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Get audio from iOS to your HiFi easily and cheaply

by Mel Martin Aug 6th 2011 at 5:00PM

There are plenty of ways to get audio from your Mac to your HiFi. AirPlay works great, if you have an AirPlay friendly system or an Apple TV.

If you want to do it on the cheap, check out WiFi2HiFi, which we've mentioned a couple times in the past. This US$3.99 app runs on your iPhone, and you also must download a free app for your Mac. For those readers who use Windows, there's also an app from that platform.

Install the desktop app, then start the iOS app. The devices will pair over your WiFi network, and any audio coming from your Mac will get wirelessly routed to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. If your iOS is in a dock that connects to your music system you're in business. Your iPhone is acting as a lining device to all the audio on your Mac.

Sure, there are other ways to do this, and if you have an iPhone, tying it up for this purpose might not be too great if you want to use your phone. On the other hand, it might be a good use for an older iPhone or iPod touch. There is about a 3 second delay in music, but buffering reduces any potential dropouts. The app has a visual indicator of the state of the buffered audio with colored lights.

Support is good, with an extensive FAQ both on the developer website and the iOS app.

In the course of my testing, as I was switching outputs around, I lost the stream but restarting the iOS app brought it back. Setup is easy, and if you want your music collection on your stereo system this is an inexpensive solution. The app runs on iOS 3.0 or greater, and supports the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

WiFi2HiFi



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There are plenty of ways to get audio from your Mac to your HiFi. AirPlay works great, if you have an AirPlay friendly system or an...
 

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12 Comments

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benh44

You can access all your iTunes music from the iTunes app anyway, I guess the only difference with this is that you press play on your Mac rather than your iOS device? Seems pointless.

August 07 2011 at 6:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Vegar Ottesen

Why not just set up AirFoil speakers on the mac? That way it acts as airplay speakers, accessible natively from your iPhone.

And AirFoil speakers is free, even if the whole package costs some money. (well worth it actually)

August 07 2011 at 5:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Colin Chapman

I see this as a nice way to get spotify through my speakers without shelling out $25 for airfoil. Not too shabby...

August 06 2011 at 6:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
M47145 

I thought I was just not getting the idea...

Pssst! Hey... editor! The title sucks!

August 06 2011 at 5:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
lfomartins

I think the title is incorrect, it should read "from your Mac to your HiFi via iOS" or something like this...

August 06 2011 at 5:40 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
redfood

The title is very confusing - shouldn't it be "Get audio from your Mac to your HiFi via iOS?"

August 06 2011 at 5:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Frederick Foote

I would love to use my iPhone as a way of saying something over my home's stereo system and all the speakers. It is connected to my wireless network and plays music from iTunes throughout the house just fine, for instance. But I'd love to be able to tell the kids on the second floor (where there are speakers) to come down to dinner. Is there an app with a microphone that would permit me to open the app, turn on AirPlay to play over my home stereo, and just start talking like an intercom? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

August 06 2011 at 5:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Vera Comment

Mel, dude. couple typos here..

If your iOS is in a dock that connects to your music system you're in business. Your iPhone is acting as a lining device to all the audio on your Mac.

August 06 2011 at 5:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bubbamike

What I would want to do is stream from my desktop to my stereo. If I didn't have an Airport Express or an Airplay device then I could stream to my IPhone and plug it into my amp or preamp but I think Airfoil would work better than this app. For me, Airfoil for the win.

August 06 2011 at 5:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
thekrunchyfrog

Why would you use this over the home sharing already built into iTunes?
This sounds like the same thing to me.

August 06 2011 at 5:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to thekrunchyfrog's comment
Mr Lizard

This will also work with Spotify and other audio sources, if you're into that sort of thing.

August 06 2011 at 7:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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