DIY AirPlay Board?

Kalleg · 7th November 2011, 06:31 PM

Hi everyone,

I am an avid user of Apples AirPlay technology. I have different speaker systems set up in my apartment (with AE), and I stream to these from my phone, laptop and IPad. For me this has become a vital part of my music listening and I can't imagine living without it.

The past 6 months the AirPlay technology has really been rolled out commercially with Denon, Marantz, Harman Kardon, B&O, Sony, Pioneer etc. integrating AirPlay functionality in their recievers and active speaker systems.

This is happening alongside Spotifys rollout in Europe who's clients/players stream to AirPlay more or less natively. I think we will see more and more of this in the future.

My question is: "where can we begin as DIY'ers?". I am well aware that we can use Apples Airport Express to get the functionality. But there must be a smarter alternative with a smaller footprint. Something like a small inexpensive Airplay module for building active speakers, a boombox, or if we want to build our own amplification with DAC and AirPlay module integrated? The possibilities are endless.

The only one I found is this one:

Bridgeco - Digital Media Player - BridgeCo

And is doesn't seem very accessible.

Do any of you have experience with this, or know of a product that does this? Any ideas are more than welcome. Alternatives too.

Thanks a bunch

Kalle

soren5 · 10th November 2011, 12:11 PM

Hi Kalle,

Thanks for highlighting this subject!

I’m afraid I can’t help you though, but as I’m also very interested in the AirPlay technology, I’d just like support this thread, hoping that there would be someone out there with some more knowledge about this. As you mentioned there are currently a lot of companies introducing AirPlay to their systems, and not only the big knowledge intensive hi-fi manufacturers that you list. A company like Libratone for example, is a recent start-up company that is focusing merely on wireless speakers using the AirPlay technology. My point is that there must be technology available out there, that we DIY’ers could make use of. No??

Søren

macboy · 01:31 PM

Some enterprising individuals have done a lot of work to reverse engineer Airplay:
AirTunes v2 UDP streaming protocol Free as in speech
I found the link above via this thread discussing Airplay and XBMC:
AirPlay target support integrated into XBMC natively? - XBMC Community Forum
I haven't read through the thread to see if there is more relevant information.

It's fairly common to connect microcontrollers with WiFi or ethernet these days. The tricky part would be getting iTunes to recognize your device. Then you would need to extract the audio data from the packets and finally send it to a codec/DAC chip. That last part is not as trivial as it sounds, but with some research, a workable and simple enough solution could be designed.

It might be worthwhile to proof-of-concept this device by implementing the protocol on a WiFi/ethernet enabled microcontroller platform, without the audio part. You would be concerned about negociating the link to iTunes, and make sure it starts sending audio packets. At first, you would discard the audio packets. Once you have iTunes sending you the audio data, then you can design the 2nd half of the hardware and start trying to make music from that data.

Leejin · 12th July 2012, 03:42 PM

I have found this module that seems to be an easier version. I'm looking to do the same thing and I *think* this is the direction to go.

Trouble is.. you have to be a developer *IIRC*.

Roving Networks | iAP

guussie · 16th July 2012, 07:29 AM

Could this be a start?

Raspberry Pi | An ARM GNU/Linux box for $25. Take a byte!

Supposedly supports Airplay.

Patrikr · 9th September 2012, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guussie

Could this be a start?

Raspberry Pi | An ARM GNU/Linux box for $25. Take a byte!

Supposedly supports Airplay.

Hey guys, yes the pi work with airplay.
It's really cool. There are loads of info and help on the raspberrypi wiki and forum.

Patrik

qusp · 10th September 2012, 02:41 AM

have you got pi v2? so can output i2s from airtunes audio stream from iphone?

Patrikr · 11th September 2012, 12:21 AM

No it's a Rev 1.
I am using shairport to get airplay working.

neverendingmonday · 16th February 2013, 06:53 PM

Hi everyone, I am new here.

Did anybody find any solution to this? As suggested in this post I am looking for something small to fit in my devices to use airplay capabilities.. not something like raspberry, but more like a chip that can include everything.

Has anybody made this yet?

Thanksss so much

7th November 2011, 06:31 PM	#1
Kalleg diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2011	DIY AirPlay Board? Hi everyone, I am an avid user of Apples AirPlay technology. I have different speaker systems set up in my apartment (with AE), and I stream to these from my phone, laptop and IPad. For me this has become a vital part of my music listening and I can't imagine living without it. The past 6 months the AirPlay technology has really been rolled out commercially with Denon, Marantz, Harman Kardon, B&O, Sony, Pioneer etc. integrating AirPlay functionality in their recievers and active speaker systems. This is happening alongside Spotifys rollout in Europe who's clients/players stream to AirPlay more or less natively. I think we will see more and more of this in the future. My question is: "where can we begin as DIY'ers?". I am well aware that we can use Apples Airport Express to get the functionality. But there must be a smarter alternative with a smaller footprint. Something like a small inexpensive Airplay module for building active speakers, a boombox, or if we want to build our own amplification with DAC and AirPlay module integrated? The possibilities are endless. The only one I found is this one: Bridgeco - Digital Media Player - BridgeCo And is doesn't seem very accessible. Do any of you have experience with this, or know of a product that does this? Any ideas are more than welcome. Alternatives too. Thanks a bunch Kalle

10th November 2011, 01:27 PM	#3
macboy diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada	Some enterprising individuals have done a lot of work to reverse engineer Airplay: AirTunes v2 UDP streaming protocol Free as in speech I found the link above via this thread discussing Airplay and XBMC: AirPlay target support integrated into XBMC natively? - XBMC Community Forum I haven't read through the thread to see if there is more relevant information. It's fairly common to connect microcontrollers with WiFi or ethernet these days. The tricky part would be getting iTunes to recognize your device. Then you would need to extract the audio data from the packets and finally send it to a codec/DAC chip. That last part is not as trivial as it sounds, but with some research, a workable and simple enough solution could be designed. It might be worthwhile to proof-of-concept this device by implementing the protocol on a WiFi/ethernet enabled microcontroller platform, without the audio part. You would be concerned about negociating the link to iTunes, and make sure it starts sending audio packets. At first, you would discard the audio packets. Once you have iTunes sending you the audio data, then you can design the 2nd half of the hardware and start trying to make music from that data. Last edited by macboy; 10th November 2011 at 01:31 PM.

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10th November 2011, 12:11 PM	#2
soren5 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Copenhagen	Hi Kalle, Thanks for highlighting this subject! I’m afraid I can’t help you though, but as I’m also very interested in the AirPlay technology, I’d just like support this thread, hoping that there would be someone out there with some more knowledge about this. As you mentioned there are currently a lot of companies introducing AirPlay to their systems, and not only the big knowledge intensive hi-fi manufacturers that you list. A company like Libratone for example, is a recent start-up company that is focusing merely on wireless speakers using the AirPlay technology. My point is that there must be technology available out there, that we DIY’ers could make use of. No?? Søren

12th July 2012, 03:42 PM	#4
Leejin diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2012	I have found this module that seems to be an easier version. I'm looking to do the same thing and I think this is the direction to go. Trouble is.. you have to be a developer IIRC. Roving Networks \| iAP

16th July 2012, 07:29 AM	#5
guussie diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Belgium	Could this be a start? Raspberry Pi \| An ARM GNU/Linux box for $25. Take a byte! Supposedly supports Airplay.

10th September 2012, 02:41 AM	#7
qusp is choosing a less facetious title... diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia	have you got pi v2? so can output i2s from airtunes audio stream from iphone?

11th September 2012, 12:21 AM	#8
Patrikr diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2012	No it's a Rev 1. I am using shairport to get airplay working.

16th February 2013, 06:53 PM	#9
neverendingmonday diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2013	Hi everyone, I am new here. Did anybody find any solution to this? As suggested in this post I am looking for something small to fit in my devices to use airplay capabilities.. not something like raspberry, but more like a chip that can include everything. Has anybody made this yet? Thanksss so much