I know that - for several years - Denon, Onkyo and other receiver manufacturers have offered "Network Streaming" on some models. I'm primarily asking about accessing a FLAC and MP3 library stored on a shared, local drive, although I do also like Pandora.

I've had a hard time finding information about the stability of the connection to the network server and the overall usefulness of the interfaces. I mean, there is a difference between "it can be done" and "I like to do it this way".

If somebody made one that I could control with my iPad, that would be even better.

I'm currently using a Squeezebox. It's the right idea. But Logitech announced end-of-life for that whole platform, and it's not as stable as I'd like.

I'm considering Apple TV, but I'm really not an iTunes user.

So, I guess the question becomes, once you've got a big library of music, how do you listen to it at home if you're NOT using a PC?

Thanks for your help.

I plug my iPhone into the front RCA jacks on my AVR.

I figured it'd be appropriate to remove the "Thanks for your help" part of the quote.

Hi Tom. I did not know that Squeezebox was EOL.
My SC-05 is older and does not do network streaming. I can stream from my PS3 using the built in UPnP server in my NAS where all of my music is stored, however this is a clunky interface and not very user friendly.
For me the best music solution is still the Sonos system. Not cheap for sure, but simply works and has a great interface through iPod, PC or whatever you choose to use. Squeezebox may do this too (I have no idea since I've never used it), but I love the way Sonos can seamlessly blend into one rolling playlist my local music and songs from the web such as Songza, Slacker, Pandora etc... Plus party mode through the whole house with multiple zones running in perfect sync is pretty cool and fun.

Medic8r's post just reminded that with the controller on your iPhone, you can wirelessly send the music on your iPhone to the zone you are controlling and distribute to any other zone. Pretty slick stuff.

Tom, I gotta say that I use iTunes with an Airport Express (selected for both the AirPlay feature and an optical output). My good ol' Onkyo 706 unfortunately doesn't feature AirPlay like many of the current receivers do.

That along with the free "Remote" app for iPad is a fabulous combination. Full access to the entire iTunes library, practically any way imaginable.

A well organized iTunes library is a beautiful thing.
I suspect that Ken will agree.

That said, I've not used other streaming solutions, so I don't have a real basis for comparison.

As well, it bothers me to no end that Apple continue to elect to not support FLAC directly, so I end up jumping through some hoops to get my FLAC songs (which I keep) into a format that iTunes will import. Still, it's not difficult, just a bit of a PITA.

A few of my colleagues use Airport Express and it does work very well - and much cheaper than Sonos for sure.

Kruncher, instead of FLAC can you just use ALAC instead? Since you're tied to iTunes, why use FLAC if it causes you pains?

FLAC is the file format that I usually receive.

I described my favorite conversion process in another thread some time ago.

Yeah, I may be studying that thread hard, later.

Is there any advantage to using an Airport Extreme (or whatever it is called now) rather than Apple TV? Let's assume I'm going to have iTunes running somewhere on the network and controlling the audio via the Remote app on my iPad.

I just don't see me implementing Sonos in this house due to the cost. "Maybe in our next house" is code in our family.

JP, I'm not above that kind of approach, but I'm looking to access the whole library in hi-fi. Having the storage capacity of a portable device be a limiting factor just seems like a fatal flaw to me.

Thanks, gentlemen. And JP.

No, if you can take advantage of the AppleTV box features, and need/want them, then there's no reason not to choose it for marginal cost increase from the AirPort devices, AFAIK. In my situation, I initially wasn't going to use the device with a system with a TV, only audio. And the apps that I'd probably use on AppleTV were available on my Xbox anyway.

iTunes currenly tells me that I could listen to my library for 27 days straight and not hear the same song twice. It's like having your own radio station with nothing but your favourites. And better sound quality.

I use the Airport Express/Remote App as well. Very stable except when the microwave is running. Interupts the stream every time. Other than that, I love it.

One of my favorite features: When friends come over with an iPod/Pad/Phone, I give them full access to my library to choose whatever they want to listen to. AND, they can push music from their device to my receiver.

I'm gonna need more storage...

Off to the FLAC conversion thread.

Oh, and where is iTunes for dummies?