Airport Express and Multi-room -- possible or not?

[admin_exported]

Hi all

I have airport express successfully set up with Itunes on my windows PC and my living room hifi. I have to say I love it!! ....... so much so that I'd like to do the same with a little hifi I have in my kitchen.

I'm about to buy on of the IPod Touches to control the setup whilst lying on my sofa with a beer.

My question is can I put another airport express in my kitchen, give it the same "speaker name" and then stream the same audio to both rooms?

Best regards, Andrew

 

[professorhat]

No need to give it the same name, you can just name it "Kitchen" or some such and then stream the same music there as well. You'll also be able to control which speakers you want to stream the music to from your iPod Touch, allowing you to walk room to room switching music off in one and on in another if you wish, or just leave it running in both locations - this is my normal setup so I can cook, walk back to my office and carry on working, then go back and check on food etc. without missing the music.

I have three set up this way, one for my living room, one for my office and one for the kitchen.

 

[John Duncan]

Also worthwhile noting that if you do this, iTunes is clever enough to make sure all the streams are in sync, so you don't hear echoes coming from the other room...

 

[Anonymous]

thats great. many thanks

i can't believe how good and cheap AE is for what it does

Andrew

 

[Anonymous]

I'm in a similiar situation. One in living room, bedroom and soon to be new kitchen when it is installed in a fortnight.

Any views on a good dock with aux-in connection for the kitchen? What will you be using fobos8? I need a dock rather than speakers like the Audioengine A2's for example.

I'm tempted on the Vita R2i but its a bit over budget, but certainly has kitchen friendly looks!!

 

[Anonymous]

I'm just using a Pure Evoke 2 radio and using the aux-in on that.

 

[Dan Turner]

professorhat:
No need to give it the same name, you can just name it "Kitchen" or some such and then stream the same music there as well. You'll also be able to control which speakers you want to stream the music to from your iPod Touch, allowing you to walk room to room switching music off in one and on in another if you wish, or just leave it running in both locations - this is my normal setup so I can cook, walk back to my office and carry on working, then go back and check on food etc. without missing the music.

I have three set up this way, one for my living room, one for my office and one for the kitchen.

Prof - I note that you're using a AE in your lounge, which I assume is your main listening environment(?) so how would you rate the quality of streaming to a AE and taking an s/pdif optical feed to a DAC as opposed to taking the s/pdif optical feed directly off the computer to the DAC? I've decided on a MacBook/Cyrus DAC X for my main listening room with an AE to stream to a second system in the bedroom, but obviously if I can eliminate the need to have the Mac physically located by my hifi when playing music for the cost of another AE, with no detrimental effect on sound quality, then that would be a no brainer.

Cheers.

 

[John Duncan]

I had the same setup (though for logistical reasons changed to an Apple TV recently), and I'd say that an AE into a DAC is close to being a high-end combination. It beat my mid-range CD player, anyway.

The only way I would say that a direct connection would be preferable is if you have any high-res content, since I know AE and Apple TV both downsample to 16/44, as does a USB connection (I think) - whereas I believe (though have never tried) that the optical out of a Mac can output 24bit streams.

 

[Dan Turner]

JohnDuncan: I know AE and Apple TV both downsample to 16/44

That's interesting, didn't realise the AE downsampled like that. Not a concern for my second room, but would definitely swing it for the lounge. A s/pdif interface can support stereo at up to 24bit/192khz I believe.

 

[professorhat]

Agree with John - I have an AE unit in my office along with the Mac and both are plugged into my DacMagic via optical - switching between the two and I can't tell any difference.

However, all my music is ripped from CDs so have no requirement for 24 bit at the moment.

 

[Dan Turner]

That's great to know. I don't have any high-res stuff at the moment either, so I'll probably get the AE for the lounge for convenience and just have to plug-in the Mac if I ever do get any high-res stuff.

Thanks.