Pandora stereo

May 9, 2008 9:13 AM

What's the best way to play Pandora on a stereo via a Mac (which I don't want to add speakers to)? Note the Mac can't be near the stereo all the time, and I'd like the free version of Pandora...
posted by jgballard to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Airport Express + AirFoil.
posted by holgate at 9:25 AM on May 9, 2008

I used to use a SqueezeBox for this. One nice thing about it is that it can connect to Pandora directly without needing the Mac to be involved at all. (Although you can still connect to the Mac to listen to your own music or do other things.) When I used it, it did require the paid version of Pandora after the 90-day free trial.

Looks like they have a new version now with a fancy remote.
posted by dixie flatline at 9:29 AM on May 9, 2008

Seconding Airport Express and Airfoil combination. This also proved quite handy because I could link up my living room stereo (with the airport express) and my bedroom computer which was connected to speakers. Doing this with itunes allowed me to sync music throughout my apartment .. something I was unsuccessful doing with the squeezebox.
posted by duckus at 11:16 AM on May 9, 2008

Quick plug for PandoraJam ($15, perhaps?). That and use the above ideas.
posted by devbrain at 11:42 AM on May 9, 2008

How far away is the Mac going to stray from the stereo? You could just simply add a wireless transmitter/receiver. The transmitter plugs into the computer headphone jack, the receiver plugs into the stereo, and receives whatever's playing through the Mac. Here's one example, I'm sure there are others:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=wireless+audio&um=1&cid=8182264560134283935

Should be able to find one for $50-75.
posted by rhys at 12:08 PM on May 9, 2008

I just bought a Linksys WMB54G Music Bridge that does this. It can connect to a stereo a number of ways and can be found for around $55 shipped, half of what an Airport Express costs.
posted by asterisk at 3:13 PM on May 9, 2008