Streaming MP3 With Apple Airport Express

C

coopsyall

Audiophyte
Went to Radio Shack today to get Y-audio adapter (stereo headphone jack to RCA cables) for connecting my Airport Exress wireless router/receiver to my home theater receiver. They up-sold me to the 6ft Monster Cable adapter ($29.99) vs. the standard 6ft RCA adapter at $7.99. I told the sales rep that I would be streaming MP3's wirelessly from my laptop to the Airport Express using iTunes and that the Airport Express would then be connected to my Tape-In on my home theater receiver. The sales rep told me that I would notice a huge difference in sound quality between the two adapters based on my application. Can anyone confirm if this is true or not? Also, is there any degradation in sound quality that occurs as the MP3 file is transmitted wirelessly from the laptop to the Airport Express receiver? Thanks in advance, Jim.
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
No, you will not notice a difference between the Monster priced cable and the basic Y cable. Be wary of the 'upsell' - YOU can make the decision despite what they want to sell.

MP3 is of course a digital format and you will sending the bits over the air. The Airport Express will then decode it, convert to analog, and send it out the analog jacks to your receiver. The act of sending the digital information wirelessly will not degrade the signal in any way but you may run the risk of dropouts IF you have any interference from other RF devices (like say a wirelss phone, cell phone, microwave oven).
 
C

coopsyall

Audiophyte
thanks MDS. It is ashame that they feel the need to misinform you about these things.
 
jcPanny

jcPanny

Audioholic Ninja
Digital Audio connection

Coop,
You will probably get better quality by using a digital optical connection from the Airport to the receiver. This way, the receiver is doing the D/A conversion instead of the airport. Somehow the Airport can use the stereo type jack for analog or digital optical output. This is not a standard cable, so you might have to order it from apple.
 
A

abboudc

Audioholic Chief
coopsyall said:
Went to Radio Shack today to get Y-audio adapter (stereo headphone jack to RCA cables) for connecting my Airport Exress wireless router/receiver to my home theater receiver. They up-sold me to the 6ft Monster Cable adapter ($29.99) vs. the standard 6ft RCA adapter at $7.99. I told the sales rep that I would be streaming MP3's wirelessly from my laptop to the Airport Express using iTunes and that the Airport Express would then be connected to my Tape-In on my home theater receiver. The sales rep told me that I would notice a huge difference in sound quality between the two adapters based on my application. Can anyone confirm if this is true or not? Also, is there any degradation in sound quality that occurs as the MP3 file is transmitted wirelessly from the laptop to the Airport Express receiver? Thanks in advance, Jim.
I'd return it and buy the other radio shack brand. There isn't a difference. There is no degradation is sound going wireless. Just make sure your Airport Express has the latest firmware installed.
 
jcPanny

jcPanny

Audioholic Ninja
Mini optical cable

I got a new sound card for my PC this weekend. It came with a freebee optical cable and also included an adapter to from standard optical to mini optical like the jack used on the AirPort Express. You might be able to pick up that adapter jack at radio shack and an inexpsive optical cable for <$10 and get better quality than the line level stereo connection.
 

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