Jump to content
IGNORED

The Best Apple AirPlay Streamer


Recommended Posts

@kirkmc

 

We have a large stock of AirPort Express units and still deploy them all the time.

 

We already have our AirPlay design that we’ve been using for several years for our clients that want higher quality.

 

We are not concerned about not having a solution.  We are curious if our solution is relevant and valuable to the “audiophile” market.

Link to comment

There was another thread recently where people were asking about the quality of AirPlay. I've not heard any serious suggestions that AirPlay quality is in any way deficient; sure, you may want to find a way to convince people that they need more for audiophile quality, but it's a pretty simple protocol. It streams in lossless, and that stream is spitted out of the devices (AirPort Express or Apple TV). 

 

I am a bit confused by this thread. You started by asking:

 

Quote

Now that the Apple AirPort Express is going away, what is the best AirPlay streamer available?

 

But you now say that you have plenty of AirPort Expresses and don't need anything to replace them. And you want something "better" but you haven't said what's wrong with AirPlay. Perhaps you need to decide what you want. 

I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville.

Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps

Co-host of The Next Track podcast.

Link to comment

@kirkmc

 

It’s simple, we want to know the best AirPlay streamer (source) available.  We use A LOT of AirPlay in our designs.

 

We have developed our own AirPlay streamer (source).  Our solution is currently designed to integrate with our systems (we design/build our own amplifiers and processors), but we might want to make it a dedicated component.

 

Is there something better than our solution?

 

If not, is there a place for our solution in the “audiophile” market?

 

There are all kinds of reasons to have a dedicated AirPlay streamer source:

 

1.  Analog Output:  better DAC so that the analog output sounds great.

 

2.  Digital Output:  bypassing any volume control to eliminate dithering.

 

3.  Control Interface:  clients can have a physical volume control for each system/room.

 

4.  Automation Integration:  with status and feedback.

 

We have been designing and building systems around AirPlay for several years and have learned that it requires more than an AirPort Express (APE) for larger scale projects.  The APE is wonderful and we will miss it, but we also know that we need(ed) something of higher quality performance with more stable control/interface options.

Link to comment
1 hour ago, In-Tone said:

In full disclosure, my original posted question was a little loaded.  We do want to know if there is an AirPlay source that we could use, but as we dig into it, there’s nothing out there that fits what we have already done.  We are evaluating if and how we would create a “product”?

 

It's no wonder then why you've had a zero response to other's posts offering answers/suggestions to this thread's original now known to be fake non-question.

 

Unsubscribe.

no-mqa-sm.jpg

Boycott HDtracks

Boycott Lenbrook

Boycott Warner Music Group

Link to comment

@MikeyFresh

 

No “fake non-questions” here.

 

Just wanting to know if there is a better way than the AirPort Express or our AirPlay DAC solution.  After years of reading through these forums, we thought this would be be the best place to ask.

 

We appreciate all the responses, comments and suggestions.

Link to comment

The 4 issues above seem to all be dealt with in Airplay itself or devices that use it.

 

You should contact Apple for licensing info if you plan a new product.

 

I am not clear - like Kirk - what SQ deficiencies exist that you can correct; possibly very high bit rates.  People usually use a separate DAC.  The remaining problem is how to go from an Airplay "catcher" to an input the DAC can read now that the TV3 is no longer made.

Link to comment
  • 2 months later...

There are several streamers that have Airplay compatibility, for instance SoTM SMS-200, Sonore Microrendu, all Linn DS streamers, several models from Cambridge audio, Lumin etc.

The thing with Airplay is, it always sends ALAC format, and is limited to redbook (which is not that big of a problem). So you cannot transcode to WAV, like with Upnp. But some of the streamers I mentioned can perform online upsampling of the signal before it goes to the dac chip.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 10 months later...

The audiopro link 1 makes a decent airplay receiver. It has airplay 1, usb powered, both analogue line out AND optical digital out, and ethernet or WiFi network connection. I bought one just for its airplay ability and it seems solid and glitch free and sounds bit perfect to me through my dac.

 

It also has extra streaming functions you don't need to use, and a good mobile phone app to configure it. Really problem free and solid.

Link to comment
  • 1 year later...

I'd like to revive this thread.

 

I have about 1,000 CDs ripped to AIFF.  I play them from my iMac Pro to airplay capable receivers around the house.

 

In my primary listening room I have an Anthem amp, Paradigm speakers and a pair of JL subs.  My band aid solution at the moment is an earlier Apple TV connected via Ethernet to my iMac with an optical connection to the Anthem.  I'd like to find a higher quality DAC that is AirPlay compatible via either WiFi or Ethernet.

 

Can someone please direct me to the right forum or product?

 

Thanks! 

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...