Airport Express and Itunes 4.6 ?
Check out the airport express webpage on apple.com. It mentions Itunes 4.6. But no downloads available yet. I'm at work right now, is it out on software update?
Also the airport express is an interesting concept. The plus side is I don't have to hook up the iPod to my stereo anymore. Also Airport express offers optical digital connection to the stereo.
I wish it could do video as well. But maybe down the road? Does this make the projector rumors more viable ?
Also the airport express is an interesting concept. The plus side is I don't have to hook up the iPod to my stereo anymore. Also Airport express offers optical digital connection to the stereo.
I wish it could do video as well. But maybe down the road? Does this make the projector rumors more viable ?
Comments
Airport Express is something that I am totally stoked about. I know there are other products out there and you still have to manage your playlists in iTunes, but good things are to come of this. Also I like the fact that I can go to a hotel that has a net connection in the room and turn it into a wireless network and relax on the bed instead of the damn desk.
1 - Streaming THE SAME MUSIC to TWO (or more) Airport Expresses at the same time.
Imagine having a party and having one stereo (receiver) in the living room and one in the downstairs family room. You want the same music to play throughout the house (using 2 AEs). From the looks of everything I've read it can't be done. (not the end of the world but all the same a feature that I'd really would have loved to see)
This should be fixable in a future iTunes release... I hope!
(looking again at the iTunes interface ... maybe I'm wrong and maybe more than one set of speakers can be selected at the same time - I guess we'll know soon enough)
2 - Streaming DIFFERENT MUSIC to TWO (or more) Airport Expresses at the same time.
Imagine having a party and having one stereo (receiver) in the living room and one in the downstairs family room. You want 'The Kids Music' to play downstairs while 'The Adults Music' plays in the living room. Again this is really and iTunes issue I'd think and yes if you had 2 macs you could do this quite easily but it would sure be nice to be able to do this with a single computer...
Fixable in iTunes? I dunno would call for some interface changes I'd think - or maybe as a hack try to run 2 instances of iTunes at the same time... Not very elegant but that might just work now...
3 - Finally it seems when running iTunes you can't have BOTH the computer speakers active AND the Airport Express active at the same time... This seems odd to me and I sure hope that maybe I'm just wrong... (see issue 1)
Don't get me wrong I love what I see but fixing these issues would make Airport Express something that EVERYONE wold love.
Dave
As far as simultaneous different output, we know that they technically decode 2 tracks at once in iTunes to provide for cross fading. I'm sure they could support many more, but the user interface might need some work.
Originally posted by roverone
Because it is wireless, and packet based, there could be a minor issue of latency differences with multiple outputs, particularly the computer and an AirPort express.
As far as simultaneous different output, we know that they technically decode 2 tracks at once in iTunes to provide for cross fading. I'm sure they could support many more, but the user interface might need some work.
buffer baby, buffer
For something that size, a two second buffer could solve sync issues
the issue I see is the antenas, the ap xpress has a small antanna that is attached and thus, will probably be tucked somewhere in the nest behind the AV rack, and most laptops have wossy antannas, as they are made to talk to a somewhat powerfull base station.
how can the wifi signal be strong with the RF of a 500 watt recever, assorted amps, speakers and all of the other electronics in a stereo or home theater set up?
and what happens if two laptop users send signals to the same stereo, who wins?
and what if I sit outside the home of someone who has this hooked up? I could in theory, take over their stereo if my antanna was bigger/more powerfull...
Originally posted by a_greer
and what happens if two laptop users send signals to the same stereo, who wins? and what if I sit outside the home of someone who has this hooked up? I could in theory, take over their stereo if my antanna was bigger/more powerfull...
Heh...
Given my extensive Ozzy and Sabbath collection and Airport Express/AirTunes and you've got yourself a WHOLE NEW definition to the phrase war-driving!
Dave
Originally posted by DaveGee
Heh...
Given my extensive Ozzy and Sabbath collection and Airport Express/AirTunes and you've got yourself a WHOLE NEW definition to the phrase war-driving!
Dave
Naw, I figure that this could be a college guy's dream (mine
Originally posted by Eugene
I'm not that stoked because all Apple's AirPort products are Broadcom based...which means drastic performance drops with range.
well that is news to me, thanx for the heads up, wires are best anyway...cleaner signal, and no drops
But Apple's solution seems much simpler and more elegant, especially when you look at a typical household, which has one stereo system in a central room. Most receivers have switched & unswitched outlets on the back panel. Just hang this little deck of cards off the back of your receiver, run a short cable to the audio input, and you have a completely hidden, self-contained streaming component added to your system. Nice.
As for the remote idea... doesn't Keyspan make a nice little IR device that can run iTunes?
Originally posted by Reid
Also released today was the Sonos Digital Music System. ...
My guess is that Airport Express is just the beginning. From what I've seen in the past, Apple will release something "neat" and then in about 2 weeks they'll release something "awesome"
I think Apple will release something similar to what you showed above, but in a better package, and hopefully cheaper... dang, $1200!!
Originally posted by Reid
Also released today was the Sonos Digital Music System. It appears to be a much fancier, self-amplified system for doing basically what the Airport Express does. It costs 10x as much for the starter kit, which includes two players and a remote. Looks pretty cool if you're a tech geek like us seeking multi-room capabilities.
But Apple's solution seems much simpler and more elegant, especially when you look at a typical household, which has one stereo system in a central room. Most receivers have switched & unswitched outlets on the back panel. Just hang this little deck of cards off the back of your receiver, run a short cable to the audio input, and you have a completely hidden, self-contained streaming component added to your system. Nice.
As for the remote idea... doesn't Keyspan make a nice little IR device that can run iTunes?
That remote wil have apple looking red...
Asses.
Screed
Originally posted by fulmer
I'm just looking for a way to offload my music from my main computer to a stand-alone box that I can plug into my stereo/LAN/computer/etc... I've got a HP DE100C that runs Linux. It's all good, but I'd like something that is more "Mac Friendly" and will use AAC or even the new lossless codec from Apple. Right now I'm stuck with MP3 only. I want a few more options.
Windows 2000 or better runs iTunes. We have an old PC hooked up to our stereo right now that simply uses iTunes Music Sharing to play music off the Macs in our other rooms. When my roommate moves out (it's his PC), I think I'll be replacing it with the AirPort Express. It wouldn't cost much more to get a workable PC off eBay, but this is so much smaller!
What are the odds my XBOX will work wirelessly with it? Hot damn, shouldn't I just be able to:
Have Airport Base Station (that I already own) on my 3rd floor, with my XBOX plugged into an Airport Express on the 1st floor living room TV (we don't have Cable down there, no need - it's solely a DVD/gaming/VCR setup).
The "Extend Your Network" section on http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/ seems to indicate I could do just that. Anyone see any reasons it wouldn't work?
Granted, I might need to get a newer base station since it's pre-Extreme.
But I wasn't thinking in terms of XBOX/PS2 when I first saw the Airport Express. That alone is worth it for me.
The other flaw is, of course, needing a way to control the music at a distance.
I'll probably still end up buying one.
In particular, I want to play music from my iBook out of my desktop.
Originally posted by Reid
Windows 2000 or better runs iTunes. We have an old PC hooked up to our stereo right now that simply uses iTunes Music Sharing to play music off the Macs in our other rooms. When my roommate moves out (it's his PC), I think I'll be replacing it with the AirPort Express. It wouldn't cost much more to get a workable PC off eBay, but this is so much smaller!
if at all possible, I want to avoid using any Winbloz in my house... I have to deal with M$ crap all day long at work, I want to go home to a system that just works... no fussing around with it
Originally posted by Reid
Also released today was the Sonos Digital Music System.
Wow, I dig this system... this is kind of what Apple should have released. But doesn't Apple have a patent on the iPod's scroll wheel?
I have one question on AirTunes that I cannot find an answer to on Apple's webpages: Are there any hardware constraints? Does it have to be Airport Extreme or is the old version sufficent?