Apple Music Server
rancew -- Sat, 08/09/2008 - 14:49
In his recent TAS article on music servers Steven Stone makes a case for using an Apple TV as a server.
As someone trying take the plunge to a computer/server for digital playback, I'm just wondering why specifically the Apple TV as opposed to the Mac Mini or MacBook?
Also, a related question is this: If my music is stored on a separate hard drive, does the music need to stream through one of these devices? Can I store all my music on a separate hard drive, like say the Apple Time Capsule and playback from this drive, as opposed to the drive on an Airport/Mini/MacBook? What are the available connections from these devices and which one is recommended?
I feel like a need a grade-school level primer on all of this. Any suggestions for where to access this type of information?
There are several reasons I use an Apple TV instead of a mac mini or MacBook as a server.
1. It was designed for this purpose. Mac Mini or a Mac portable will work, but they are not as elegant - you wil spend more time tweaking them to perform optimally.
2. I already have a Mac so the interface was easy.
3. Apple TV is the least expensive solution.
Reasons to use a mini or Macbook:
1. Ability to use a larger hard drive AND an external hard drive.
The Apple TV is limited to its internal 160 GB drive.
You can hook up an external network drive to the Apple Airport Extreme and store your iTunes library on it. I don't see much advantage if you are using Apple TV since it will use it's own internal drive for storage. The possible disadvantage is that your i-Tunes library must now be sent back to your home computer's iTunes via Ethernet (if hardwired to your iTunes computer) or WIFi (if not).
As I've just learned (now having Apple TV, Logitech Duet, and Sonos music servers all running on WIFI) the less wireless connections you have the better the odds that signals will reach their intended goals.
Hardwiring is always more reliable than WIFI (also more secure).
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Steven
...and I'd add "4. it has an HDMI output (and a Mac Mini doesn't)".
This keeps connections simple for pictures, movies and music, if you own an appropriate front end (that is, one with real HDMI inputs).
And as noted later, an iPod Touch or an iPhone makes an entirely serviceable remote, altho' mine generally takes a while to connect to the home wireless network - no idea why.
And as further noted, keeping the music library on iTunes-friendly redundant storage is a Very Good Idea (I use an Infrant/Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ network-attached storage device which has been rock solid for quite a while)
-- Pete
Hi Steven,
First of all, I have to thank you for bringing us the "brave new world" of digital music server. Your reviews on Apple TV and Logitech Duet are great for us to start shifting our Hard CD to Soft digital.
I've initially picked the Apple TV since I don't want my computer to be always on. However, there's one major concern I have over Apple TV is that it won't be acting as HDD so in case there's any glitches, all my ripped CD data will be lost, if they are not stored on a separate iTune file. Am I right? If so, this means I've to keep an exact copy on iTune just for backup, right? and, if I want to add new CD data to the iTune/Apple TV, it needs to sync the whole batch again, not just the newly added one...
Would like to have your view and comment on how best I'd deal with these problems if I decide to use the Apple TV as a stand-alone music source only?
Thanks,
Ringo
I use XBMC on the Apple TV to play FLAC, bypassing iTunes altogether. XBMC will use any UPnP source that supports the file format of your choice. Also, XBMC lets you use a large USB hard drive as a source. You ftp into the Apple TV to transfer files drag and drop. I found that a better TOSLink cable improves the sound markedly. I use the Supernova 5+ from Wireworld.
It's true that the migration of data from your computer to the Apple TV only goes one way - towards the TV, so it can't serve as a data back-up for your computer, but if your Apple TV loses data your computer does serve as a back-up for the Apple TV.
iTunes does incremental additions to the data in your Apple TV every time you use it. It will do this automatically so you don't have to think about updating the files on the Apple TV.
I keep my music data on a separate hard drive from my main HD as I mentioned in my article. I also back up my music files HD to another HD that remains off except when I perform a periodic data back-up. External USB drives are so inexpensive that everyone should have one who's sole purpose is back up.
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Thx, Steven. So i guess I've to build my computer music archive before getting into APPLE TV.
Ringo
You can build your music archive/library while you use an Apple TV. The beauty of i-Tunes and Apple Tv is that they work together seamlessly. Whenever you open i-Tunes on your computer it will look for your Apple TV and add any new music from i-Tunes to the Apple TV automatically.
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
I highly recommend using an iPhone or an iPod Touch with Remote installed in combination with Apple TV as a music server. This allows control of Apple TV independent of your television and from anywhere within wireless range. Works like a charm.
So, in this case you're using the iPhone or iPod Touch as a wireless access device (a remote)?
Yup, I use my iPhone to control the Apple TV.
I set up an Apple TV and I am sold. I chose the Apple TV in lieu of a Squeezebox for a couple of reasons. 1, the ability to work with photos, we have a very large photo library on our NAS and it is great to have them available on our family room HD set. 2. Easy integration with iTunes.
Now that I am using it I feel even better about it. Podcasts, movie and TV shows, customized photo displays. For our circumstances an ideal device. Highly recommended
I recently picked up a refurbished Buffalo 1TB Terastation Live with a built-in DLNA server from eCost for $237. It sits nicely on my network and iTunes can recognize it as a shared library. It has a RAID 5 configuration option with swappable drives as well as the ability to back up to another Buffalo server.
Does the Apple TV recognize the Terastation? I didn't think that DLNA servers were able to work with Apple TV. If it does work then I think I've found my solution... Please let me know.
Thanks!
Nullriver Software puts out a small app called MediaLink that will stream from a mac to the PS3.
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