Listening to iTunes on an AV Amp

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

Currently I have all my music stored in iTunes as ACC or Apple Loseless.

I'm looking at buying an AV amp, so checking out the options for getting the best sound quality from my tunes, with some form of graphical display (track/album selection).

Looks like the main options are dock, USB, bluetooth or DLNA.

Currently I'm using DLNA through my Sony TV connecting to EyeConnect on my MacBook to view pictures and I really like the no wires approach, so I'm wondering about extending this to audio, but is this compromised over the air and I would be better with a dock / wired connection?

I'm trying to keep things simple and avoid lots of boxes (tight on space) so a do it all amp would just be the ticket!

Thanks,

Ian

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know what your budget/kit is but any of the new Pioneer AV amps might do the trick (920/1020/2020) as they are "made for ipod/iphone" approved and come with a specific lead / control inc. onscreen album art / video.

They also have developed a sound enhancer they call air, and if you want to go wireless, you can get an optional bluetooth adaptor.

Also if plugged into your router via LAN it has the new icontrolav function, turning the touch or iphone into a basic remote control.

hope this helps,

Mark

 

[John Duncan]

Ian140:Currently I'm using DLNA through my Sony TV connecting to EyeConnect on my MacBook to view pictures and I really like the no wires approach, so I'm wondering about extending this to audio, but is this compromised over the air and I would be better with a dock / wired connection?

Nope, over the air is fine as far as I'm concerned. Does the Sony play the audio from Eyeconnect with a reasonable interface on screen and does it have a digital out you could plug into the amp?

Alternatively, there's my old staple of Apple TV, though there are some cheaper alternatives now like the Western Digital HDTV Live.

 

[Gozaradio]

Ian140:
Currently I'm using DLNA through my Sony TV connecting to EyeConnect on my
MacBook to view pictures and I really like the no wires approach, so I'm
wondering about extending this to audio, but is this compromised over the air
and I would be better with a dock / wired connection?

With regard to wireless music from your laptop, you could use an Apple Airport Express. Basically, it's the size of a mains adaptor, plugs into the wall and has an ethernet socket, a USB socket, and a 3.5mm audio socket which can either output analogue audio or it can be an optical output. There are two simple ways to get the audio into an amp; 1) Simple 3.5mm to phono cable, 2) Optical cable into AV amp optical input (assuming it has one).

There is a third way which probably gives the best sound quality but it involves another small bit of kit and if you're trying to minimise the equipment, maybe leave it for now.

An added bonus with this method is that if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can tuck your Macbook out of the way and browse / control your iTunes library from your iPhone / iPod with the free Apple Remote App.

You may even be able to use it as a wireless bridge to plug in any other networked kit (although I'm not 100% sure on that).

Don't worry if it all sounds a bit complicated, believe me it's a really simple, brilliantly designed piece of kit to set up and use (especially as you already have a Macbook).

 

[b33k34]

The big problem with eyeconnect to PS3 is that the interface isn't up to it for browsing/playing music. Apple TV suffers the same problem (you can test the apple TV interface on your mac by running 'front row' - part of the standard build). All music is presented as an alphabetical list which you must scroll through. This is fine if you've got a small number of albums but pretty hopeless if you've got a large collection as there's no way to jump down the list. Secondly, there's no way of creating playlists so listening to a few different tracks in succession is really frustrating.

Apple Airport is a good solution. If you've got a laptop you could just sit with it on your lap and control iTunes directly from the laptop. Otherwise, as someone else has said, the Remote app for iPhone/iPod Touch is excellent - it's as easy/easier to choose music using this as it is iTunes with a keyboard and full size screen.

If you're looking for something that can grow into a multi-room system then look at Logitech Squeezeboxes. They have nicer playlisting than iTunes, can sync between rooms and 'do' internet radio very well (though you can probably do this via sat/cable/freeview anyway). I've got squeezeboxes at the moment. If I was spending my money now I'd probably just go the Airport route. (The remote app has made this really usable). My only caveat is that Airports can be a pain to configure - I've tried helping 3 different people to configure multi airport systems (for networking rather than audio) and sometimes they just don't seem to work which is very odd for Apple kit.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the responses!!

Amp wise I'm looking at the £500 mark, which has options for 2010 models and some of the £800 2009 models now fall in this bracket, so plenty of choice.

Are the Pioneers the only amps with a onscreen interface for album selection and artwork?

Is there an onscreen interface if you use the Denon 1911 with USB link or the Onkyo 608 with a dock? (The manuals don't provide pictures).

I'm not going to compromise sound quality over a UI, but having a slick interface to choose music is the icing on the cake.

I had forgotten about the Apple Airport option, this could be what I'm looking for, then I don't need to keep docking my iPod and I can just flick open my MacBook to hear some tunes.

Just goes to prove there are so many ways of doing things, it really does help to have some advice on these things.

Ian

 

[Gozaradio]

I think it's fair to say that no matter how good any UI is for browsing music on an AV amp, it's not likely to be a patch on something dedicated such as iTunes, Sonos, Squeezebox, etc.

Personal preference, I suppose, but I generally look for music options which don't require the TV to be on; feels like a waste of energy.

So my opinion would be to go for one of the summer bargains around at the moment rather than one of the newer models. I have jut bought the Denon 2310 for the sort of money you're talking about.

 

[Fisherking 145]

Last years Marantz AV receivers were iPod compatible with an on screen GUI. My SR6004 also has bluetooth, which I often use with my bluetooth laptop to play iTunes, but more frequently use with my iPhone, it's the ultimate in convenience for me. The price doesn't seem to have dropped on these yet, but I've been more than happy with mine, and certainly wouldn't hesitate in recommending them.