Pure Music Airport Express Question

[DanH]

I would like to stream music from my main system which is a Mac Mini running iTunes/Pure Music to my second system which is comprised of an old 16/44.1 DAC (Enlightened Audio DSP 9000) into a power amp. Will this work using an Airport Extreme on the receiving end? Ideally I’d like to use my Halide Bridge on the Airport Express's USB port. Will that work or am I limited to using the Toslink output on the Airport Express?

 

Thanks for you help!

 

 

 

[Codifus]

....and the benefits of PureMusic to an airport express setup are doubtful considering that PureMusic affects devices recognized by the Apple Audi-MIDI utility, which the AE is not.

 

CD

 

[dav1dd]

Hi Dan

 

I tried the Pure Music program on my Macbook a couple of weeks ago, through Airport Express (AE) Toslink. I found that I wasn't able to get Pure Music to send a signal through the AE output. I checked this a few times, namely by having Itunes playing to the AE and then restarting the program with Pure Music doing the playback, but couldn't get any sound via AE.

I don't know if Airport Extreme would work for you.

Also, the USB port on the AE is only for printing. You won't be able to get audio output from it. With Airport Express, I would say that you will be limited to the Toslink output.

I ended up trialling Pure Music via USB (directly from my Macbook) and didn't like the sound because it seemed to introduce sibilance into the mix.

From what I have read in other posts Itunes seems to do a bit perfect relay of the data anyway so I stick with that. Upshot would be that you can use Airport Express with no problems.

 

Hope this is useful

David

 

[GoldenEar]

Dan,

 

it is possible to play music via Pure Music to an Airport Express via Toslink. However, you will need a program called AirFoil. AirFoil is a good choice anyway, because it maintains the connection with the DAC even if there are gaps between two songs. Pure Music can handle the system output as well and it can upsample to 24/96.

 

AFAIK, it is not possible to use the USB-port on the AE for streaming.

 

Regards

Kay

 

[malzha]

Dan, Do you know if using Airfoil to high jack Pure Music will stream a 24Bit 96-192kHz file threw Airport Express. Even though it's apparent output limitations is 16Bit 44.1kHz when using iTunes? I realize this was posted awhile ago but would love an answer to this difficult to find question.

 

Thanks in advance...

 

[realhifi]

"comprised of an old 16/44.1 DAC (Enlightened Audio DSP 9000)"

 

That pretty much tells the tale right there. No amount of fiddling with aftermarket programs will change the simple fact that your dac will only accomadate a 16/44.1 file. Use the toslink and see if you can't get some music out of what you have there. If it isn't what you hoped then you will most likely need to consider different dacs, etc. but till then the AE will do what you are looking for.

 

Your next step may be networked streaming if you are hoping to stream high resolution files.

 

[malzha]

Thanks David for your feedback. However, I'm using Yamaha's RX-V1GL Receiver which uses 24Bit Blurr Brown DAC's on all channels.

 

(There's actually no info I have found to say if it can handle 96-192kHz), but it states it's at least 24bit.

 

And I am streaming my files from my iMac to my Airport Express threw the toshlink to the Receiver, so I am presently getting 16bit 44.1kHz playback, but am getting a newer iMac tomorrow and am interested if it can stream Pure Music's data after being HiJacked by Airfoil to bypass the AE limitations and to stream the High Rez files I have?

 

[Paul R]

Since you are talking Pure Music, you have another option.

 

Pure Music has built in streaming, but only to another Mac. The nice part is that can be pretty much any other Mac capable of running MacOS X. Like a $150 PowerPC Mac Mini.

 

Pure Music will stream up to 24/192 with no problems, and of course, using a small Mac will allow you to use your Halide Bridge, just as you please. It will also support any new DACs you might happen to come across.

 

You might be able to find an older Mac Mini with Wireless built in, but if not, use your AE to bridge it to the wireless network. It's a little more complex than just plugging in an AE and hooking up to the optical port, but it sounds very good indeed.

 

-Paul

 

 

[malzha]

Thank you Paul for your insights. I would have to hunt around for a Mac Mini with a USB2 and a Good amount of RAM for the PM App.

 

Unfortunately my present older iMac's don't have USB2. Yah! I know! Time to upgrade!

 

And in your third suggestion??? Hmmm, I'm not sure I'm comprehending this correctly.

 

Are you saying basically that I would Stream the 24Bit data from one iMac (with the Audio Library), to another Computer nearer to the Receiver which would be connected via USB2 and go into the Receiver S/PIDIF digital input? There by using the AE only for it's WiFi'n the two Mac's together, and not to utilize AirTunes?

 

If this is incorrect, I'm happy to hear any corrections or suggestions...

 

 

Much Appreciated...

 

[Paul R]

Yes, except it would be more like the "remote" Mac is connected via USB to either your Halide Bridge or the USB input of a DAC/Receiver.

 

You of course, realize that USB-1 will work fine up to 96kbs sample rates, especially fine if you are mostly using 44.1kbs redbook material, right?

 

-Paul

 

 

 

[malzha]

No, I didn't know that, unfortunately the Sound Card only support 16bit on that year iMac, but I'll keep that in mind. but Thanks again for the feedback...

 

[malzha]

Hope I didn't confuse or take away from DanH's original question. I just realized the nature of this thread. I'll star my own Thread on the topic in the future. I'm new to writing on forums.

 

One last thing... I'll add this if it is of help to anyone regarding Airfoils output. I just got an email from Rogue Amoeba Software saying this:

 

{Airfoil transmits all audio based on that AirPlay protocol, which is limited to that 16-bit stereo Apple Lossless stream at 44.1 kHz. If Apple updates the protocol, then we'll work to support it, but there's not much we could do about it without creating our own audio transmission protocol. We'll just have to see what happens in the future.

Chris Barajas

Rogue Amoeba Software, LLC}

 

Looks like I'll be experimenting with Pure Music's streaming ability...

 

 

[Paul R]

The USB port will support up to 24/96, and you can simply connect a USB DAC of your choice, including the new Halide DAC unit. That does not use the sound card in the Mac at all.

 

The idea is you are using the Mac as a transport, not a renderer. Though again, you can spend $150 and pick up an older Mac Mini that does render fairly well and has USB2 ports on it. Pure Music works fine on circa 2005 Minis.

 

Yours,

-Paul

 

 

[malzha]

OH! Interesting! Well, since my DAC's are in my Yamaha's RX-V1GL Receiver. (No out board separate DAC's) From what your saying it sounds like, (If I'm understanding correctly) that I would need and adapter like the (M2Tech hiFace) and then going into the Digital S/PDIF input on the receiver. Because the Receiver only has optical and S/PDIF inputs and BLURR Brown DAC's on all channels. And that would facilitate at least 24/96 playback?

If this is correct, this is Great news as I have an extra 15" iMac with tons of music just waiting for something like this.

 

[Paul R]

I would probably use a Music Fidelity V-Link or a Halide Bridge myself, but that may be because I own one of each.

 

Yes, that is pretty much exactly what I am saying.

 

By the way, the music only has to be on one machine, the "remote" machine just needs to be able to boot and run MacOS X 10.3 or 10.4. Very small requirements.

 

-Paul

 

 

[malzha]

WOW! Thanks so much for the insight! I'm all over that!!!

 

[plakey]

 

I don't know if I'm reading this incorrectly, but how does the Airport Express USB support 24/96, and how to you output from your Mac to this over the air?

 

Thanks.

 

[Paul R]

You missed a little bit there, this is using a second Mac to stream directly from Pure Music. You can stream very high res from it, up to 24/192, but the Halide Bridge and V-Link only support up to 24/96.

 

Here's the link.

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Pure-Music-Airport-Express-Question#comment-102373

 

 

 

[plakey]

Ah, sorry....