ATV just for music?

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Airport Express may also work for you. You'll just have to control the music from iTunes on your computer. I have one and it works great.

dork420 said:

Hey

I have a nice Imac in my den and a sweet sounding system in my living room. Since all my music is now digital I would love to just stream from my computer to sound system. I'm sick of getting up , pulling my Ipod out of the dock, searching, plugging it back it, then getting back up when I want something different.

Is apple TV my only option?

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Other than an airport express, there are several third-party options that work. Personally I have a Roku Soundbridge, which does the job just fine and sounds pretty damned good.

I'll admit, though, that I'm planning to upgrade to an ATV in due course

AppleTV works very nicely for this. Also, you can sync your music to the AppleTV and then your computer doesn't even have to be on.

dork420 said:

Hey

I have a nice Imac in my den and a sweet sounding system in my living room. Since all my music is now digital I would love to just stream from my computer to sound system. I'm sick of getting up , pulling my Ipod out of the dock, searching, plugging it back it, then getting back up when I want something different.

Is apple TV my only option?

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Tat was one of the reasons why I bought it. Then I also use it to display my photography, rather than buying a 13" inc digital picture frame.
Once you own it, you will want to do more with it (e.g. hack it) and youwill LOVE it.

dork420 said:

that's what I figured.
in real life is the music interface "good enough"? Also is the sound quality ok?
If and when I can effectively use the internet without a hack , it's a no brainer.

BTW- Love your city. I myself am a Vermonter

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The music interface and sound quality seem fine to me.

bamf said:

The music interface and sound quality seem fine to me.

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Seconded !

I have a second one for an outdoor speaker setup. And when it's going to get warm this summer I hook it up to a projector,put up a sheet, and enjoy the outdoor theater. So the extras come in handy.

I bought both of mine used for under $150 each. Very close in price to the express.

From my testing, audio from an tv sounds much better than audio from an AirPort Express with both connected via optical cable.

Sound on Apple TV

I went through this process a few weeks ago.

I have to tell you after some very serious work comparing the sound against the original CD me and all my audiophile friends could not hear an iota of difference between the cd and the stream from the ATV.

The really cool thing though is the interface. It's just so easy when you can see your playlists on a huge(in my case anyway) 40" screen.

I wouldn't mind a volume control, but apart form that 10 out of 10 for me and I'm very picky.

Chas

The quality of the audio from the AppleTV is only limited by the quality of the source material. It will sound as good as if you connected the digital audio output from your computer right to the receiver.

I find that the user interface for audio is adequate for my needs. I mostly just select a playlist and tell it to shuffle the songs. However, it is fairly crude and not nearly as powerful as what you can do with iTunes. If you want to do more than simply play a playlist, you might find the interface to be inadequate.

frankiepdx said:

I have a second one for an outdoor speaker setup. And when it's going to get warm this summer I hook it up to a projector,put up a sheet, and enjoy the outdoor theater. So the extras come in handy.

I bought both of mine used for under $150 each. Very close in price to the express.

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A projector... outdoors? I can't even see a decent projector in my front room during the day, let alone outdoors.

One of my original reasons for purchasing my Apple TV was for your (op's) exact reason: to hear my digital music in my living room through my AV gear.

Accessibility (scrolling, selecting, playlists, etc.) through the Apple TV is excellent.

Sound quality is excellent.

For a discussion on the actual audio quality you hear, see this thread (and most other threads to which Avatar has contributed):
Look for Avatar's post in this thread.

dork420 said:

If it's as good as navigating on an Ipod , then I would be satisfied

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I would say it's a small step below iPod navigation. I'm not saying it's bad, just that, if you have concerns, you might want to try one before buying. I'm very happy with it.

mchalebk said:

I would say it's a small step below iPod navigation. I'm not saying it's bad, just that, if you have concerns, you might want to try one before buying. I'm very happy with it.

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I can't agree with you, here. I think it's easier to use than an iPod. You don't have to spin your finger around the wheel to get to the bottom of the list -- you just hold the down arrow on the remote.

MikieMikie said:

I can't agree with you, here. I think it's easier to use than an iPod. You don't have to spin your finger around the wheel to get to the bottom of the list -- you just hold the down arrow on the remote.

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I wasn't commenting on the "ease" of navigation as much as the level of control. In my opinion, an iPod gives you slightly more options. For instance, the AppleTV pretty much just lets you select a playlist. You can than either select "shuffle songs" or pick a song to start with. On an iPod, you can choose to play by artist or song.

Once again, I'm not saying it's a bad interface; quite the opposite. However, some people might want more control than it offers.

Killyp said:

A projector... outdoors? I can't even see a decent projector in my front room during the day, let alone outdoors.

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That's why I do it on a warm night.

I had several xpress units for streaming my audio throughout the house (4 total, hooked to various systems), and have since swapped out 3 of them for aTVs. For rooms with monitors, its nice to show the artwork and track info while listening to music. Great for parties when I have a huge playlist of random music going, guests can see who it is by checking the screen. On top of the music aspect, you get rentals, rip your dvds & tv shows to it, and have podcasts on your tv. Its really nice. I LOVE mine.

frankiepdx said:

That's why I do it on a warm night.

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does the temperature make it brighter?

youd be suprised how much ambient light is around at night- houses, street lights, landscape lighting....(unless you live in a rural area).

I bought an TV specifically for audio, never intending to use it for video (I have a 4:3 tv that does not do widescreen). I had a Roku Soundbridge before that worked quite well, was small, and had a very nice interface for searching; unfortunately, the only display was too small to see from my couch. The TV does what I intended it to do, but its interface (although very nice on a large 50" tv) is quite crude IMHO, so you might want to try before you buy. I just wish they would add a search function; I suppose I should make some more playlists, but I hate playlists. I don't know what you currently have, and I'm sure you already know this, but the TV requires a tv with component (not composite) or hdmi inputs, and it would be much better if that tv had support for widescreen mode, otherwise the video (even the menu) will look squished and not very pleasant. Just my 2 cents.

Lebowski said:

does the temperature make it brighter?

youd be suprised how much ambient light is around at night- houses, street lights, landscape lighting....(unless you live in a rural area).

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I was saying that because I was asked about using a projector outdoors. Temperature is not an issue. But darkness is.

Darkness makes it brighter. We use it on warm summer nights for movies when we invite people over just for the fun of it. The drive-ins are all shut down around here now so it can be fun to take your audio and video outside.

Live right in the center of Portland OR. Streetlights are everywhere. Not even an issue. Also in the NW there are trees everywhere so the streetlights just illuminate the streets. My backyard is almost pitch black at night.

Lots of people do the outdoor theater regardless of their surroundings. http://backyardtheater.com/

Yes, it's great for music.

if you have an iphone or ipod touch, you can use alloysoft's signal or iospirit's remote buddy as a remote control for itunes.

this would allow you to remotely control the music via airtunes using either an airport express or an apple tv (without having to turn your tv on).