ReTUNES. The Android iTunes remote control review.

I like my new HTC ONE M8 but I really don't have any music on it. I know it has an awesome audio processor and it probably sounds good but it doesn't carry my large iTunes library. More importantly, it doesn't stream music to my 12 speaker set-up like my iPhone. For me, Google's Music is not a suitable substitute for iTunes. You can't Chromecast to multiple audio receivers simultaneously or have multiple clients play your library at the same time (through Match or Network sharing). Thus, iTunes is still relevant. At home, I still rely on my multi-room, multi-speaker iTunes Airplay set-up. I like to listen to music across my three floor house in various rooms and I use my iPhone or iPad to control the music. Now, there is an option for Android and it works pretty good with the HTC ONE. That app is called ReTunes.

ReTunes is basically a smartphone remote control for iTunes. Meaning, it will allow you to control a computer running iTunes. It is the Android equivalent of the iOS Remote Control app that Apple provides for i-devices.If you have a centralize iTunes server with multiple AirPlay set-up, this app is pretty much it for Android users. The user experience is comparable to Apple remote app.

I think it is best to go over screenshots to discuss some of the functionalities.

First of all, you need to enable the iTunes remote control via a numeric key pairing. Simple set-up. You also have to be on the same Wi-Fi subnet.

You then select the paired iTunes machine/server. You can pair multiple computers and I've paired it to three. I don't know what the maximum number is but I doubt most people will have more than three iTunes servers running in their household.

Playback, track, searching, selection is the same as you would use on your desktop but in a smartphone UI. You can even enable visualization, shuffle,etc. 

It does an excellent job as a remote control. What else would you want? Well, for  me, the primary reason to use this is to control my Airplay speakers. I love how I am listening to music in my living room and select the basement to simultaneously play in the basement. As  I walk down the stairs, I can shut off the living room while the song is still playing. Once I free up the living room, my wife or anyone else can initiate control over the living room.

Lastly, one surprising feature is how ReTunes picks up my iTunes Radio station.

There you have it. One really good iTunes remote app for the Android ecosystem. If you are Android user stuck on iTunes, this is the app you should have on your primary homescreen. It is that good.

Link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.squallydoc.retune&hl=en

Audioengine D1 DAC. A Quick observation.

So I am now current with the cool kids and got myself a 24 bit  DAC (Digital Analog Converter). This one is the highly acclaimed and reviewed Audioengine D1.

I read all the major reviews and even scanned through the customer testimonials. Generally speaking, this gets about 5 stars and is highly rated. However, there was one review where the customer didn't see a difference. He claimed it was "audiophile snake oil." I have to heartily disagree. After the first 15 seconds, I could hear and "feel" the difference. It made everything sound better just using headphones. I tried this on my Macbook, my Thinkpad, and other computers running either OS X or Linux. They all sounded way better. The sound difference may be intangible for some but for me, it was very obvious.

There was better clarity, better soundstage, better imaging. Simply better. Was it worth $170? Yes. This is an amazing piece of high quality gear for the price.However, I was able to score one for $130 on a group buy so I was lucky and if I had to pay full price, I would do it again.

Here, you can go to Audioengine's web page and click on the numerous reviews for yourself. Great reviews in general.

The packaging was nice and you can feel the high grade build quality. 

Plugged into the USB port of my Mac, I tested them with 256bit AAC iTunes and it sounds great. Unfortunately, I only bought one. This one is intended to be used as part of an Airplay wireless speaker set-up.

Here, I connect it to the AudioEngine A5 plus speakers for use as an Apple Airplay wireless speakers. The mess of wires are a bit cumbersome so it does require some cable management.

To connect to the Apple Airport Express, you will need a 3.5mm to TOSLINK adapter. Once connected, the Airport Express outputs a digital signal.

Once I cleaned up the wiring, the speakers, DAC and Apple Express Airplay trifecta is pure  awesomeness! I'm currently using walnut bent plywood OFFI Mag end table (designed by Eric Pfeiffer) as my temporary speaker stands.

Apple Express + AudioEngine A5+  and AudioEngine D1 DAC == probably the best Airplay solution you can build under $800.

Another cheap Pogoplug Airplay Express setup

Here is another quick hacked PogoPlug running ArchLinux as a Apple Airport receiver. You can read more about Pogo and Airplay here.

Total part cost less than $50:

PogoPlug in the discount bin online $15-20.

Cheap USB powered Logitech speakers (regular $30, onsale $12).

Sabrent USB sound card dongle. $7

Extra USB stick for ArchLinux install (free from the recycle bin). You can get away with a 1-2GB USB stick if you are just using Airplay, Airprint, Google ChromePrint.

Of course, I will be using this Pogoplug for other things like Motion USB webcam surveillance. Furthermore, these speakers aren't the greatest but they don't require an extra power outlet. This is just to demonstrate that you can quickly build a very portable, self-contained Airplay sound system with a little bit of geek "elbow grease." I had a few extra Pogos and left-over parts lying around, so I figure why not. The speakers and sound card were extras in the drawer so they were brought back to life. The whole process took less than 20 minutes with an existing image I made for another PogoPlug.

There is only one AC power jack required. The speakers are USB powered by the Pogoplug itself.

I plug the USB sound card in the front so I can adjust volume and do other things more accessible.

Rear is the USB power and OS bootable USB stick.

This thing is so cheap and disposable, I can throw one in the garage or workshop.  I continue to be amaze at the ultra cool factor of the pogoplug and its ability to be versatile. If you don't care for Airplay, you can also install a Squeezebox client into one of these just as easily.




Links:

Logitech Z120 USB powered speakers: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Stereo-Speakers-Powered-980-000524/dp/B004ULOZPQ

Sabrent USB 2.0 USB sound card dongle:
http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Virtual-External-Surround-USB-AUDD/dp/B00D69U1B0/

My Airport Music Streaming set-up

I finally set-up my Airport streaming set-up and I like to share it with my readers. Overall, I am pleased how it turned out.

Apple Airport allows you to stream wirelessly from iOS or Macs to a variety of wireless speakers and sound systems. I have various speakers in different parts of the house and this now changes the way I listen to music. Using Wi-Fi, you don't have to worry about range issues and the sound quality far exceeds bluetooth.


By default, iOS devices can only stream to one devices. When you play a song, you can pick which remote speaker to listen to. This by itself is cool but the cool part comes with multiple, simultaneous streams.

Desktop Macs and PC's running iTunes can stream to multiple speakers simultaneously all at the same time. If you have a dedicated iTunes server running, you can make up for iOS's single speaker deficiency by using the iOS devices as a remote control. As a remote, you can stream to multiple speakers in multiple rooms.

Here, I have the computer, the speakers in the basement, dining room, and master bedroom all playing at different volumes. This is simply brilliant!

This is why I love the Airplay protocol. I can walk from floor to floor, room to room, and all hear the same music in my 3 story house. I can initiate a stream in my Master bedroom and walk across multiple rooms and hear all the same track. 

The first speaker I have is the Klipsch Gallery G17 Air. I use this in my bedroom because it covers a decent size area. I originally had this in the living room but decided I want speakers with more "stereo" soundstage separation in the living room. A majority of these portable speakers suffer one thing: lack of sound stage and most of them sound mono to me. When you are up close, they sound great but the farther you get, you realize you lose stereo separation. The Klipsch uses a bass reflex enclosure so the sound is very "punchy" for being a small set of speakers. Don't get me wrong, they do sound very good. These once retailed closed to $500 and have been compared to the Bowers and Wilkins Air Zeppelin. I would say these are one of the better small wireless speakers you can get on the market.

For the bedroom, they work fine. I also alternate between airplay mode and direct line mode to my iPod classic.

The next system is the Sony DLNA compatible SA-NS500 portable wireless speaker. This is a unique cylinder cone design. The top acts as a handle and it is great for lugging around because it has one trump card - batteries for 5-6 hours of portable sound. I normally leave it in the Dining room but I often take it outside to keep me company when I am washing and waxing the car on the weekend.

The shape is designed to punch sounds indifferent direction. It has 4 30mm two way speakers and a small 110mm sub woofer.

Again, the Sony is a good sound speaker but you won't get any soundstage. Early reviews were mixed on this but with later firmware revisions, Sony worked out most of the kinks. This also supports DLNA.

My next set-up is a not really a speaker system. Rather, a converted PogoPlug running ArchLinux and shairport. I had a spare PogoPlug and a few older 2.1 computer speakers. I figure I throw it in my basement and it works pretty great. Open source hackable solution. All you need is a USB sound card, some speakers, and ArchLinux running on these PogoPlug. I will probably build some more PogoPlug "Airplay" receivers that will expand my speaker lineup. You can read about it here.

I also have an AppleTV connected to my  TV and sound system but I really don't use it for audio Airplay streaming chores.

Lastly, the living room. I thought long and hard on this. I shopped around and looked at a few options. I really didn't want to put a stereo system in the living room because I wanted it to be minimalist as much as possible. However, I spend a lot of time in there relaxing and lounging. I seriously considered the Bowers and Wilkins A5 and A7. Price wasn't really an issue as I spent quite a bit of money furnishing the living room already. The problem withe the Bowers and Wilkins' A7 is the same with the Klipsch, Sony and myriad of other "Airplay" enable speakers. They all lack soundstage and stereo imaging. Your left and right speakers should ideally be a few feet apart (say 6 feet) to have any stereophonic effect. Most of the music I listen to, 80s and 90s music, are heavily mixed with stereo effects. I also listen to a lot of live concert recordings.

The solution I came up was an Apple Airplay Express plus the well reviewed and acclaimed AudioEngine A5+ speakers. The AudioEngine is a good midrange $400 studio monitor quality speakers. This is a popular home-brew Airplay set-up and I now know why it is popular. They sound amazing.

For now,I don't have the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) but I plan to add that in a few weeks. This is by far, one of the better solutions out there even without an added DAC. I wanted clear, accurate sound. For the price, the A5+ are amazing. They don't have that artificial bassy, hyped sound. Just go on Google and read up on the AudioEngines, they are amazing powered speakers for the price. This is what I ended up and I'm very satisfied. 

So there you have it. This one geek's streaming audio home set-up.

Links:

AudioEngine A5+: http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-A5plus

Sony SA-NS500: http://store.sony.com/p/Sony-HomeShare-Wireless-Multi-room-Audio/en/p/SANS500

Klipsch G17: http://www.klipsch.com/gallery-g17-air/

Chromecatch turns your Mac into a Chromecast receiver

There are lots of software/solutions that turns computers, NAS, and other devices into Airplay compatible end receivers. Now, there is one like that for Chrome "casting." It is called Chromecatch. It is a $3 app on the MacStore and there is an iOS version that turns your iPad into a chromecaster.

What does all this mean? The same functionality of the $35 HDMI Google Chromecast dongle can be replicated on a computer. $3 sure beats $35 if you want to experiment with this functionality.

The Cast icon shows up on Chrome devices if you are on the same network. I tried it with both computer, iOS, and Android devices. Unfortunately, Google half baked Chrome casting so it isn't available on the Samsung Chromebook.

Here is my Samsung 7" Galaxy Tab casting youtube to a Macbook Pro Retina. The Galaxy tablet is handing off the youtube to the Macbook.

It supports Google Play Music, Youtube and the SDK samples of Google Cast. I didn't try Netflix. I can't tell you how useful this except to say it can be done. Maybe I'll install it in my bedroom 27" iMac which is currently being unused.  I still prefer Airplay any day of the week.

You can download and purchase it here.  http://www.chromecatch.com/

Update: Apparently, you can do this for free with  Leapcast. Maybe I'll install it on one of my Linux box with a follow-up.

PogoPlug Airport Airplay Express Music Receiver

Thanks to user,delakota555, who replied to a recent Airplay post.  I went ahead and looked into Shairport. Shairport is an open source AirTunes emulator. It runs in Linux and I installed it on my hacked $15 ArchLinux PogoPlug.

OK, this is pretty awesome. I had a spare $3 USB sound card dongle lying around and in less than 15 minutes, I had an Airplay remote speaker set-up using a PogoPlug V4 I had lying around. Why is this awesome? $20 in parts and you have yourself a streaming Airplay iTunes receiver. You can buy a few of these and litter them around your house for remote speaker set-ups.

Pictured below is the V4 PogoPlug, a USB stick, the USB sound card, ethernet and voila, Airplay!

The Pogoplug instantly shows right up on my iPhone.

On iTunes, I can stream music to multiple speakers around the house. I think I'll be investing in some more $15 PogoPlugs shortly.

As you can see below, I can stream Airplay music to multiple Airplay devices including the PogoPlug. I love this. I love the ability to walk from room to room, floor to floor and hear the same music streamed throughout the entire house.

I followed this blog post for a pre-compiled binary and that was it.

Link: Shairport

The beauty of Airplay

I was thinking about plopping down $35 for the Google HDMI dongle, the Chromecast. However, I happen to get a few airplay speakers in which my opinion went 360 degrees. The Chromecast only does video and not a good job at that. I listen to music mostly so audio streaming is pretty important for my use case needs.  Yesterday, I got a Klipsch G-17 and a Sony SA-NS500. When I set-up them up, I discovered something I never knew before: Multiple streaming to various speakers simultaneously. Take that AD2P Bluetooth! You don't get that compress AM sound of Bluetooth with Airplay and you don't need to pair if you are on the same network. I live in a house with three floors and approximately 4,000 sq foot and Airplay works everywhere. Bluetooth works at most 15 feet.

I did not pay attention until now but the ability to stream multiple speakers all at once is a stroke of genius.

The Chromecast would have a been a fun toy at $35 but I have no need for extra gadgets I often throw away into the sock drawer after 15 minutes of use. The key deterrent was the fact some of the streaming is gimped and not available on the low-end Chromebooks which I have. In addition to video, the key thing I use Airplay for is for music. Airplay is really mature and I can't wait to get my free iTunes radio (iTunes Match subscribers get ad-free playback). This will be pretty cool to listen to all that free music all over the house. This means, I think I will be investing a little more in Airplay and airplay devices.

Now, I think I'm going to invest in some AudioEngine A5+ and an Airport Express set-up. I just ordered a refurb Airport Express station for $65. I think it is well worth it. I may even splurge on some high-end Bowers and Wilkins A7 this Christmas.

Simply brilliant. The ability to walk from room to room, floor to floor, with all the speakers playing the same music track all synchronized is pretty cool indeed.