[DaveGee]

Mod's edit: Removed needless editorial comments.


I would like to do some *low cost* whole house audio and the Apple Airport Express provides a way to stream music from within iTunes to an Airport Express that in turn is connected to an audio source.


The output from the Express can either be Optical/Digital or standard right/left channel audio depending on what cable is used.


I'm looking for low cost options on what I should get to connect to the Airport Express....


1 - Powered speakers?

2 - AMP + Regular Speakers


My budget is quite low and I'm almost embarrassed to say given the caliber of audiophiles I'm speaking to right now but what can I do...

I'd like to spend no more than a few hundred per (2 speaker) setup. Yea I told you it was low..


Can anyone suggest anything really low cost that would get the job done? My goal is to set up a few of these for different rooms (living room / Kitchen / Den / Master Bedroom / Deck) so I'd be somewhat flexible in spending more in certain areas and less in others...


I'd also like to know what works BEST with the Apple Airport Express but the people that could best answer that question in far more concentrated numbers in the Apple Home Theater Forum I'm afraid.


Dave

 

[Anthony A.]

even if you have 10 airport expresses, you can only play 1 stream at a time from 1 computer running itunes. if you want to play 1 song in the kitchen, a different one in the bedroom, you need more than 1 computer to do this. stupid, but thats apple for you.

 

[DaveGee]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony A. /forum/post/14179317


even if you have 10 airport expresses, you can only play 1 stream at a time from 1 computer running itunes. if you want to play 1 song in the kitchen, a different one in the bedroom, you need more than 1 computer to do this. stupid, but thats apple for you.

I agree but I have a few Macs and perhaps this silly limitation will go away in a future version of iTunes or perhaps some smart folks will find a way around this silly little issue... (we can hope can't we)?

Idea outta the air... run parallels and have multiple instances of Windows XP running -- I'm sure I could have 2 going at the same time (or more) and each would then run iTunes 'on their own' all pointing to the same music library (located on a network sharable disc).


That being said, even if I have to only have 1 or 2 streams (zones) available I still would like to know what speakers (powered) or speakers+amp I should be looking at that would work well with the airport express and fit a pretty low budget.


Dave

 

[thinskin]

You can get some Audioengine A2 powered speakers and hook them up to your AE's all over the house. By using a smart piece of software called AirFoil you can send audio from any app to any AE and computer (I think even Linux based ones). Pretty cool! Also check out Remote Buddy which lets you use an iPhone/Touch as a remote. Note that the digital signal from an AE is excellent, so with a good DAC you are good as gold.

 

[DaveGee]



Quote:
Originally Posted by thinskin /forum/post/14181884


You can get some Audioengine A2 powered speakers and hook them up to your AE's all over the house. By using a smart piece of software called AirFoil you can send audio from any app to any AE and computer (I think even Linux based ones). Pretty cool! Also check out Remote Buddy which lets you use an iPhone/Touch as a remote. Note that the digital signal from an AE is excellent, so with a good DAC you are good as gold.

Excellent info!


As for the DAC is it that noticeable a difference as compared to just using a basic analog cable off the AE itself? Also I saw someone recommending this for a DAC... what do you think?

http://www.audio-magus.com/DAC707_Su...o_p/dac707.htm


Dave