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Post by jibjab on Jul 19, 2014 12:38:01 GMT
I've been doing a lot of Spotify recently. I know it's not hi-fi, but I have it on in the background when you're not sitting in front of the system for some serious listening and I'm finding it a fantastic way to find new music and musicians.
So I've just been connecting an iPad from the 3.5mm jack into my amp. Again not hi-fi but not bad either. But this restricts where you can have the ipad. So I was looking for a solution that I could stream Spotify into the hi-fi, controlling it with the iPad, but with the iPad wireless as it were.
I thought I'd found the solution to this with an Apple Airport Express, which allows you to stream from any IOS device to the Airport Express over your wifi network, and then into the amp, again with a 3.5mm to RCA lead. Perfect......it works...but...the volume output from the Airport Express is really low. I have to crank the amp up to 80% to get it anywhere near a normal level.
So, has anyone else had this issue and solved it? (I've googled it and it seems a common enough problem but the solutions they give either don't apply because they are to do with software settings in iTunes which I'm not using or involve resetting the Airport Express which I've tried but made no difference)
Or has anyone else found another solution to Spotify-ing not involving Airport Express?
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Post by MartinT on Jul 19, 2014 13:07:29 GMT
You could go to something like a Chord Hugo, which does Bluetooth streaming, but it's not a cheap solution. Sounds very good, though.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 19, 2014 13:10:14 GMT
Hmm, reading the specs now, I'm not sure it does do it via Bluetooth. I saw the demo where John Franks was tossing his iPhone in the air while streaming music and it seemed to work very well.
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Post by Stratmangler on Jul 19, 2014 13:22:44 GMT
If you have a DAC then why not connect the Airport Express to it? If the AA had line level outputs you'd have no problems, but Apple seem to have developed it to work with iTunes sending digits to it. Is it any wonder why they (Apple) have so many detractors?  |
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Post by Stratmangler on Jul 19, 2014 13:24:12 GMT
Hmm, reading the specs now, I'm not sure it does do it via Bluetooth. I saw the demo where John Franks was tossing his iPhone in the air while streaming music and it seemed to work very well. If the iPhone was feeding a Chord DAC then it was connected via Bluetooth. |
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Post by MartinT on Jul 19, 2014 13:32:42 GMT
Thanks for the confirmation, Chris. I can confirm that, much to my surprise, the sound quality was very good.
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Post by jibjab on Jul 19, 2014 14:56:30 GMT
If you have a DAC then why not connect the Airport Express to it? If the AA had line level outputs you'd have no problems, but Apple seem to have developed it to work with iTunes sending digits to it. Is it any wonder why they (Apple) have so many detractors? Thanks Chris. The Airport Express does have line out, that's how I'm connecting to the amp. But how do I take it to my DAC. My Dac has coax, digital optical and USB inputs. THe Airport Express blurb states it has an "Analog/Optical Audio Jack" out, is the optical bit how I get the signal into my DAC? |
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Post by Chris on Jul 19, 2014 15:27:56 GMT
Bluetooth. I use an August mr230 from Amazon for £15.
Job done. Sounds good.
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Post by jibjab on Jul 19, 2014 15:32:40 GMT
Bluetooth. I use an August mr230 from Amazon for £15. Job done. Sounds good. On sale for a tenner at the moment!! |
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Post by Chris on Jul 19, 2014 15:34:51 GMT
Just buy it. Complete no brainer.
Let me know what you think as well please if you do go ahead.
I've a spare 3.5 to 2 rca as well if you need a better one - you're welcome to it . For nowt of course.
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Post by jibjab on Jul 19, 2014 15:41:04 GMT
Cheers Chris. v kind offer, but I've got one of those. I'll give it a go and let you know.
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Post by Stratmangler on Jul 19, 2014 18:50:33 GMT
Thanks Chris. The Airport Express does have line out, that's how I'm connecting to the amp. But how do I take it to my DAC. My Dac has coax, digital optical and USB inputs. THe Airport Express blurb states it has an "Analog/Optical Audio Jack" out, is the optical bit how I get the signal into my DAC? The analog output should also be capable of supporting connection via Toslink. You might need an adapter for the AE end of the Toslink cable - I know many Toslinks come with an adapter. |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 20, 2014 11:04:56 GMT
Bluetooth. I use an August mr230 from Amazon for £15. Job done. Sounds good. Thicko reality check question Do you mean you plug this into your amp and an iPad or similar can send music wirelessly to your amp ? |
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Post by Chris on Jul 20, 2014 15:12:59 GMT
Yip. Easy as that.
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 20, 2014 15:59:20 GMT
Chris, how is it powered? I looks like it only comes with a USB connector, but there's a power input socket on it. The package contents don't seem to show a power supply for it though. Perhaps it's battery powered?
Otherwise it would seem odd to be able to send a signal from your PC/laptop/whatever to amp amp if it still has to be connected to the PC for power!
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Post by Chris on Jul 21, 2014 4:30:16 GMT
Its got a rechargeable battery in it so you just plug it into a usb charger - like wot youve got for istuff- holds a charge for a few hours. 2 rca to the amp and the charge lead is all the connections there are. Picks up yer bluetooth stuff dead quick,but just 1 device at a time. Dinky wee thing as well,about matchbox size but 1/3 the width.
The only issue I have with mine is it sometimes drops a channel but messing with the 3.5mm jack sorts that.
Its an easy,cheap solution that sounds awrite.
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Post by Chris on Jul 21, 2014 4:32:28 GMT
If anyones interested I might have a spare lying about if you dont want to risk a tenner...
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Post by MartinT on Jul 21, 2014 5:54:37 GMT
THe Airport Express blurb states it has an "Analog/Optical Audio Jack" out, is the optical bit how I get the signal into my DAC? Yes, you will need an adapter for a 3.5mm jack optical output, like one of these, or a cable like one of these. |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 21, 2014 12:17:32 GMT
Wow. Technology (bet I could break it .......)  |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 21, 2014 12:19:27 GMT
If anyones interested I might have a spare lying about if you dont want to risk a tenner... I'll ask the boss, double check before I jump in and take it from some one else |
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