airplay/ airport express alternatives

davedotco

New member
Apr 24, 2013
20
1
0
Visit site
What you mean by streaming.

I am guessing, from recent threads, that you mean streaming music from mobile devices, in which case the answer is, not much.

There are a couple of Airport Express clones by brands such as Neet and for non Apple users, the better Bluetooth codecs are probably the best bet. I have used an Android setup with AptX and it is pretty transparent, as indeed is a well setup (network wise) AEX.

Given that, I still wanted something better and more consistent, the arrangements I decided on was to use my local library on a NAS and to use Spotify Connect, so effectively using my iThing as a remote.

No unnecessary extra compression, no dropouts and the iThing can be used for something else once the instructions are given.
 

Paul.

Well-known member
for AirPlay I would use a stand alone AirPlay reciever or Apple TV, hard wired or powerlined to a strong router. I use an Asus N66 Dark Night but it's probably been replaced several times over by now. Taking the wireless away from the streamer makes AirPlay much more stable. A headless ATV functions the same way as an airport express with the added bonus of being able to pause and skip etc without touching your phone or laptop.

Airplay is quite demanding of a network but if you hardware anything that doesn't move (i.e. Components in a rack) it is much more stable.
 

davedotco

New member
Apr 24, 2013
20
1
0
Visit site
Paul. said:
for AirPlay I would use a stand alone AirPlay reciever or Apple TV, hard wired or powerlined to a strong router. I use an Asus N66 Dark Night but it's probably been replaced several times over by now. Taking the wireless away from the streamer makes AirPlay much more stable. A headless ATV functions the same way as an airport express with the added bonus of being able to pause and skip etc without touching your phone or laptop.

Airplay is quite demanding of a network but if you hardware anything that doesn't move (i.e. Components in a rack) it is much more stable.

Solid advice, even better in my experience, if you can set a different channel for the music playing device and AEX/ATV and use another channel on your router for all normal internet use,

The AEX/ATV uses ALAC lossless compression so is as close to lossless CD standard as you can get, i don't know anything better...*unknw*
 

lpv

New member
Mar 14, 2013
47
0
0
Visit site
tbh, I think ALAC is lossless, not near lossless, but lossless..

I do have separate channel for AEX and haven't got single dropout...

as far as I know there are wireless/ lossless methods of streaming music but one needs to buy into the whole system, ie dynaudio xeo speakers and xeo hub or connect..
 

davedotco

New member
Apr 24, 2013
20
1
0
Visit site
lpv said:
tbh, I think ALAC is lossless, not near lossless, but lossless..

I do have separate channel for AEX and haven't got single dropout...

as far as I know there are wireless/ lossless methods of streaming music but one needs to buy into the whole system, ie dynaudio xeo speakers and xeo hub or connect..

But I remain unconvinced about the 'transparancy' of the whole Airplay process. Totally irrational I know, but having swapped streaming to an AEX for a Raumfeld Connector using Spotify Connect, I am simply more 'comfortable'.

There are proprietory systems, Sonos and Music Cast for example but I find the Dynaudio setup somewhat perplexing. The system is almost brilliant, but the pricing is absurd. The XEO system is ugly with that awful 'add on' cuppola and the finish is not great for the prices asked, The Focus XD is super but the entry level is £4k+.

The XEO 2 is not bad but neither is it completely wireless without a Connect. A decent component streamer connected via toslink would make a nice system, assuming a good control app but again it is quite pricey, £1k for the speakers alone.
 

davedotco

New member
Apr 24, 2013
20
1
0
Visit site
jjbomber said:
lpv said:
ok.. so what's alternative ways of streaming lossless music wirelessly are out there?

Good luck with that one; the Apple fanboys won't recommend anything else!

Neet Airstream, Pure Jongo. What is the source and what are you sending it to?

The Neet products are pretty much Airplay clones, though with one or two useful facilities like simpler setup. May still be subject to occasional dropouts if your network/system is prone.

Jongo does not stream to CD standard as far as I know.

Personally as I said above, do a bit of lateral thinking and get a wired product that supports the features and streams that you want, then use your mobile device as a remote control only.
 

lpv

New member
Mar 14, 2013
47
0
0
Visit site
jjbomber said:
lpv said:
ok.. so what's alternative ways of streaming lossless music wirelessly are out there?

Good luck with that one; the Apple fanboys won't recommend anything else!

Neet Airstream, Pure Jongo. What is the source and what are you sending it to?

it's a general question to see what's out there..
 

cefey

New member
Aug 9, 2016
1
0
0
Visit site
What about BT like Audioengine B1 vs Chromecast Audio?

Atm I have apple tv... but it kind of sucks biiiig time. Rubbish.
If I just choose it as "my speaker" in macbook, it lags all the time. The only way to use it, is to turn on TV, and use apple-tv controll to enter library and choose songs there. No way to control it directly from mac/macbook.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts