Is it possible to buy/build an Airplay "antenna" more cheap than an Airport Express?

[kavika411]

Hi. Thanks for reading this. I enjoy fiddling around with speakers, and I'm excited about the newest incarnation of Airplay/Airport technology from Apple. I know that I can buy a new or used Airport Express to fairly easily get music from my Mac or iOS device to a set of speakers. However, what I am wondering - as someone with little-to-no understanding of "protocols" and (what I call) "wifi antennas" - is whether I can more cheaply buy or build that one little "antenna"-1/8 female jack. To put it another way, is there another, cheaper way, besides buying an Airport Express, Airport Extreme, Apple TV or Airplay-enabled speaker to capture an Airport stream?

Here's why I ask. I have access to a group of small, but impressive speakers. They are essentially powered bookshelf speakers. I would like to open them up, and stick - what I call - an Airplay antenna in there and close it back up. I'd prefer to do it more cheaply, and in a smaller size, than buying an Airport Express. Is that possible?

Hope my question makes sense. Thanks for anyone's thoughts.

 

[hitekalex]

Never heard of anyone doing "DYI" AirPlay. AirPlay is not open source - a client requires a license from Apple. If external AEX really bothers you - there are AirPlay-enabled speakers out there.

At the end, I am pretty certain you are going to end up spending a lot more than $50-$60 bucks that a used AEX will cost you.

 

[kavika411]

Never heard of anyone doing "DYI" AirPlay. AirPlay is not open source - a client requires a license from Apple. If external AEX really bothers you - there are AirPlay-enabled speakers out there.

At the end, I am pretty certain you are going to end up spending a lot more than $50-$60 bucks that a used AEX will cost you.

Thanks for your response. I was afraid that might be the case.

Honestly, it's not as much about the money, but the space. If I can find $50 used Airport Expresses, that's great, and I'll probably go down that path. But for this project, I want to put all the "innards" inside the speaker, and there isn't enough space for (even something as small as) an Airport Express.

But again, thanks for responding.