Alternatives to Airport Express

[admin_exported]

Any solid alternatives to Airport Express? Two reasons I am reluctant about it - it streams only from iTunes (not Foobar) and is limited to 16bit transmission. I don't have much 24bit content so iTunes is really the bigger issue.

I have my ALAC files on external HD and play off my laptop to CA Dacmagic.

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

There isn't much 24 bit music available at the moment, and what
there is comes from specialised sources such as Naim or Linn.
Everything else is 16 bit, because that's what CDs are. Note that many
DACs, including the dacmagic and the v-dac, upsample to 24 bit.
In other words, don't be put off because the AE is only 16 bit.

 

[TonyHall]

chainrock:
...it streams only from iTunes (not Foobar)

I can't help you with an alternative to an Airport Express, but there's an excellent shareware application - Airfoil (www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/) that allows you to send any audio to the AE.

Cheers,
Tony

 

[John Duncan]

I didn't think it was limited to 16 bit, but I haven't tried any 24/96 files tbh. Will give it a go and see if that little blue '96' light comes on.

Ditto airfoil though, is great (if less good value now the pound's rubbish against the dollar).

 

[Anonymous]

Are you using Foobar because you like the interface, or because of sound quality?

When you get music out of the computer via a network the Kmixer etc become irrelevant, so even iTunes on Windows is bit perfect.

If you buy a piece of software called AirFoil you can stream any software to the Airport Express.

 

[Anonymous]

I can't help you with an alternative to an Airport Express, but there's an excellent shareware application - Airfoil (www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/) that allows you to send any audio to the AE. Cheers, Tony

Many thanks! Can you give me a rundown of how it works? This could be a savior!

EDIT: I didn't know iTunes playback is bitperfect over USB...

 

[Anonymous]

Airfoil is a terrific product, but don't think it's shareware any more.
Also, it doesn't overcome the 16 bit limit (if it is still of
concern), of the AE. Personally, given the 16 bit limit of CDs, I wouldn't worry about it. Have a look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc if you want more explanation of the 16 bit/44.1 khz standard

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks all.

I have decided to go with AE and just use iTunes mostly because its simple and I can use my iPhone as a remote control. Before I put an order for one I'd like to confirm its bit-perfect playback via iTunes. I found conflicting evidence on this so will try to read up more.

 

[TonyHall]

chainrock:
Many thanks! Can you give me a rundown of how it works? This could be a savior!
Confession time...I don't actually use Airfoil! I use other apps by Rogue Amoeba, which are excellent, and I've heard nothing but good stuff about Airfoil. I did try it out once and it simply worked without fuss or bother. Currently I'm happy to stream from iTunes (on a Mac). You can download the app and use it in a demo mode to test if it's suitable for you.

Tarquinh:
Airfoil is a terrific product, but don't think it's shareware any more.
Oops! Showing my age. In ye olden days of t'internet anything that wasn't boxed and stocked on shelves was shareware by default. Things have moved on, guess it's time for me to too.

Cheers,
Tony

 

[John Duncan]

chainrock:
I can't help you with an alternative to an Airport Express, but there's an excellent shareware application - Airfoil (www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/) that allows you to send any audio to the AE. Cheers, Tony

Many thanks! Can you give me a rundown of how it works? This could be a savior!

EDIT: I didn't know iTunes playback is bitperfect over USB...

Re: airfoil - it captures audio from any application (either one you select or 'System Audio") and sends it to either Airport Express, the computer, or both. It was $25 when I bought it. Useful for things like BBC Radio which isn't iTunes friendly. Win or Mac.

As for bit-perfectness, yeah it is when working with 16/44 material, but don't know about higher as haven't tried it with 24/96 stuff yet - primarily because just when I had a window to have a go, my network picked that very moment to disappear. Internet research suggests yes, you are limited to 16/44, will confirm over next few days.

 

[Anonymous]

Ended up getting a 5m Belkin Pro-series USB cable and it seems to work great (also limited to 16/48 but don't have any 24b content anyway).

May still get AE in the future though for more flexibility but for now USB cable will suffice. This way I can keep using Foobar without getting Airfoil and save some £££.

 

[Anonymous]

quote "bit perfect over USB" ..?

Where does the USB bit come into play ? iTunes streaming to the Airport Express is bit perfect to the best of my knowledge. Just remember that all audio is converted to ALAC on the fly.

Outputting to a USB DAC or audio card - that's a different, more complicated story.

 

[Anonymous]

Output to my outboard DAC via USB is bit-perfect AFAIK.

iTunes playback via AE is bit-perfect on Macs but I have not been able to verify that this is the case for PCs.

 

[Anonymous]

Why would it be different for PCs?

 

[Anonymous]

As far as I know, difference in arcitechture - playback on PC goes via windows software that can alter the data (can be bypassed via Foobar's plugins and ASIO4ALL in Winamp). Again, I have not been able to verify one way or the other - there seem to be arguments both ways but I haven't seen an actual lab test.

 

[Anonymous]

Ah, was wondering! In fact, itunes bypasses winamp and anything to do with windows audio component completely when streaming over the network . It just packages the file then passes it to the network component for sending, just like on the mac, so the output is bit perfect.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks! This answers another question I raised here.

How about using iTunes over USB to Dac (not AE) ?