Multi room music ideas.

[colinB]

Ok, im a bit slow about these things and a bit stupid so youre going to have to talk veerrrryyy sllooowwwly.
I have one of those tiddly little Denon units upstairs, an old model but it does have toslink input. I want to use Spotify playlists and internet radio wirelessly to the unit from a notebook computer and i cant spend loads of money. It doesnt have to be brilliant sound. The notebook doesnt have blue toooth if that makes a difference. :cool:

[The Vinyl Adventure]

iPhone in dock, dock in denon, spotify app, Internet radio app... To quote a rather sweary tv chef ... Done!
You could web get a digital dock ... I know that this doesn't use the netbook... But it's possibly more simple

[colinB]

Iphone? Whats that? Laptop only im afraid. Surely theres gadgets somewhere that can give me wireless from the laptop. One of these plug into the wall things or something?

[dave2010]

Some people have said that these are good - http://www.apple.com/uk/airportexpress/features/airplay.html

Looking at the web page suggests there is some compatibility with PCs. Not fully sure about compatibility with all the software you might want to use though.

There may be other solutions, but probably need more boxes, e.g. Wireless access point, some form of stand alone music device etc., so overall cost could even be more. Allegedly, these are more or less plug and play - allegedly!

Another solution - look for a 2nd hand Logitech Squeezebox Classic on eBay, or buy a new SB Touch if you're feeling flush - but you've already said you'd like to win the lottery!.

[dave2010]

Ps http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Logitech-Squeezebox-Classic-/320750246075?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4aae3458bb#ht_806wt_922

This one is faulty, but someone here may know how to fix it!

[colinB]

Thanks Dave. Might go for AE.

[dave2010]

Thanks Dave. Might go for AE.
Colin

It might be a good idea to flush out other people who've got the Apple Airport Express device - I think there might be some on this board - and ask about opinions/problems etc. I'm sure I saw a posting not long ago recommending this device for purposes similar to yours.

If you get one, let us know how well it fits in with what you want to do, and how well it works.

[colinB]

I keep hearing "airfoil" app being mentioned that can sync a pc with airport but i dont know if it will work with spotify. I dont want to buy one until im sure.
Where are the Apple people? Havent seen Twelvebears for ages.

[dave2010]

I keep hearing "airfoil" app being mentioned that can sync a pc with airport but i dont know if it will work with spotify. I dont want to buy one until im sure.
Where are the Apple people? Havent seen Twelvebears for ages.
Colin

I might be able to check out some of the Apple things, since I now have, or have access to, quite a few bits of Apple kit. Almost the only thing I don't have access to is the Airport Express device itself. If i hadn't already invested in Squeezeboxes I could be investing in AEs myself, though i think that now they would be superfluous to my requirements.

Checking these things out could be a small project for the weekend - maybe keep me busy :)

Re Twelvebears, why not PM him?

[Werner Berghofer]

Dave,


It might be a good idea to flush out other people who've got the Apple Airport Express device - I think there might be some on this board

I have five of them in my home, three are being used for audio streaming. I’m also one of the Apple people mentioned later in this thread. How can I help?

Werner.

[colinB]

I want to stream internet radio and spotify through my pc laptop to an amplifier upstairs that has no wireless or blue tooth facility only a toslink input.
Can i do it with AE using airfoil?

[colinB]

One option a while back was to buy a squeesbox touch but i some what regretfuly bought a playstation ( the menu and playlisting isnt very good for multi cd storage )

How do you use a squeesbox as a multi room network?

[dave2010]

One option a while back was to buy a squeesbox touch but i some what regretfuly bought a playstation ( the menu and playlisting isnt very good for multi cd storage )

How do you use a squeesbox as a multi room network?
You use multiple Squeezebox units, with one (or more!) allocated to each room. Each receiver has to be able to connect to a music server via a local area network. Often a wireless network is used for convenience, though wired networks are also possible.

The server can run on Apples or PCs - even Unix and Linux (see http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/SqueezeCenter) , and you can actually run multiple servers, though each receiver unit only "tunes in" to one server at a time.

Effectively the servers run independently, so they do not form one distributed server, and the choice of music could be different. It may be possible to configure multiple servers to access the same music files, if the files are available on network attached storage. Most users probably dedicate only one computer as the music server.

For using Spotify, the Squeezebox Touch units can access this via mysqueezebox.com. Other Squeezebox units such as the Boom or the Classic SB3 can access Spotify using server pluqins - usually from a helpful developer called Triode. Using my squeezebox.com means that other local computers acting as local servers do not have to be turned on, and other services such as Napster, Deezer, classical.com and many internet radio stations can be accessed.

[WAD62]

One option a while back was to buy a squeesbox touch but i some what regretfuly bought a playstation ( the menu and playlisting isnt very good for multi cd storage )

How do you use a squeesbox as a multi room network?

Hi Colin, I've had one for a couple of years, you'll need a server of some kind plugged into your wi-fi router. I use a QNAP TS-119 turbo NAS for this, they come pre built with SqueezeServer on them. The power of the server required is dependant on what you want to do, but if you're just streaming FLAC then anything over 1.2Ghz on linux or 1.6Ghz on windows should be ample...an old laptop would be fine...

You can then have as many SB clients around the house as you want, receivers, touches, classics, radios, or booms. I can run 4 in parallel without any problems.

I'm very keen on the receiver, at £90 it gives a very good digital out, a passable analogue, has a tiny footprint, and in conjunction with SqueezeCommander on my Android phone (£2.50) is an excellent combination.

I can synchronise everything or have different stuff on in each room, large playlists etc, and proper ReplayGain. ;)

[Werner Berghofer]

Colin,


I want to stream internet radio and spotify through my pc laptop to an amplifier upstairs that has no wireless or blue tooth facility only a toslink input.

I only can talk about Apple hardware and software, and unfortunately Spotify is not available in my country. You need to connect the Toslink input from your amplifier with the Toslink output from an Apple Airport Express, then you can select this Apple Airport Express as a streaming target for Airfoil and route any audio wirelessly from your laptop to it.

The Macintosh version of Airfoil allows routing of any audio source from the local computer on which it is installed to any remote Apple Airport Express which is accessible on the network. I think Airfoil’s Windows version (http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/windows/) offers the same features and options.

Werner.

[colinB]

Thanks. I think airfoil will do me for now. Phone upgrade this month so might go for a a iphone and go back to itunes for a easy life.
Unless , that sony can really impress with their new tablet range but im losing my faith with them.

[WAD62]

Phone upgrade this month so might go for a a iphone and go back to itunes for a easy life.


...there's just no helping some people ;)

[Werner Berghofer]

Colin,


might go for a a iphone and go back to itunes for a easy life.

congratulations, this is a really clever and wise decision! ;-)

Werner.

[WAD62]

Colin,

congratulations, this is a really clever and wise decision! ;-)

Werner.

...touche sir :cool:

[dave2010]

Ps http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Logitech-Squeezebox-Classic-/320750246075?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4aae3458bb#ht_806wt_922

This one is faulty, but someone here may know how to fix it!Someone actually bid up to £38 plus £7.99 for that. Maybe they can get it working, or use it as a set prop!

[JRS]

If you haven't already taken the plunge with the AE then I would recommend it. I'd been thinking about a similar set up and was tempted by the sonos/sqeezeB . As I had an AE sitting in a box (ex router) I thought I'd give it a try. I initially fubared my network when I tried to add the AE as a device and accidentally created a new network which was really confusing.
The AE is now up and running and it sounds OK, perhaps a little lifeless but I'm using minijack to stereo out and not optical yet.
My set up is like so....
Imac as a central music/video hub with itunes and airfoil located in my office on the first floor and connected to the internet with wifi(netgear)
AE on the groundfloor directly plugged into my Croft amp.
Itunes streams natively once home sharing is activated under itunes. You need a to set up some sort of account with apple to do this I think or you might be able to circumvent this with airfoil.
Airfoil does all the other streaming including spotify, itunes, iplayer ect.
Oh, and i can control it all remotely via my iphone or even stream from (might be better off with android if you're PC).
All in all I'm pretty chuffed with the result considering it only cost £20 for airfoil (which you can try before you buy).
It took about 4 hours to set up and I felt thoroughly modern when I finished it so I played some thoroughly un-modern Sandy Denny as a first stream;)
Just check that AE is pc compatible first as my whole system is mac based.

[wee tee cee]

I have a squeeze box receiver/controller sitting doing nothing,Seems to fit your requirements regards connectivity and and applications.I used it with a lap top/i tunes to stream all my music/internet radio/spotify.....
PM me if you're interested.
Regards Tony.