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Home Audio Streaming Question

post #1 of 22
3/12/12 at 8:02am
Thread Starter 
Here's my dilemma: my music is stored on my pc and played using XBMC. I'm looking to play my music in the house and on our porch without wiring speakers outside. I was thinking this may be possible using my iPhone and a dock with the iPhone connecting to the pc, and the pc syncing audio playback between itself and the iPhone. At one point XBMC had a plugin for this but it looks to have been abandoned. If anyone has some good suggestions I would love to hear them. Thanks in advance for your time.
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post #2 of 22
3/12/12 at 1:13pm
Hey Joe,

Where ya going with that music of your?

If I understand correctly, you are looking for a more portable means of listening? Would you be satisfied with FM stereo quality? You could broadcast the music from your PC using an FM transmitter, like THIS or THIS, and then listen to it on any FM stereo radio.
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post #3 of 22
3/12/12 at 3:08pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the reply. I essentially want one source of music coming from my pc that will be playing music inside and then have that same source sent wirelessly to my iPhone. The iPhone will be connected to a dock on the porch.
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post #4 of 22
3/12/12 at 4:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joeforsale View Post

Thanks for the reply. I essentially want one source of music coming from my pc that will be playing music inside and then have that same source sent wirelessly to my iPhone. The iPhone will be connected to a dock on the porch.

Hi Joe,

OK, I see. You could play music from the iPhone through WiFi, if you enable WiFi in the iPhone and have WiFI connected to the PC. However, I don't think you could easily synchronize what the iPhone plays with what the PC plays.
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post #5 of 22
3/12/12 at 4:34pm
Take a look at Plex media server and Plex mobile for the iPhone.
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post #6 of 22
3/12/12 at 6:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethawk View Post

Take a look at Plex media server and Plex mobile for the iPhone.

I will check that out tomorrow, thanks for the info.
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post #7 of 22
3/12/12 at 8:31pm
Thread Starter 
The plex server is nice, but not what I'm looking
for. I can already access my music library on my pc from my phone. I'm looking to play the same music on my iPhone and pc at the exact same
time.
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post #8 of 22
3/13/12 at 12:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joeforsale View Post

. . . I'm looking to play the same music on my iPhone and pc at the exact same time.

Hi Joe,

I don't think it's possible. Even if you could get software that could play on the PC while streaming to the iPhone, they would not be in sync, due to the buffering required by the wireless.

As far as I know, only Sonos has cracked the synchronized-wireless nut. And it did not come cheap, as they had to create their own wireless protocol in order to do it.

However, there may be a similar capability in Airplay. Apple must have at least considered it during design of Airplay. Look around for PC-compatible Airplay software. I wish I knew more about Airplay, but I don't use Apple products in my work.
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post #9 of 22
3/13/12 at 5:55am
Thread Starter 
Damn. I was really hoping this was something that was readily available, and I just overlooked it. Oh well. Thanks for the input everyone.
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post #10 of 22
3/14/12 at 12:19am
This will do what you want http://www.logitech.com/en-us/speake...ox-radio-black

You can get a battery pack for it also. It is wireless, and if you have an iphone there is a free app for it to control it.
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post #11 of 22
3/14/12 at 6:08am
Another direction is Bluetooth technology. You can find transmitters quite easily as they are often used with wireless headphones. Finding a portable radio with Bluetooth receiver will likely be a challenge though.
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post #12 of 22
3/14/12 at 6:56am
Quote:
I essentially want one source of music coming from my pc that will be playing music inside and then have that same source sent wirelessly to my iPhone. The iPhone will be connected to a dock on the porch.

I'm looking to play the same music on my iPhone and pc at the exact same time.

I was really hoping this was something that was readily available, and I just overlooked it.

You may have overlooked a few good options.

Quote:
However, I don't think you could easily synchronize what the iPhone plays with what the PC plays.

As far as I know, only Sonos has cracked the synchronized-wireless nut.

However, there may be a similar capability in Airplay. Apple must have at least considered it during design of Airplay.

Apple cracked that nut back in 2004 with something it called "AirTunes," before Sonos actually released its first ZonePlayer. So built right into iTunes for about 8 years or so you have been able to stream lossless music to multiple remote locations (via speakers plugged into an Airport Express) and have it play back perfectly "in sync" with the source computer location. And you're right, Mark, Apple eventually morphed AirTunes into AirPlay, which means you can now stream audio via AirPlay and keep it all in sync on your local Mac/PC and to any number of remote speaker destinations: Airport Expresses, Apple TVs and docks/devices that support AirPlay.

In your case, Joe, if you haven't purchased an iPhone speaker dock for the porch yet, and you get one that supports AirPlay, you're all set--you'd be able to play music locally and via that dock, in sync. Plug a $69 Airport express into a power outlet out on the porch (and connect a pair of self-powered speakers to it) and it'll show up as an AirPlay destination and likewise you'll be able to stream music to it in sync with your PC/Mac--you'll even be able to control the whole thing with your iPhone as the remote control.

What Apple has not yet enabled is an easy way to turn your iOS devices (iPhones and iPads) into "remote" speakers for AirPlay. The way many Mac users have done this is with an app called AirFoil by Rogue Amoeba:

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/mac/

There's a Windows version which I can't vouch for, but you can download it for free and demo how it works with your iPhone out on the porch and PC in the house. Might be your best option, since AirFoil supposedly supports audio streaming from any application, which should include XBMC. (Again, can't vouch for that, I use XBMC but not for music streaming.)
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post #13 of 22
3/14/12 at 7:42am
Thread Starter 
I was looking into iTunes and it never showed the AirPlay symbol in the bottom right corner. I already have a dock, would I still need the airplay adapter to plug into the wall? Thanks for all the great info.
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post #14 of 22
3/14/12 at 8:32am
You have another option, although not many are willing to go this route - jailbreak your phone and continue to use XBMC.
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post #15 of 22
3/14/12 at 9:11am
Quote:
...it never showed the AirPlay symbol in the bottom right corner

iTunes will only show you the AirPlay symbol when it detects an AirPlay destination on the network. Plug in an aTV2 or 3, an Airport Express, or an AVR/speaker dock with AirPlay support and the little symbol should (hopefully) just show up.

Quote:
I already have a dock, would I still need the airplay adapter to plug into the wall?

If you already have a good dock for the porch and it has an aux audio input, then yes you can turn it into a de facto AirPlay destination for iTunes by feeding it via analog or optical out of an Airport Express. If you wanted to test streaming directly to your iPhone in the dock with the AirFoil app I mentioned, no, you wouldn't need an AirPort Express for that.

Obviously, there are several viable ways to skin this cat--playing your music simultaneously in two locations with a PC and an iPhone at your disposal--at different price ranges and different levels of complexity--you should also consider how you will control this, start the streaming, switch tracks, adjust volume, etc. In other words, how easy is it to actually use the system you set up and change on the fly?

This is often where using Apple devices the way Apple intends you to use them really shines, for instance, once that porch location pops up on your network as an AirPlay destination (by feeding the dock out there with an Express) bingo, your iPhone is freed up and can function as your portable iTunes remote, you can select whatever you want right from the phone, even adjust the volume for either or both of your two locations, switch between tracks or playlists in iTunes, all while you're walking around your house.
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post #16 of 22
3/14/12 at 9:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post


This is often where using Apple devices the way Apple intends you to use them really shines, for instance, once that porch location pops up on your network as an AirPlay destination (by feeding the dock out there with an Express) bingo, your iPhone is freed up and can function as your portable iTunes remote, you can select whatever you want right from the phone, even adjust the volume for either or both of your two locations, switch between tracks or playlists in iTunes, all while you're walking around your house.

Thanks again for all the great info. I think the Airport Express may be the way to go, but
I'm going to look into the AirFoil as well.
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post #17 of 22
3/14/12 at 9:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethawk View Post

You have another option, although not many are willing to go this route - jailbreak your phone and continue to use XBMC.

It is Jailbroken with XBMC on it, but I didn't see any plugins that would allow me to do what I wanted.
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post #18 of 22
3/14/12 at 9:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

This is often where using Apple devices the way Apple intends you to use them really shines, for instance, once that porch location pops up on your network as an AirPlay destination (by feeding the dock out there with an Express) bingo, your iPhone is freed up and can function as your portable iTunes remote, you can select whatever you want right from the phone, even adjust the volume for either or both of your two locations, switch between tracks or playlists in iTunes, all while you're walking around your house.

You are awesome! Airfoil works perfect. The app was free from AppStore and I get a 10 day trial. Now my pc and iPhone are playing the same song at the exact same time. For the little bit I listened they never went out of sync. This is why I love this forum!!! Thanks again!!!
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post #19 of 22
4/22/12 at 12:23pm
Very interesting, I just tried it out too!

It seems I cant find a way to stream different audio to different airplay zones.

I have three airport express' (one in master bedroom, one in guest bedroom, and one in salon), and it would be great if each one could play different tunes from my qnap itunes server over wifi!

if anyone has any ideas it would be amazing.. im quite the novice in this.
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post #20 of 22
4/22/12 at 10:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by guyinblack View Post

Very interesting, I just tried it out too!

It seems I cant find a way to stream different audio to different airplay zones.

I have three airport express' (one in master bedroom, one in guest bedroom, and one in salon), and it would be great if each one could play different tunes from my qnap itunes server over wifi!

if anyone has any ideas it would be amazing.. im quite the novice in this.

You can't stream different audio from a single source with Airplay. Not easily, anyway.
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post #21 of 22
4/22/12 at 11:20pm
Thread Starter 
You want to be able to have each room play something different from server? What would you be using in those rooms?
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post #22 of 22
4/25/12 at 6:28am
thanks Joe, I'm thinking each room can have an airport express.

Because of the limitations, maybe I could run VMware fusion in the Mac Mini and run three virtual machines with three copies of iTunes running?
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