Streaming Audio From Transmitter to Speaker

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Streaming Audio From Transmitter to Speaker

I would like to beam live streaming audio from a radio stations website to a speaker about 20 feet away. I can either use a transmitter and a wireless speaker or the Bluetooth technology. If I used a Bluetooth transmitter would I be able to have the sound low on my computer and still get full sound from the speaker as I think it goes into the USB port, where the other goes into the sound output port I think? Most of the Bluetooth speakers I see are for cell phones. Can those be used? Is this technology device specific where some only works on a PC? Is special software needed for this? I'm looking for a low cost solution as I only need it for a talk radio show I'm not able to get because of poor reception on a regular radio.

I'm new to all this and can use some help which would be much appreciated. Thanks much!

G5, Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Dec 22, 2007 9:41 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 23, 2007 9:43 AM in response to sheellah

The ability to send/stream (stereo or half-decent quality) audio via Bluetooth to any device is only available in Mac OS X 10.5 or later. It cannot be done in 10.4 or 10.3. So you would have to upgrade the OS in your Mac before attempting this.

No wireless solutions are going to be cheaper than running a 20 foot cable from the Mac to amplifier though.

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Answer 2

sheellah Author

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Dec 23, 2007 11:21 AM in response to Julian Wright

Thanks for your reply. I didn't know that. If I did upgrade and used Bluetooth, would there be any advantage over standard wireless for such as simple use? I had thought though that Bluetooth was around for a while, and OX 10.5 is recent, so how did they use it before? Thanks again!

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Answer 3

Dec 23, 2007 4:10 PM in response to sheellah

Bluetooth technology has been around for a long time, but there are many different Bluetooth functions (profiles). Up until 10.5 the Mac OS did not support the specific A2DP Stereo Bluetooth Audio profile.

As far as I know, there would be no advantages to using Bluetooth audio instead of standard (Wi-fi) wireless audio.

Another (cheap) option for you might be an FM transmitter, which you can plug in to the audio out on your Mac, then tune in a nearby radio to a spare frequency and listen to the audio from your Mac that way.

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Answer 4

hannry

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Dec 24, 2007 2:29 AM in response to Julian Wright

Can we have the mobile phone bluetooth earpiece which is A2DP capable be used to do presentation streaming the sound to the external speaker connected to macbook with leaopard ?

Do we need an additional software to do the trick ?

rgds

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Answer 5

sheellah Author

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Dec 24, 2007 3:31 PM in response to Julian Wright

Thanks Julian. The problem is I was told it had to be a digital FM radio. When I do a search for a digital radio I get those that have the display in digital form. Would you be able to suggest an inexpensive digital radio? I can't believe this is so difficult to do. I've spent days on this, and even Radio Shack could sell me nothing to do this. I would think they would have many combos on the market with a powered receiver and a transmitter, but it seems not to be.

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Answer 6

Dec 24, 2007 4:53 PM in response to sheellah

As far as I am aware, all the FM transmitters you can get for Mac/iPod/etc. broadcast on analogue FM frequencies between 88.1 and 107.9 Mhz.

There are radios available with either digital or analogue tuners and both work with FM transmitters. I guess it may be easier to select a specific frequency on a digital tuner, than on an analogue tuner - however, the end result is the same.

Something like the item below, should do the trick for you:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/rocketfm

That one works up to 30 feet, but others may be more limited.

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Answer 7

Jan 7, 2008 6:41 PM in response to hannry

I am running Tiger, 10.4.11.

I just purchased a pair of bluetooth speakers for my
iMac, the pairing process seemed to go fine, but
I'm getting no audio at all.

I understand that the OS I'm using is not A2DP-equipped,
but I'm wondering - should I be getting at least a mono
signal? As it is, there no audio whatever.

TIA

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