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Apple TV vs. Mini vs, Sonos

I've been reading these forums for a couple weeks trying to figure out the best way to organize a large CD collection (2000 CD's) and to access it wirelessly on two systems. Having a friendly interface for the other family members is important.

At first I was leaning toward a Sonos solution with a NAS attached. Then, I replaced my old IMac with a new one and really like the Front Row feature. I also have an Apple Wi-Fi using Airpport Extreme (the older 801b/g version). Having Front Row available to manage my iTunes library via the video seems like a better solution than Sonos.

He're my questions:

I read that Apple TV won't support web radio. I usually tune in a channel and open it with ITunes, drag it to a Playlist and name it. Whenever I want to listen to it, it's in a playlist. Front Row accesses these easily on the new IMac. I assume they work the same way with Apple TV. Also works for stations accessed through Live365.com, which gives you 10,000 stations to choose from.

I'm not clear why Apple TV has the built in hard drive. Does your ITunes content have to be on the Apple TV drive or can you access your library stored at another location wirelessly, such as a NAS, via Front Row and the Apple TV?

It seems to me that the simplest solution is to use a NAS to store my collection and add an Apple TV to each system, accessing the library via Wi-Fi and connecting the audio via Toslink to a DAC and the video via composite video. Is there a flaw in my thinking? Is there an advantage to using a mini? There's no place in either installation for another screen.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
bbopman
bbopman OP
53 posts
 
I like using the Apple TV for a number of reasons. In my main rig where I also have a 60" Sony LCD TV, I can view my photographs from iPhoto as well as YouTube. There are some very cool older TV spots featuring jazz and blues greats. The screen saver feature can be set to either show your photos or your album covers floating radnomly in space. I haven't used Airport Express, but as I understand it, even using the Touch to control it, you have a more limited ability to search your library. Using Apple TV, you can search genres and songs as wells as artists and albums which I can't seem to do using Touch. Maybe I just haven't worked through it completely though since I only bought the Touch on Saturday. I haven't used it to rent movies, but that is an option also. Since I am only streaming, I went with the 40 GB model which is only about $229. I plan to continue to mainly use the remote that came with the Apple TV.
mr_bill
346 posts
 
Bbopman,
Are you tuning in to Pandora on your ITouch and then docking the ITouch to play Pandora through your system?
I didn't quite understand that part and am interested.
Thanks.
bbopman OP
53 posts
 
That's the way it's working. I downloaded the Pandora software application from the iTunes store. I already had a Pandora account set up, so the Touch instantly accessed the account. I tune in the station I want to listen to, stick the Touch in the dock and its good to go. I had been struggling thinking I needed to go with Squeezebox or Sonos in order to get Pandora, which I love. Maybe not the best fidelity, but it's probably no worse that a stock Squeezebox or Sonos.

If anyone else has any ideas about how to do this, I would be very interested. I've thought about an Airport Express. If I understand it, it streams whatever is playing on your computer, so I guess one could use the Touch to access the main computer and direct the stream to an AE. Any other ideas?

Thanks
mr_bill
346 posts
 
I'd love to know if you can tune in an Itouch to Pandora and then place it in a Wadia iTransport and pass the digital signal to an external dac. Anyone know if this would work or could give this a try?
ejliu
109 posts
 
For AppleTV,

If you don't have a TV in the room, another option is hook up a small 19" LCD monitor with DVI input. Just need a short HDMI-> DVI cable.

For external storage, it's possible to hook up a larger drive directly to AppleTV but it will require some hacking. I think it's actually better to have that noisy drive elsewhere in the house. A 1TB drive is only $150-$200. Put 2-4 in a cheap PC acting as RAID server running itune and you are all set. Yes AppleTV also works with PC based Itune.

160 GB -> ~400 CDs. 2 TB for ~$600 -> ~5000 CDs. Should be big enough for most people.

So figure about $250 for Apple TV and another $600 for an older PC w/ RAID connections. Add a monitor for $150. There is a music server for 5000 CDs for less than $1000.
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