Media streaming

[power]

Hi Guys

I have a Harman Kardon receiver avr660 which doesent have airplay. It has however a slot for ethernet connection. I would like to stream music and other files from itunes. I would like to know what possibilities exist for a receiver like mine.

Can I use the apple airport express for this application and can I use the wifi facility on my iphone to stream wirelesslly? What other hardware would be needed to do streaming in a receiver like mine?

 

[nads]

sounds like you will need the H&K iPod dock and use that.

no video playback from the network connection.

page 34 of the manual.

 

[power]

I have the Harman Kardon dock but I find the sound quality doesnt come anywhere close to the cd's. I have done head to head tests. I use iPhone 3GS and i came across an article that says that the poor quality is due to the DAC of the iPhone which is of a poor quality resulting in the bad sound quality.

I would like to know whats the use of the apple airport express with regards to streaming. Will it provide me better benefits than the dock

 

[richardw42]

What about an Apple TV?

Just got one and it's brill

 

[power]

Sorry for my ignorance but what does apple tv do?

 

[richardw42]

Plugs into your receiver via HDMI.

Strean anything from your iTunes library including video. Also does AirPlay.

There'll be lots of threads on here about it.

 

[power]

Thanks for the info. Maybe thats the way to go. How do you control your library? are you able to access through your receiver or do you use the mouse on your PC? can you play your ipod wirelessly?

 

[richardw42]

The Apple TVs interface will come up on TV screen. As long as you switch on Home Sharing on ITunes, your iTunes library comes up on screen in a much nicer way than on PC. The ATV has a remote and you don't need to do anything with a mouse.

Of course it has full Airplay (and mirroring of your i-thing screen, if it supports it)

I'm a recent convert and it does everything it says on the tin and more. I love it.

Feel free to ask any more questions.

 

[power]

Thanks very much for the info. I have seen that using my receiver's supplied docking station results in poor sound quality vs the original cd though i ripped the cds using itunes lossless. I did some investigation and I found out that the poor quality in sound is a result of the DAC in my iphone 3GS. How is the sound quality when streaming directly from itunes in your PC? Must my PC remain on for the apple TV to access my itunes?

 

[Anonymous]

You have a few options, you could use your iPhone via AirPlay, this way you don't need your PC on. The second option would be to stream from your PC, which would need to be on or (and this what I do), pay the £20ish fee for "iTunes match" and your whole collection will sit on your apple TV with no need to do either of the other options.

 

[power]

Thanks for the info. The 20 pound is it a once off fee or a subscription for a certain time period? Do I pay it to apple? Whats your experience with the audio quality vs cd?