Speaker zones to recieve wifi music from iTunes... how?
deano
my kitchen, I lowered the ceilings in both rooms, so that I could
install, low voltage, recessed spots.
At the same time, I took the opportunity to also install flush mounted,
boat speakers in both rooms. I ran the wiring to emerge at the back of
my TV, where I connected up to the auxillary speaker ports and could
then access the radio stations available through Sky digital, to enjoy
in the two rooms, fed by the zones.
This was great as a quick set-up but, with three young kids in the
house, I soon got fed up with constantly listening to Dora the bloody
Explorer while I showered or made breakfast!
Rather than buying a new music system to feed these two zones, I was
wondering if it would be possible (and economically viable) to set up a
system which would allow the new speaker zones, to pick up music,
wirelessley from my PowerBook G4, as this is by far the best source for
my music, as I have a large library of MP3s and there are all the radio
stations that now netcast.
I have a wireless network operating in the house and this is
distributed through a Vigor 2600G router. Rather than buying wireless
speakers, which are unlikely to allow direct replacement of the ones I
currently have in the ceiling, I am wondering if a device exists that
can connect to standard speakers, act as a receiver, and enable said
speakers to emit sound, as broadcast from my laptop's iTunes, over the
wifi network!
Can this be done or are dedicated wireless speakers the only option for
picking up wifi music?
cheerz
deerz,
deano.
Ian McCall
> This was great as a quick set-up but, with three young kids in the
> house, I soon got fed up with constantly listening to Dora the bloody
> Explorer while I showered or made breakfast!
Heathen.
> Rather than buying a new music system to feed these two zones, I was
> wondering if it would be possible (and economically viable) to set up a
> system which would allow the new speaker zones, to pick up music,
> wirelessley from my PowerBook G4, as this is by far the best source for
> my music, as I have a large library of MP3s and there are all the radio
> stations that now netcast.
An Airport Express could do that - up to you whether you decide that's
economically viable of course. If you update the firmware on your
Express then you can broadcast to multiple Expresses simultaneously
too, which should help when you're planning zones etc.
And remember, once you've set up your wireless speakers....
(da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da)
We did it. We did it. We did it. Hooray!
Cheers,
Ian
(who quite enjoys Dora the Explorer actually)
deano
Ok, but what do I need to add at the speaker ends? As I said, I'd
rather not have to disturb the current speakers! Ideally, I'd simply be
able to connect them up to a wifi receiver that is picking up music
from my laptop, via my WLAN... would the expresses be able to do this
and feed the speakers? What connections/power sources would be required
for the components?
ta,
Dean
(I also used to like DTE, but with a 6 and 3 year old, and an 8 week
old, in the house... I've been over-exposed for far too long!)
ISPgeek
"Ian McCall" <i...@eruvia.org> wrote in message
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Dora sure beats the hell outta the purple anti-christ (Barney)
Cheers!
ISPgeek
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Dmitri(Cabling-Design.com)
> cheerz
> deerz,
> deano.
I think you are much better off using a specialized device such as Sonos:
http://www.sonos.com that uses your WiFi network as a medium and takes
care of storing, accessing and then amplifying the music on the receiving
end.
--
Best Regards,
Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
http://www.cabling-design.com/
Home Cabling Guide, Cabling Forum, color codes, pinouts and other useful
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John Navas
wrote in <1164932477....@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>:
>Ian McCall wrote:
>> An Airport Express could do that - up to you whether you decide that's
>> economically viable of course. If you update the firmware on your
>> Express then you can broadcast to multiple Expresses simultaneously
>> too, which should help when you're planning zones etc.
>Ok, but what do I need to add at the speaker ends?
Amplifiers. The Airport Express can drive powered speakers directly,
but needs an amp with unpowered speakers.
--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>
UNDIES*@blueyonder.co.uk Tim Morley
"deano" <de...@yesits.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1164930288....@80g2000cwy.googlegroups.com...
Have a look at the Squeezebox system. Can run from your I-tunes library
(except if you have paid for the tracks)
I have the older (4 or so years ago) version called the SliMP3; its very
good.
auct...@sheldononline.co.uk
I'm doing a similiar thing in a bathroom I'm doing using one of these
http://www.keene.co.uk/multi.php?mycode=KLABKIT as the amplifier and
fitting a 3.5mm jack socket as the input. Music can then be played from
an airport express or from an ipod, or from anything else. Looked at
building an ipod dock into the wall, but it seemed a bit prone to
obsolescence. Also looked at dedicated built in streaming things, but
the prices didn't make sense.
A
emma...@gmail.com
amp - look in ebay or cpc for a cheapo one, and a nearby main socket.
I'm doing what you are doing in my kitchen. The airport output is a
3.5mm minijack, but thats easy enough to connect to your amp then your
speakers. £80 quid or so for the Airport express, cheaper on
ebay..However, there is a possibility of an update to the Airport range
in January (mac expo) so you might want to wait..
Emma
deano
I'd love to be able to get the Sonos system, but that's a bit beyond
the budget I have for this... maybe Santa will oblidge :)
Squeezbox looks good for the next phase, when I have some money free
next year.
For now, the Express route with AC amps to power the speakers looks
like the most appropriate route.
Cheerz
deano.
deano
> Airport Express is made to do what you want to do. It will require an
> amp - look in ebay or cpc for a cheapo one, and a nearby main socket.
> I'm doing what you are doing in my kitchen. The airport output is a
> 3.5mm minijack, but thats easy enough to connect to your amp then your
> speakers. £80 quid or so for the Airport express, cheaper on
> ebay..However, there is a possibility of an update to the Airport range
> in January (mac expo) so you might want to wait..
>
> Emma
Out of interest... my Vigor router is mounted on the wall, outside my
shower room.
As such, it would be quite a simple matter for me to hook up to one of
the ports on this.
It's a 4-port hub as well as a router and has a USB port as well (for
printer sharing).
Could I somehow connect this to an amplifier which could then power the
speakers,
in the rooms mentioned? I could control sound to these speakers by
simply installing
switches in the feed from the amp to them... I'm not that bothered
about IR control of the
zones... going further, maybe I could connect 2 amps to the router...
one for the showeroom
zone and one for the kitchen.
Before I go searching, anyone know if this is possible?
ta,
d:)
deano
killed
it, so I'm replying to my latest message here. Hopefully this will
re-instate the
thread...
John Navas
wrote in <1165142938.3...@f1g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>:
Yep. Good powered speakers also work very well;
e.g., Cambridge Sounds Works on clearance
http://www.bestspeakerdeals.com/store/category.cgi?category=bgd_spk_mul&item=c1swcume&type=store
http://www.bestspeakerdeals.com/store/category.cgi?category=bgd_spk_mul&item=l1il3500&type=store
http://www.bestspeakerdeals.com/store/category.cgi?category=bgd_spk_mul&item=c1mic2ti&type=store
http://www.bestspeakerdeals.com/store/category.cgi?category=bgd_spk_mul&item=c1mw21ee&type=store
John Navas
wrote in <1165168779.9...@n67g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>:
>emma...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Airport Express is made to do what you want to do. It will require an
>> amp - look in ebay or cpc for a cheapo one, and a nearby main socket.
>> I'm doing what you are doing in my kitchen. The airport output is a
>> 3.5mm minijack, but thats easy enough to connect to your amp then your
>> speakers. £80 quid or so for the Airport express, cheaper on
>> ebay..However, there is a possibility of an update to the Airport range
>> in January (mac expo) so you might want to wait..
>Out of interest... my Vigor router is mounted on the wall, outside my
>shower room.
>As such, it would be quite a simple matter for me to hook up to one of
>the ports on this.
>It's a 4-port hub as well as a router and has a USB port as well (for
>printer sharing).
>
>Could I somehow connect this to an amplifier which could then power the
>speakers,
>in the rooms mentioned? I could control sound to these speakers by
>simply installing
>switches in the feed from the amp to them... I'm not that bothered
>about IR control of the
>zones... going further, maybe I could connect 2 amps to the router...
>one for the showeroom
>zone and one for the kitchen.
>
>Before I go searching, anyone know if this is possible?
The Apple Airport Express can also work wired, and is what you need to
use iTunes. Highly recommended.
deano
John Navas wrote:
> The Apple Airport Express can also work wired, and is what you need to
> use iTunes. Highly recommended.
But that defeats the object!
If I'm to buy an AE (or two, or more), then I may as well use them
wirelessly!
What I was thinking about was a small amp that would do away with the
need for
an AE, and therefore the £80 or so associated for each. However, it
follows that any
amp (wireless or wired), is unlikely to be able to stream audio from
iTunes, in the way
that an AE could! When using Apple kit and iTunes, only other Apple
components are likely
to work in conjunction, and any amp would just be a slave, used to
relay the data it is fed,
to a set of connected speakers...
I think I'm putting too much onus on the amp... it's the receiver
that's the key and an iTunes compatible relationship between any ADSL
router and amplifier is unlikely to exist for under the cost of an AE
and amp combination (@ £150).
muchos thankos.
d:)
Mark McIntyre
<de...@yesits.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>
>John Navas wrote:
>
>> The Apple Airport Express can also work wired, and is what you need to
>> use iTunes. Highly recommended.
>
>But that defeats the object!
>If I'm to buy an AE (or two, or more), then I may as well use them
>wirelessly!
>What I was thinking about was a small amp that would do away with the
>need foran AE,
To be clear: to transmit music over a wireless network you need four
things:
1) an encoder to convert the MP3s or analog signals from vinyl into IP
packets.
2) a means ot inject these packets into hte wireless network.
3) a means to extract them again
4) a means to convert IP packets into analog signals to feed to your
speakers.
The iTunes s/w can do the first (so can plenty of other s/w of
course).
A wireless router connected to the Pc running iTunes can do the 2nd.
You need something like a squeezebox to do the 3rd and 4th.
--
Mark McIntyre
John Navas
<markmc...@spamcop.net> wrote in
<ehadn25mefil5o8ke...@4ax.com>:
Or Apple Airport Express, which is what iTunes software supports, and
which has both 1/8" stereo mini jack and TOSLINK optical output.