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!

lol, i just edited my post to mention the duet.

How do you like the remote interface? Does it have the ability to display album artwork? How is the scrolling through music(fast/slow, ect.) Can you browse by artists,album, genre, ect. when searching through your music library>

Remote interface is great since the latest update. Album art yes.
Scrolling, not speedy but good enough. Browse by all.

Between my ripped music (off my WHS), Rhapsody, Pandora (others available), internet radio, the rest you have it all. With the SqueezeBox and a $13 a mth Rhapsody account I can listening to anything anytime.

As I was leaving SoCal moving east in my truck, I thought to myself, the only thing I'll miss, besides family and friends is The Wave (SoCal smooth Jazz station. Well I listen to it all the time with my squeezebox.

Most of my electronic purchases, after much research, I'm always a little disappointed it doesn't do this or that I thought it would, or wish it did that. The SqueezeBox duet is one of the few I am truely happy with.

Jeff

Whoa, squeezebox isn't that cheap either. Good suggestions, but since I already have a few Airports and an iPhone, I'll give Airfoil a try.

My only bitch, is the SqueezeBox and my Harmony 900 are both Logitech products and the 900 won't control the squeeze in my Home Theatre (well it's really a media room). I have to take the SueezeBox controller with me.

The duet has gone up! I paid $299, I think almost 2 years ago.

Looks like there's a few Squeezebox remotes in the app store.

There are SqueezeBox remotes for Android (not there yet, I'm a Droid user,only your local music... but I haven't checked back in on them in a month or two) and I think some for the iPhone that work (ipeng?).

I'd say not long from now, control it by most anything.

If you have a Squeezebox, definitely get iPeng if you own an iPhone or an iPod Touch. In fact, it works so well to control a squeezebox that I'd recommend buying the cheapest iPod touch as a remote even if you never intended to use it as an MP3 player.

If you go the AppleTV route, this is quite cool. I've used it in the past and I'm going to try the new version. Allows you to use your AppleTV to stream Pandora (YAY) and a bunch of other content, including Hulu. The support forums are very good. It's based on XMBC.

A quick google also shows that Boxee supports FLAC too.

Install is quite easy, I set it up on my Mac. The hardest part is finding a USB stick that's bootable.

http://blog.boxee.tv/2010/02/25/get-a-bite-of-this-%E2%80%93-boxee-beta-on-appletv/

They have versions that work on Mac/PC/Linux so you can try out the GUI beforehand.

oldskool...

Yes, Boxee looks pretty sweet for the ATV. I've thought about doing that a few times, as Pandora streaming is one thing that I've always thought the ATV should do but doesn't.

Since you've successfully installed it (and using a Mac, too ), what USB stick did you end up using? I may go the same route.

I used a Kingston Data Traveler 2GB, sorry don't have the model number, sometimes it does make a difference. I've found that you can have better luck w/ much older USB sticks. I bought at least 2 before I found this one to work. The files are under 20 MB so you can use a REALLY old one.

I tried it last night. But make sure you have the latest AppleTV updates. And don't worry, you can always restore to original to remove Boxee. The only negative is you'd have to sync your library again.

The GUI looks great and the responsiveness is WAY WAY faster than before. It's got an app bar and so far I've got Pandora loaded on it. You can also put TV shows on the app bar, like 24 and many recent shows. I think they take the online streams and just make them easier to find, very nice and convenient. I didn't try to stream 24, curious if it's an HD stream. I could see someone using this and getting rid of cable, if you can get the shows you like streaming this way.

I know there's a way in the Boxee browser to get Hulu to work as well, haven't tried that.

The Pandora app is REALLY nice on the AppleTV on a 26" LCD. Gorgeous I would even say. The artwork and 'screensaver' look cool. I'm going to try my iPhone Boxee tonight and see if it's easier to control as well.

Still a Boxee fan...

I'm going to play w/ this as well, because I want to stream this Pandora feed to Airport Expresses around the house, a la Airfoil. I 'think' it's possible but I'm not sure.

Cool. Thanks for the info!

UPDATE: There is an app for android phones that has greatly improved "Squeeze Commander" and does all the squeezebox duet functions as the duet wifi controller, only about 5 times better and faster than the duet controller (you can search with the droid keyboard, and has the option to mute the volume by a % if your phone rings, pretty cool!).

You can buy the Duet receiver for $150.00, $4.00 for the android program (or use ipeng for Iphone and the like) and you are good to go!