Audio: Does iTV work like an Airport Express?

[rwobrien]

My Airport Express bit the dust and I miss it dearly. I loved being able to send my iPhone audio to my stereo without any effort.

I really don't need the Airport Express access point functionality (got that covered), but I do want to EASILY send my audio to my stereo without having to pull up an application on the TV screen. Will iTV do this? can I just set it on audio toss my music to it without having to access it each time?

Thanks

 

[HellDiverUK]

iTV? Whats that then?

If you mean AppleTV, then it'll work the same way. ATV1 has analogue or optical outputs for your stereo, or HDMI, ATV2 uses either optical digital or HDMI only, so you'd either need a receiver or your TV on, or a DAC.

 

[DustinT]

Yup, the Apple TV is a great system to do this. I use it all the time for Airplay from my Macs and iPhones. Since it is a digital connection the audio quality is terrific. I doubt it could be beat for $99.

 

[rwobrien]

Good to know

Thanks, guys..

Just to clarify...I can set up the Apple TV device and I will not have to launch it each time I simply want to play some music? I don't wish to have to turn on the TV and set anything each time I have a hankerin' to listen to Kelly Clarkson (not). I just want it always ready to use airplay to send the audio to my stereo.

Thanks,
R

 

[machpost]

Thanks, guys..

Just to clarify...I can set up the Apple TV device and I will not have to launch it each time I simply want to play some music? I don't wish to have to turn on the TV and set anything each time I have a hankerin' to listen to Kelly Clarkson (not). I just want it always ready to use airplay to send the audio to my stereo.

Thanks,
R

Correct. The Apple TV 2 will wake up when you turn on airplay in iTunes or on an iOS device, and I'm pretty sure it will go into standby automatically after a period of inactivity. This is not the case with the original Apple TV, though.

 

[alexandero]

As my Airport Express died two days ago and I'm also looking for a replacement to stream music to my stereo (too bad my Time Capsule has no audio port), I'd like to chime in with a question: does the current AppleTV require a TV for setup or regular (audio only) usage? I don't have a TV...

http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html does not mention a TV in the system requirements, but http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/apple_tv does say "High-definition TV with HDMI and capable of 720p" in the "What you need" section.

PS: of course I could also buy an Airport Express for streaming audio. But it's out of stock in many places and about to be replaced by a new revision soon as it seems. Also, maybe I'll buy a cheap TV if I can find an easy way to stream (non iTunes) videos to it, and/or if AppleTV is Siri-capable or able to run apps on the screen once it's updated with a not yet released iOS version.

 

[Tinmania]

Correct. The Apple TV 2 will wake up when you turn on airplay in iTunes or on an iOS device, and I'm pretty sure it will go into standby automatically after a period of inactivity. This is not the case with the original Apple TV, though.

Standby time is a configurable option from 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, 10 hours, and never.

But it will wake on Airplay.



Michael

 

[vader_slri]

As my Airport Express died two days ago and I'm also looking for a replacement to stream music to my stereo (too bad my Time Capsule has no audio port), I'd like to chime in with a question: does the current AppleTV require a TV for setup or regular (audio only) usage? I don't have a TV...

You need a TV to complete the setup process (set up Wifi and Homesharing). Once that stuff is inputted, you don't need a TV for audio-only usage.

 

[alexandero]

You need a TV to complete the setup process (set up Wifi and Homesharing). Once that stuff is inputted, you don't need a TV for audio-only usage.

Oh that would be bad news. I certainly won't buy a TV just for the 5 minutes of the wifi setup. Are you sure there's no way around it, can't I plug it into my Mac and run the setup from the Mac?

 

[waw74]

If you have a hdmi monitor that will work. but you do need a display of some kind to get it working.

Also, the appletv has no analog audio out, so you must have an optical input on your stereo, or buy an optical to analog adaptor.

 

[alexandero]

If you have a hdmi monitor that will work. but you do need a display of some kind to get it working.

Also, the appletv has no analog audio out, so you must have an optical input on your stereo, or buy an optical to analog adaptor.

I do have an optical input on my stereo (but thanks for that note!).

But besides my MacBook Air, a MacBook Pro, a Time Capsule, an iPhone, a stereo, a printer and a now defunct Airport Express, I don't own any other electronics (well, I do have a fridge if that counts...).

If I can setup iPhones and Airport Express/Time Capsule hardware from my Mac, why can't I do so for another iOS running gadget that has a USB and an Ethernet port? That's really frustrating and un-apple-esque.

 

[Dan--]

I hear your pain, and it seems like it could be useful. However, it is designed primarily to be an interface to a TV.

I myself would like to have local storage available to help with listening to music. I don't want to have to have a computer on and hogging iTunes to access my lossless library. But that's the way it is right now.

 

[gtmac]

Get a used AE on eBay for dirt cheap! I have two and an ATV2 and it's perfect for whole house music.

 

[alexandero]

I hear your pain, and it seems like it could be useful. However, it is designed primarily to be an interface to a TV.

I wouldn't have looked into Apple TV if I hadn't noticed that Airport Express hardware is not in stock at many places. Amazon does not sell them any more, neither do a couple of local resellers.

For some reason I'm finding it hard to convince myself that paying 99,- for a two year old AirPlay receiver with a comparable feature set to the 2004 revision is a good deal.

After all, I basically just need hardware that will convert an audio stream delivered via ethernet to an (optical) audio out, using the AirPlay logic so it shows up on iTunes and my iPhone. I don't need a router, wlan, usb or anything else. Just ethernet in, digital audio out.

 

[alexandero]

Get a used AE on eBay for dirt cheap! I have two and an ATV2 and it's perfect for whole house music.

Dirt cheap? eBay currently suggests a price of $55-65. Obviously that's cheaper than a new one, but it's without any guarantee, and not really cheap either. Maybe I should start trusting sellers instead of thinking about the statistical chance of being ripped off when buying electronics via eBay...

 

[gtmac]

Dirt cheap? eBay currently suggests a price of $55-65. Obviously that's cheaper than a new one, but it's without any guarantee, and not really cheap either. Maybe I should start trusting sellers instead of thinking about the statistical chance of being ripped off when buying electronics via eBay...

Get an older g series instead of the n perfect for audio. Try less than $40 and there isn't much that can go wrong. Buy from someone with good feedback. Live a little. I bought two of the older generations for $50 each a year ago. To me that is cheap and PayPal protection in the event of a DOA.

 

[paulrbeers]

Or buy one refurbished from Apple.com for 69.99 with full warranty. That's what I've been doing. I've purchased 2 (1 is used daily for streaming music).