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Hi
Not completely on topic but...

Is it possible to stream audio and video from a mac to the iPad? If so, is the feature included or does it require an app?
Refer to my post just before yours. Both solutions will work for streaming videos to your iDevice from iTunes. My previous post had a link to the iTunes instructions for Home Sharing, but here are the iOS instructions.

It isn't 100% free, but not too pricey. Air Video (iOS app) will allow you to watch movies, in nearly any format, that are stored anywhere on your computer -- not just iTunes. Air Video Host software for Mac OS X and Windows
 
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Been wanting this for a while. I have a windows PC just doing nothing, if I can turn it into an Airport Express like device, can have music going throughout the house.

What's the point? The Airport Express is only $99 bucks, sometimes I've seen them on ebay or Craigslist for half that... The Airport Express uses only 6 watts of power.

What is your PC going to use? 300 watts? You'll spend that much on electricity after 6 months to a year.
 
XBMC might finally be able to totally replace Apple's own software with the same basic functionality (other than rentals). The only thing it lacks really is AirTunes and video tag reading (the latter of which I gather is already supposed to appear in the next major release). An AppleTV Gen1 with a Crystal card running Linux would then be quite the system with full 1080p output and yet still be able to sync music to other speakers in the house with iTunes.
 
AMAZING!!!!!!
I'm very excited to see this come to XBMC. Cannot wait!

I'm confused... What will this give us in XBMC that we don't already have? Since I'm assuming you're running XBMC on Apple TV2, Airplay already works just fine...

From my iTunes library on my PC I can stream to my Apple TV2 in the bedroom, or to my Airport Express in the living room. From my iPhone, I can stream almost any app (Napster, Pandora, Netflix, etc) to either my AppleTV2 or the living room Airport express (audio only).

So, I'm confused what additional capability this is going to give those of us who have already invested in an Apple ecosystem.
 
Mac instructions

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Thanks James Laird amazing work.

I've been able to install ShairPort on my iMac.

Here you can find some instructions to do the same on your mac(s).

It's relatively easy, you need just some very basic terminal experience.
 
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Is anyone here educated enough to explain to me how to compile and run this thing?

I can't find a way to install avahi. Tried installing it via fink - no luck.
MacPorts requires xcode, but I don't really want to install xcode. takes up a lot of space.
Even though I know some things I'd still prefer if someone would make a step-by-step how-to for me.

Thank you in advance.

It's probably a bit tricky for the novice.

To get the code to compile you need to ensure that the relevant development libraries for libao and openSSL are installed, in addition to a working installation of gcc and the standard C library. Then run 'make' to compile.

You then need to get the relevant avahi daemons installed and running. I've no experience of using these under Mac OSX, but they're included in many Linux distributions.

The final issue is with Perl, as you need to compile and install several Perl modules before the provided Perl script will run. These can be obtained from the CPAN repository, which also offers various different methods for automating the compilation of these modules and any dependencies, dependant upon the version of Perl that is currently installed.

I was going to have a go at installing everything under Linux earlier today, but I've had problems getting Ubuntu to install on the machine I've set aside due to hardware peculiarities. I'll be having another go tomorrow.
 
Hi
I didn't know it was possible to use Home Sharing to play music simultaneously between several Macs - care to tell how? (not being sarcastic, just curious)
Not simultaneous control like AirTunes. You can stream to multiple computers, but it will need to be controlled separately -- as far as I know.

I can't think of a good reason to stream strictly audio to multiple computers, even if each is connected to speakers. Seems very clumsy to me, and you'd be better off getting an Airport Express ($69 refurbished) for each speaker system or getting AirPlay-supported speakers.

WiFi2HiFi takes the AirTunes idea beyond iTunes, however, it's only to an iDevice, not a computer.
 
I, for one, think this is fantastic news. I've been waiting for something like this for a while. I would really love to see it included in XBMC.

For those that keep saying Home Sharing already does this, no it doesn't. I have a desktop in my office that holds all my movies, tv shows, and music. I have an Aspire Revo in my living room running XBMC and hook my macbook up in my bedroom also running XBMC. There are many cases where I'd like to play synchronized audio throughout the house.

Sure I could go and buy an Airport Express from my bedroom and my living room to accomplish this, but that seems silly. It's not that I don't want to pay apple for this feature, but a $100 hardware device to stream audio in a room that already has a computer that should be more than capable of handling the job doesn't make sense. I can stream from my desktop to each computer via Home Sharing and indeed I do just that, but that only gets me audio on one device at a time.

Now, in the near future, I will hopefully be able to stream whole house audio in my office, living room, and bedroom without having to take up another electrical port and another audio input on my receiver. Seems far more efficient, doesn't it?
 
It makes me grin a little when I see posts like in this thread posted by people who obviously have no shortage of money (with their multiple mac systems) and yet dont want to hand over a little money for something thats been out for 5 years and makes the audio elements of airplay completely redundant.

Sonos. Easier, way better quality, more options, fully upgradeable, completely unrestrictive. And it just works.

For videophiles get a popcorn hour, 1080p streaming goodness which plays formats Apple TV can only dream of.

To host the content (if you dont want to buy an internal hard drive for Popcorn Hour) a simple NAS.

No computers involved, music playing in multiple rooms (same music or different tunes) sourced from iTunes, CD rips or Napster / Pandora / Spotify or internet radio all at the same time (if you so wish) and rips in beautiful uncompressed cd quality FLAC all synced (if you want to link rooms) at exactly the same time. Movies playing in any format you want, at any resolution you want wherever you want to stick the PH.

Airplay is so antiquated, limited in function, and completely way below whats been out for years in terms of quality, im amazed anyone even reads Airplay threads, let alone puts any money towards the system.

A NAS, Sonos and Popcorn Hour is all you need for your cd less, dvd less, blu ray less entertainment systems. But anyway, carry on bashing your heads against the Apple system.
 
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Thanks James Laird amazing work.

I've been able to install ShairPort on my iMac.

Here you can find some instructions to do the same on your mac(s).

It's relatively easy, you need just some very basic terminal experience.

Thank you ! Helped me a lot. Much faster with your help !


To everybody who doesn't see the point with this hack :

Let's say I don't want to have any extra program than iTunes running
-> AirFoil doesn't fit.
Let's say I want an unlimited (>5) amount of people to be able to play their music with my Mac as an Airport Express
-> Home Shairing doesn't fit.

This hack does.
 
It makes me grin a little when I see posts like in this thread posted by people who obviously have no shortage of money (with their multiple mac systems) and yet dont want to hand over a little money for something thats been out for 5 years and makes the audio elements of airplay completely redundant.

A NAS, Sonos and Popcorn Hour is all you need for your cd less, dvd less, blu ray less entertainment systems. But anyway, carry on bashing your heads against the Apple system.

That's why this key is so wonderful, because now you only need the NAS and an HTPC (like an Aspire Revo). One less device = happy people. Plus, with XBMC you get all the format support that the popcorn hour has, but a much nicer interface and a centralized database.
 
I'm confused... What will this give us in XBMC that we don't already have? Since I'm assuming you're running XBMC on Apple TV2, Airplay already works just fine...

From my iTunes library on my PC I can stream to my Apple TV2 in the bedroom, or to my Airport Express in the living room. From my iPhone, I can stream almost any app (Napster, Pandora, Netflix, etc) to either my AppleTV2 or the living room Airport express (audio only).

So, I'm confused what additional capability this is going to give those of us who have already invested in an Apple ecosystem.

I run XBMC Live on an Acer Revo connected to my TV in the entertainment room that plays any 720p and 1080p media I throw at it. I don't own an Airport Express. I don't invest in an Apple ecosystem. This stuff needs to be OPEN! :D

I want to have ONE device that does it all (my Acer Revo) versus having to buy a number of overpriced Apple devices and/or software to get this to work. :)
 
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I run XBMC Live on an Acer Revo connected to my TV in the entertainment room that plays any 720p and 1080p media I throw at it. I don't own an Airport Express. I don't invest in an Apple ecosystem. This stuff needs to be OPEN! :D

I want to have ONE device that does it all (my Acer Revo) versus having to buy a number of overpriced Apple devices and/or software to get this to work. :)

Don't pretend you actually care about 'open'. To you, 'open' simply means 'free'. I'm going to make a stab in the dark and make the logical assumption that all your '720p and 1080p media' is torrented videos. Please, correct me if I'm wrong :rolleyes:

To me, it just sounds like yet another person wanting everything but willing to pay nothing. What a sustainable model that is...
 
Unless, as mentioned earlier in this thread, that 3rd party hardware includes the ability to upgrade its firmware. In that case, all customers will be required to install a mandatory "security" bug fix which installs support for a new private key, and everything proceeds as normal.

Heck, it's even possible that Apple might already have planned for this contingency, and instead of just having one private key, they may have come up with a set of many private keys to choose from, and also preprogrammed support for all of those keys into every properly licensed accessory. Maybe they just planned to use the first key up until it was compromised, and then move on to another.

Now, they might just push a new iTunes upgrade that blacklists the compromised key and moves on to another one -- and at the same time, instruct all licensed equipment to also add that key to their own blacklist (while continuing to maintain seamless support for all the remainder of the preprogrammed keys) the next time the licensed equipment connects to an authorized audio source.

(Unless, maybe the reverse engineer in this case already anticipated such an eventuality, and actually extracted all of the keys -- assuming, of course, that there really are multiple keys. If that were the case, then the reverse engineer hypothetically might have defeated the entire benefit that Apple might have derived from hypothetically having multiple keys to choose from in the first place...)

What's a little crazy with that is you start to believe your own hypothetical, made-up engineering. Now, no one here knows anything for sure, but, I think we can say with some certainty that Apple won't be changing the key in iTunes.

3rd party hardware includes the ability to upgrade its firmware
Sweeping generalisation. Those simple iHome AirPlay speakers can be connected to a computer and then firmware upgraded? Very unlikely. Not every AirPlay licensed hardware is an expensive Hi-Fi amp with upgradable firmware.

Heck, it's even possible that Apple might already have planned for this contingency, and instead of just having one private key, they may have come up with a set of many private keys to choose from
Near enough pointless. If someone is able to get hold of one private key, they're in a position to get hold of any others. This guy dumped the ROM after all.

The biggest reason for Apple not to change the key is it would break everything. A "mandatory "security" bug fix" isn't feasible for hardware, it would be like trying to organise a product recall - you could never tell everyone, and everyone would be wondering why their product suddenly broke - the companies behind these products would be swamped with support calls. You simply can't just bring out an update that breaks everything, hoping that customers will somehow update hardware that might not even be up-dateable.

tl;dr - However Apple engineered this, it's almost certainly not like that ^
 
Don't pretend you actually care about 'open'. To you, 'open' simply means 'free'. I'm going to make a stab in the dark and make the logical assumption that all your '720p and 1080p media' is torrented videos. Please, correct me if I'm wrong

To me, it just sounds like yet another person wanting everything but willing to pay nothing. What a sustainable model that is...

Nah, I really don't care about open. No, I do not Torrent.
I just want the technology available without having to buy more junk. I prefer the "one piece of hardware that does it all" approach. :p
 
I'm confused... What will this give us in XBMC that we don't already have? Since I'm assuming you're running XBMC on Apple TV2, Airplay already works just fine...

Airplay and Airtunes are two different things AFAIK. I was under the impression that AUDIO was routed ONLY through AirTUNES and that AirPLAY was purely the VIDEO portion of the stream. Thus, you could stream a video to XBMC from an iPad, but you would get no audio and/or music could not be streamed with it. At least this was the jist I got from a thread on the matter when Airplay functionality was first added. Cracking the Airtunes key would enable XBMC to be seen from within iTunes as a full fledged audio device and thus you could output audio to it and other speakers at the same time, etc. and control it all from "REMOTE" on an iOS device.

Come to think of it, I see the thread title is "AirPLAY Private Key Exposed". So either that is a misprint or this thread is terribly out of date. AirPLAY has been known for quite a long time and it has NOTHING to do with an Airport Express, which is only AirTUNES so I'm assuming they mean the Airtunes key has been exposed (Airplay was not encrypted to my knowledge, only Airtunes). AppleTV Gen1 only has AirTunes, not AirPlay, for example as does Airport Express.

Hi

Not simultaneous control like AirTunes. You can stream to multiple computers, but it will need to be controlled separately -- as far as I know.

I can't think of a good reason to stream strictly audio to multiple computers, even if each is connected to speakers. Seems very clumsy to me, and you'd be better off getting an Airport Express ($69 refurbished) for each speaker system or getting AirPlay-supported speakers.

Why would you want to buy another device and/or set of speakers for a given room if it already has a good set of speakers connected to a computer, especially if that computer is already turned on? You'd need switching of some kind (e.g. receiver) to even use the same speakers with another device and it would just be a waste of money (unless you never plan to have that computer turned on and/or that is not the main speakers in that room). For example, my whole house audio/video server is on 24/7 and has Klipsch THX speakers connected to it. Why on earth would I want an Airport Express in that room, especially when it's normally the computer that is spooling out the iTunes information to begin with?

It makes me grin a little when I see posts like in this thread posted by people who obviously have no shortage of money (with their multiple mac systems) and yet dont want to hand over a little money for something thats been out for 5 years and makes the audio elements of airplay completely redundant.

Sonos. Easier, way better quality, more options, fully upgradeable, completely unrestrictive. And it just works.

For videophiles get a popcorn hour, 1080p streaming goodness which plays formats Apple TV can only dream of.

To host the content (if you dont want to buy an internal hard drive for Popcorn Hour) a simple NAS.


- Sonos is not "way better quality" (AppleTV2 output is DIGITAL and so the "quality" depends entirely on the stereo you connect it to. So sorry but you have no point there.

- It may not be better quality, but it IS "way more expensive". AppleTV2 costs $99 (same price as an Airport Express which is "audio only" like Sonos). Sonos OTOH costs $349 for a basic receiver which then still requires to either be connected directly to a router (wired) OR you have to pay ANOTHER $99 for a "bridge" to send a separate wireless signal off your router just for Sonos devices (waste of bandwidth and clutters the band with more wireless signals instead of just using your existing wireless router, which most people already have (how many used a wired only router and if you did you cannot use the Sonos wireless for anything else). So already you are at LEAST $450 in the hole for a single room with Sonos and you have ONLY AUDIO capability.

-But then I would be forgetting you need a SOURCE of music. You tout the use of an NAS, but most NAS devices aren't exactly cheap or anything. For all intensive purposes they are a just a headless computer and most run Linux. AppleTV2 is out of the box a PITA if you don't want to leave a computer on, but you can put XBMC on it which will use any NAS or networked source. You then have the same functionality as Sonos BUT you also have full video capability. You could instead get a cheap Netbook for $250 (cheaper than most NAS devices) and connect a hard drive to that and run iTunes and the full Apple interface if you'd like and still have XBMC available as well. Personally, I just use an old PPC G4 PowerMac as a server and 24/7 Internet terminal. Intel machines can also be set to Wake On Lan, so you can have your machine sleep while AppleTV is not in use. In short, NAS isn't as great as you make it sound (most are also dog slow compared to a real computer) and there are alternative options even with Apple software like a cheap Netbook as a server.

-Now I come to the heart of the matter...VIDEO. You suggest a Popcorn Hour in ADDITION to the already out of this world priced Sonos system. They start at $179 and go up to $299. That brings your total minimum price for a wireless system for a single room to $629 AND you have to switch between two separate devices to listen to audio and/or watch videos. With AppleTV you have all your movies, tv shows, photos, music, music videos, YouTube and Internet Radio (plus the options of XBMC with a quick hack including non-Apple formats) and your TOTAL COST for **one** room wireless using an existing wireless router is $99. $629 versus $99...Hmmmmmm. And then there's the matter of Popcorn Hour's crappy interface versus Apple's polished one. XBMC makes Popcorn Hour look bad as well. Bugs or popcorn? :confused:

So for the price of your ONE room audio and video, I could have SIX rooms using AppleTV2 with both video and audio and still have $29 to spare. With XBMC installed, it can play any format (just like Popcorn Hour). With the Apple interface running, it can sync audio to all rooms or play independently (just like Sonos). And it all can be controlled by an iOS device as well or programmed to accept the signals from any IR remote out there with extra buttons available.

Using ONE device (AppleTV), I have menu access to ALL my media collection without even having to switch the input on the receiver. I can play slide shows to my music collection and watch my entire video library (including VHS/Laserdisc/DVD/Blu-Ray conversions) and rent HD movies at the push of a button (Netflix is available on ATV2 as well).

I see ZERO advantage to Sonos and it costs a LOT more (what restrictions are you referring to with ATV? iTunes handles WAV, AAC, MP3 and Apple Lossless and seamlessly plays DTS music CDs that have been dumped). 3rd party formats like Flac are easily converted or they can be played in XBMC. Popcorn Hour's only advantage (once you figure XBMC into the fold) is that it can output in 1080p (ATV2 downconverts the final output to 720p at the moment, although my Gen1 ATV can play 1080p with XBMC using the Linux OS install and a cheap Crystal card in the one room where it matters here with a 93" screen).

In other words, I need lack nothing here at a fraction of the price and way better integration than your solution.
 
Airplay and Airtunes are two different things AFAIK. I was under the impression that AUDIO was routed ONLY through AirTUNES and that AirPLAY was purely the VIDEO portion of the stream. Thus, you could stream a video to XBMC from an iPad, but you would get no audio and/or music could not be streamed with it. At least this was the jist I got from a thread on the matter when Airplay functionality was first added. Cracking the Airtunes key would enable XBMC to be seen from within iTunes as a full fledged audio device and thus you could output audio to it and other speakers at the same time, etc. and control it all from "REMOTE" on an iOS device.

Come to think of it, I see the thread title is "AirPLAY Private Key Exposed". So either that is a misprint or this thread is terribly out of date. AirPLAY has been known for quite a long time and it has NOTHING to do with an Airport Express, which is only AirTUNES so I'm assuming they mean the Airtunes key has been exposed (Airplay was not encrypted to my knowledge, only Airtunes). AppleTV Gen1 only has AirTunes, not AirPlay, for example as does Airport Express...

You're quite wrong there. AirPlay IS AirTunes. It's AirTunes + video equivalent of AirTunes. An Airport Express is now an 'AirPlay device'. See
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPlay
 
You're quite wrong there. AirPlay IS AirTunes. It's AirTunes + video equivalent of AirTunes. An Airport Express is now an 'AirPlay device'.

Actually, he is right. The two use different protocols when streaming. The video portion of AirPlay is done differently and does not require the private key. It just employs setting up a "server" whenever its being utilized. I have it set up on XBMC, and it works just as it would on an AppleTV.

The audio portion, that requires the key, has finally brought it full-circle. Can't wait to have it on my XBMC box.
 
Actually, he is right. The two use different protocols when streaming. The video portion of AirPlay is done differently and does not require the private key. It just employs setting up a "server" whenever its being utilized. I have it set up on XBMC, and it works just as it would on an AppleTV.

The audio portion, that requires the key, has finally brought it full-circle. Can't wait to have it on my XBMC box.

I never said the audio and the video didn't work differently, what I said was AirTunes no longer exists. AirPlay contains what was AirTunes. Apple no longer use the label 'AirTunes' anywhere. http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/features/airplay.html only talks about AirPlay for instance. The iTunes streaming button is now called AirPlay too.

AirPlay video simply sends a URL to the video resource to the other device, and the other device plays the file at the URL which is served by the host. AirPlay audio uses the RAOP protocol.

There isn't a misprint in the article title as the poster claimed - the AirTunes moniker doesn't exist anymore
 
MagnusVonMagnum -

- Sonos is not "way better quality" (AppleTV2 output is DIGITAL and so the "quality" depends entirely on the stereo you connect it to. So sorry but you have no point there.

Unless you've purchased / converted music in Apple lossless format it IS way better quality. Im making the comparison of my situation listening to FLAC vs the masses who purchase mp3s on iTunes. You could rip your music in Apple Lossless for sure, but then your hooked into iTunes, cant play on WMP or most other mp3s other than iPods. Like with a lot of stuff iTunes related, if you go that route, your stuck. Even the all inclusive Sonos S5 sounds better than the best iPod dock on the market (Bose 10 / Zeppelin whichever grabs your boat the most).

- It may not be better quality, but it IS "way more expensive". AppleTV2 costs $99 (same price as an Airport Express which is "audio only" like Sonos). Sonos OTOH costs $349 for a basic receiver which then still requires to either be connected directly to a router (wired) OR you have to pay ANOTHER $99 for a "bridge" to send a separate wireless signal off your router just for Sonos devices (waste of bandwidth and clutters the band with more wireless signals instead of just using your existing wireless router, which most people already have (how many used a wired only router and if you did you cannot use the Sonos wireless for anything else). So already you are at LEAST $450 in the hole for a single room with Sonos and you have ONLY AUDIO capability.

Sonos isnt cheap for sure, but that is why I said people who have no shortage of money at the start of my thread. Some people have massive Mac systems, those people shouldn't skimp when it comes to music, if they like music, or video for that matter.

One of the big features of Sonos which you obviously arent aware of is that Sonos DOESNT hog your bandwidth. It uses its own Mesh network which works independantly of your home wireless network, hence no bandwidth constraints, which is why you can have up to 32 Sonos units all working AT THE SAME TIME on the same or different sources whilst not affecting the bandwidth capability of your home network. Try using even 2 AppleTV2s at the same time and see how much of your bandwidth is left.

Also, if you live in a large house, or one with thick walls, or you want to listen outside, because Sonos recreates its own Mesh network each time it hits a Sonos unit strength signal on the opposite side of the house to the router is still very high, each Zone Player acts like a new Sonos signal source.

Yup its expensive but I bought my first Sonos bit of kit in 2006. Since then ive added 3 more units, 2 of which were new redesigned units released a couple of years ago. Ive also added a second controller when they moved to touchscreen 2 years ago. And you know what? It all works seamlessly with each other. Old hardware, new hardware, built up over time. New features added over time (for free) seamlessly updated into even the oldest bit of hardware with a firmware update, they even added full Touch, iPhone and iPad control options so I could use any of them to control the audio around the house. Can you integrate AppleTV2 with 1? Can you honestly say in 5 years time your money spent will still work with the rest of your AppleTV system as they upgrade and add new features? When 3 year old sounddocks wont even charge new ipods I would hazard a guess...no.

-But then I would be forgetting you need a SOURCE of music. You tout the use of an NAS, but most NAS devices aren't exactly cheap or anything. For all intensive purposes they are a just a headless computer and most run Linux. AppleTV2 is out of the box a PITA if you don't want to leave a computer on, but you can put XBMC on it which will use any NAS or networked source. You then have the same functionality as Sonos BUT you also have full video capability. You could instead get a cheap Netbook for $250 (cheaper than most NAS devices) and connect a hard drive to that and run iTunes and the full Apple interface if you'd like and still have XBMC available as well. Personally, I just use an old PPC G4 PowerMac as a server and 24/7 Internet terminal. Intel machines can also be set to Wake On Lan, so you can have your machine sleep while AppleTV is not in use. In short, NAS isn't as great as you make it sound (most are also dog slow compared to a real computer) and there are alternative options even with Apple software like a cheap Netbook as a server.

NAS or WHS arent cheap but youve just contradicted yourself.

Sonos will also play from any networked PC, MAC, External hard drive on Airport, netbook. To use a NAS you dont have to install XBMC on it, it works out of the box from any source you want. That PPC G4 would also work with Sonos, or you could play Last.FM, or Pandora, or Spotify, or Napster, or unlimited internet radio (you can even add your own internet radio addresses).

Best of all, you DONT have to use iTunes. You can if you want, but you dont have to.

Sonos also gives you multi room grouping. Group 2 or more zones together and enjoy synced music wherever you want it. Not miliseconds out syncing like Sony or Logitech but 100% synced. Dropping zones can be done at the flick of the controller.

Read a review of a new album in the newspaper? Listen to it 5 seconds later on Sonos.

So the kids can listen to their own music streamed in their rooms upstairs, my wife can be listening to the TV, or some music in the living room, and I can be in my little den listening to my music whilst enjoying near full speed wireless capability on my pc or mac, or maybe my wife likes a song shes hearing upstairs and links zones so she can hear it downstairs.

You can buy a standalone unit which sounds better than the B&W Zeppelin, or get the amped unit for attaching to any speaker system you want, or get the small unit for use (as you do) with your existing stereo system. You can add these anytime you want, building up your Sonos system over time, without the fear it will be redundant over time.

Its a high end multi room music system vs a limited single streaming unit.

-Now I come to the heart of the matter...VIDEO. You suggest a Popcorn Hour in ADDITION to the already out of this world priced Sonos system. They start at $179 and go up to $299. That brings your total minimum price for a wireless system for a single room to $629 AND you have to switch between two separate devices to listen to audio and/or watch videos. With AppleTV you have all your movies, tv shows, photos, music, music videos, YouTube and Internet Radio (plus the options of XBMC with a quick hack including non-Apple formats) and your TOTAL COST for **one** room wireless using an existing wireless router is $99. $629 versus $99...Hmmmmmm. And then there's the matter of Popcorn Hour's crappy interface versus Apple's polished one. XBMC makes Popcorn Hour look bad as well. Bugs or popcorn? :confused:

Cost seems to be the big issue with you, so I wonder if you own a mac mini as opposed to 3 macbook pros, an imac, apple tv2 etc etc as many posters here have? If so, Sonos etc wont be for you. If you do own multiple Apple systems why are you so concerned with price? If you want the best you got to pay for it.

With Apple TV you DONT have all your movies or music or internet radio. you have limited experiences with all 3. No 1080p, no DVD images (Popcorn will load your dvd image in exactly the same way your dvd player would), wont play .mp4 .m4v .mkv .wmv .avi .aac .divx, doesnt have full support for all subtitle formats, wont play FLAC or anything else outside of your iTunes library audio wise and its internet radio function is gimped.

Its sure nice to have it in one box, but *it* is very very limited. Dedicated systems will always trump jack of all trade systems.

The interface is nice on AppleTV2 for sure, my popcorn looks better though with my skin on it. The default layout looks boring ill agree.

So for the price of your ONE room audio and video, I could have SIX rooms using AppleTV2 with both video and audio and still have $29 to spare

Except you couldnt do that could you? Your wireless network would be crippled with half that many running at the same time. I can assure you I can play a 1080P movie AND have 3 other Sonos units streaming at the same time. Try that sometime with 4 AppleTVs...

With XBMC installed, it can play any format (just like Popcorn Hour).

No, no it cant. DVD isos? All subtitle formats? 1080P? Also your slightly expanded feature set (not out of the box) is achieved by essentially hacking your AppleTV 2, so good luck on the next firmware update.

Hell, I can even buy a cheap 3.5" internal hard drive and slot that into my popcorn hour if I want to store the films locally, what sized hard drive does Apple TV2 have? Oh wait.

Your not seeing the advantages with zero configuration audio system, and a play all with no hassles video system? The only mucking about in my system is if you want a nice shinier interface with Popcorn Hour. You have to convert audio, replace (essentially) the OS to XBMC, have a linux system and a Crystal card to play 1080p on an OLDER Apple TV (your not factoring in this stuff with your price or integrated system arguments are you?) and you STILL have a far more limited setup.

Reading thru your post I guarantee you your costs are higher than $99 and in about 2 years time your system will be redundant.

Im not saying the AppleTV 2 is useless for everyone, for many of the dumb masses who are locked into iTunes already its probably the best thing since sliced bread, and really its only advantage is a cheap price and movie rentals, in glorious 720P, but if I want to feed my 42" 1080p plasma with subpar 720P video I could use the xbox or PS3 sitting under the TV, which I also dont bother with. For audiophiles or moviephiles it doesn't cut it.
 
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Could the "Airplay vs. Sonos" discussion please continue in a separate thread? As different implementations of the RAOP hack will appear, this thread will continue to be worth a subscription.
 
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