Apple iOS5

Jason36

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So the Apple community get IOS5 as a free upgrade over the next couple of weeks. Having looked and read about this it seems like a very worthwhile upgrade for the iPad2. One of the things I am quite interested in is the ability to use AirPlay via "AirPlay Mirroring" on the iPad2.

Does this mean that if I connect an Apple TV to my stereo (is it possible?) I should then be able to send my music (iTunes & Spotify) via AirPlay to my stereo? Would the Apple TV need to be connected to my router to work or is it just a case of plug it into the amplifier? I'm also assuming what they are saying is that basically iPad2 users get AirPlay free of charge with iOS5?

Does anybody know anymore about this?

Cheers
 

professorhat

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You can already stream music and videos from your iPad to your Apple TV through AirPlay on iOS 4.2, plus some other things like Spotify and I think YouTube.

AirPlay Mirroring on the other hand lets you send anything that's being displayed on your iPad 2 / iPhone 4S to the TV via Apple TV - be that a spreadsheet, games - whatever you see on the screen of your iPad / iPhone, you can see on your TV.
 

Jason36

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Ah thanks for that ProfessorHat,

So I would take it from that then that you still need to purchase AirPlay to stream music? Am I correct in saying that I can just attach the Apple TV directly to my stereo and then the iPad will just stream to the Apple TV?
 

Paul.

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If you have an iPad and an AppleTV then you dont need to pay for Airplay, its a feature of iOS. The only time you have to pay is with some non Apple harwear such as Marantz recievers where you have to upgrade the firmware.
 

professorhat

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Jason36 said:
Am I correct in saying that I can just attach the Apple TV directly to my stereo and then the iPad will just stream to the Apple TV?

Yes, except bear in mind the latest Apple TV only has digital outputs - so you'd need an AV receiver / stereo with a built in DAC that is capable of accepting either optical or HDMI. If yours doesn't, you'd therefore need an external DAC to hook it up.

If you're looking to stream movies, clearly you'll also need a connection to your TV - either via an AV receiver, or by connecting the HDMI direct to the TV.
 

Jason36

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So I could go for a 1st Generation Apple TV which would also have a hard drive and multitude of connection options, including RCA. However I'm a bit Lost with regards to connection and have a few questions I was wondering if you could answer for me.

Does the Apple TV need to be connected to the router to stream say Spotify from my iPad2? Or does my iPad utilise the wireless signal and then just connects to the Apple TV?

If I want to load music onto the apple TV how do I do this...does it just connect and sync via iTunes?

Once music is on the Apple TV how do I control this and browse through the music library? I assume there is probably and iPad app.

I also assume I could add a DAC between the Apple TV and Amp to improve sound?

Sorry for the questions but don't really know anything about Apple TV.
 

professorhat

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Jason36 said:
So I could go for a 1st Generation Apple TV which would also have a hard drive and multitude of connection options, including RCA.

Yup, if you can find one - Google isn't throwing up any new ones that I can see, so I guess 2nd hand is your only bet. However, you're right that this does have standard RCA outputs.

Jason36 said:
However I'm a bit Lost with regards to connection and have a few questions I was wondering if you could answer for me. Does the Apple TV need to be connected to the router to stream say Spotify from my iPad2? Or does my iPad utilise the wireless signal and then just connects to the Apple TV?

Apple TV can connect wirelessly to your network as well, along with your iPad - they then communicate with each other wirelessly over the network. How successful this will be depends on the quality of your wireless signal - personally I've used a wired ethernet connection to ensure I don't get any interruptions, espeically when it comes to video, but then I live in a flat with lots of competing wireless networks!

Jason36 said:
If I want to load music onto the apple TV how do I do this...does it just connect and sync via iTunes?

Yup, that's it. With the 1st Gen Apple TV, you can store stuff locally on the hard disk so you don't need iTunes to be present when you want to use it. With the new Apple TV, you'll need iTunes available to stream music / video to it (unless you're streaming from the iPad / iPhone of course).

Jason36 said:
Once music is on the Apple TV how do I control this and browse through the music library? I assume there is probably and iPad app.

Yes, you just use the Apple Remote app to play anything stored on the Apple TV's hard drive.

Jason36 said:
I also assume I could add a DAC between the Apple TV and Amp to improve sound? Sorry for the questions but don't really know anything about Apple TV.

No worries - yes, you can add an external DAC to improve stereo playback. Note that if you're looking to stream anything with 5.1, you'd want an AV receiver and Apple TV should be connected directly to this to allow this.
 

Jason36

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Cheers mate, that's all a lot clearer now. Too be honest I'm trying to weigh up the options at the moment between going for a Sonos Bridge and ZP90 or the Apple TV....In my mind they do exactly the same thing (in fact if anything the ATV does more) and the ATV is Definately cheaper and would sit with my stereo and would probably add a DAC at a later date.

I don't think it would be used for streaming Films at the moment......although my Blueray player and surround sound is one of those all in one lifestyle systems...where the Blueray has built in 5.1 and I just plug the speakers directly into the back of the Blueray player. So don't know if the Apple TV would work with this anyway.
 

professorhat

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Jason36 said:
Cheers mate, that's all a lot clearer now. Too be honest I'm trying to weigh up the options at the moment between going for a Sonos Bridge and ZP90 or the Apple TV....In my mind they do exactly the same thing (in fact if anything the ATV does more) and the ATV is Definately cheaper and would sit with my stereo and would probably add a DAC at a later date.

They do approximately the same thing - Apple TV does some things Sonos can't do and vice versa though. I recently purchased a couple of Sonos ZP90s for three main reasons:

1. I used to use Airport Express units for multi-room music but a couple of them gave up the ghost not too long ago and I had a choice of replacing them or upgrading to Sonos. I decided to go Sonos (with a prompt by Amazon knocking £50 off the price of the ZP90) and make use of my NAS and now have my music collection on it, with the Sonos accessing it directly over my wireless network. This gives me multi-room music without having to have my Mac switched on to access iTunes.

2. I can also access internet radio and Spotify, directly from my iPhone with the Sonos controller app without needing a computer - very handy. Also, with the line-in on the Sonos, I've attached my Freeview HD box to this in the living room, meaning I can be watching TV, pop into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and still hear what's going on.

3. The Sonos creates its own mesh network for wireless streaming - I found in my new flat that streaming over the wireless network on my Airport Express units wasn't working as well as it had in Croydon flat (I recently moved). This issue has gone away with the Sonos units.

On the other hand, it doesn't sound like you're in the same situation, so Apple TV makes more sense for you with your current requirements I would say.

Jason36 said:
I don't think it would be used for streaming Films at the moment......although my Blueray player and surround sound is one of those all in one lifestyle systems...where the Blueray has built in 5.1 and I just plug the speakers directly into the back of the Blueray player. So don't know if the Apple TV would work with this anyway.

As long as you can plug your Apple TV into the all-in-one unit e.g. either through optical or HDMI, then you could get 5.1 sound from anything you downloaded / streamed with a 5.1 soundtrack.

Lee H said:
Slight thread hi-jack.

Does that mean that using Sky Go I can negate the need for Sky multi-room?

Yes, I assume so! I believe you need an iPad 2 / iPhone 4S for AirPlay Mirroring though - could be wrong on that, but that's how I read it.
 
A

Anonymous

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Hi Jason36,

I've got a Apple TV optically connected to a Pioneer AXA5i. Echo everything that the professor has said. The Remote App is excellent and I stream internet radio from iTunes as well as podcasts and video. My iPhone is 3g so doesn't have Airplay but Remote app does the job.

A curve ball for you. I have a separate HiFi system and was contemplating ways of streaming to it via Streamers, DACs, long USB, ethernet, Wifi etc. Then a read a review of the SqueezeBox Touch and as you can buy it for less than £200, thought it worth a punt. Brilliant. For internet radio it is excellent and also very good at streaming ripped CDs although the original silver disc remains my preferred choice. Very easy to set up, operate and has its own app that is simmilar to apple remote. Until Hi Def audio is widely available from the cloud, this superb device ticks all the boxes.
 

rjb70stoke

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Ive got a 1st Gen Apple TV with the hard drive hack enabled, so Ive got 1TB of music and movies accesible through it.

Thats connected through my HiFi, using optical cable, then Ive also got an Airport Express in my conservatory connected to a Gear 4 SmartDock for Airplay. This makes for an excellent multi-room system that works excellently, extends my wireless network, and shares my printer over the network.

Then to control the whole lot, I use the Remote App on both iPhone and iPad.
 

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