1 iTunes Library and 2 Macs Help

[downingp]

I received a mac mini for christmas and am very excited about it. In addition to the mac mini, I also have had an iMac where my iTunes library has always lived. Before the mac mini, I had an airport express and I used my remote app on my iPhone to control my music ( I thought it was a pretty slick setup). Anyway, now that I have a mac mini I was thinking I wouldn't need the airport express because I have home sharing on and have been able to access my iMac iTunes library on my mac mini without a problem. The problem and question I have is, I am not able to control the shared library on my mac mini with my remote app on my iPhone. Is there a way? The reason I want to be able to control the library on my mac mini with the remote app is my mini is hooked up to my entertainment center which has speakers going throughout the house and outside. It would be nice if I could control the home shared library on my mac mini with my remote app.
Would it be as easy as taking my iTunes library (which is on an external hard drive) and attaching it to my airport extreme so that both computer have full access to it?

Any help? Thanks.

 

[GGJstudios]

The reason I want to be able to control the library on my mac mini with the remote app is my mini is hooked up to my entertainment center which has speakers going throughout the house and outside. It would be nice if I could control the home shared library on my mac mini with my remote app.
Would it be as easy as taking my iTunes library (which is on an external hard drive) and attaching it to my airport extreme so that both computer have full access to it?

Why not connect your AirPort Express to your entertainment center, then simply play iTunes from any device and select the remote speakers? You don't need to play iTunes on any particular device to use the stereo speakers, as long as it's on the wireless network.

 

[downingp]

I was thinking I could eliminate the airport express because I now have the mac mini plugged into my entertainment center. I was also going to use the airport express in a different room

 

[GGJstudios]

I was thinking I could eliminate the airport express because I now have the mac mini plugged into my entertainment center. I was also going to use the airport express in a different room

If you do that, you'll certainly be able to use your mini with the HEC, but not any other device. It's up to you how you choose to do it, but I prefer the flexibility of being able to play music from any device in the network, rather than depend on one computer to always be available for that.

 

[Tinmania]

Another option is iTunes Match. It would let your iTunes library still live on the iMac yet be totally available on the mini via streaming or downloading. This would be controllable through the iPhone remote app too.

That is what I do with my mb air. In my case I only stream as SSD space is limited. You could do likewise on the mini. Or your could download your whole library, or just a portion--say a most liked playlist.

The nice thing about this approach is that it keeps iTunes "synced" between the macs--and all other iOS devices. So if you added a track on one it will appear in the others. Same with modifying playlists.



Michael

 

[downingp]

Another option is iTunes Match. It would let your iTunes library still live on the iMac yet be totally available on the mini via streaming or downloading. This would be controllable through the iPhone remote app too.

That is what I do with my mb air. In my case I only stream as SSD space is limited. You could do likewise on the mini. Or your could download your whole library, or just a portion--say a most liked playlist.

The nice thing about this approach is that it keeps iTunes "synced" between the macs--and all other iOS devices. So if you added a track on one it will appear in the others. Same with modifying playlists.



Michael

I was wondering if iTunes Match would be an option. I am glad to hear it works in that way. I thought iTunes Match only allowed you to download and not stream music.
My other concern about iTunes Match is how many of my tracks would actually be eligible. I wouldn't say I have a lot of smaller artists, but I do have a fair amount of music I have ripped and would hate to use up most if not all of my 5 gb of iCloud storage to upload the tracks. Is there a way to do a test run to see how many tracks would actually be recognized by iTunes Match?