Moderators Youthman Posted September 7, 2013 Moderators Share Posted September 7, 2013 Recently I purchased an AppleTV for the HT to be able to stream music and movies from my iPad and iPhone through the HT and love it. For the living room, we have no intentions of getting a TV so the Airport Express was on the radar. I've been watching Ebay for a good deal on an Airport Express for my 2ch setup in the living room. This morning, one posted New Factory Sealed for $65 + $10 shipping. That's about as good as it's going to get since used ones are selling for $65 - $75 + shipping (which is crazy when new they are $100). I work a lot from my computer in the home office and wanted the ability to have the 2ch setup playing but be able to control it from my office. Can't wait to get it setup. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMiRA Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 They are $69 from apple for refurbs with free shipping. I have (2) of the older ones and one of the newest version. I love the Lil buggers. Don't forget. They have a toslink out if you feel so inclined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 8, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted September 8, 2013 I think the $5 extra for a brand new sealed unit was worth it. My HK does not have any digital inputs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 My HK does not have any digital inputs. Is it the one in your sig the HK3490 according to the the website it has 2, 1 coax, and 1 optical. I have been looking at Sonos player for the same reason you are looking at Apple Airport Express, but for streaming Pandora. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 8, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted September 8, 2013 Is it the one in your sig the HK3490 according to the the website it has 2, 1 coax, and 1 optical. Yes it is. I'm not sure but for some reason, I didn't think it had digital inputs. Guess I was wrong. Good to know. Am I understanding correctly that if you hook a source up via Composite Audio that the DAC in the source will be used (ex my Marantz DVD Player, Airport Express) but if I hook them up via Digital Coax or Toslink that it will send the audio to the HK and the HK's DAC will be used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 8, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted September 8, 2013 I just found this explanation online which seems that my assessment was correct. Most dedicated CD players will have a digital output on them as well as the analog output. If you connect the digital output of your CD player to a DAC then you will bypass the CD player's "internal DAC" (digital-to-analog portion of your CD player) and the external DAC will then be responsible for the conversion process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 8, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted September 8, 2013 My guess is the HK DAC would sound better than the DAC in my DVD Player. The Marantz looks like it's a nice unit but it has the weight of a cheap $40 bluray player. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RT FAN Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 I was looking at doing the same thing Youthman, I would like to know if you could use the HDMI output to the TV for video while using the Optical output of the Apple tv to the preamp for audio. Inquiring minds would like to know! This way I could stream movies off the Ipad to the tv & stream my music off the I cloud to the 2 channel rig. That would make my life easier. PS I just noticed you were looking at the Airport Express, while I am considereing the Apple TV, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 My guess is the HK DAC would sound better than the DAC in my DVD Player. The Marantz looks like it's a nice unit but it has the weight of a cheap $40 bluray player. Any thoughts? Sounds to me you need to spend a day doing some serious listening, I would listen with some familiar music, with it hooked up one way, then go back and listen to the same stuff with it hooked up the other way. You may or may not notice a difference depending how well each units dac is vs the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 9, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted September 9, 2013 Oh if I only had a full day to spend....[] You may or may not notice a difference depending how well each units dac is vs the others. I may not notice a difference just because I don't have a "critical ear". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 12, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted September 12, 2013 Airport Express came in yesterday. I just finished installing and setting it up in the living room. Honestly, I'm smiling ear to ear. With the airport express, I have it connected to my wireless network. A single power cord and a 3.5mm to RCA connects it to my 2ch setup. Right now, I'm at my computer in the office streaming music from my iPhone into the living room! I can now change songs, adjust volume all from my iPhone or iPad. I'm still just thrilled at how well Apple products work. It took me a LONG time to give Apple a chance. Now I'm wondering why I waited so long. So far, with my iPad, iPhone, AppleTV and now Airport Express, they just work and they play VERY well with each other. I'm excited that I now can create demo playlists in iTunes and be able to stream those playlists from anywhere in my house to the Living Room. I'm seriously like a kid at Christmas. I guess us big boys never really grow out of playing with big boy toys. [] Youtube videos even sound amazing through my 2ch setup. I cannot say enough about the AirPlay feature. Just wanted to share my SUPER EXCITEMENT with everyone. I know there are other streaming products that are non-apple...regardless of what system you go with, get one. IMO, this just took the "Cool Factor" of my system up SEVERAL notches! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TasDom Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Congrats and welcome to the 21st century! [] If you wanna take it up another notch, give MOG a try. Really is superior to Pandora, iTunes, etc...imho Enjoy the new toys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 12, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted September 12, 2013 Congrats and welcome to the 21st century! Ok, here is the sad truth....amongst the people at my church, friends and family, I'm typically the guy they come to when they need help with electronics, computers etc. I design websites, graphics and have been around audio/video all of my life. With that said, I'm usually the last one to adopt technology personally. It was a LONG time before I even considered having a smart phone because I thought it was dumb surfing the net or checking email on a handheld display. LOL As much as I love technology, you would think I would be one of the early adopters but nope.....I guess I get comfortable and content with what I have and don't like to change very much. But typically when I do, it's almost always for the better and I wonder why I ever waited so long to do it in the first place. If you wanna take it up another notch, give MOG a try. Really is superior to Pandora, iTunes, etc...imho I remember a few people recommending MOG. I'll have to check into it again. Thx for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMiRA Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Your next toy should be airfoil by rogue amoeba. It allows you to stream anything that your computer will output as sound, both windows and osx, as airplay to as many devices that you have that are airplay compatible. You can even download the airfoil remote app and send audio to your ipad or iphone and use them as airplay speakers. Apple remote works great for controlling iTunes from anywhere on your network.. Fun stuff. Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 15, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted September 15, 2013 Thx McMiRA, I don't have anything on my computer that I would need to stream that I don't already have on my iPhone or iPad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48n123w Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I would like to stream audio files from my PC to my Outlaw 950 preamp (no wifi or hdmi). If I connected an older Apple Airport device (RCA or optical outputs) to my Outlaw, would Airfoil for Windows work for me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shodrewken Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I would like to stream audio files from my PC to my Outlaw 950 preamp (no wifi or hdmi). If I connected an older Apple Airport device (RCA or optical outputs) to my Outlaw, would Airfoil for Windows work for me? I believe it will. I have an B&K Reference 50 pre amp that has no wifi, and I hooked my brothers Airport express up to one of the RCA inputs and it worked just fine. I think it was the second to last gen Airport express, and I was playing my music through my Windows 7 machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48n123w Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Thanks, that sounds promising. I'll see if I can track one down and give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48n123w Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I found an old AirPort Express A1084 on craigslist. So I think I just need an Optical to 3.5mm adapter and connect the optical cable to my pre-amp. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/TOSLINK-to-3-5mm-Fibre-Optic-Optical-Cable-Plug-Converter-Adaptor-Adapter-/370931607962?pt=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item565d3f299a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holtrp Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I have been using an express with iphone / iPad / airplay and love it. 3.5 mm jack crossed to RCA from monoprice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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