[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
I take this to mean that something with remote functionality is coming.

Yep

[nforcer]

Streaming video would be much cooler for a device like this. But I would think we'd need something faster than airport extreme to do such a thing (esp since it's rare for wireless stuff to reach their full potential through several walls and longer distances).

As it is, I don't understand why Apple decided to go with the "plug it in to a stereo to work" approach. Why not just build a short range radio transmitter into the unit and broadcast on some user defined AM station? That way every radio in the house could pick up the signal. And then perhaps include the plugin option for clearer quality on one specific radio.

[superblue]

But can I use my Soundsticks/iSub with it? I'll be gutted if not, as I haven't had a stereo for years - I thought that was kind of the point of the digital hub

I suspect the USB port is for printers only... in which case will some bright spark come out with a converter for the USB soundtsicks to take an audio line in?

[kikkoman]

Here more details on how Air Tunes works. iTunes converts whatever is playing into Apple Lossess which is encrypted and streamed to the Airport Express which then converts it to PCM. You can also stream shared libraries to the AE which is real nice if you have your library on a Powermac and a Powerbook to control iTunes.

http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/edit...ves/000212.php

[MikeD]

Addressed but not answered earlier... Can you use a shared playlist to play the songs? My music on my dual g4 in the bedroom, stereo in the living room... and would like to play via a shared playlist on my powerbook which can be anywhere... (Glorified remote!). By the looks of the images posted, it looks like airtunes or whatever you call it can do that because if you're playing a shared playlist, the music streams from your main computer to your laptop and out those speakers (not the speakers of the main computer). Then, if that menu thing on the bottom of iTunes is for 'output' then possibly you can 'output' to the 'living room stereo'. Let's hope this is the case.

The second issue I have is that right now, we have a linksys wireless network. Should I change that to AEBS? But Can I use my current linksys/dsl router/5 port hub still? I think the AEBS only has one ethernet out port right?

Mike

Update: kikkoman answered first issue as I was typing this! (See directly above)

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by MikeD:
[B]

The second issue I have is that right now, we have a linksys wireless network. Should I change that to AEBS? But Can I use my current linksys/dsl router/5 port hub still? I think the AEBS only has one ethernet out port right?

/B]

APEx BS have a WAN and a LAN port.
But I wonder if you use a third party 802.11b base station for internet can you bypass that when you want to stream and make a connection from a Mac with APEx and the Airport Express? I assume it would have to make a direct connection with the unit to stream the music. Also how much of the bandwidth is this going to suck up when in use. Will it effect the ability to surf online when use the computer is used to stream the music.

[mikeini]

after strainingmy eyes to read 3 pages .... im still unsure as to 2 things:

1. What is the range on this thing? Like stated somewhere in the beggning of the 2nd page - what is the range like .. can i have it plugged in upstairs and it owrk downstairs.

2. I have a linksys router (non-wireless). Will it still work or woul di need to bypass it and hae it connect straight from the cable modem (and then get wireless card for my bro's comp) .....

Mike

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by nforcer:
As it is, I don't understand why Apple decided to go with the "plug it in to a stereo to work" approach. Why not just build a short range radio transmitter into the unit and broadcast on some user defined AM station? That way every radio in the house could pick up the signal. And then perhaps include the plugin option for clearer quality on one specific radio.

Because that would cut its potential market in half, since devices that broadcast within the commercial radio range are heavily regulated and illegal for private persons in many countries.

The iTrip, for example is not legally available here.

-s*

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:
Also how much of the bandwidth is this going to suck up when in use. Will it effect the ability to surf online when use the computer is used to stream the music.

considering that FULL CD audio is under 1.5 megabits/sec, Apple Lossless then being well under 1 Mbps, Airport Extreme being 54 Mbps, and the average DSL line being between 768 kbps and 3 Mbps, I'd say...



no.

[tooki]

Originally posted by nforcer:
As it is, I don't understand why Apple decided to go with the "plug it in to a stereo to work" approach. Why not just build a short range radio transmitter into the unit and broadcast on some user defined AM station? That way every radio in the house could pick up the signal. And then perhaps include the plugin option for clearer quality on one specific radio.

Have you ever used a radio transmitter? They're a pain in the ass, for one thing, because you have to find an empty frequency (which is basically impossible in some areas), it's illegal in some places, and of course the big one: radio sounds like crap compared to CD or even MP3!

Originally posted by mikeini:
after strainingmy eyes to read 3 pages .... im still unsure as to 2 things:

1. What is the range on this thing? Like stated somewhere in the beggning of the 2nd page - what is the range like .. can i have it plugged in upstairs and it owrk downstairs.

2. I have a linksys router (non-wireless). Will it still work or woul di need to bypass it and hae it connect straight from the cable modem (and then get wireless card for my bro's comp) .....

1. This number is clearly stated on the product's specs page.
2. Plug cable from Linksys LAN port to AP Express. Set AP Express to not do NAT. Happiness should ensue.

tooki

[Eug Wanker]

Radio transmitters suck. In contrast, this unit will have uncompressed audio with an optical digital audio interface. No comparison.

[Rev-O]

So it sounds like I can plug ye olde APEx into an outlet next to a cat5e jack that goes to my asante wired router, acting like a wap (?). This would give me wireless internet and networking for my 802.11g equipped iBook and tie it into the wired network for my G5 and my iMac.

Only concern would be security, but I'm sure the wireless side of it can be password enabled via the airport setup utility. I'd have to do that to keep neighbors from being bandwidth tapeworms!

Hmmm... must buy!

[Eug Wanker]

Something is wonky with Windows Internet Explorer 6.0 and this site.

So, many hours later, it's still wonky.

[King Bob On The Cob]

Originally posted by nforcer:
Streaming video would be much cooler for a device like this. But I would think we'd need something faster than airport extreme to do such a thing (esp since it's rare for wireless stuff to reach their full potential through several walls and longer distances).

Nah, check http://www.elgato.com/ and look for eyeHome 802.11g is plenty of bandwidth for video.

[PHoynak]

Can I use my Belkin Wireless router? Now I have my eMac connected directly to the router and my PC notebook connects to it wirelessly. I can share my music over the network with my PC, eMac and notebooks. Do I need to get an airport card for the eMac or will the Airport Express find the wireless router and thus see my iTunes library on my eMac?

[milhaus]

Sorry if this has been asked before in this thread - I've looked through it, but haven't found the right answer. Can you use the device's ethernet port to hook it up to another device (not a WAN)? I want my xBox to be hooked up to the wireless network through this (thereby saving me $150 smackeroonies for the xBox Wirless G adapter). I don't think it can, right?

[itai195]

It looks like it will work in the capacity you want (hook up to xbox) if MacWorld is to be trusted. But if that's all you want, you can get something cheaper, like one of Linksys' wireless game adaptors or a wireless bridge.

[aladdinsane]

Originally posted by macvillage.net:
I'm curious if someone is going to make it work with sound-out, rather than just iTunes.

Exactly what I have been wondering. If this is only available for sounds out of iTunes it is a showstopper for me. I currently have my G5 playing through my stereo via USB audio, I would love to get rid of that long wire.

But I listen to internet radio (using Windows Media Player) quite a lot and if I cannot play it on my stereo using airport express I will not be getting one.

First I discarded the idea, I mean there are other applications than iTunes that play sound but the more I read the more it looks like it is only iTunes that can be used. I hope I am missing something.

[mattyd]

ok, i've read this whole thread, but i'm still unclear about compatibility with third party base stations. here's the deal...

i have a netgear 802.11g/b router attached to my cable modem.

i have a tiBook with airport 802.11b

can i attach an airport express to my stereo and stream iTunes to it, but still use my netgear router for my internet connection?

wouldn't that require my powerbook to be on two different networks simultaneously?

anyone have any idea?

[PowerMatt]

Originally posted by milhaus:
Sorry if this has been asked before in this thread - I've looked through it, but haven't found the right answer. Can you use the device's ethernet port to hook it up to another device (not a WAN)? I want my xBox to be hooked up to the wireless network through this (thereby saving me $150 smackeroonies for the xBox Wirless G adapter). I don't think it can, right?

If you are wondering whether if you can use the RJ45 port for a LAN link while the Airport Express is in bridged mode; you can, at least MacWorld seems to think so. If this is your question, it was addressed above I believe.

So a crude diagram would look like this:

DSL/CABLE---cat5--->AExtremeBS (((((802.11b/g))))))) AEpressBS----cat5---->XBox

So your DSL or Cable broadband plugs into the WAN port on your Extreme Base Station. (You are free to use the LAN port for whatever your wish.) The Extreme transmits in bridged mode to the Express. The Express can inturn be used as a LAN port for your XBox or dedicated porn box or whatever.

[jwblase]

For all those that want the WiFi remote for their iPods...

According to Appleinsider:

"When Jobs was demonstrating the new Airport Express, Walt Mossberg said that the biggest problem he saw was that users had to get up and walk to their computers to change play lists. Jobs joked that walking was good, but when pressed, he smiled a wry smile. AppleInsider correspondents took this to mean that Apple is developing in this area, and the Airport Express is just a step along the way."

It seems that SJ has a trick up his sleeve for solving this little perceived problem. I just can't believe that something this obvious wasn't thought out ahead of time.

JB

[i am yujin]

Damn..so many questions.

And here is one more.

So the Airport Extreme is similar to the other internet peripheral where you can access internet through power lines?

Like lets say I have a PC in my room but it has no WiFi card, I can just insert the Extreme into the outlet, hook up an ethernet cable and there I go?

[scaught]

this is really great. last xmas i went to the inlaws house. i knew they had a cable modem and a ethernet hub, so i brought my base station along with me in my carry on luggage.

note: when placed in a carry on bag along with the power plug and a 10 foot ethernet cable, a base station suddenly isnt so "small and cute". its actually kind of big.

this thing would be ****ing awesome for that purpose alone.

i love apple.

[starman]

How cool would it be to stream from MULTIPLE people's iTunes lists? THAT would rock.

Oh, and f*ck the RIAA.

Mike

[legacyb4]

Oh man, this is a no-brainer. I've just moved back to my desktop and have been wondering how to pipe all my music to my stereo; yeah, an iPod can do it, but you have no control over it from your desktop/laptop.

I almost contemplated getting the wireless controller for the iPod; glad I waited! This thing is going to sell faster than the iPod itself as it's a must-have accessory for any laptop user.

Cheers.

[Eug Wanker]

CBS MarketWatch: AAPL jumps 4% after Airport Express announcement

Apple Computer posted its best close in almost four years, Monday, as the company unveiled a new wireless base station that, in addition to providing portable connections to the Internet, can also stream music from anywhere in a home.

The Reg: Once again Apple has made a task which has confounded the CE industry, and Wintel, look like a walk in the park.

[scaught]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
The Reg: Once again Apple has made a task which has confounded the CE industry, and Wintel, look like a walk in the park.

[legacyb4]

Connect your stereo or a set of powered speakers to the audio port using either an optical digital or analog audio cable (both are included in the AirPort Express Stereo Connection Kit). Which cable you use depends on whether your stereo or set of powered speakers has an optical digital or analog connection.

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
Oooohhh... I missed the optical when I posted that pic. Thanks for pointing that out. Very nice.

I'm thinking that optical will require an add-on dongle or something, for another $29.

[Cipher13]

Interesting piece of hardware. Quite nice.

I'd be worried about it's range - no antenna, situated low, etc.

I'll stick with my third party wireless equipment, personally.

[krove]

I wonder if any brave souls would hook up external antennas to increase range...

Why even ask...of course someone will! The question will be, can they sell it?

[equinox]

Does anybody know if i can use that AirTunes feature only over the wireless device?

My iMac is connected via a normal RJ 45 cable to a switch. I would like to connect the Airport Express to the same switch and then use the Itunes-AirTunes via Cable.

Is this possible?

Thanks

equinox

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
Interesting piece of hardware. Quite nice.

I'd be worried about it's range - no antenna, situated low, etc.

I'll stick with my third party wireless equipment, personally.

As has been stated before the APExpress has a cord like your iBook/Powerbook powerblocks that extends the cord. So it can be plugged right into the outlet or you can use the cord to mount it somewhere else.

[itai195]

Originally posted by equinox:
Does anybody know if i can use that AirTunes feature only over the wireless device?

My iMac is connected via a normal RJ 45 cable to a switch. I would like to connect the Airport Express to the same switch and then use the Itunes-AirTunes via Cable.

Is this possible?

Thanks

equinox

My guess that this will work. Apple needs to get out more details regarding the nature of the ethernet port on the device. The Airport Express page says the port can connect to a DSL or cable modem or to a local network through the ethernet port, the latter would cover your case.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by tooki:
radio sounds like crap compared to CD or even MP3!

No.

If you have good reception (keywords: if, good), analog radio can far surpass CD quality.

Doesn't matter nowadays, though, because all radio stations compress and excite their signal to hell, making it near-unbearable.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by aladdinsane:
Exactly what I have been wondering. If this is only available for sounds out of iTunes it is a showstopper for me. I currently have my G5 playing through my stereo via USB audio, I would love to get rid of that long wire.

Yeah, that would be necessary to justify the device to me, too. (I still think they'll sell like hotcakes.)

I think it's just a matter of time before it gets CoreAudio support.

I hope.


Also, to someone above: Airport Extreme is fast enough to stream DVD video. I do it all the time (especially the last few days, since my DVD player in the Powerbook won't work due to a stuck CD).

It would be fantastic if a future Airport Express would come with an S-VHS port.

-s*

[LeeG]

If iTunes is playing back a digital multichannel file format like AC3 (Dolby Digital) or DTS, those bitstreams are wrapped in Apple's compression and encryption, and then decoded at the other end. In those cases, AirPort Express would end up streaming the raw AC3 or DTS stream via an optical cable to your home theater receiver for decoding.

Source

VERY interesting. This claims that it can do WIRELESS, LOSSLESS multi-channel audio. Very Impressive, since home theater/stereo setups are really where multichannel audio shines.

Now, WHEN WILL iTUNES SUPPORT SACD or DVD-A?????????????


L

[motti]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
Except that the Airport Express unit doesn't have a standard full-sized Toslink port. However, Landos Moustache pointed out that it does come with the right mini-Toslink cable.

[...]

Buy several AirPort Express Base Stations and connect one to every stereo or set of powered speakers in your house � one to your stereo in your bedroom, one to your stereo in your living room and still another to a pair of powered speakers in your kitchen, for example. Its small size and affordability make it perfect for having more than one. Imagine being able to play your iTunes music on whichever speakers in your house you prefer at a given moment.

I can see people going out and buying 5 of these. The next step is to create a small handheld remote control that will be able to access iTunes over the WiFi network. (I don't think it has to be a WiFi iPod either.)

That would come very close to what B&O sell; only way cheaper!

[legacyb4]

Apple docs say:

a Monster mini-to-optical digital Toslink audio cable

which looks something like this, I imagine:



Cheers.

Originally posted by buddhabelly:
These connections that they're using are standard, that's why they are supposed to work with any setup. The audio jack is a standard 1/8" stereo and optical jack, just like the one in my Discman, Minidisc player and several portable DVD players I've seen.

[jorgem4]

Man...I use to think that AirPort Express was cool....but check this out:

"For those wondering if AirPort Express supports MP3, AAC, or any other specific file formats, the answer is no. AirPort Express supports Apple's Lossless Compression technology -- and everything that your iTunes streams across the network to Airport Express is compressed using that technology."

That just sucks....all of the music I have on my iTunes is either .mp3 or .aac ....this blows!

Link

[Simon]

Originally posted by jorgem4:
That just sucks....all of the music I have on my iTunes is either .mp3 or .aac ....this blows!

No, you're misunderstanding. You can have the music in any format you want. iTunes will take it, convert it to Apple Lossless on the fly and transmit that to the APExpress. You don't have to convert anything. If iTunes can play it, APExpress will play it as well.

[LeeG]

Originally posted by jorgem4:
Man...I use to think that AirPort Express was cool....but check this out:

"For those wondering if AirPort Express supports MP3, AAC, or any other specific file formats, the answer is no. AirPort Express supports Apple's Lossless Compression technology -- and everything that your iTunes streams across the network to Airport Express is compressed using that technology."

That just sucks....all of the music I have on my iTunes is either .mp3 or .aac ....this blows!

Link

I HOPE this is sarcasm....

When iTunes plays back standard audio content (AAC, MP3, audiobooks, music streams), it decompresses those file formats and creates what's essentially a raw, uncompressed audio stream. That stream is compressed on the fly using Apple's Lossless Compression, encrypted, and sent to the AirPort Express. AirPort Express decrypts the stream, decodes it, and outputs it in either analog format (if you plug in a standard analog mini jack) or as a digital PCM stream

For all this compressing, encoding etc, I am surprised there aren't some system requirements. My 500Mhz G4 sawtooth chokes on iPhoto, I can't imagine what realtime decompression of AAC, conversion to lossless, and then encoding for secure transmission to the AirportExpress will do to my system....


Lee

[Simon]

Originally posted by LeeG:
For all this compressing, encoding etc, I am surprised there aren't some system requirements. My 500Mhz G4 sawtooth chokes on iPhoto, I can't imagine what realtime decompression of AAC, conversion to lossless, and then encoding for secure transmission to the AirportExpress will do to my system....

I have one word for you: Altivec.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
No.

If you have good reception (keywords: if, good), analog radio can far surpass CD quality.

Are you one of those people that think records sound better then CD's also?

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by jorgem4:
"For those wondering if AirPort Express supports MP3, AAC, or any other specific file formats, the answer is no. AirPort Express supports Apple's Lossless Compression technology -- and everything that your iTunes streams across the network to Airport Express is compressed using that technology."

That just sucks....all of the music I have on my iTunes is either .mp3 or .aac ....this blows!

Link

That is not correct. iTunes will convert MP3/AAC --> lossless (sorta speak) on-the-fly for transmission. (Otherwise Airport Express would be completely pointless.)

I do wonder how fast a machine would be needed though. G3 333 or something?

If you have good reception (keywords: if, good), analog radio can far surpass CD quality.

Huh?

[JHromadka]

This looks like it will fill the bill nicely for me. I do all of my computing on a Powerbook and have an Airport Extreme basestation already, so I can plug in the APX in behind my TV and hook it into my stereo system. Later on when I get my hottub fixed I can either move it or get another one and some outside speakers!

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:

I do wonder how fast a machine would be needed though. G3 333 or something?

400Mhz G3 is my guess. Since Apple is going to require you to use iTunes 4 that wants the following:
Macintosh System Requirements
* Mac OS X v10.1.5 or later

* 400MHz G3 processor or better

* QuickTime 6.2 required to encode AAC

* QuickTime 6.5.1 and latest iLife updates required to use purchased music in iLife '04

* 128 MB RAM minimum/256 RAM recommended

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by starman:
Oh, and f*ck the RIAA.

Yep, I want one of these Airport Express things. No more separate modem, hub, router, and WAP. God that's a pain.

[milhaus]

Originally posted by PowerMatt:
If you are wondering whether if you can use the RJ45 port for a LAN link while the Airport Express is in bridged mode; you can, at least MacWorld seems to think so. If this is your question, it was addressed above I believe.

So a crude diagram would look like this:

DSL/CABLE---cat5--->AExtremeBS (((((802.11b/g))))))) AEpressBS----cat5---->XBox

So your DSL or Cable broadband plugs into the WAN port on your Extreme Base Station. (You are free to use the LAN port for whatever your wish.) The Extreme transmits in bridged mode to the Express. The Express can inturn be used as a LAN port for your XBox or dedicated porn box or whatever.

Methinks you and MacWorld might be wrong: check out the specs for AExpress:
http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/specs.html
Under LAN.

Let me know if I'm mistaken.

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by milhaus:
Methinks you and MacWorld might be wrong: check out the specs for AExpress:
http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/specs.html
Under LAN.

Let me know if I'm mistaken.

Listed on that very page:



It says that Airport Express can do PPPoE (for DSL) and DHCP (for Cable). The only problem being that I want one now.

[aaanorton]

Originally posted by [APi]TheMan:
Listed on that very page:

[snip]

It says that Airport Express can do PPPoE (for DSL) and DHCP (for Cable). The only problem being that I want one now.

I believe milhaus was referring to the use of the WAN port as a LAN port in bridge mode. On the linked page is a chart. In that chart it states:
10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN port: No
for the AExp

I really really want this to work, as it would be ideal for my setup. But clearly either MacWorld or Apple's chart is wrong, or at least misleading.