Peter:

I never put the computer to sleep. I think I need to do a bit od reaaranging of my wireless though as the command will be going to the Airport Extreme and then to the computer before going back to the Extreme and then to the iPod. I'll hard wire the Extreme to the computer and see if that helps. I'll wait till my new HDD arrives probably. It is however a fantastic system! B&O need to try this out and see what they are missing!

That might help, as you'd drop a wireless sign-off in the chain. I actually have an Ethernet cable between my Mac mini and the Extreme base station. (The cable I have installed is quite long, as I wanted the HDD in another room than the one I'm working in. The length doesn't affect the performance.)

I agree that it's fantastic. In fact, visitors have been flabbergasted when they've seen what the little Touch can do. Confession: I have yet to connect a pair of earphones to the iPod Touch, I just bought it to use it as a remote and browser. I have used it to buy movie tickets, though!
 

I did eventually try it as an MP3 player but I have a 160Gb iPod as well so I don't see it getting much use! It does do videos nicely though! The screen is big enough! I did use it for web browsing Beoworld a little but I don't think the screen is really big enough. I think its major role will be as a remote.. The only question will be whether I need a few more!!

Peter:

I did eventually try it as an MP3 player but I have a 160Gb iPod as well so I don't see it getting much use! It does do videos nicely though! The screen is big enough! I did use it for web browsing Beoworld a little but I don't think the screen is really big enough. I think its major role will be as a remote.

Yes, I set up some bookmarks that took me straight to the movie tickets page - and the resizing is OK for that function. And in a pinch the small screen will do (it is quite a bit larger than what you'll find on most mobile phones.)

Quite impressed with how YouTube videos play back. But the main function for me is in letting me retrieve and play music from wherever I am in my apartment, as well as control playback (pause/play, new track, etc.) If I can also create macros that will start the hardware, when the irTrans/iRed guys are ready with their version 2.0, then I'm in heaven (Well, at least experiencing bliss).

I do have EyeTV, and the Touch/Remote Buddy controls that excellently -- with starting recording, retrieving recorded movies, etc. The EyeTV I have requires me to change channels on the STB, but it's possible to have EyeTV do that, as well, which means I could then switch channels from the Touch. Will look into that in the next year, when the new STBs come from my cable company. 

Seeing the album cover fade in when you've picked Now Playing is quite nice, isn't it? 

Hello,

I have read this post with great interest. I run a pc as my main computer at home but I'm thinking of buying a Mac Mini and a Touch  so I can use this application.

Did you already have your Mac Mini or did you buy it just so the Touch and Remote Buddy would work?

David.

I'm quite Mac mad, so I could have set this up with another computer, but the Mini really made sense. The newer ones are fast, have Infrared, Bluetooth, WiFi and Ethernet and can run all applications intended for Mac OSX.

And they're inexpensive compared to a computer with a screen. If you're looking to use it as a media centre then you're probably going to attach it to your HD-Ready or Full-HD television anyway and that provides the screen you'll need. (Use a DVI-to-HDMI converter cable to port the image out of the mini to the screen to get the best possible image).

Thanks for the reply. So if I purchased a Mac Mini and attached it to my Pionner HD Plasma which is in the family room with a HDMI cable I could use the i Touch as a mouse to access the Mac Mini?

Sorry if these are dumb questions!

David:

Thanks for the reply. So if I purchased a Mac Mini and attached it to my Pionner HD Plasma which is in the family room with a HDMI cable I could use the i Touch as a mouse to access the Mac Mini?

Sorry if these are dumb questions!

Not dumb at all. I have a Mac mini attached to a Pioneer 508XD with a dvi-to-hdmi cable, and I'm using an iPod Touch to control the Mini -- works perfectly, with the Mini recognizing the Pioneer display and outputting at 1:1 pixel matching and with an astonishingly nice DVD-upscaling.

I send the sound from the Mini directly to my BeoLab 5s using a Konnekt 24D audio port. The sound goes from the Mini via Firewire, and from the Konnekt via coax S/PDIF.
 

David:

I can feel my wallet getting lighter! Why did I have to read this post? Hehe

Do i have to add my last name to my name now?  

Maybe i'll change it to Dave. 

That's nice, Peter.

Have you tried storing your favourite internet radio stations in a playlist? You'll be able to access those, as well, from your Touch. 

Works very nicely on mine. I have placed the iTunes URLs of the various internet radio station I listen to in a Playlist Folder I call Radio.

Access that through Playlist on the Touch, and then the radio station is there, over the net. 

I suppose I am less excited as my broadband is not great though the thing my wife likes is the listen again facility at the BBC. However she has her own laptop and I bought her some wireless headphones so she wanders round the house chuckling to herself listening the Radio 7 repeats! Latest return is Claire in the Community - hilarious!

Great to hear that you two have a perfect system now. I'm going to go down the same route because I think it sounds fantastic.

This weekend I will  purchase the Mac Mini and itouch and I will download the Remote Buddy software as well.

My B&O system has a DVD Avant in the main room along side a BS9000. The family room has a BL3500 with a linked Pioneer plasma HD Panel TV which works with the Beo4. Kitchen has a linked BV6 and the bedroom has a linked BV1. The office has an XP PC and no masterlink yet.

My question is....." Do I need to buy a Beoport to make the itouch work in every link room or do I use the Airport express thingys?"

Cheers,

David.

As long as you connect the output from your Mini to your Audiomaster as a source (For instance Tape 2/AUX or similar) then you will get that music from the link room or main room, when you select the source with your Beo4.

You then control music playback with your Touch, which will send commands to your Mini over Wi-Fi. You shouldn't need a separate BeoPort, though Peter should be able to fill in there.

I have a BeoSound 2000 in my kitchen and just press A.TAPE2 through LIST to get the music that I'm feeding my Beomaster 6500 from my Mac.

(For best possible audio into your BeoLink/MasterLink you might want to consider using a Digital-to-Audio-Converter (DAC) between the Mac mini and your audiomaster - it will very likely do a much better conversion than the rather regular DAC that Macs are equipped with. But you can also use an analog minijack-to-DINplug converter cable. I see LifestyleAV has those). 

Yes, that would work. You're then using the digital-to-analog-converter (DAC) in your mini, but you'll find that for most practical purposes this will do.
If you plan on using the mini to feed a dedicated listening setup with your main speakers, then I would recommend using a DAC between the mini and your BS9000. That will let you pipe the optical s/pdif to the DAC, and then use the analog connection from the DAC to your BeoSound 9000. (Unfortunately, your BS9000 doesn't have optical or coax digital IN, just a coax digital OUT).

Good DACs cost from 400-1200 euros. (Of course, you can spend a fortune -- but the Benchmark DAC1 USB is considered to be very good, and is at the upper end of that price range.)

Soundproof is of course quite correct, but I would get it working first using the soundcard in the Mac and see how you get on with it. To improve the sound once you have it, a separate DAC could well be a good investment.

However the really important thing to do is to store your music at as good a sample rate as you can. Lossless is obviously best though I actually use 320kbps now as it seems a reasonable compromise to me and I am getting older and deafer! If I was starting again, I would use lossless. An external HDD is well worth the small amount of money they cost - just about to get a 1TB one which was just over £200.

Go with Peter's suggestion about using your existing cable from Airport Express to BS9000 while getting everything working. That cable will fit in the mini. Once you have everything set up, you can consider whether you need a DAC or not. As Peter writes it also depends a lot upon your source material, and the rate/format that's been sampled in.

Right now I'm listening to Brandenburg Concerto 6 from lossless through my BL5s, and I'm literally in heaven! 

Peter, I currently use my ipod which is connected to my BS9000.I can then access the ipod in any link room using ATAPE or AMEM on the Beo4.

If I purchased the Beoport this weekend with the other bits I plan to install what benefits would I gain from using Beoport?

Cheers.

David.