AirPlay 2 - still missing some details

[akovano]

I'm planning out a whole-house audio setup and considering AirPlay 2 against Sonos, Squeezebox server with Raspberry Pi's, etc. But I'm still unable to find out specifics about the multi-room capabilities of AirPlay 2.

I'm wondering if Airplay 2 can do the following (I realize I need the appropriate hardware for this, I'm just concerned about the software/control capabilities):

1) Stream different music to different rooms at the same time. For example, can it play reggae on the back patio and easy listening upstairs where my wife is working, all controllable from my iphone?

2) Can it sync the audio to different rooms? For example, can I play reggae on the back patio, and select the kitchen as well, and have it play in sync so walking from the kitchen to outside does not change the music?

Thanks for any answers..

 

[feuerdrache]

I'm planning out a whole-house audio setup and considering AirPlay 2 against Sonos, Squeezebox server with Raspberry P

Hi there,
I can not tell you about Airplay 2, but I can tell you about multiple raspberry pi and AirPlay as I have three in my house.
I use Raspbian and a software called shairplay-sync (https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync).
It works synchronous in multiple,rooms, when I select them in iTunes.

Here you find som infos regarding shairport-sync and AirPlay 2.

Hope it helps.

Regards
Fd

 

[eoblaed]

Hi there,
I can not tell you about Airplay 2, but I can tell you about multiple raspberry pi and AirPlay as I have three in my house.
I use Raspbian and a software called shairplay-sync (https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync).
It works synchronous in multiple,rooms, when I select them in iTunes.

Here you find som infos regarding shairport-sync and AirPlay 2.

Hope it helps.

Regards
Fd

I know this isn’t authoritative, but: https://recombu.com/mobile/article/what-is-airplay-2

“This means you can connect multiple speakers to Apple's Home app and control them all from that one place. You can have these multiple speakers play the same music or different tunes, it's all up to you.”

I see a ton of comparisons between Airplay 2 and Sonos, and I know Sonos does the music sync thing you’re interested in ... I’d be shocked if Airplay 2 dropped the ball there.

I’ve used Sonos, and while I enjoy the sound quality, especially when I have a pair of them in the same room, synchronized, I hate the fact that I can only play music from the Sonos app. That makes it pretty limiting for my use case.

 

[symphony]

1) Stream different music to different rooms at the same time. For example, can it play reggae on the back patio and easy listening upstairs where my wife is working, all controllable from my iphone?

2) Can it sync the audio to different rooms? For example, can I play reggae on the back patio, and select the kitchen as well, and have it play in sync so walking from the kitchen to outside does not change the music?

1) Yes

2) Yes

 

[PhilippLA]

What I'm wondering is if Apple has even included the multi room feature in any of the most recent betas yet. When Apple released the first beta for iOS 11 they said that the multiroom feature would be added later on. Since then I haven't heard anything about it. Is it even included in beta 7 yet? If not I doubt we will see it in the public release of iOS 11.

 

[symphony]

What I'm wondering is if Apple has even included the multi room feature in any of the most recent betas yet. When Apple released the first beta for iOS 11 they said that the multiroom feature would be added later on. Since then I haven't heard anything about it. Is it even included in beta 7 yet? If not I doubt we will see it in the public release of iOS 11.

I don’t think they included AirPlay 2 yet, just like how peer to peer Apple Pay isn’t available yet.

However if you’re right about them added it later in the beta, that makes me excited. As we can see how having multiple Now Playing tabs works, since our Apple TV converts speakers into AirPlay 2 speakers.