Getting started

[harveymt]

Just getting started at computer based music. Have asked a few questions and here's a couple more.

I currently have a Cambridge Audio 540V2 amp. I'm in the process of re-ripping all my cd into Apple Lossless. I've downloaded Spotify and Last Fm stuff.

I want to start with a bare minimum to begin with just to find my feet. Would i right in thinking that if I bought an Airport Express I could plug it into my amp and then stream away? The drawbacks are that i currently have all my music etc stored on my desktop pc which is upstairs while the amp is downstairs in living room. However if I go upstairs, start iTunes or Spotify and let it work away I'll get music downstairs?

Is my thinking right here? What do I need to connect AE to amp?

My next step would be to add a NAS drive. I may be getting a laptop so I could use that to control music in living room or if I dont get laptop a Squeezbox.

 

[method man]

quite a few way more qualified than myself on here. hopefully they will jump in.

as long as their is somewhere to put AE into your amp, then that would work. but he sound quality will depend on ur computer. if u get a DAC put the AE into the dac and the dac into the amp. then u get

CD qualitly depending on the DAC. you might want to consider the logitech squeezebox duet. with a remote

and a built in DAC. £220.00 am i right chaps?

only issue is this will not stream spotify yet. oh and to get AE to stream anything more than itunes u will need to buy a prog called airfoil for 20 usd i believe.

 

[John Duncan]

Yes, all you need to get started is an Airport Express and a 3.5mm-jack-to-2x-RCA cable. The 3.5mm jack goes in the airport express, the two RCAs in any spare input on your amp (aux for example), and off you go.

Note that this setup does limit you to using iTunes as your source though - if you want to stream spotify (or any other source), you will need to buy a piece of software called Airfoil for $25, which is worth every penny.

Lastly, you say that your PC is upstairs - presumably you have a wired or wireless network (since that's a prerequisite)? Be aware that it helps if you have a fairly robust network to avoid dropouts, so you might end up having to invest in a network extender to make sure everything can connect (as I'm finding out since doing some shifting about).

EDIT - lastly, you can use an iPod Touch or iPhone to control iTunes from downstairs, or you can buy a hardware dongle from Keyspan for more rudimentary control.

EDIT AGAIN - using a NAS with iTunes is actually not that easy. Sonos and Squeezebox handle it better, though in the latter case you should buy a NAS with Squeezecenter already installed, looks like a mare to do it yourself.

 

[cayorob]

method man:

as long as their is somewhere to put AE into your amp, then that would work. but he sound quality will depend on ur computer. if u get a DAC put the AE into the dac and the dac into the amp. then u get CD qualitly depending on the DAC.

With an AE streaming directly from iTunes the computer sound card makes no difference as it is bypassed. iTunes streams the audio file directly to the AE. You get good quality straight from the AE as it has its own half decent DAC built in. To improve things further you're quite right about an external DAC between the AE and amp.

 

[harveymt]

Would iTunes actually be installed on the NAS though? Surely it's installed on the laptop with the just the files stored on the external hard disk, iTunes accessing them there?

 

[idc]

NAS and Network Hard Drive have become interchangable terms. A NHD is just that, a hard drive that can be accessed wirelessly via your router. As you say the music files are on it and itunes is on the PC and both need to be on to work. A NAS that has itunes installed on it means that you do not need to have a PC on to control it. The controlling can be by another device such as the wrieless streaming Squeeze Box. But you can still use a NAS to store your music files and work itunes with the PC. I have a NHD that calls itself a NAS, but it does have the capability to operate on its own. It needs the PC to be on. That is how I differentiate the two. Others may have a different explanation.

 

[Alec]

Its a difficult distinction isnt it? A NAS kind of is a computer tho isnt it - as you say, it is capable of operarting on its own, as long as its in the network. Whereas an NHD can only be used if the PC is on, is that right? Bit like an ordinary external but it can be on your network, as opposed to just being seen as a separate drive...?

So, is the distinction simlply that one can be used with the pc off and the other cant?

 

[harveymt]

How would you go about installing iTunes on the NAS? John has said above it is difficult.

No matter what, I still need a control device which would mean getting say a Squeezebox. For that price though I could get a laptop or even notebook which might give me a little more for my money.