chebby
Well-known member
professorhat:I guess it depends on whether this is a convenience thing to play music wirelessly from the iMac / laptop or you're actually looking at CD beating quality.
For now a convenience to play iTunes, ripped CD tracks (lossless) from iTunes, internet radio on the hifi and youtube sound. So a mixture of good quality (Apple Lossless) and variable quality stuff including some purchased iTunes tracks.
Three choices for 'good enough' quality presnt themselves for now...
The Firestone Audio Fubar II USB DAC (the notebook has no optical output) which is very well thought of and has a good Burr Brown DAC and good op-amp and even has the option to upgrade to a dedicated power-supply. It is 16bit and 44.1khz/48khs but will involve no set-up and is only £105. Extremely simple to use.
The Airport Express for £65. Possible nightmare to set-up but maybe not. (It seems to be luck of draw if you read the feedback on the Apple UK store.) It may die just after a year. There is an awful lot of feedback everywhere regarding that issue. However mine may be easy to set-up and I may get one that does not die after a year and it may sound good enough even on the Apple Lossless stuff.
Third option is to buy a DacMagic, use only the 16bit/48khz USB input and have the optical inputs as a future option if and when I upgrade the laptop but that is £100 extra spent on performance I cannot access maybe for a long time
This would have all been oh so easy if my notebook manufacturer had bothered to include an SPDIF output or Beresford had included USB on their DAC.
Never mind.
For now a convenience to play iTunes, ripped CD tracks (lossless) from iTunes, internet radio on the hifi and youtube sound. So a mixture of good quality (Apple Lossless) and variable quality stuff including some purchased iTunes tracks.
Three choices for 'good enough' quality presnt themselves for now...
The Firestone Audio Fubar II USB DAC (the notebook has no optical output) which is very well thought of and has a good Burr Brown DAC and good op-amp and even has the option to upgrade to a dedicated power-supply. It is 16bit and 44.1khz/48khs but will involve no set-up and is only £105. Extremely simple to use.
The Airport Express for £65. Possible nightmare to set-up but maybe not. (It seems to be luck of draw if you read the feedback on the Apple UK store.) It may die just after a year. There is an awful lot of feedback everywhere regarding that issue. However mine may be easy to set-up and I may get one that does not die after a year and it may sound good enough even on the Apple Lossless stuff.
Third option is to buy a DacMagic, use only the 16bit/48khz USB input and have the optical inputs as a future option if and when I upgrade the laptop but that is £100 extra spent on performance I cannot access maybe for a long time
This would have all been oh so easy if my notebook manufacturer had bothered to include an SPDIF output or Beresford had included USB on their DAC.
Never mind.
professorhat
Well-known member
Aye, t'is a dilemma...
Just so you know, I have 3 AEs, all of them have been easy to setup and I've had one for over 3 years (hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here!). Course this is no guarantee. On the setup, my gut feeling is, if you could set up the Airport Extreme without issue, the Airport Express won't be an issue for you (unless you get a faulty one of course like poor old Charlie here...)
Just so you know, I have 3 AEs, all of them have been easy to setup and I've had one for over 3 years (hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here!). Course this is no guarantee. On the setup, my gut feeling is, if you could set up the Airport Extreme without issue, the Airport Express won't be an issue for you (unless you get a faulty one of course like poor old Charlie here...)
John Duncan
Well-known member
Yes, I suspect setting it up on an Apple network will be a breeze - I had no issues even with a Netgear Router, though admittedly the router did stop working briefly until i rebooted it.
And I would definitely start with the AE, and add as you go along (my DACMagic is now coming down on the 20th, at which point I might even have a stereo back......)
And I would definitely start with the AE, and add as you go along (my DACMagic is now coming down on the 20th, at which point I might even have a stereo back......)
chebby
Well-known member
Well it seems I am already spooked!
I just phoned my local John Lewis about the Airport Express 802.11n. The only one they had was sold yesterday.
So I phoned Russ Andrews about the Fubar II and guess what? Yep, the last few they had all shipped to customers this morning.
So I will forget about any computer music for a while. (I gather DacMagic availability is patchy as well so I will not even bother ringing any suppliers because I think I know what the answer will be!)
Grrrr
I just phoned my local John Lewis about the Airport Express 802.11n. The only one they had was sold yesterday.
So I phoned Russ Andrews about the Fubar II and guess what? Yep, the last few they had all shipped to customers this morning.
So I will forget about any computer music for a while. (I gather DacMagic availability is patchy as well so I will not even bother ringing any suppliers because I think I know what the answer will be!)
Grrrr
John Duncan
Well-known member
professorhat
Well-known member
chebby
Well-known member
JohnDuncan:(my DACMagic is now coming down on the 20th, at which point I might even have a stereo back......)
Have your builders still not finished? LOL! Oh well at least our renovations went ok and never involved packing the hi-fi away.
Have your builders still not finished? LOL! Oh well at least our renovations went ok and never involved packing the hi-fi away.
John Duncan
Well-known member
chebby:JohnDuncan:(my DACMagic is now coming down on the 20th, at which point I might even have a stereo back......)
Have your builders still not finished? LOL! Oh well at least our renovations went ok and never involved packing the hi-fi away.
They're now due to finish tomorrow, though tbh having seen the position last night I'd be surprised. I'm very glad everything delicate is in storage after removing the 'plug' which was blocking up our chimney yesterday, and filling the house with dust from top to bottom. And whilst manly trying to clean it all up, the hoover bag burst........
Have your builders still not finished? LOL! Oh well at least our renovations went ok and never involved packing the hi-fi away.
They're now due to finish tomorrow, though tbh having seen the position last night I'd be surprised. I'm very glad everything delicate is in storage after removing the 'plug' which was blocking up our chimney yesterday, and filling the house with dust from top to bottom. And whilst manly trying to clean it all up, the hoover bag burst........
As stated on another thread in this forum, I have no doubt that my AE/DAC set-up has knocked my CD player off it's digital perch. For a wireless stream, admittedly with a very good DAC, that's quite something.
In fact, I'm still coming to terms with how good it all sounds. All those songs on my Mac, not only liberated and reasonably convenient to access, but sounding fantastic. A couple of CDs arrived earlier this week, and for the first time ever, I ripped them and streamed them back to my AE, leaving my CD player to grow old and cold.
I still think it's a close, subjective call between the AE/DAC and the Roksan turntable for which sound I prefer. For now, they're both great sources.
The best £65 I've spent, hi-fi-wise.
In fact, I'm still coming to terms with how good it all sounds. All those songs on my Mac, not only liberated and reasonably convenient to access, but sounding fantastic. A couple of CDs arrived earlier this week, and for the first time ever, I ripped them and streamed them back to my AE, leaving my CD player to grow old and cold.
I still think it's a close, subjective call between the AE/DAC and the Roksan turntable for which sound I prefer. For now, they're both great sources.
The best £65 I've spent, hi-fi-wise.
chebby
Well-known member
OK it seems I was in luck at our local John Lewis after all.
I went down there anyway and there was a sealed one (802.11n version) in a display cabinet with all the wireless routers. I asked them why I was told on the phone that the last one had gone and the manager let me have the the display model.
£64.95
Progress so far...
Plugged in audio lead (3.5mm jack to 2 phone) to AE and Mini Solo and plugged into mains.
Got airport utility up on iMac and added it to existing network as just an airtunes device (not a base station) and it rebooted itself. Solid green light.
Lo and behold when I brought up iTunes (on the iMac) it had the option at the bottom to switch between the AE or the computer speakers. Selected that and ignored the firewall warning and it played fine. (Listening to it now.)
However the machine I really want it for (the laptop) does not even 'see' the new AE even if I refresh. So I guess I will have to dig out software CD and start researching. (Always the way with Windows. Never easy.)
I went down there anyway and there was a sealed one (802.11n version) in a display cabinet with all the wireless routers. I asked them why I was told on the phone that the last one had gone and the manager let me have the the display model.
£64.95
Progress so far...
Plugged in audio lead (3.5mm jack to 2 phone) to AE and Mini Solo and plugged into mains.
Got airport utility up on iMac and added it to existing network as just an airtunes device (not a base station) and it rebooted itself. Solid green light.
Lo and behold when I brought up iTunes (on the iMac) it had the option at the bottom to switch between the AE or the computer speakers. Selected that and ignored the firewall warning and it played fine. (Listening to it now.)
However the machine I really want it for (the laptop) does not even 'see' the new AE even if I refresh. So I guess I will have to dig out software CD and start researching. (Always the way with Windows. Never easy.)
chebby
Well-known member
Loaded the Airport Utility onto laptop and made sure it has all the latest upgrades.
Done a couple of rescans but it fails to find the new Airport Express which is about 4 metres away with only air between them!
Done a couple of rescans but it fails to find the new Airport Express which is about 4 metres away with only air between them!
John Duncan
Well-known member
Hm. I must've been very lucky, my Vista laptop found it immediately after the install (though actually this may have even been before I was able to join my network). Not sure what to suggest immediately. Is your laptop XP or Vista?
chebby
Well-known member
XP Pro Service pack 3.
I have even reloaded the Airport Express (from Airport Utility on the iMac) with 'extended' this time so other 'clients' to my network (like this laptop) can use it.
Still no joy.
I have even reloaded the Airport Express (from Airport Utility on the iMac) with 'extended' this time so other 'clients' to my network (like this laptop) can use it.
Still no joy.
John Duncan
Well-known member
professorhat
Well-known member
chebby
Well-known member
The laptop can see the network hosted by the existing Airport Extreme base station and allows access. Always has. This is normal.
The laptop wireless card is also 'seeing' the new Airport Express as a network and but only when it was new out of the box or after a full reset.
Aiport Utility - on the laptop - does NOT see the new Airport express wherever it is plugged in and whether it was reset or not.
Airport Utility on the iMac sees it fine... no problems at all. I can set it up fine there.
The laptop wireless card is also 'seeing' the new Airport Express as a network and but only when it was new out of the box or after a full reset.
Aiport Utility - on the laptop - does NOT see the new Airport express wherever it is plugged in and whether it was reset or not.
Airport Utility on the iMac sees it fine... no problems at all. I can set it up fine there.
John Duncan
Well-known member
chebby
Well-known member
JohnDuncan:Is airport utility an allowed application in your firewall?
Yes just double-checked and it is allowed.
Yes just double-checked and it is allowed.
chebby
Well-known member
Anyway.
Leaving aside the laptop problem.
On the iMac where everything is fine, how do I route sound from internet radio or BBC iPlayer etc via the Airport Express? (I have only tried iTunes from the iMac so far)
Leaving aside the laptop problem.
On the iMac where everything is fine, how do I route sound from internet radio or BBC iPlayer etc via the Airport Express? (I have only tried iTunes from the iMac so far)
John Duncan
Well-known member
chebby:Anyway.
Leaving aside the laptop problem.
On the iMac where everything is fine, how do I route sound from internet radio or BBC iPlayer etc via the Airport Express? (I have only tried iTunes from the iMac so far)
I use Air....damn, I've forgotten what it's called. hang on.
Leaving aside the laptop problem.
On the iMac where everything is fine, how do I route sound from internet radio or BBC iPlayer etc via the Airport Express? (I have only tried iTunes from the iMac so far)
I use Air....damn, I've forgotten what it's called. hang on.
John Duncan
Well-known member
Airfoil. It's about $25 and will route any audio source to airport express.
You may also wish to investigate (because I haven't, found it after buying airfoil) the option to route internet audio trhough iTunes - I'll try and find the option.
You may also wish to investigate (because I haven't, found it after buying airfoil) the option to route internet audio trhough iTunes - I'll try and find the option.
chebby
Well-known member
So after all this, I need to pay for third party software just to play sound from the internet!!
This stupid 'Airpoop Depress' box is going back to John lewis tomorrow.
This stupid 'Airpoop Depress' box is going back to John lewis tomorrow.
professorhat
Well-known member
Internet Radio can be played through iTunes by going to the Radio section under Library (I'm listening to Frequence Metz radio at the moment through it). But yes, by default, Airport Express can only stream music through iTunes - to get other sounds you have to get Airfoil. Sorry, just assumed that's all you wanted to do from your original post otherwise I would have mentioned it.
John Duncan
Well-known member
Not quite - Airport Express plays the contents of iTunes, that's its point - if the content isn't in iTunes or can't be routed trhough iTunes, you need something else. However, you *can* open an internet audio stream from within iTunes if you have the URL (try Advanced/open stream and entering "http://www.getwaxed.co.uk/newsite/BeMyDownfall.mp3" to see if you can hear me), but finding that actual URL isn't always the easiest thing - BBC's iPlayer isn't friendly in this regard, and some folk have created mac widgets to play BBC radio without iPlayer - there's one at http://www.phantomgorilla.com/.
This shouldn't be necessary though if you select "Use iTunes for Internet music playback" in the advanced/general preferences tab - though as I say, probably doesn't cover BBC.
But anyway, airfoil is genius and cheap (or at least was at $2 to the pound......)
This shouldn't be necessary though if you select "Use iTunes for Internet music playback" in the advanced/general preferences tab - though as I say, probably doesn't cover BBC.
But anyway, airfoil is genius and cheap (or at least was at $2 to the pound......)
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