INTERACT FORUM

Devices => PC's and Other Hardware => Topic started by: bjsolem on June 07, 2004, 01:39:38 pm

Title: J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: bjsolem on June 07, 2004, 01:39:38 pm
Make a plug in that allows MC to send music to this thing:

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: edbro on June 07, 2004, 03:58:59 pm
This is cool! This would go great to get music from my Karma or laptop to my stereo. I would love to see integration with MC. I will definitely be purchasing one and if I have to run Itunes to use, I load that along side of MC.
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: tlongacre on June 07, 2004, 05:50:17 pm
Yes, please. I just saw this and it is exactly what I want, except that I want it with Media Center!

The cynic in me is not holding out a lot of hope, though, 'cause we've not had great luck with Apple being cooperative. . . And yet, it is so cool, I still hope against hope!
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: mooseman on June 07, 2004, 10:02:03 pm
Well, considering the fact that apple didn't support playing iTunes m4p files, and doesn't support connecting to an iPod, I wouldn't count it out.  Never underestimate the ability of a motivated coder.
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: iCamp on June 08, 2004, 07:56:07 am
Wow...that thing is very cool.  I'd pay $10 for a MC plug-in that supported it.
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: mooseman on June 08, 2004, 10:18:12 am
me too!
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: glynor on June 08, 2004, 01:37:30 pm
here too!
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: TimB on June 10, 2004, 08:11:54 pm
Ayup
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: Chili-Jam on June 16, 2004, 10:01:38 am
Yes, if MC could act as an iTunes-Server, this could solve all my streaming problems.

The server has to be a special webserver using DAAP protocol.
Some open source implementations for Unix already exist.
Have a look at:

http://www.opendaap.org/

A sourceforge project has announced to work on a Windows based server.

I have my doubts that JRiver will ever implement such a server extension because of
licensing issues with Apple.
Maybe someone might develop a non commercial plugin.
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: Crashless on June 16, 2004, 12:39:30 pm
Now here's a perfect multi-zone solution.  How great would it be to be able to stream to separate modules in the house?  You could manage it from a server and assign streams from any client ideally.  All within MC, that would be awesome.

Does even apple support multiple module control?
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: baldwig on June 22, 2004, 08:34:44 pm
Any reponse on getting a plug-in - this would be cool
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: Warlock on August 03, 2004, 01:49:06 pm
Has there been any thought within J River about supporting this device?  
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: bjsolem on August 03, 2004, 02:49:28 pm
I'm sure that this is something that would have to be 'reverse engineered'.  

And if you've been following the tech news, it looks like apple doesn't like when people reverse engineer anything to do with the ipod.......
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: kiwi on August 03, 2004, 11:23:23 pm
Well, they particularly don't like it when they are a direct competitor.  On the other hand, maybe a third party plug-in could be made.  

Or maybe someone out there will be able to write a "virtual sound card" driver for it.  I.e. you have the driver on your computer and it looks like a regular sound card to all programs on the computer, but instead of being a sound card, it pipes the music off to the Airport Express.  I wonder how hard something like that might be to make.

I wish I knew more about writing drivers.

kiwi
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: bspachman on August 04, 2004, 09:08:27 am
I've thought about this a little...

Since the AE is a cross-platform device (it works with both the Macintosh & Windows versions of iTunes), you can almost be positive that QuickTime is involved somehow.

Also, since MC is able to play AAC files (both protected & not) by making the decoding calls to QuickTime...

And since we know that the AE uses Apple's Lossless codec to transfer the music (which is also part of QuickTime)....

Perhaps there is actually a way to interface MC with QuickTime so the wireless streaming can be accomplished.

Brad
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: Snuffy2 on August 05, 2004, 02:37:13 pm
No response from the developers??
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: bjsolem on August 05, 2004, 07:39:01 pm
It is a very cool product.  I'm sure they probably agree.

My guess is that they feel it is best to stay quiet.  Apple can be very litigious.
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: bspachman on August 11, 2004, 10:53:16 pm
Speaking of ligtigous... Can you imagine Steve Jobs' face when he wakes up in the morning and sees:

http://nanocrew.net/blog/

Seems that folks are on the way to sending anything to the AirPort Express.

Brad
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: GHammer on August 13, 2004, 05:12:36 am
See this:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/2/2004/August/9274.shtml
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: Seviien on August 13, 2004, 04:49:24 pm
So it looks like all we need now is someone to code a plugin for MC.

If you know how to code something like that, PM me, and I can help you get started.  Unfortunately, i have no idea how to myself...
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: JNKH on August 22, 2004, 06:24:45 am
Any update on supporting Airport Express from MC?
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: trenelly on October 22, 2004, 02:01:01 pm
Yes please!

Have installed iTunes just to get system running but would prefer to use MC.
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: tlongacre on November 01, 2004, 12:46:52 pm
Hey, any of you folks who have gotten the Airport Express to work -- I'm not having any success.

When I plug it in, all I get is flashing yellow. Sometimes it will go green, but not for long. It doesn't matter *where* I plug it in. I put it in my kitchen with a direct, open, nothing blocking it view of my router and still nothing.

But, the other thing is that I have a Linksys router and my wireless net works perfectly. When I first ran the Airport Set up Wizard, it said Windows was not managing my wireless network and that might cause problems, but I don't know how to make Windows manage my network. I tried "set up a wireless network" (I have WinXP btw) and filled all that stuff out, using the WEP key and name of the network from the Linksys router management software, but that doesn't seem to do anything.

Did any of you have any problems? Can this work or should I just return it?

Thanks for any ideas.
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: bthall on November 04, 2004, 02:52:19 pm
Spoke to Apple support a few hours ago who walked me through this. The basic problem is that the light is always "flashing amber" which means it can't find your wireless network.

1. Unplug your AE from the outlet, plug a harware ethernet cable into your router and the AE (Airport Express), and plug the AE back in
2. Wait a while  - it should turn a solid green LED (meaning it found your network in a "wired" mode
3. Now start the AE Administrative Tool (one of two you download on the enclosed CD). If you've started the right program it should scan your attached network and find the AE basestation.
4. After the AE is identified and highlighted, in the lower right corner is a "Configure" button, which when clicked upon, gives you a screen with 7 or 8 tabs across the top.
5. Click on the "Airport" tab. About 1/2 down the page is a field that says something like "What to do want to use the AE for" (pardon me as I'm not at this location and trying to remember this from memory). You click on the down arrow just to the right of this field and if you've done everything right so far, you get a choice to the effect of "Join an existing Network". Confirm this choice.
6. In a field just below this confirmed selection you are asked for the name of your network. You must type it in exactly correctly (it's the SSID value which you can get from your network management software in WinXP)
7. Next click on the "Music" tab and click on using iTunes to play music over speakers, the location of which you should name however you want.
8. Next click on the "Update" button and wait.
9. After a while the LED will finally cycle through several stages and return to solid green
10. Exit the Administration software
11. Unplug your AE and disconnect the hardwire to your router.
12. Go back to your original plug (no more cables other than to your speakers now) and plug it in. Wait quite a while as it will start with the "flashing amber" stuff again, but if the fates are with you it will suddenly go "solid green".
13 Then you open itunes (make sure under the Preferences menu it says to "find" any external speakers). Click on the name you gave your "location" in step 7 above.
14. Listen for the sweet sound of success...
15. Wheeeeew.....

YMMV,
BarryT
Title: Re:J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: tlongacre on November 04, 2004, 10:10:22 pm
Barry,

Thank you, thank you! You got me almost all the way there -- in plain English which was so refreshing. Then I found the last piece of info I needed in the support forums and now I am sitting here listening to music coming out my living room speakers! Yipee!

Now perfection would be a hook into MC11 which I could then control with NetRemote and have access to all my playlists!
Title: Re: J River - Pretty Please - Apple Airport Express
Post by: giles on May 31, 2007, 09:26:04 pm
Guys,

Checkout Airfoil ( http://www.rogueamoeba.com/ ). Allows you stream to AE from any media player or server as it acts as a virtual interface between the media player and AE. Multiple zones are also supported as the virtual interfaces can be seen by MC as sound cards.....

giles.
ps. also, for streaming to the internet (radio station) i use Virtual Audio Channel and Broadwave (http://www.nch.com.au/index.html)., VAC is $25AUS and BW is FREE if you include a link to their site on your site. The best thing about BW is it streaming m3u and can be played by the default media player on Mac,PC and Linux. If you use the 'Best' track info display plugin for MC you can even show the Playing now info on your site with cover art etc...

Checkout my site (still in dev mode) http://randomradio.kicks-ass.org