plakey Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I have a very simple question: Can I plug an AppleTV into a DAC and run it headless with a iPhone Remote app, and stream music from my iTunes that is in the cloud? In other words: no TV, no iTunes library open on another computer. Thanks. Link to comment
Paul R Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Yes, yes, and yes. On caveat, you do need to plug it into a television or monitor to set it up the first time, connect to your iTunes account, turn on iTunes Match, etc. -Paul I have a very simple question: Can I plug an AppleTV into a DAC and run it headless with a iPhone Remote app, and stream music from my iTunes that is in the cloud? In other words: no TV, no iTunes library open on another computer. Thanks. Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat DAC. Robert A. Heinlein Link to comment
souptin Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I have a very simple question: I have a not-so-simple answer, sorry. Can I plug an AppleTV into a DAC Yes, via Toslink or HDMI. Your DAC needs to accept 16/48 input via these (most do). and run it headless with a iPhone Remote app, Yes, although you will (probably) need a TV with HDMI input for the initial setup. and stream music from my iTunes that is in the cloud? In other words: no TV, no iTunes library open on another computer. Yes, you need an iTunes Match subscription. See here Apple - iTunes - Match and also check here for some CA member feedback on how well it works http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/itunes-match-user-feedback-and-some-questions-10224/. There are a few more threads here on CA discussing the iTunes Match service, so have a look around if you have any doubts. I'm not saying it's bad or anything, I'm just being cautious since I haven't tried it for myself. Thanks. You're welcome Link to comment
plakey Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 Thanks for the info! I did assume that I'd have to plug it in to a TV to set it up. I will give it a go... Link to comment
wgscott Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Use the Remote.app from Apple. I do this in my bedroom, using an optical cable between a headless ATV2 and a 1st gen Zeppelin. I find it works better than airplay streaming. It probably buffers better. Link to comment
ipeverywhere Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Do you really need a Match account for this? If all of your music is already purchased from iTunes you don't need the Match account. The Match account would only be needed to get music not purchased from iTunes, like CD rips, up into the cloud so it can be pulled back down to the AppleTV. OP didn't indicate if this was a requirement. Link to comment
souptin Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Do you really need a Match account for this? Good question. I think that if you have purchased your music from iTunes, you can download your purchases to all of your i-devices directly from 'the cloud' (cannae be arsed reading the smallprint though). However, the latest Apple TV doesn't officially have any storage space, which means streaming would be your only option... which takes you back to needing the Match subscription if you want it to play your music without having your computer switched on. On t'other hand, if you have an iPhone or iPad with enough storage space you could use airplay to stream from that to the Apple telly. Or if you had a Spotify or other music streaming account. Horses for courses. You pays your money and you takes your gift to water and makes it salute the flagpole. Link to comment
plakey Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 I already have a Squeezebox setup for all of my CD rips. I just don't have an easy way to play the stuff I (or my family) buys on iTunes. This seems like a simple way to access it. Link to comment
ipeverywhere Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I just tried this with my ATV2 and here are the 3 options to get music on the device: 1) iDevice or Mountain Lion to send audio/video via AirPlay 2) Home Sharing (requires iTunes to be running somewhere local) 3) iTunes Match (subscription required) That last one sounds like what OP wants. Shame really that you can't "stream" purchased audio content like you can movies. So, iTunes Match subscription is required to stream audio from the cloud on Apple TV (at least with my limited testing). Link to comment
plakey Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 Yeah, I just bought an AppleTV and ran into this problem. I don't get it. Why should I pay $25 to listen to stuff I already bought on iTunes? It's bizarre. I can listen to cloud based iTunes purchases on my iDevice. This is a huge fail. Link to comment
realhifi Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I have a very simple question: Can I plug an AppleTV into a DAC and run it headless with a iPhone Remote app, and stream music from my iTunes that is in the cloud? In other words: no TV, no iTunes library open on another computer. Thanks. Why not simply use the ATV as an AirPlay receiver for whatever device you are using? All your music in the cloud would be available through the iPhone in addition to any music app you used such as Pandora, Spotify, etc. David Link to comment
Paul R Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Well mostly, because an ATV Doesn't have local storage of course. Would you expect a CD player to play your music sans CDs? So far as I know, without iTunes match, any iDevice has to have the music file downloaded to it - or streamed to it from a local iTunes server - to play it. With iTunes match, your music plays from the cloud - quite nicely too. During a recent trip, i streamed music from iTunes match to my phone, and from my phone via bluetooth to the stereo in my truck. Worked beautifully up and down 1500 miles of Interstate highway. $2.083 per month is a pretty paltry amount to backup and stream 50k tracks, pretty much anywhere and to a lot of different devices. IMO, etc. Not perfect, no, but very good jst the same! Yeah, I just bought an AppleTV and ran into this problem. I don't get it. Why should I pay $25 to listen to stuff I already bought on iTunes? It's bizarre. I can listen to cloud based iTunes purchases on my iDevice. This is a huge fail. Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat DAC. Robert A. Heinlein Link to comment
wgscott Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 It has 8 gig of "memory" and if you jailbreak it, you can even mount any old disk via NFS. As others have mentioned, any computer running 10.8.X can stream to it, and any Ipod/iPad/iPhone running OS 5 or 6 can do this as well, which means you can stream Pandora or Mog or whatever to it. But I find by far the best way to enjoy it is to simply leave iTunes open as a server on my main system, and then use the ATV2 as a (headless) $100 Sonos-killer zone player, controlled from my iPad via Remote.app. Link to comment
wgscott Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Yeah, I just bought an AppleTV and ran into this problem. I don't get it. Why should I pay $25 to listen to stuff I already bought on iTunes? It's bizarre. I can listen to cloud based iTunes purchases on my iDevice. This is a huge fail. Maybe. I don't use it, but I don't consider it a fail. It is just a feature I have no interest in. I have my own local cloud (as should be evident from my perpetual negative mood.) Link to comment
mayhem13 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Not sure that Match is really a failure if you consider the possibilities......like taking the ATV on vacation or to Grandma's. Link to comment
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