Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Streaming iTunes to Home Theatre

Here's what I would like to do. Stream iTunes music from my PC to my HT over my wireless network. A plus would be able to control what's playing etc. and control iTunes with a menu on my HDTV.

The Denon 3310CI is networked to my wireless network but and it has no problem seeing and playing MS Media Player.

I know I could simply purhcase an iPod docking station for the Denon but was hoping to be able to play the same music that is playing on the computer not relying on an actual iPod.

I am aware of Sonos system but not sure I need to dive into a $1K budget to accomplish this with what I've already purchased.

Well, there's the Airport Express; you won't be able to control it from the TV, as the only way to control it is from the host computer.

Another alternative, which removes the host computer from the equation, is to use an AppleTV. My boss uses his ATV exclusively for this.

Ken,

How does the airport express help you out in this situation?

That's what the airport express is designed to do. It has a combo stereo/optical out jack to hook to the receiver. You set it up on your network, then designate it as an output device with iTunes (I'm a little fuzzy on this, I haven't set one up for a few years). Use iTunes to control it, and Bob's your uncle.

Ignoring the ass-tastic speakers Apple has used in their graphics, here's their idea of it: http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/features/airtunes.html

If I were to buy this, I'd probably also get Airfoil so as not to be restricted to iTunes streaming.

The AirPort express can be used as virtual speakers in iTunes. When setup, they appear as a choice of output "computer/AirPort". iTunes sends the audio to the selected device (local soundcard or remote access point).

Cool. I've actually been thinking ways to have better control over my music streaming. Currently I use TVersity media server to stream flac files to my denon 3808. This works great, but the interface is pretty poor on the denon for selecting music (very slow).

I would like to have things setup where I can stream flac files from my desktop computer to my denon, but control the music that is playing from my laptop (or with the iphone would be cool too.)

Could I do this with an airport express and airfoil?
hmmmm...I wonder if airfoil will stream flac files... I can't seem to find a list of supported audio types on the website?

Yeah, Airport Express is probably the best way to do this if you want to stream iTunes. If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, you can the Remote app to control the iTunes player. Very easy to do, especially if you have an existing Wifi network.

Another cool thing. I was thinking of putting a clock radio w/ iPod dock in my son's room. My daughter has one already. I wanted to stream some children's audiobooks to his room from our main iTunes library, which has a bunch of Audible books for kids. Then I realized, if I just use a clock radio w/ AUX input and an Airport Express, I could use my iPhone to control iTunes on the clock radio. Much more elegant solution and I don't have to buy yet another ipod.

Good call on the Airfoil. Then you can use any webstream on your HT, including Pandora. I needed a Pandora/Sonos alternative and I forgot about Airfoil. I may be buying this one shortly... They even have an iPhone app now.

Your other option of doing this is something like Squeezebox (which IIRC allows lossless like FLAC) or Sonos, which is GREAT but very $$$.

Bear in mind that the Airport Express outputs a line out, so you need to put that into an AVR, Line In, or amplified speakers. The plus is that it's also a digital optical output, so you if you have optical in, you can use that.

Airfoil will pass any audio your computer can play. So if you have software to play FLAC, Airfoil will pass that audio out to the Airport Express, which just outputs as optical or stereo.

cool. Yeah when I auditioned the axioms before my purchase the owner had a squeezebox setup which was pretty slick.

The squeezebox duet seems like a pretty good option for me:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013IWYHU/ref=...ag=cnet-2872-20

I just wish the remote was a little cooler looking and had touchscreen capability...

I have the SqueezeBox Duet wifi/wireless controller running thru 3 amps to my whole house audio (ceiling speakers, 5 zones)

I love it!