# WIFI Sound Quality of Apple Airport Express



## Salad Fingers (Jun 14, 2009)

I have a first gen 160 gig Apple TV I bought to put in my truck. I wanted the first gen because...

1.) 160 gigs of storage for music and videos, need I say more
2.) has the option of using analog RCA outs or toslink optical. The new one is HDMI or optical and that is it. Fine at my house, but not necessarily for my vehicle

Going this route in most of my acceptable options would require analog out to the AUX in of the Pioneer DEX-P9 and out to the DEQ-P9 processor already in my truck now. However, that does take the advantage of having a source in the car with iPod control away. 

Now, I would like to have the ability to at least use my 32 gig iPhone in the car somehow. So, I have been thinking about it and then I think why not Wi-Fi? From what I understand, audio is perfectly acceptable to deliver with no loss in sound quality via Wi-Fi. So, Wi-Fi in a car makes me think maybe an Airport-Express would be a cool and not so expensive (~$100) solution. Then I figured that someone had probably tested the quality of this, and sure enough!! Here is what I found...

Apple AirPort Express Wi-Fi Hub-D/A processor | Stereophile.com

So, the analog out isn't bad and if you use the 3.5 to toslink adaptor it is near perfect!!! This is great news, and adds the bonus of being able to have Wi-Fi in the car for using the Remote app for full control of the Apple TV!! If you haven't seen this at work, check it out. I can also Wi-Fi my music, videos, pics, and Pandora or any other music/video (YouTube) app!!!! This is awesome, and I think I found the perfect solution for me!!!! 

Hopefully this hasn't been discussed, because I didn't look very hard.


----------



## Hirsh17 (Mar 2, 2010)

Unfortunately, the Apple TV has an issue with being powered in the car. Without hacking it completely, you would need to use a car power inverter that converts the cars 12v DC to a standard 110v household socket. The issue without these inverters is that they are expensive for a good one, but most importantly, they are noisy because of the internal fans used. There are some with internal noise filters, however they are even more expensive and do not guarantee the best sound. Also, when you shut off your car, it will instantly kill power to your ATV which in turn, will harm it.

Next, you would need to put a solid state drive in your ATV because of vibrations in the car. With some use overtime, your hard drive will become a paperweight because of all the bumps and vibrations.

Finally, your ATV needs _amazing_ ventilation because this Gen gets notoriously hot. They were known for shutting down when overheating even in the home environment.

If you can hack the ATV somehow or buy a power supply that fits this for the car application, and use a ssd, you might be in business.

Here are some links to help:

Dear Aunt TUAW: How do I use my Apple TV in the car? | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2714945?start=0&tstart=0


----------



## sy0296 (Aug 28, 2010)

great idea with the airport and good points from Hirsh17.

easier solution is to buy the core2duo mac mini, add SSD, and buy this plug-n-play power regulation and you're set to go


----------

