Airport Power Express ( Audiophile Edition)

european guyeuropean guy
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I recently bought an iCub from Focal and I love it ! This is the way to go.



I think Apple should evolve the Airport Express Base Station.

The paradigm should be :



The complete audio source for your house.



Therefore it should include 3 major functionalities.



1- Make it a multiport router with :



1.1 - Airport networking 802.11g ( 55 Mbps)

1.2 - Fast Ethernet 10BASET ( 100 Mbps)

1.3 - Homeplug Interface 2.0 ( 85 Mbps)



All networking possibilities are covered, namely wireless, cabled and House wiring. Therefore it should be extremely simple to cover all the rooms in your house.



2- Make it a AudioPhile Audio Component.



2.1 Provide Audio Line out with 24 bit DACs

2.2 Provide Optical Digital Out ( like the current one)



This way the unit would be a high end Audio component ready to plug into your different room amplifiers



AND



3- Make it a High End Power Amplifier.



3.1- use BASH or other low consumption power amplifier

3.2- Provide 2:1 or 5:1 direct speakers feed.

3.3 -Make real HIGH END. Frequency response wise

3.4 -100 or 150 W Max Power output.



This way you can connect your high end speakers DIRECTLY into your airport unit WITHOUT any amplifiers or other audio components.





I am sketching a prototype that I will soon post . (work in progress...)







What do you think ?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    mikhael.mikhael. Posts: 46member
    Direct wire connection of an iBook/Mini/iPod having Front Row and remote control capability would be the better way to go. I prefer the laptop option, since the larger display of a laptop allows the song title to be seen clearly at a distance. Front row should also have the ability to change a song's star rating using the remote. If Apple can produce a product (a 9" iBook mini perhaps) for this purpose, at a price range of say $400, they'll have a winner, I think.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    Why have the amp in the base station? I much prefer Apple's current option of optical audio out from which you can plug in your dedicated amplifier.



    A digital amp like Panasonic's XR55 (~$200) will have much better sound and better options than some integrated POS made to compete at consumer prices.



    There's different amps for different needs, from Bryston to Classé to Panasonic to Yamaha to HK. These are all optimal for different amplification needs, for speakers ranging from Magnepans to Paradigms to Polks to "home theater" POS-boxes. Different impedances, efficiencies, etc.



    Moreover, putting amplification in the same chassis as WiFi is an EMI/RFI "bad call"... especially with high-efficiency digital amplifiers. I own a Panasonic XR45 and noticed a huge improvement in sound quality by putting a ($15) powerbar between it and the mains... because the powerbar has 60db EMI/RFI noise attenuation. Digital amps don't have mammoth transformers and capacitors to filter out line noise like their analogue brethren... they have switched power supplies which are bad at not only receiving noise but also producing it.



    I just don't think the end product would appeal to audiophiles, and it would be too expensive for consumers.



    That said, if it bested my current amplifier, I might be inclined to get one.



    I think Apple should stick to what it does best. The Tripath chips in Macs is the closest to audiophilia I think they will get.



    BTW, that's a really nice mock-up!
  • Reply 3 of 10
    european guyeuropean guy Posts: 293member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R

    [B]Why have the amp in the base station? I much prefer Apple's current option of optical audio out from which you can plug in your dedicated amplifier.



    Because that way all you need is a speaker.

    Imagine that you want to disseminate your itunes music through 6 rooms.

    Would you buy top of the line AMPS for each room ? Maybe...



    Quote:

    A digital amp like Panasonic's XR55 (~$200) will have much better sound and better options than some integrated POS made to compete at consumer prices.



    Yes but the idea is to have a unified system. Controlled by iTunes 7.0 that can stream SIMULTANEOUSLY to all attached Airport Power Expresses.





    Quote:

    There's different amps for different needs, from Bryston to Classé to Panasonic to Yamaha to HK. These are all optimal for different amplification needs, for speakers ranging from Magnepans to Paradigms to Polks to "home theater" POS-boxes. Different impedances, efficiencies, etc.




    I agree here with you. But still this would be The Apple Solution.





    Quote:

    Moreover, putting amplification in the same chassis as WiFi is an EMI/RFI "bad call"... especially with high-efficiency digital amplifiers. I own a Panasonic XR45 and noticed a huge improvement in sound quality by putting a ($15) powerbar between it and the mains... because the powerbar has 60db EMI/RFI noise attenuation. Digital amps don't have mammoth transformers and capacitors to filter out line noise like their analogue brethren... they have switched power supplies which are bad at not only receiving noise but also producing it.




    I agree. Could the filters be included in this unit ?



    Quote:

    I just don't think the end product would appeal to audiophiles, and it would be too expensive for consumers.



    That said, if it bested my current amplifier, I might be inclined to get one.



    I think Apple should stick to what it does best. The Tripath chips in Macs is the closest to audiophilia I think they will get.



    Thanks for your comments. Audiophile point of view.

    I'm sure Apple would want to beat your best in the market 200 USD 2:1 100 W unit.



    Just an idea, I would get 5 immediately.

    Work in progress....



  • Reply 4 of 10
    nightshiftnightshift Posts: 18member
    Just out of curiosity, but are you talking about expanding the Airport Express or the Airport Extreme base station?



    All of your added functionality would make the Airport Express physically bigger, which kind of defeats the purpose of it as an "on the go" router, so I'm assuming that you mean an Airport Extreme.



    Also, I wonder about the practicality of some of your features. HomePlug Interface is hardly used, and I'm assuming that you're having individual AirPorts for every speaker set, so why not just have them all connect wirelessly to the same network (therefore negating the need for wired connections at all)?



    As the l33t poster said, the added amp functionality is a bit much. How many houses have more than one room with a 5.1 (or greater) speaker setup? Then how many 5.1 speaker setups are there that don't have an amp/receiver unit hooked up to them? Many audiophile people would rather use their own amps I imagine. It just seems like the added costs (monetary and physical dimensions) far outweigh the practical use.



    I can understand adding features to support streaming to multiple Airport Expresses at the same time, improving the client mode functionality (so the Ethernet port still functions when it's a network client), reducing the output delay, and other features, but yours are just too specialized with too high of a cost IMO.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    As your average self-proclaimed auidophile, I gotta say that an amp should NOT be built in. That is, it shouldn't be built in unless the device is priced low enough to appeal to non-audiophiles. If people already have a display and speakers to hook it up to, they already have an amp and/or receiver. There's no way i'm going to bypass my Denon receiver's DA converter and billion watt Crown amp.



    It would be far more compatible as just another AV source in a home theater; just like a DVD player, cable box, satellite box, tivo, or HD tuner. Wouldn't it be annoying and expensive if all of those devices decided to build in an amplifier?
  • Reply 6 of 10
    scstrausscstraus Posts: 1member
    As someone who has installed in-ceiling speakers in his whole house and wants a wireless whole audio solution, this is EXACTLY what I need. I would really like to base it around airport/airtunes, but it's really difficult to find an unobtrusive and inexpensive audio amp that I can deploy to 12 rooms without it taking up boatloads of room or boatloads of cash.



    I pray someone builds this!



    The other guys on the tread don't need this so they don't see why it would be valuable!
  • Reply 7 of 10
    european guyeuropean guy Posts: 293member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by scstraus View Post


    As someone who has installed in-ceiling speakers in his whole house and wants a wireless whole audio solution, this is EXACTLY what I need. I would really like to base it around airport/airtunes, but it's really difficult to find an unobtrusive and inexpensive audio amp that I can deploy to 12 rooms without it taking up boatloads of room or boatloads of cash.



    I pray someone builds this!



    The other guys on the tread don't need this so they don't see why it would be valuable!



    I built my in house systems around airport express and itunes.

    I do not use Airport though . I use homeplug 2.0.

    I comnnected my 47 Labs , Primaluna and Audio research amps to setups based on devolo-airport express-Benchmark Dacs 1.



    Expensive but truly great. I am happy.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    macroninmacronin Posts: 1,174member
    Probably around US$4,500.00 with FL sales tax & S/H charges?



    Ultra cool stereo hi-fi?!



    One watt of pure tube power per channel?!



    101dB 1 watt / meter speakers?!



    Sweet cabling?!



    I would feed the AirPort Express from a Mac mini (playing the role of a home server) via AirPort (duh?), and remote control it all from my MacBook Touch?



    Take this:







    Use this:







    To hook it to this:







    Then use these:







    To hook it to a pair of these:



  • Reply 9 of 10
    macroninmacronin Posts: 1,174member
    Opps…! Double post, my mistake…
  • Reply 10 of 10
    european guyeuropean guy Posts: 293member
    You NEED the best Source for this setup. Benchamark DAC 1.

    YOu may have a suoer duooer amp, !0K speakers.... still you need to NOT USE the Airport Express DAC.
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