Another Leopard Problem - Front Row & Airport Express/Airtunes
Just upgraded to Leopard.....
Now Front Row won't stream music through my Airport Express to remote speakers, although itunes will. What's going on and how do I fix this?
Using Front Row as a an interface for itunes streaming music wireless through my airport express connected to my hi-fi and distributing into to speakers in different rooms as an extremely vital function from my computer to have. It would be disgraceful if this functionality is not available in Leopard.
I've just been looking into this this morning and I'd just like to chip in with the fact that I'm fairly content with discovering that the main reason there's no airtunes on front row is because of the delay in audio being sent wirelessly and difficulty with synching up with moving image, as front row is primarily for films.
Though they haven't said in so many words I really think this is the reason, also why you can't send all your computers sound output through the remote speakers.
I suppose intelligent delay compensation could be programmed in but would be more of a job for apple and probably on their minds to incorporate with wireless film streaming so the synch issue is not a problem, if this isn't what the Apple TV does?
There's no reason why it shouldn't be able to send music a la iTunes though.
I have Front Row 2.2.1 (314) and Snow Leopard 10.6.2. Front Row does properly categorize all the Music Videos in my iTunes(9.0.3 (15)) Library. Although, all of the music video media has been tagged and music videos via Info->Options->MediaKind, many of the music videos show up in the movies section of Front Row. They are categorized correctly in iTunes.
I have not check the accuracy of the regular music files yet.
I just bought a new iMac a week ago... the apple rep told me i could by an airport express and stream music to my stereo.. great idea i tought, use my iphone dock remote, stream music... kick back and relax..
so today i shelled out the $$ for the airport express.. setup was simple..
itunes works fine.. but NO FRONT ROW... so the remote is useless.. front row looked like a great idea.. but now i'm stuck with itunes..
What is the story here.. Apple is meant to innovate.. not cripple software..
Are they planning to fix this issue or release an update ??
I bought something called "Soft Control" That way you can adjust your volume using AirTunes.. better than nothing I suppose.. Front Row does need a little work.. I don't use it to watch movies because of that Dolby Dynamic Range Compression.. I've became fond of traditional methods, other than using Front Row..
Network delay synchronization already exists in iTunes for synchronizing Mac's speakers with multiple AirTunes remote speakers. Likewise, when you play back a movie the audio and video data is stored separately inside the movie file/stream 'container' and synchronized during playback. iTunes should, thus, be able to playback movie sound via AirTunes, but it does not (just tested on Leopard).
FrontRow used to support AirTunes because it used to use iTunes in the background to actually play the media. As of Leopard, it appears to be a standalone application so it would require direct integration with AirTunes playback libraries.
Could you tell us where you found this "Soft Control" (app, device?).
Does Apple actually read -- or at least get some sort of input -- from these forums? It's seems hard to believe that such an important selling point for "Snow Leopard" as "Front Row" is STILL not compatible such an important Apple peripheral as "Airport Express."
Why is this taking so long, and why the absolute silence from Apple?
I'm not buying a new Mac each year. But today I finally did. I too thought I could use Frontrow to play my music library through the Airport Express. I already thought it a minor setback I could not adjust the volume of iTunes through the Express. But not being able to use Frontrow with Airtunes is a major bummer. It's the main reason I bought an Airport Express and Apple Remote in the first place. Unhappy. 😟 Apple, please fix this!
"FrontRow used to support AirTunes because it used to use iTunes in the background to actually play the media. As of Leopard, it appears to be a standalone application so it would require direct integration with AirTunes playback libraries."
See, THERE'S the problem -- Front Row SEEMS to be a standalone application, but it doesn't act like one, and it's really not: it's a "Core Service" part of the Snow Leopard OS and, as far as I can tell, does not follow the usual rules we expect of a Mac standalone. I'm holding off buying an Airport Express until Apple solves this -- though after three years, I'm not holding my breath. But even without the Front Row/Airport Express/AirTunes problem, I'm finding it impossible to do the simplest things with Front Row. Maybe I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but does ANYONE know:
1. Is there a manual, a FAQ, or ANY kind of documentation (other than the 3/4" wide 3-page booklet set in 2-point type that says, essentially, "push buttons and Front Row work good"?
2. It's still obviously accessing iTunes, as all my playlists, artists, and albums are accessible, but how do I add video content -- not pirated copies of Saw 47, but simple, legal, free, music videos?
3. AND WHY OH WHY can I not get the volume any higher in Front Row? It's not an across the board problem, either: I have hundreds of songs (8,128 individual songs, for a total of 24.3 days of music, taking up 43 GB) that play perfectly well, and at any volume I care to subject myself to, while some songs played in Front Row are barely audible, while others bring the plaster down from the ceiling. The biggest problem, by far, is music you can't hear, with every volume device in app, finder, and Front Row cranked to 11 (which, in Front Row, sounds like 3).
4. How do you even change the "shuffle songs" setting? I was able to do it once, which was nice, because I wanted to listen to an album -- unfortunately, the sequence of the songs on the album was all scrambled up; I went to iTunes and made sure they were in the correct playlist order, went back to Front Row, and the songs were STILL all scrambled up. The raison d'être of most albums is that they're meant to be played in the order the artist put them (unless it's like "Mott The Hoople's Greatest Hit"), and may I make the point again, the raison d'être of Front Row, the Apple Remote, and Airport Express was that, together with -- preferably -- a Mac, they were supposed to be the core of a centralized "Media Center, where we could access audio and video content, send anywhere in the house we wanted, and lay in bed with the Apple Remote and catch up on all those missed episodes of "The Unreal Housewives of New Joisey." Where did THAT dream go?
Am I the only person having these problems (I KNOW I'm not the only one with the Front Row/AirTunes questions)? Am I just plain stupid? I've searched Apple's site and the entire net looking for info on both Front Row and the new Apple Remote, and have found zip, zero, nada, nothing that has been of any help.
Please, if anyone knows of ANY documentation, incantation, or confabulation which throws ANY light whatsoever on the mysterious, sphinx-like Apple Remote, and its future with Front Row, AirTunes, iTunes, Airport Express, and the Great Digital Convergence, please share your info with the rest of us. I've been using nothing but Macs for 21 years now, and I can't recall anything with THIS much potential having so LITTLE information available about it.
