Streaming via wifi

[David_NC]

I still use my old Airport Express units, but there are Airplay devices out there that are third party that fill the hole (though,I dont have first hand experience with them:

https://www.amazon.com/M5-Wireless-...ocphy=9013529&hvtargid=pla-570114588170&psc=1

The newer AppleTVs (4) have the benefit of Airplay 2, though. It is more robust with a longer buffer and you can stream to multiple Airplay 2 devices from iOS.

APE's also have Airplay 2, FWIW

Here's a question for you, does Apple TV have a S/PDIF output as does Airport Express?

Also no. There is only one output, hdmi

Which is a serious bummer. When my APEs go belly up I'll mess with building a Raspberry Pi solution

ATVs 2 and 3 have optical outputs. Optical goes to a DAC then to my preamp, and HDMI goes to my AVR. ATV4's have only HDMI, and I'm curious as to how well the HDMI audio extractors work for them. I'm almost tempted to try one.

 

[xrayspex77]

ATV4's have only HDMI, and I'm curious as to how well the HDMI audio extractors work for them

I bought a cheap (less than $20Cdn) HDMI audio extractor to use with ATV4. It works well but is not as elegant (more cables to hide).

 

[dysmike]

I bought a cheap (less than $20Cdn) HDMI audio extractor to use with ATV4. It works well but is not as elegant (more cables to hide).

Ok, maybe I'll start to play with these. I hadn't really thought about seeing if I could find one that's effectively also a pass-through (so I can pass AV to an AVR, as well as audio to a separate amp)

 

[David_NC]

Ok, maybe I'll start to play with these. I hadn't really thought about seeing if I could find one that's effectively also a pass-through (so I can pass AV to an AVR, as well as audio to a separate amp)

Here's an example of one: https://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-Premium-Extractor-Converter/dp/B00BIQER0E

 

[uofmtiger]

APE's also have Airplay 2, FWIW

Sorry, I should have been a little more clear. The Airplay units that I have are a mixture of old and new. The old ones with the power plugs built into the unit, did not get the Airplay 2 update. The versions that are flat with a power cord connector did get updated to Airplay 2. I am kind of surprised they didn't/couldn't update the AppleTV 3, though.

 

[David_NC]

Sorry, I should have been a little more clear. The Airplay units that I have are a mixture of old and new. The old ones with the power plugs built into the unit, did not get the Airplay 2 update. The versions that are flat with a power cord connector did get updated to Airplay 2. I am kind of surprised they didn't/couldn't update the AppleTV 3, though.

I have a similar mixture of APE's. I was surprised about the ATV3 too, though I read it has something to do with the networking in the ATV2-3 vs ATV 4 and Airport Express gen 1 vs gen 2, but who knows for sure.

 

[SterlingOne]

Airport express is still being supported. I got a firmware update for my v.1 unit last week.

Yeah, I accepted the firmware update too. Thing is, it's been such a long time ago that I installed Airport Express I forgot the password. I took a wild ass guess and got it right. I have no idea what the firmware update did.

 

[dysmike]

Yeah, I accepted the firmware update too. Thing is, it's been such a long time ago that I installed Airport Express I forgot the password. I took a wild ass guess and got it right. I have no idea what the firmware update did.

It was a security update, there were several vulnerabilities it addressed. Nothing else that I could see.

 

[sx-70]

Sonos Connect is easy and reliable. Seems like it's overdue for an update though (hardware that is).

 

[Rdenney]

I'm using Airserver running on a PC laptop that plays music through my system using a USB-connected Musical Fidelity V90 DAC. Airserver makes the PC look like an Airplay device to anything connected to my local network, which is all WiFi. Current WiFi is more than fast enough for playing music in any digital format.

Rick "who'd rather use WiFi than Bluetooth" Denney

 

[imral3]

For my headphone setup I'm streaming from my Subsonic server (on PC) to a Fire 7 tablet via the DSub app - using it's internal DAC to my Schiit MAGNI headphone amp.
I have the Subfire app on the FireTV Stick for the rare occasion I wanna stream music to the AVR system.

Edit: Oops! Since I rarely listen on the AVR system I forgot I could more easily cast DSub from my phone to my Denon AVR.

 

[Hawkcigar]

I ended up connecting an Airport Express and using that. It works great but I'm still just a little surprised there aren't more wifi specific options for audio.

 

[uofmtiger]

I ended up connecting an Airport Express and using that. It works great but I'm still just a little surprised there aren't more wifi specific options for audio.

I know a few people around here had the knock off versions of the Airport Express that did Airplay and Bluetooth and DLNA.

I think there is a robust market for streamers that have DACs and things built in, but they cost a lot more money. I have the Yamaha WXC-50 and it takes an optical input from my Chromecast audio, has Airplay and Bluetooth, a USB for a thumbdrive, has an app with different music apps that can be controlled from the app, analog inputs with two sets of analog outputs, etc. It cost around $350, though.

I think Apple must want to push people into the AppleTV or Homepod at this point. More potential $$ in those products..especially the AppleTV with their new services built in or on their way.