wireless stereo

July 14, 2005 10:25 AM

I'm wondering if there's a relatively easy way to play a live music stream off iTunes (KCRW) on my "real" stereo. I've got an iBook g4 and an Airport. Is there a way to wirelessly send that signal somehow into my stereo, so I can carry my laptop around to different locations but having the iTunes stream function like a regular FM signal on my stereo... any ideas?
posted by dearleader to Technology (9 answers total)

Yes, the Airport Express does exactly what you want. It's a wireless client that has stereo outputs (not an FM transmitter). iTunes + your laptop + Airport base station will interface with it seamlessly. It can do other useful things too. Overall it's a pretty good device, but sometimes cell phones mess with the signal.
posted by gaelenh at 10:38 AM on July 14, 2005

Alternatively, the Squeezebox and Soundbridge are two wireless hardware options.
posted by Rothko at 10:51 AM on July 14, 2005

Not to derail the thread, but I've been wondering if you can run Airport Express from iTunes on a desktop computer that doesn't have a wireless card inside it but rather is connected to a wireless router. The Apple documentation is unclear.
posted by matildaben at 11:43 AM on July 14, 2005

matildaben - yes you can. That's what I do at home. I have my g4 hooked up to an old netgear wired/wireless router (802.11B with 4 ports), and it talks to the airport express downstairs. It was a little funny to set up, as the aiport express tool didn't want to see the airport express box for a while, but it works great. I use a browser based app to control iTunes upstairs from a handheld downstairs, and listen to music all day.
posted by Read at 11:50 AM on July 14, 2005

I've had a wireless squeezebox for a little over a year now and I like it a lot. Great open source software that runs on all the common platforms (mac, pc, linux) that streams audio to the squeezebox or to just about any other player you can think of. I'd recommend it without hesitation.
posted by freshgroundpepper at 1:29 PM on July 14, 2005

To clarify, you'll need to run a cable from the AirportExpress to your stereo. The type of cable needed will vary a bit depending on your stereo setup, if you have an analog system like mine you'll need a mini (3.5 mm) to RCA cable. If I remember correctly, a dialog box will pop up and prompt you to enable AirTunes. If not, you can do it through the Airport Setup Assistant. Once you're set up, a new button will appear on the bottom right of the iTunes window that allows you to toggle between playing something on your stereo or the iBook's built-in speakers.
posted by cali at 1:55 PM on July 14, 2005

There's AirTunes, but also another program called AirFoil, which allows you to input any audio, not just through iTunes.
posted by 31d1 at 2:47 PM on July 14, 2005

this is slightly OT, but does anyone know if the USB-out on the airport can be used as just a standard USB hub? i know that it's intended for printing, but if there was a way to have it just do generic USB-out that would make my day. i seem to recall having tried this before and it failing, but i could be wrong.

incidentally, if it wasn't clear from cali's post, the AX also supports 1/8" optical-out.

matildaben- you'll probably just need to set up your AX as a wireless repeater on the network. this will be a lot easier if your main router is an airport, but it works with other routers as well. i've heard that linksys is best for that outside of apple.
posted by spiderwire at 8:55 PM on July 14, 2005

My system: Airport Express plus AirFoil, with an optical cable from the AX to the receiver. AirFoil lets you stream the formats that iTunes doesn't support, such as RealAudio.

(And the USB port on the AX handles printers or an iTunes remote, but nothing else.)
posted by holgate at 3:32 AM on July 15, 2005