AirportExpress Control

[petecallaghan]

(2010-01-04 19:58)rob29 Wrote:  Pete,

I think I meant just hooking a cable from the laptop audio-out to the 5103 digital input... assuming it's a toslink output on the laptop.

I don't think you get Album Art Work with a shared library... I don't recall seeing it.
I'll check.

I was assuming you were using wi-fi to connect to the Airport Express... from the original PC and eventually possibly the laptop.

Good fun, ain't it?

rob29

It is - for very little money (and quite a bit of fiddling time) I now have a source that has become my primary background music source but still sounds quite acceptable. Once I've sorted out the usability I think I'm there.

I'm surprised the cheap little Airport Express can compete so well with my comfortably expensive Arcam DVD player. I think the DV88 cost the same as 8 AE's! The Arcam connects via coax digital to the AV 5103, whereas the Aiport Express connects via optical toslink+coax converter into coax and has to pull the audio files via a cheap-as-chips hub connected over freebie powerline adaptors to the main PC.

I would have expected the Arcam to be better than the AE in that arrangement. Maybe I should make room for a Linn DS some day . . .

[rob29]

I was amazed also... I got my AE when they were just £55 and I toslink into the Dig5 on the 5103. I use it wirelessly from the main iMac upstairs; it is 90% as good as the Ikemi; the Ikemi is just a tad more spacious and better in the bass, but not by much - though not enough for me to sell it on.

It's certainly good for paving the way for a DS system; I now take greater care over the i-Tunes library and the family is getting use to the idea of using the i-touch to get music. I actually compared my Apple TV to the AE into the same 5103 digital input; dunno why, but it didn't sound as good to me which is a shame as the AppleTV has many other pluspoints.

[mcgillroy]

yes airport express + 5103 is poor mans ds and very easy to setup and use via itunes. had that too for a while but now switched to ps3.

soundwise the difference is small, ps3 is a tad better. and no more dropouts like with ae, plus I can watch blu-ray movies too.

also airport express compresses the music to apple lossless before transmission. whether this has audible effects or not is subject to debate. a ps3 will give you the uncompressed audio in almost any format and resolution. the limiting factor is the dac in the 5103, which can't decode higher than 24/96.

I had a ds for comparison in my system and ds is clearly better. saving pennies now...

[petecallaghan]

(2010-01-05 10:44)rob29 Wrote:  Kairn Pro + 2 LK140s lying dormant until new plan hatches.

Sell them and buy a Majik DS?

[rob29]

(2010-01-05 12:43)mcgillroy Wrote:  also airport express compresses the music to apple lossless before transmission. whether this has audible effects or not is subject to debate. a ps3 will give you the uncompressed audio in almost any format and resolution. the limiting factor is the dac in the 5103, which can't decode higher than 24/96.

Hi... thought about the PS3; how d'you get it to see the iTunes? Do you need some software? I have a feeling it can't play the i-Tunes downloaded content due to copy protection.

I've tried 24/96 on my 5103 and it wont play this level? Any reason why?

[bjmccoy50]

Pete
You might find this will work for you.
KeySpan Airport Express Remote Model # URM-17A: http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/mod...delID=3911

Cheers

Blaine

[petecallaghan]

(2010-01-05 19:04)bjmccoy50 Wrote:  You might find this will work for you.
KeySpan Airport Express Remote Model # URM-17A: http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/mod...delID=3911

Thx Blaine - I hadn't seen that. I can see that being useful as a basic stop/start/pause control.

[mcgillroy]

(2010-01-05 13:34)rob29 Wrote:  Hi... thought about the PS3; how d'you get it to see the iTunes? Do you need some software? I have a feeling it can't play the i-Tunes downloaded content due to copy protection.

I've tried 24/96 on my 5103 and it wont play this level? Any reason why?

currently simply using the ps3 interface to access music served via twonky from a qnap-209pro nas. very simple setup and works pretty much as advertised.

afaik there is software to stitch together itunes with the ps3, so that itunes becomes the control point, even making remote control via ipod touch possible. haven't looked into that enough yet.

itunes downloads won't work, thats why I use amazon mp3 store or others.

the ps3 interface is pretty good imho but you will need to have the tv/monitor on to use it.

[petecallaghan]

Just an update on this topic.

I've been using PlayerPal for a while now. It allows any browser (that supports Javascript) to control iTunes on a remote PC.

I've tested it on a variety of devices:

1. Windows Laptop
2. HTC Touch HD 2 - Windows Mobile 6.5
3. HTC Windows Mobile 5 (BT)
   

It doesn't work with the Windows Mobile 5 because that version of Internet Explorer does not support Javascript. However it works fine with the laptop and the HTC Touch.

In principle PlayerPal should work with most smartphones released in the last couple of years, because it only needs Javascript and XHTML.



You can browse the whole iTunes album library. It offers browsing by artist, genre or year.

What it does:

1. Browse albums by artist, genre or year
2. Search artists
3. Toggle shuffle or repeat
4. Add or remove tracks to the PlayerPal playlist
5. Basic controls: volume, play, pause, track skip
6. Display current track playing with album art
7. Play from playlists
8. Play from Current Genius Playlist or iTunes DJ
9. Play from radio and the rest of the library
   

What it doesn't do:

1. Edit playlists other than the dedicated PlayerPal playlist
2. Control Genius
   

You have to have the iTunes PC up and running, with iTunes running and the PlayerPal server running.

It is v easy to use, and passes the acid test: even my daughters can use it

The only irritation is that it can be slow to respond to commands. For example, adding an album to the playlist can take a good 20 seconds and it is not clear that something is happening.

However, my family now have simple access to all my music and as a result it's getting a lot of use. Job done!

(I corrected this entry because I discovered you can access most of the other playlists. They were hidden behind a very unfriendly '...' link. Not a great usability feature!)

[mcgillroy]

looks cool - thx for that!