airport express

See-through speaker system is a real looker

I recently put together a new sound system for my living room. With a couple of chunky bookshelf speakers on tall stands, it hardly blends into the vintage expedition decor of the space. I should have held out for a Transparent Speaker.

The Transparent Speaker is a Kickstarter project that looks a bit like a cross between a sound system and a fish tank. It puts all the audio components you need in a glass case. This helps it blend into its surroundings, like an audio system version of a chameleon. … Read more

Sync up your audio on all devices

An AirPort Express will let you listen to iTunes over your home stereo speakers. Airfoil is an application that takes that simple functionality and turns it up to 11. The iTunes-AirPort Express combo is perfect for listening to iTunes on your nice stereo, but what if you want to hear music from a browser-based app like Pandora? Or Sirius Radio through an app like StarPlayr? Or work with audio from your Elgato EyeTV? Airfoil lets you send audio from any application (even your system audio) to your AirPort Express, so you can use your stereo for anything from RealPlayer and … Read more

Apple prepping next-generation AirPort Express?

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is planning to launch a new version of its 802.11n AirPort Express Base Station router.

According to the publication, citing "a person familiar with the matter," as-yet released developer notes for the upcoming AirPort Utility 5.6 mention a new AirPort Express Base Station.

"Adds support for the AirPort Express 802.11n (second-generation) base station," the note reportedly reads.

To further bolster its claims, AppleInsider pointed to Amazon.com's listing of … Read more

Report: Apple's Time Capsule to work as iCloud drive

A new report this morning suggests that Apple's iCloud plans may not be tied to its massive 500,000-square-foot North Carolina data center as much as a piece of hardware you plug in at home.

Cult of Mac reports that Apple is planning to unveil an update to its Time Capsule hardware and software at tomorrow's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote that will act as a home base not just for file backups but also as an Internet-enabled storage folder for Macs and iOS devices.

"If you make any changes on any computer, those changes are updated through … Read more

Using Apple's AirPort Express with a DAC: A how-to guide

Want brilliant sound quality from your AirPort Express? So did we. And for that, we needed to connect it to a dedicated audio processor via fiber-optic cable.

Apple's AirPort Express does much more for audio lovers than you might think. You're probably aware that it lets you stream your iTunes library, from your Mac or PC, over Wi-Fi, through the APE to your hi-fi. But you may not know that it has a digital fiber-optic output, meaning it can stream lossless audio, with bit-for-bit accuracy, to a dedicated sound processor (a DAC), and into a hi-fi sound system.

Um, why should I be interested exactly?

Because when you send audio via AirPort Express, it's processed by its on-board sound chip. It's fine for most people, but it's basic. If you've invested in a decent hi-fi you're going to want to let a DAC process your audio properly, which means taking sound away from the AirPort Express via optical digital cable. By doing this, the APE simply passes the digital signal on, instead of converting it to audible sound and passing it over a standard audio cable.

Sounds awesome. By the way, what the hell is a DAC?

Ah, yes, we're assuming here you know what a DAC is. For those of you who don't know, it's usually a dedicated box, and it has just one job: turn a digital signal of ones and zeroes into sound. This requires specialist circuitry and audio chips, so it's something usually confined to the audiophile world. But if you've got a decent home audio system, it's something to seriously consider investing in.

This is a DAC. The iBasso D10, to be precise.… Read more