Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation 1 May 17, 2011 2:24 pm Now I'd like to ask for some advice if I may about the best equipment to use to play music through the system we have had put in the house we are building. There are speakers in the home theatre and family room ceiling which will be connected to an amplifier in the HT and we are wondering whether it's best to connect an iPod, iPad or other device to it to play music. We'd also like to be able to listen to the radio which an iPod Nano can do. We will probably also invest in a dvd/bluray player/hard drive recorder. Any advice appreciated as we've got no clue!! For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Advice needed: iPod, iPad or other device to play music 2May 18, 2011 9:22 am It depends on how keen you are. Audiophiles will all agree that iPods and iPhones produce shocking quality audio. But as an affordable solution for people who aren't looking for high-end audio it'd be fine. Personally i'll be running audio from the study so i can continue to use my PC to play from my media library and pipe it around the house where I want it. You could also get an amp or a head unit that supports USB MP3 + discs or any other legacy format you still want to use. I'm sure some other more audio-orientated people here will give you plenty more ideas and options! Homestead Homes SA: The Lamont Bayswood Estate; Aldinga Beach Preliminary Signing: April 2010 Floorplans: 13 June 2010 Building Contract: 19 June 2010 Selections: 28 Sept 2010 Scraped; Trenching: 21 Jan 2011 Slab Poured: 28 Jan 2011 Framing: 17 Feb 2011 | Completed 24 Feb 2011 Roof & Gutters: 02 Mar 2011 Bricks: 03 Mar 2011 Wire-up: 12 Mar 2011 Re: Advice needed: iPod, iPad or other device to play music 3May 18, 2011 9:46 pm Personally I think you cant better the portability of an iPod / iPhone or similar for ease of use and playback. If you are goign the streaming option then the PC controlled by an iDevice of some sort is a great way to go. Re: Advice needed: iPod, iPad or other device to play music 4May 19, 2011 9:23 am fulltilt Any music on an iDevice comes from iTunes anyway, so the machine that has iTunes that you use to sync your iDevice/s is the perfect choice for supplying music for your house. iTunes is practically a virus, I use Winamp to manage my music library on the iPod and also on the PC. So you statement is still correct, it's just that iTunes isn't people's only option! (Thank goodness) Homestead Homes SA: The Lamont Bayswood Estate; Aldinga Beach Preliminary Signing: April 2010 Floorplans: 13 June 2010 Building Contract: 19 June 2010 Selections: 28 Sept 2010 Scraped; Trenching: 21 Jan 2011 Slab Poured: 28 Jan 2011 Framing: 17 Feb 2011 | Completed 24 Feb 2011 Roof & Gutters: 02 Mar 2011 Bricks: 03 Mar 2011 Wire-up: 12 Mar 2011 Re: Advice needed: iPod, iPad or other device to play music 5May 19, 2011 9:45 am rockabilly_kid iTunes is practically a virus, yeah sure it is.. I use itunes for everything now.. music, tv shows, movies... the main application I use on my mac.. I now have 3 apple tv's and can stream 3 different tv shows/movies/music at the same time. I can start watching a movie in my theatre room.. and then stop it.. then move to the bedroom and continue where I left off as it remembers what you have watched and what part you are up to. I can also use my iphone to control any of the apple tv's as well as using airplay which streams via wifi direct to the apple tv (bypassing itunes). ie. I have one apple tv connected to my amp and have an analogue source connected to zone 2 from it which then runs to my outdoor speakers. I can be outside and control the music and volume from my iphone. Re: Advice needed: iPod, iPad or other device to play music 6May 19, 2011 11:32 am fulltilt ... and the religious debate starts no religious debate here... I'm not loyal to any one brand.. just described how one particular method makes connecting your house really easy and simple.. Re: Advice needed: iPod, iPad or other device to play music 7May 19, 2011 3:59 pm It's easy and simple if you've got Macs and Apple TVs, but alot of people don't have the money to start from scratch like that. I have PC's and Panasonic TVs, and stream all my media using $100 media players looking at the PC. Same kinda result, but i didn't have to change all my TV's and my PC to get there. Homestead Homes SA: The Lamont Bayswood Estate; Aldinga Beach Preliminary Signing: April 2010 Floorplans: 13 June 2010 Building Contract: 19 June 2010 Selections: 28 Sept 2010 Scraped; Trenching: 21 Jan 2011 Slab Poured: 28 Jan 2011 Framing: 17 Feb 2011 | Completed 24 Feb 2011 Roof & Gutters: 02 Mar 2011 Bricks: 03 Mar 2011 Wire-up: 12 Mar 2011 Advice needed: iPod, iPad or other device to play music 8May 19, 2011 6:43 pm And iTunes runs fine on Windows also.. PC's i consider to include macs.. And apple tv's are only $129 and more user friendly than say a wdtv for the same price. So what I'm saying is it is a very cheap way to set up a media server within your house. It may not be the best method out there but for the price and ease of use I wouldn't recommend any alternative for a budget set up. I think you have confused what a apple tv actually is. It is simply a media player that plugs into a display device via hdmi. 2 of mine are plugged into panasonic plasmas, so no need to change tv's. Re: Advice needed: iPod, iPad or other device to play music 10May 20, 2011 7:12 am 71monaro Does the Apple TV play AVI's which are 99% of my movie collection? there is a couple of ways to do this.. you can either convert or remux them. Or you can leave them as the stardard divx (avi) file and either install XBMC on the apple tv which is a program that will play the majority of file types.. or even easier if you have an iphone or ipad is to install an app called AirVideo, this app converts the file on the fly and streams from your iphone to your apple tv. Hey I just purchased an apple ipad to use on site. If you are using an ipad on site, I was wondering what you all are using for construction related apps to make site… 0 1616 I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 10049 Hi All, I engaged a tradie to install concrete retaining wall 600-800mm high over 32 meters in Victoria. Sleepers are 200*75*2000 mm installed over 17 steel posts. I… 0 6917 |