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AirTunes Question

G

General D

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I am thinking of getting the wireless airtunes device. But, are there certain wireless speakers that have to be purchased that are compatible with airtunes? Also, what is the range of the air tunes and the speakers? Do I need one of these devices in every room?

Thanks
 
General D said:
I am thinking of getting the wireless airtunes device. But, are there certain wireless speakers that have to be purchased that are compatible with airtunes? Also, what is the range of the air tunes and the speakers? Do I need one of these devices in every room?

Thanks
Click to expand...

By 'wireless airtunes device' I'll assume you mean the Airport Express?

You don't need wireless speakers to connect to an Airport Express, just powered speakers.

Airport Express can be connected to a home stereo system, or a pair of battery powered speakers, via a headphone jack or optical connection. You'll probably want an Airport Express in the room (s) you want to have speakers. iTunes can be set to play in individual rooms, a selection or all, depending on how many Airport Express devices you have on your network. Range is as far as the wi-fi connection will go. AirTunes can be played via wireless or LAN cable.

We have our MP3's on my wife's Windows XP machine downstairs, via 11Mb wi-fi, running iTunes and SlimServer. We use a Slimdevice (also wifi) for downstairs and an Airport Express (LAN cable) in the study, connected to our USB printer and an older hi-fi system. We can pipe music to the study upstairs from any of our three machines (wife's plus two Macs) - via iTunes music sharing.

Not sure where you live, but have a look at Apple's refurb'd section, that's where I got ours from a couple of weeks ago and it's fine.
 
The speakers are not wireless. You plug them into the Airport Express (headphone jack). So, pretty much any speakers will work.
 
If you're talking about the Airport Express (http://www.apple.com/ca/airportexpress), then no, you don't need wireless speakers at all. You need any kind of amplified speakers (boombox, home theater, etc.) with some way to connect a mini plug input. This connects to the Airport Express directly. The only wireless link is between the Express (which is near the stereo) and your computer.

😎
 
Beware...

I have a couple of AirPort Express's connected to powered speakers or a home theater setup. Everything works fine with my brothers Powerbook and my old Sony, but with my new MacBook Pro and my brothers new MacBook, the audio won't play smoothly. It cuts out a lot. Just something to be aware of if you run an Intel mac.
 
Thanks folks. Yes, I was referring to the Airport Express. At the time I wrote the message, I was drawing a blank. I was under the impression that the airport exprss staion could 'broadcast' to wireless speakers. I want to have a party in my backyard and wireless speakers would be ideal. I live in Toronto, Canada

I'll check out the refurbished section.

Thanks
 
General D said:
Thanks folks. Yes, I was referring to the Airport Express. At the time I wrote the message, I was drawing a blank. I was under the impression that the airport exprss staion could 'broadcast' to wireless speakers. I want to have a party in my backyard and wireless speakers would be ideal. I live in Toronto, Canada

I'll check out the refurbished section.

Thanks
Click to expand...

It's a shame Apple's Hi-Fi 'speaker' doesn't come with a built-in Airtunes receiver, all battery powered. Ideal for garden parties etc, though a little pricey!
 
Airtune and speakers

If I understand previous messages, I have to buy an Apple AirPortExpress with AirTune for every pair of speakers in the house (1 per room).

Am I right?
 
solidspace said:
If I understand previous messages, I have to buy an Apple AirPortExpress with AirTune for every pair of speakers in the house (1 per room).

Am I right?
Click to expand...

well no one is saying that you HAVE to buy one for every room in the house, but you surely have to buy one for every room in the house that you wish to stream music too. If your only going to stream music to one or two rooms, there is no sense in getting an express for the other ones.
 
that raises an interesting question

I've only got one AE, and I simply move it between rooms.

It does raise the question.... is it possible to stream music to more than one AE at the same time?

You can't seem to be able to play itunes through your machines speakers and through AE at the exact same time, it's one or other... so I don't see that it's possible to select two AE's to stream too.
 
7ttman said:
It does raise the question.... is it possible to stream music to more than one AE at the same time?

You can't seem to be able to play itunes through your machines speakers and through AE at the exact same time, it's one or other... so I don't see that it's possible to select two AE's to stream too.
Click to expand...

you are correct. one cannot stream music to two airport expresses at the same time. each airport express has its own configuration (and airtunes name) in airport admin utility.

EDIT: you can indeed stream airtunes to multiple airport expresses.
 
YOu can absolutely stream to one, all or some of the speakers at the same time. You drop the menu and choose "Multiple Speakers" then i gives youa dialogue box with the speakers listed with check boxes. It works great. You can also have one computer choosing certain speakers while another chooses some of the others.

Kevin
 
7ttman said:
You can't seem to be able to play itunes through your machines speakers and through AE at the exact same time, it's one or other... so I don't see that it's possible to select two AE's to stream too.
Click to expand...

You need to update your software more often, this has been a feature since jan 2006.
 
multiple speakers

thanks for the heads up, but I can't find the "multiple speakers" option... so I assume that because I only have one AE, it's not giving me the option.... I've checked the help and my software is upto date
 
Have you checked the airport express software is up to date. It should come up with even on AE, as the computer speakers can be used as a choice in multiple speakers.
 
When I was about 15 years old (that's 40 years ago), my metal work teacher gave the class some advice.... "learn one thing each day and you'll end up a wise man"

Well today, I've learnt that if you don't logon to and configure your base station, then the software on it doesn't get updated! Now because I've had no reason to connect to my base station for at least a year, if not more, then the software has remained at a release that doesn't support "multiple speakers".

I don't understand why iTunes needs consult with an AE to allow "multiple speakers" after all, it's smart enough to know that there were already "computer speakers" and a "base station" connected so why couldn't it give me the choice? What would have been smart is for iTunes to have told me that the base station software/firmware wasn't up-to date!

I guess I can't expect Apple Software to everything for me. Perhaps I shouldn't have been one of the first people on the planet to order one of those great AE's!
 
OK... so here I am, once again on the western technology frontier exploring unknown territory, with my buddies "Computer speakers" and "Base station xxxxx" and I choose to select them both to enter the unknown world of simultaneous music playing and..... "An error occurred while connecting to the remote speaker.... An unknown error occurred (-3256)".

Now I tried rebooting the base station, powering off, on, stopping iTunes, restarting, selecting the speakers in different orders.... I tried just about everything, well maybe not everything.... perhaps I should look to see if AirFoil has hijacked anything! (Actually I didn't fully install AirFoil, but I guess I'll have a go ..... but wait ... something just come over the internet radio (= google to you).....

If you get this error while using the built-in Mac OS X Firewall, perform these steps to make sure UDP is not blocked:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Select the Sharing pane.
3. Click the Firewall tab.
4. Click the Advanced button.
5. Make sure that the option to "Block UDP Traffic" is not selected.

Problem solved.... except - the wife is now calling out "what you playing that for....." Can't win!

At least I'm still employed as the "Chief Technology Officer" - in my house!
 
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