Wireless Music

[HeadEgg]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here so firstly "hello". Apologies if I make any etiquette mistakes while I warm up

I've Googled for ages and haven't found a neat explanation or solution to my problem, so grateful for any idiot-proof advice you can impart.

I'm looking for advice on how to get my MacBook to play music from an external hard-drive through my stereo's speakers.

Here's what I have so far:
- A MacBook containing my iTunes library (whose hard disk is overflowing)
- A cable broadband wireless router in room 1.
- And old hard drive I salvaged from my old PC which has my old Windows Media files
- A stereo on the shelf in room 2

Here's what I would like to do:
- Store all my music on one external hard drive (not another computer/server) that can live in either room 1 or 2, whatever is most sensible.
- Use my MacBook to play/access the music
- Have the music come from my stereo's speakers in room 2
- Not have my MacBook connected to hard drive with cables
- Be able to play music from the web (eg Spotify, Youtube) through the stereo

Is there an easy/reliable way to do it? Can you explain in layman's terms what I need to do/buy to make it happen.

Thanks in advance,

HeadEgg

 

[Macman45]

If You Don't Want Cables

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here so firstly "hello". Apologies if I make any etiquette mistakes while I warm up

I've Googled for ages and haven't found a neat explanation or solution to my problem, so grateful for any idiot-proof advice you can impart.

I'm looking for advice on how to get my MacBook to play music from an external hard-drive through my stereo's speakers.

Here's what I have so far:
- A MacBook containing my iTunes library (whose hard disk is overflowing)
- A cable broadband wireless router in room 1.
- And old hard drive I salvaged from my old PC which has my old Windows Media files
- A stereo on the shelf in room 2

Here's what I would like to do:
- Store all my music on one external hard drive (not another computer/server) that can live in either room 1 or 2, whatever is most sensible.
- Use my MacBook to play/access the music
- Have the music come from my stereo's speakers in room 2
- Not have my MacBook connected to hard drive with cables
- Be able to play music from the web (eg Spotify, Youtube) through the stereo

Is there an easy/reliable way to do it? Can you explain in layman's terms what I need to do/buy to make it happen.

Thanks in advance,

HeadEgg

And I don't blame you, and since you have a wireless router available you have a couple of options here.

1) Buy an Apple TV unit which will stream from your MBP

2) Buy a (More expensive Airport device...

Some links here:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0040GIZ...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B0040GIZUC



And:


http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/ho...|GOUK&cid=OAS-UK-KWG-GO_UK_CPU_Accessories-UK



Have a read through the apple site and have a talk to them. My setup works thus:

Imac 27 connected to Draytek gigabit router

ATV unit also connected to the router

Optical cable from the ATV unit to 7.1 surround DTS system

Everything else streams wirelessly from my iMac, iPad MBA and MBP and iPhone.

That's about as layman as I can be....Hope it helps!

----------

The ATV unit is connected to a 42" Smart TV via HDMI cable! Knew I forgot something there!

 

[Papanate]

The easiest way is to get what is known as a NAS Storage. The easy to use and setup version is the Apple Time Capsule.

You hook the TC up to the Wireless Router. Then you drop your media files onto the drive - which would include your iTunes Library. How to do so can be found on Google or the Apple site. You can also backup your MacBook using Time Machine to the TC.

Then you'll want to get an Apple TV unit to stream your iTunes and Macbook photos (and all your media) to your TV and Soundsystem.

This method is very dependable and simple to use and execute. You can also offload a lot of your files that are clogging your MacBook - drop them to the Time Capsule to store and free up space.

 

[HeadEgg]

The easiest way is to get what is known as a NAS Storage...

Then you'll want to get an Apple TV unit to stream your iTunes and Macbook photos (and all your media) to your TV and Soundsystem.

Thanks Papanate (and Macman too).

I've been looking into NAS storage as suggested. Digging around has led me to a
Synology DS212j which looks like it might do the job as well as a Time Capsule. From the looks of it I can buy it as a bay and clip in my old salvaged hard-drive...?

Regarding Apple TV - looks like I'd need to have my stereo/sound system within reasonable reach of the TV so I could run the audio cable...? Was wondering if I could buy at Airport Express instead to plug directly in my soundsystem's aux port...?

Would that work..?

Thanks again... HeadEgg

 

[Macman45]

In Therory

Thanks Papanate (and Macman too).

I've been looking into NAS storage as suggested. Digging around has led me to a
Synology DS212j which looks like it might do the job as well as a Time Capsule. From the looks of it I can buy it as a bay and clip in my old salvaged hard-drive...?

Regarding Apple TV - looks like I'd need to have my stereo/sound system within reasonable reach of the TV so I could run the audio cable...? Was wondering if I could buy at Airport Express instead to plug directly in my soundsystem's aux port...?

Would that work..?

Thanks again... HeadEgg

Yes, but it depends on the quality of your system. If you have an optical port, use it, the quality is far superior and you can get long cables too. It's preferable to have the ATV unit next to the TV for control purposes ( remote etc.) I've compared the extremes results with the ATV and the ATv with HDMI and optical comes out on top for sound reproduction.