Pandora and home speakers

[Hipgrncln]

Have my home Mac set up for my itunes to be played through my home stereo speakers. Signed up for Pandora and cannot figure out how to have it played through home speakers. My airport does not seem to have a way to do it . HELP !!!!!!!!

Bob J

[kornchild2002]

Pandora itself will only play audio through your PC's sound card since it is browser based and doesn't rely on iTunes for audio output. This means that Pandora has to make a plug-in for an internet browser (such as Safari) that supports AirPlay audio output. That isn't the case. There are some apps in the Mac App Store that you can download to send your Mac's audio to an AirPort (or Apple TV) unit through AirPlay. Additionally, if you have an iOS device (iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone), you can send Pandora's audio to an AirPlay equipped accessory.

[Sparkee]

Airfoil is made for what you want to do. It will send any audio on the computer to any Airplay enabled speaker. I'm with kornchild on this one though, if you have an iOS device with the right apps and a good WiFi network you can't beat Airplay.

[Hipgrncln]

Airplay does seem to work using my Mac. Does the upgraded version of Pandora really make a difference in the end users sound quality ??? Will the sound quality of the Pandora / airplay/ mac be as good as Itunes/airport ?? Will it make a difference if I got a ipad and did the Pandora through it ????


Many Thanks


Bob J

[kornchild2002]

iTunes uses AirPlay to send audio to your Airport router. It is technology that is in iTunes and iOS to send music, video, and data to devices such as an AirPort router, Apple TV, speaker system, or even a printer. So if you are getting audio from iTunes to your router, AirPlay is working on your Mac. AirPlay is NOT a dedicated program. Like I said, it is built into iTunes and iOS and the only way to access AirPlay functionality (i.e. not the actual program since it doesn't exist) outside of those two environments is to download AirFoil so that all audio on your Mac can be sent to your Airport router.

I am not sure why you are asking about upgrading Pandora when that goes through your internet browser on your Mac, it is NOT a dedicated program. You might be talking about paying for Pandora but I don't think that increases the bitrate of audio you can listen to, only the amount of content you playback. Audio being sent through AirPlay to your Airport router is lossless and will not cause a decrease in audio quality. The audio quality will only be limited by the bitrate that Pandora uses.

We mentioned going through an iOS device (iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch) only if you had one. Do not go out and buy an iPad just to use with Pandora. Don't even buy an iPod touch to do that as you will be grossly overpaying when you can just download AirFoil and use your Mac. You could just use an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad if you already had one but it doesn't sound like you do so your best option would be to use AirFoil to get audio from Pandora (in your internet browser) to your router since that is the ONLY options for wirelessly streaming audio to your Airport router outside of iTunes (and iTunes doesn't work with Pandora, the two are completely different services).

[lanayapiper]

Originally Posted by kornchild2002

Pandora itself will only play audio through your PC's sound card since it is browser based and doesn't rely on iTunes for audio output. This means that Pandora has to make a plug-in for an internet browser (such as Safari) that supports AirPlay audio output. That isn't the case. There are some apps in the Mac App Store that you can download to send your Mac's audio to an AirPort (or Apple TV) unit through AirPlay. Additionally, if you have an iOS device (iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone), you can send Pandora's audio to an AirPlay equipped accessory.

Very well said! The thing with Apple products is simple: You have to understand how it works! Sometimes, they are too technical but things like this comes with any electronic devices.