[bonsai]

hi folks,
am seeking some advice.i will probably be purchasing an avr that supports apple airplay....i have no experiance with this tech.
should i get an ipod touch,or an ipad...?i know the two have different functions,but for accesing music,what is recomended and is the extra £200 realy worth it for the ipad.our internet is from sky...so wont be streaming movies,just music...browsing is limited aswell,facebook...av forums...and occasional porn....
would realy appreciate any advice
cheers
graham

[bpsmith]

Both will do the job for you fine, so depends on what you want and how much you want to spend?

If you want pocket size portability outside the house, then the Touch is better. If you don't need it to fit in your pocket and will be used in the house generally then the iPad has to be the winner.

Personally, I would go for an iPad. You won't realise quite how much you will use it for until you get one! So much nicer browsing your content with the bigger screen too. ;-)

[bonsai]

thanx for your reply,maybe the ipod would be better,as i could use it in the car....what gig would you recomend?
i hope to be using i-cloud...so i guess i wont need much storage?!?
also...was reading about putting my cd's into i-cloud....have you done this?

[bpsmith]

I have used iCloud, yes. Unfortunately the issue you will have with using in the car is that you need a tethered data connection and preferably one with unlimited data as soon adds up. The other issue is that it doesn't stream but actually download the Music you choose to play. Therefore it uses up your storage until you delete them. The plus point being that you can delete from the Touch itself while on the move.

I would get the largest size you can afford or are prepared to pay for. I would definitely go for 32GB or above if feasible.

Don't think the above is any suggestion that iCloud or the Touch are not worthwhile. On the contrary, I love iCloud and think its brilliant tbh, especially accessing from remote WiFi, etc.

[clockworks]

You don't actually need either to use Airplay. You can send music to the receiver from iTunes running on your computer.

[bonsai]

please excuse me,but i rely have no idea about this tech.
i want to buy playlists from i tunes\spotify.....and play them via my avr.dont want to use pc at all.
read on apples website that its possible to add your own cd collection too....

[bonsai]

i guess i'll figure the adding cd's when i get the ipod....but has anyone got any experiance of this?

[clockworks]

AFAIK, you'll need itunes on your computer to set everything up on the iPod. Once the music is copied to the iPod, you should be able to get the iPod to play it directly to the receiver - computer can be switched off. No idea about spotify, as I've never used it.

I was just pointing out that you can use your computer instead of the iPod. iTunes talks to the receiver using your home network. The computer doesn't plug directly into the receiver.

Presumably you'll have a network connection going to the receiver? If you won't, you'll need a wireless adaptor for most receivers.

[bonsai]

yes,my notebook has a wirless conection.....but only 1gb......what would you suggest i do?
how would i make a conection between the notebook and the avr?
apple tech(ruth)suggested that i would be better off with an ipod/pad....but if i can save £200+.....

[clockworks]

So you've got wireless between your notebook and the router. Now you need a connection between your router and the AVR. I use an ethernet cable for this, but you can do it with a wireless adaptor (unless the receiver already has wifi built-in - my Denon 3312 doesn't). You need to make sure that you buy an adaptor that's known to work with the receiver, as I believe that these things can be a bit iffy.

Best thing to do is start a thread in the "amplifiers and receivers" forum, quoting which receiver you are getting, and asking for a specific wireless adaptor to use with it.


I think a lot of people (maybe including some Apple techs) get confused by Airplay. Some devices can talk "directly" to an iPod using Airplay, others (like my receiver) need some extra kit or a wire.
You'll need the same extra bits to make an iPod talk to your receiver as you'll need to get the computer to work, unless your receiver has it all built-in.

[bonsai]

the avr is wireless,and has built in airplay......

[clockworks]

What make and model?

[bonsai]

pioneer lx55.....

[clockworks]

OK - that one comes with the wireless adaptor as part of the deal. That means you should have everything you need. Set the Pioneer up to join your existing wifi network, run iTunes on your computer, and tell it it play out to the Pioneer. Should be straightforward.

[bonsai]

its a pioneer vsx-lx55,or maybe the yamaha rxa1010,with which i know i'll need an ipod dock.i am drawn to the lx55 over the a1010 becouse it has built in wifi,and apple airplay.but,i'm demo'n them this tuesday,so unless theres major sound differences,pioneer wins.
i'm quite excited about using itunes for the first time,if it is as easy as i'm told

[bonsai]

clockworks,just one further question plz......do you know how i put my cd's onto itunes?
also once i have downloaded itunes onto my notebook,can it be accssed by me only on this notebook.?
i have an older laptop that has a cd-rom

[clockworks]

If you decide to get a receiver without Airplay, you can always use an Apple Airport Express. This is a wireless box that plugs into an amplifier with an optical lead, and will work with iTunes or an iPod the same way.
The downside is you lose the ability to control it using the receiver's remote, and you don't get an on-screen display of what's playing.

With both types of device (built-in Airplay or Airport Express), you can control what iTunes is doing with the Apple Remote app running on an iPod or iPad. Not necessary to make it work, but very convenient.

[clockworks]

Easiest way is set iTunes up to import your music when you insert a CD into your computer. ITunes will recognise the CD, go on-line to get all the track details and cover art, then convert the tracks to a suitable digital format. It'll add the tracks to your library, and make them available to play to your receiver.

Getting it to work is really easy, getting it to work EXACTLY how you want can take a while, as there are loads of things that you can change. The two most important things are:

The sound quality of the "ripped" tracks
Where you want the tracks to be stored

Since you are going to be playing them on a decent system, it's worth using Apple Lossless format rather than MP3. Takes up more disk space, but sounds a lot better. Each CD will use up around 200mb of disk space if you use Apple Lossless, about 60mb if you use the low quality MP3.
It's probably a good idea to get a USB disk drive, and save all your ripped music on that.

[bonsai]

cool....thanx very much for your advice....i'm defanatley going to do this,so i'll be buying an ipod next week,aswell as an avr
can't wait to get started

[spinalize]

Hi Bonsai. I have the VSX 2021 (LX 55 without WiFi) and AirPlay works well. One thing to think about is audio quality. The LX55 is a great amp designed for high quality AV. Be careful with the iPod route. If you buy iTunes music it will be at 256k, not CD quality. You will defiantly hear the difference compared to your CDs.

If you have a computer with a CD drive you can rip CD,s into Itunes. You need to be careful though. Default ripping resolution on ITunes is even less. Music will be thin and weedy.

To get passable quality you need to rip at 320k. Even better is Apple Lossless which is near CD quality.

Why do I say all this? If you buy an iPod you won't get much high quality audio on it. Much better to use free iTunes and PC hard drive to play music in the house. I actually have two libraries. One four the house using lossless and one at 320k for my iPhone.

Unless you want portable music, stick to iTunes.

However the Pioneer has a good iPad app for setting up and configuring your AVR. So an iPad has its benefits.
Spine

[bonsai]

thanx for that...am realy put off now....lol
i wont bother with an ipod,and get a cdp instead.
having never done this before,the last thing i want is to spend £200+ on an ipod,only for the sq to be dodgy....although itunes genie realy appeals.
so are you saying the sq from itunes(as an example)would be a waste of time,if i want decent sq?

[clockworks]

No, the sound quality can be better than a CDP for the same money, you just have to make sure that you rip your CDs using a lossless format, not the default mp3 format. If you rip using Apple Lossless (easy to make the required changes in iTunes' preferences menu), and send the music using an Airplay device, the limiting factor for sound quality will probably be the receiver and speakers. A £500 CDP may sound a little better, but you can make stuff coming from iTunes sound even better than that, for less money.

The "problem" comes if you decide to buy music from the internet. Much of it is ripped at lower quality. Good enough for listening on a portable device, but not as good as listening to a CD on a hifi CDP.
For this reason, I always buy the CD, and rip it myself. iTunes makes doing this very easy, once you have spent 5 minutes configuring it. With most CDs available on eBay for less than a fiver, it's cheaper to buy the CD than buy tracks from the iTunes store.

Get the receiver, put iTunes on your PC, rip some CDs using Apple Lossless, and have a listen. If you are happy with the quality, get the iPod/iPad to make it easier to control, maybe store some of your music directly on the iPod if you want - iPod or PC, it'll sound the same if you use the same files. If you aren't happy with the sound quality, consider your options - better Airplay device, or CDP.

[bonsai]

it was buying online music i was interested in......never mind,am sure in a few years someone will improve the sq of downloads

by the way clockworks,have you got an opinion on the nad c5515bee?

[clockworks]

I believe that there are some sites that sell high quality rips for download. I've not tried them, though. The situation may improve, but don't hold your breath. Everyone that I know is perfectly happy with 128k mp3. The market for higher quality is so small, I don't suppose that any of the big players will bother.

Give ripping CDs a try. With iTunes, it really is dead simple, and only takes a few minutes. Buy your CDs on eBay or Amazon for as little as £2. Cheaper than an iTunes download, and it's yours to use as you please.
My musical taste is quite varied, and I've always managed to find exactly what I'm looking for in a few minutes. The most I've paid for a CD is £10.

I've just re-ripped about 400 CDs, just swapping them while I was sitting by my computer on forums, etc. Finished in less than a week. The whole lot now fits on one hard disk, in 4 different file types, to suit any media player that I'm likely to own in the near future. Different SQ/file size to suit any situation.

I'm afraid I've no experience of recent CDPs, as I haven't owned or listened to one for several years. My last one was a Linn, which cost me about £750, IIRC. I sold it when I got a digital setup that sounded just as good (and cost a fair bit less).

[bonsai]

ok,thanx for your advice,will give it ago

[spinalize]

Clockworks has pretty much nailed this. We both use the same MO. If you have a decent amp and speakers, default iTunes 256k encode is not good enough. It is fine for portable music players.

If you are using one of the mainstream iPod docks it's probably ok at 256k.

As for higher quality downloads you can buy FLAC encoded music from some sources. These are usually similar to Apple lossless but can be much better.

CD Rips and wired connection to my Pioneer amp work best for me.

[bonsai]

hi guys,sorry to re-open this thread,but is it possible to put riped music onto an external usb hard drive?
thanks
graham

[clockworks]

Connected to what?

[bonsai]

sorry,from my laptop hard drive

[clockworks]

iTunes will put it's library anywhere you like, as long as your computer can see it - USB HDD, NAS, or even another computer/server.

If you set the "media folder" location in iTunes' preferences to be your USB HDD, that's where it'll store your ripped music. You can set iTunes to add everything that you rip to it's library, and also the other way round - copy to the media folder when you add other stuff (pre-ripped or downloaded) to the library.