2 MacBooks 2 iPhones, music in one place. What are the setups?

[ssajous]

I have a MacBook Pro and my wife has a MacBook. We each have an iPhone 4. I would love to have our music in one place and when we sync with iTunes we would both have access to that same source.

Can people in similar situations post what they have done to achieve this?

Thanks

 

[Hellhammer]

NAS is probably your best bet so you can both access the files in it over your home network. As a free option, you could just enable file sharing so you can access the files in her computer and vice versa

 

[CountBrass]

I have a similar problem. I tried a NAS but it was too slow- it was going to take 2 weeks just to copy all my iTunes stuff over! My network isn't that slow, it was the NAS. (Also, despite their claims, most NASs are not Mac friendly).

So my current solution is to have the library on my Mac Pro, shared so the other Macs can all see the content and play it. I synch all the families iPods from thar Mac (can't synch on another Mac from the shared library- which is annoying). And we hav e one iTMS account for the family.

Edward

 

[mikepro]

NAS is one solution, (your speed problems not withstanding). The problem with that is then you don't have the music when your laptop isn't on your home network.

I would just use the Home Sharing features of Itunes, and keep libraries on both machines. With home sharing, each machine can see the others library and copy any songs, apps, etc. from the other. You need to use the same iTunes account on both machines for this to work best.

 

[nospeed411]

I use the home sharing method in our house but thinking of transferring all of it to the 1tb remote drive thats hooked up to the Airport extreme. We both share the same iTunes account which kinda is a pain since our music tastes are completely different.

 

[CosmoPilot]

I agree with the Home Sharing method (which I just learned about this past week). Here's how it works. Just enable Home Sharing on each computer. Then click on settings, (in Home Share) and enable new content to be transferred automatically to your computer. Then do the same on your wife's computer. Now, anytime your wife purchases content (and the new content ends up on her computer...either through an iPhone transfer or from purchasing directly with her computer), the content will get sent to your computer. The same will apply to her computer.

Since I have a large music library, I use the recently added playlist (set to two weeks), as a means to identify what is new and what isn't. If I like a song my wife purchased (which is in the recently added playlist), I just added to my personal playlists. You can setup a smart playlist like this to suit your family's needs.

Pros:
* You'll have a dual back-up of iTunes content (your computer & your wife's).
* You can do a TM backups and have 3 backups
* If something happens to either computer, you can easily drag and drop content from one computer to the next (via Home Sharing...even over WiFi).
* No need to worry about your server crashing...which effects both of you.
* With a WiFi already running, no additional cost & super easy to set up.
* If you stream to ATV, you'll have all the content on each computer in case its needed.

Cons:
* You both must have iTunes opened up on each computer at the same time for Home Sharing to detect and transfer new content to each computer.
* If you purchase content on your iPhone, you must transfer to your computer, then do the step above.
* Less portable in terms of taking your library to another computer at work, etc.
* Requires a bit more management to ensure you share similar likes. In other words, if you purchase something your wife would like, best to remember to tell her so she can look for it when your Home Sharing transfers your content. Could be hard to recognize new stuff from one computer to the next (of course, this would be a con for any setup).

In my house, we have 3 Laptops (mine, my wife's and my daughters) and a desktop computer. We have 3 iPhones. We all share the same AppleID. Therefore, we have a very wide range of tastes represented in all are libraries. However, I don't mind having my daughters content in my library because it acts a second backup in case something happens to her computer, etc.

I'd give it a try since there is no up front cost and see if you like it...I sure do!

Cosmo

 

[dekka007]

Slink.

Works very well and allows u to access your shared itunes library at home anywhere in the world without the need to store it locally on your HD.

all of a sudden the 64GB Macbook Air may have large enough storage capacity after all.

Can stream HD movies/tv shows direct - Of course depends on your upload bandwidth at home and your download bandwidth at your location.

I just use Screen sharing now to purchase itunes content on the home machine then stream using slink to wherever i am.