. I have learned a lot from your various posts in many different threads. Very nice of you to share your knopwledge with newbies such as my self.
Best regards. I'll let you know how it all works out. |
I have my iMac in one room connected wirelessly to an Airport Extreme base station. My music files (400GB, 1400 CD's, Apple Lossless) are in a hardrive attached to the iMac. I have an Apple TV connected to my HD television via HDMI cable, with the speakers in the TV turned off, and analogue audio output from the Apple TV routed into my Rogue preamp using Synergistic cables. I plan to either go with a DAC attached to the Apple TV via Toslink, or switch the Rougue out for a Benchmark DAC 1 Pre preamp.
As of this weekend, I can control the whole thing using an Apple iPod Touch with the newly released "Remote" application. I can also access Pandora by using a docking station connected to my second system with a mini to RCA cable.
All in all, I am very happy so far, and will be even more so once I get a DAC installed, although the RCA output is pretty good to my ears, as well as to others in this forum.
Good luck. |
Drubin: I am not sure I understand your question, but here is what I have done and it works fine. The Apple TV comes in two versions, one with a 40GB hard drive and the other with 160. If these capacities are sufficient, you can "sync" the Apple TV to your iTunes library and it essentially copies your music files over to the Apple TV (as duplcate files, so the originals are not affected). One can then play the files off the Apple TV without having the computer on (or so I am told).
In my case, because my music files were so much larger than the capacity of the Apple TV, I did't sync them. Instead, the Apple TV accesses the files on the HD attached to the iMac over the Wifi network which streams them to the Apple TV. The downside (not an issue for me) is that the iMac has to remain on.
I hope this answers your question and is of some help.
Regards and best of luck! |
PS: I have a question for the group as well: Has anyone tried to install the Apple TV without hooking it up to a HD television? I bought a second one over the weekend for my second system which dosn't have room for any sort of TV or monitor. Can I take the Apple TV out of my first stsyem ( i.e. unplug it and move it and still have it work when it is "reinstalled") and then take the new one and go through the usual installation procedure? |
I like using the Apple TV for a number of reasons. In my main rig where I also have a 60" Sony LCD TV, I can view my photographs from iPhoto as well as YouTube. There are some very cool older TV spots featuring jazz and blues greats. The screen saver feature can be set to either show your photos or your album covers floating radnomly in space. I haven't used Airport Express, but as I understand it, even using the Touch to control it, you have a more limited ability to search your library. Using Apple TV, you can search genres and songs as wells as artists and albums which I can't seem to do using Touch. Maybe I just haven't worked through it completely though since I only bought the Touch on Saturday. I haven't used it to rent movies, but that is an option also. Since I am only streaming, I went with the 40 GB model which is only about $229. I plan to continue to mainly use the remote that came with the Apple TV. |
That's the way it's working. I downloaded the Pandora software application from the iTunes store. I already had a Pandora account set up, so the Touch instantly accessed the account. I tune in the station I want to listen to, stick the Touch in the dock and its good to go. I had been struggling thinking I needed to go with Squeezebox or Sonos in order to get Pandora, which I love. Maybe not the best fidelity, but it's probably no worse that a stock Squeezebox or Sonos.
If anyone else has any ideas about how to do this, I would be very interested. I've thought about an Airport Express. If I understand it, it streams whatever is playing on your computer, so I guess one could use the Touch to access the main computer and direct the stream to an AE. Any other ideas?
Thanks |
Just a quick FYI. There is a very good article on using the Apple TV as a music server in the July, 2008 newsletter found on the PS Audio web site. I hope this is helpful to those getting started. It pretty much sums up what has been discussed in this thread. |
