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Author Topic: AirPlay and zones in MC 18  (Read 9798 times)

Chauncey

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AirPlay and zones in MC 18
« on: May 10, 2013, 09:55:16 am »

My setup:

2012 Mac Mini running Windows 7 via Boot Camp (Ethernet connection)
HDMI out to Pioneer VSX-1021 AVR
AVR is connected to Sony HDTV via HDMI and uses 5.1 speakers and 2.0 for Zone 2 outside
AVR is connected to router via Ethernet.

This set up is perfect for the family room, where we do most of our movie watching and music listening.  I have stereo speakers set up outside connected to Zone 2 (wired) on the Pioneer AVR.  The Pioneer has AirPlay built in and can send the Airplay to Zone 2.  It cannot pass HDMI audio or video to Zone 2.  This was fine until I switched from iTunes to JRiver. I could listen to music inside and have the same tunes outside via AirPlay to Zone 2.

I am trying to figure out a way to do the same thing with JRiver.  MC 18 does not appear to have AirPlay.  But it can see the Pioneer AVR as a "Player" (DLNA?).  I want to play the same music inside and to Zone 2 outside simultaneously.  I've tried linking zones but have had no success.  MC consistently hangs while buffering and ultimately crashes. 

I have been able to play songs outside successfully, but not both inside and outside (zone 2) simultaneously.  I've noticed that the files are transcoded from FLAC to mp3 when they play in Zone 2 despite the AVR's ability to play FLAC.

Any suggestions???

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JimH

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Re: AirPlay and zones in MC 18
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2013, 10:14:49 am »

You could search for Airplay or Airfoil here.  This thread is an example of what you'll find:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=80458.msg547711#msg547711

MC settings for conversion are in Media Network.  There are two places.  You want to use the server set of conversion.
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bspachman

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Re: AirPlay and zones in MC 18
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2013, 10:17:47 am »

Someone else may weigh in about the DLNA questions--I'm not too familiar with it. You can also try a post in the 'Networking' sub-board... It feels to me that you should be able to accomplish this via DLNA and linking zones.

However, I accomplish a similar arrangement by using the 3rd party utility "Airfoil" by Rogue Amoeba. If your receiver is fully AirPlay-capable, it should show up as a destination in Airfoil, which then will act like the AirPlay destinations you are used to from iTunes.

I think they have a free trial that will work for something like 10minutes a session, so you could download it and try it out.

brad
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Chauncey

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Re: AirPlay and zones in MC 18
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2013, 11:19:04 am »

Thank you for the replies.  I will look into media network conversion settings as well as Airfoil.
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rec head

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Re: AirPlay and zones in MC 18
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2013, 02:09:28 pm »

Before I started using MC I got this http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=5557&seq=1&format=2 switch for the sole reason that it will accept HDMI input and output both HDMI and optical audio. It has an analog output too. My setup looks like this: HTPC (hdmi)-> switch (hdmi+optical)-> AVR. I use different inputs on the AVR. This allows me to listen to music and movies in the AVR's other zones at the same time as the main zone.

I have looked into but not done too much experimenting with running HDMI and optical out of the HTPC and using MC to send both signals but my attempts haven't worked.
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Chauncey

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Re: AirPlay and zones in MC 18
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2013, 02:33:41 pm »

Before I started using MC I got this http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=5557&seq=1&format=2 switch for the sole reason that it will accept HDMI input and output both HDMI and optical audio. It has an analog output too. My setup looks like this: HTPC (hdmi)-> switch (hdmi+optical)-> AVR. I use different inputs on the AVR. This allows me to listen to music and movies in the AVR's other zones at the same time as the main zone.

I have looked into but not done too much experimenting with running HDMI and optical out of the HTPC and using MC to send both signals but my attempts haven't worked.

That's a great suggestion.  Maybe I'll go that route if Airfoil doesn't work out.
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rec head

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Re: AirPlay and zones in MC 18
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2013, 02:42:03 pm »

The benefit of the switch is that everything goes through it so there is never a concern about format or anything else and even if you are playing a bluray you can still get that audio in the other zones.

Airfoil is great and I use it to stream to my AVR but not as much as I used to.
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Chauncey

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Re: AirPlay and zones in MC 18
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2013, 09:20:47 am »

The benefit of the switch is that everything goes through it so there is never a concern about format or anything else and even if you are playing a bluray you can still get that audio in the other zones.

Airfoil is great and I use it to stream to my AVR but not as much as I used to.

Airfoil did not work.  Zone linking did not work either.  I ended up changing my set up a bit to reach my goal.  I have an Oppo BDP-103 that saved the day.  I now send audio/video from the Mac Mini to the Oppo via HDMI.  The Oppo has dual HDMI output; video goes directly to the TV and audio is sent to the AVR.  I discovered that the Oppo can also send audio out through its RCA stereo connections while also sending audio to the AVR over HDMI.  I connected the Oppo to my AVR with a 2-channel RCA cable and I send that signal to the speakers outside (Zone 2 on my AVR).  Voila!  HDMI audio in my family room with 2-stereo playing simultaneously in Zone 2.
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