What music streaming gadget am I looking for?
December 7, 2015 1:47 PM Subscribe
I need something that can connect to the internet by WiFi, and to my receiver by standard RCA connectors. Ideally, I'd like to be able to select and control the music by a web interface or phone app, and be able to play music from my laptop as well as from various internet streaming services. What's the best option out there?
This similar question from 2006 was helpful, but is now way out of date.
This similar question from 2006 was helpful, but is now way out of date.
Apple Airport Express + stereo to RCA cable?
posted by Confess, Fletch at 1:51 PM on December 7, 2015
posted by Confess, Fletch at 1:51 PM on December 7, 2015
Best answer: It's expensive, but the best option in terms of "it just works" is Sonos.
When I first started using streaming digital audio -- 99% of the time from my media collection stored locally, but occasionally from an Internet service -- I used an Airport Express. Using it, you can stream audio from an iTunes library (and maybe from an iOS device now?) to whatever you plug the Express' audio into (and last I checked, they supported both RCA and pure digital connections).
This worked okay, but was prone to dropouts (and our house is great for wifi otherwise), and the lag when controlling it from the iOS "Remote" app was pretty terrible. You envision yourself whipping out your phone and changing the song in a second or two, but it doesn't work that way -- when you wake up your phone and go back to the Remote app, it still takes a second or two to connect. It's annoying.
I eventually got fed up enough (mostly about the dropouts) that I jumped ship to the Cadillac of these systems, Sonos, and the quality of experience is much, much better -- but that comes at a cost.
Upsides vs. Airport Express:
That's a lot more than an Airport Express, but IMO it's well worth it IF that kind of spend is an option for you -- especially since it opens the door to pretty simple "whole home" audio.
posted by uberchet at 2:42 PM on December 7, 2015 [4 favorites]
When I first started using streaming digital audio -- 99% of the time from my media collection stored locally, but occasionally from an Internet service -- I used an Airport Express. Using it, you can stream audio from an iTunes library (and maybe from an iOS device now?) to whatever you plug the Express' audio into (and last I checked, they supported both RCA and pure digital connections).
This worked okay, but was prone to dropouts (and our house is great for wifi otherwise), and the lag when controlling it from the iOS "Remote" app was pretty terrible. You envision yourself whipping out your phone and changing the song in a second or two, but it doesn't work that way -- when you wake up your phone and go back to the Remote app, it still takes a second or two to connect. It's annoying.
I eventually got fed up enough (mostly about the dropouts) that I jumped ship to the Cadillac of these systems, Sonos, and the quality of experience is much, much better -- but that comes at a cost.
Upsides vs. Airport Express:
- The Sonos system state is apparently maintained by the Sonos system itself; the controller app on your phone, your iPad, or your laptop is just the interface. This makes it a bit more seamless.
- Sonos works on a "queue" basis -- you just add songs or whole albums to the queue, and let it roll. You can manipulate the queue once it's rolling, too, to skip songs or re-order it or whatever. I find this to be a better paradigm than iTunes' playlists-or-albums-or-tracks approach.
- Sonos can talk to a host of online music services, too (Apple Music is coming), and your queue can include songs from any available music source (assuming the music source allows it -- I don't think you can do it with Pandora, e.g., but you can with Spotify).
- Sonos creates its own proprietary wireless mesh network, and each device is a repeater of sorts. This means it's not competing with your web browsing or downloads or whatever, which is great. We went from frequent dropouts to not having any at all.
- Because Sonos offers stand-alone speakers, you can extend your music into other rooms very, very simply -- you just need a place to put one of their speakers and a power outlet. The system keeps it all in sync, if you want to play the same thing -- but you can also address different zones at the same time.
- As an added bonus, you can configure some of the speakers to work as a stereo pair instead of singletons. I replaced the full-stack stereo in my office with a pair of Play:1 speakers, and I couldn't be happier.
That's a lot more than an Airport Express, but IMO it's well worth it IF that kind of spend is an option for you -- especially since it opens the door to pretty simple "whole home" audio.
posted by uberchet at 2:42 PM on December 7, 2015 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Great ideas, thanks! Both of these might work well for me.
Could an Airport Express work with a non-Apple WiFi network? (I've heard that the Time Capsule version can only join an existing network if it's an Apple base station.)
Does the Chromecast play nice with iPhones and a largely Apple environment?
(On (failure to) preview, the Sonos looks great too, I'll have to look into it as well. Thanks!)
posted by Zonker at 2:42 PM on December 7, 2015
Could an Airport Express work with a non-Apple WiFi network? (I've heard that the Time Capsule version can only join an existing network if it's an Apple base station.)
Does the Chromecast play nice with iPhones and a largely Apple environment?
(On (failure to) preview, the Sonos looks great too, I'll have to look into it as well. Thanks!)
posted by Zonker at 2:42 PM on December 7, 2015
We love our Sonos. It's so daggum expensive, but it totally "just works", the company has enjoyed a great reputation for many years (it gets a mention in that 2006 thread, and hardware of that vintage will still work with the new stuff, seamlessly), and it sounds great. If you can afford it, absolutely go with the Sonos.
posted by hollyholly at 2:49 PM on December 7, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by hollyholly at 2:49 PM on December 7, 2015 [3 favorites]
Airport Express and Airport Extreme are two different things, and it sounds like you're thinking of the Extreme. But at any rate, I can confirm that you can hang an Airport express off a non-Apple Wifi node and use it to get music from your computer to your stereo.
It has a mini jack that serves for both analog and optical; all you would need is a cable that costs a few bucks.
If you have iTunes on your computer and an iPhone, there's a "remote" app from Apple that lets you control iTunes. There apparently are some equivalents for Android, but not from Apple themselves.
posted by adamrice at 2:58 PM on December 7, 2015
It has a mini jack that serves for both analog and optical; all you would need is a cable that costs a few bucks.
If you have iTunes on your computer and an iPhone, there's a "remote" app from Apple that lets you control iTunes. There apparently are some equivalents for Android, but not from Apple themselves.
posted by adamrice at 2:58 PM on December 7, 2015
Does the Chromecast play nice with iPhones and a largely Apple environment?
Chromecast will work well with iPhones, or even a web browser, it's the apps that have to support it. So if you rely on iTunes nfor music playback, this will be a problem.
posted by zabuni at 3:01 PM on December 7, 2015
Chromecast will work well with iPhones, or even a web browser, it's the apps that have to support it. So if you rely on iTunes nfor music playback, this will be a problem.
posted by zabuni at 3:01 PM on December 7, 2015
You envision yourself whipping out your phone and changing the song in a second or two, but it doesn't work that way -- when you wake up your phone and go back to the Remote app, it still takes a second or two to connect. It's annoying.
This works fine now in my experience, because you just Airplay to the Airport Express (or AppleTV -- same deal) from the Music app on your phone or iPad. So changing songs is as easy as it is to change songs when you're listinening on headphones, etc. I haven't used the "Remote" app in years. I just play songs from my local library on my phone, Apple Music, Spotify, or the SiriusXM app -- any audio source on the phone works the same way via Airplay.
FWIW I never have dropouts in the house; I do sometimes if I'm in the far reaches of the back yard, where the wifi is weaker. I will agree, though, that it is more sensitive to wifi quality than it seems like it should be, and this is going to be highly dependent on your specific network.
Still, the Sonos is a much nicer setup, and that's generally what I'd steer people towards, but I think the Airport/AppleTV solution is a little better than it was last time you tried it.
posted by primethyme at 3:44 PM on December 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
This works fine now in my experience, because you just Airplay to the Airport Express (or AppleTV -- same deal) from the Music app on your phone or iPad. So changing songs is as easy as it is to change songs when you're listinening on headphones, etc. I haven't used the "Remote" app in years. I just play songs from my local library on my phone, Apple Music, Spotify, or the SiriusXM app -- any audio source on the phone works the same way via Airplay.
FWIW I never have dropouts in the house; I do sometimes if I'm in the far reaches of the back yard, where the wifi is weaker. I will agree, though, that it is more sensitive to wifi quality than it seems like it should be, and this is going to be highly dependent on your specific network.
Still, the Sonos is a much nicer setup, and that's generally what I'd steer people towards, but I think the Airport/AppleTV solution is a little better than it was last time you tried it.
posted by primethyme at 3:44 PM on December 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
I get that it apparently works better now, but that path seems to require you to play FROM your phone, rather than playing from your complete library which is what I wanted to be able to do.
I'm also baffled as to our dropout problem. I guess we just have too many things vying for the wifi; it's not like we're in a plaster-walled house or something.
posted by uberchet at 3:55 PM on December 7, 2015
I'm also baffled as to our dropout problem. I guess we just have too many things vying for the wifi; it's not like we're in a plaster-walled house or something.
posted by uberchet at 3:55 PM on December 7, 2015
Response by poster: Sounds like Sonos is the way to go for me -- thanks everyone!
posted by Zonker at 5:30 PM on December 7, 2015
posted by Zonker at 5:30 PM on December 7, 2015
I had a bunch of random solutions and none of them were perfect. My mom just sent me a new Sonos Play 5 and goddamn it, it's perfect. The Sonos playbar (the TV soundbar) is also amazing and functions as another speaker for the entire system -- I want that too.
posted by barnone at 5:47 PM on December 7, 2015
posted by barnone at 5:47 PM on December 7, 2015
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