This discussion is locked
Daru

Q: Which iPod should I buy?

I have an ONYKO AV Receiver through which I play the audio from our TV and our CD/DVD player to the five speakers in our living room. We now play music all day (broadcasting to my shop and my wife's studio) using DirectTV Sirius/XM channels, but I'd rather make up my own playlists (and not pay DirectTV for channels I don't use).

I've never had an iPod. I'd probably never use it for anything else. Can I do this? If so, which one should I buy? Do I need any equipment beside the iPod? Ease of use (my wife is NOT computer literate) is the most important criteria. (I can handle the iTunes and computer stuff; just need it to be easy to access after I've done the arranging.)

iMac 2.8 GHz Intel; MacBook Pro; G5 Powerbook, Mac OS X (10.5.6), Apple Computers since 1982

Posted on Mar 31, 2009 2:09 PM

Close

Q: Which iPod should I buy?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by PT,Solvedanswer

    PT PT Apr 2, 2009 11:47 AM in response to Daru
    Level 7 (20,875 points)
    Apr 2, 2009 11:47 AM in response to Daru
    Do you use iTunes now and if so do you have a sizable library built up?

    The Classic line are your basic iPods and give you the most space for the dollar as far as being able to store massive amounts of songs. The Nanos are along the same line of features just with a lot less storage and a much smaller form factor.

    iPhones and Touches are probably to specialized for you what you want since they are more designed for hand held use with the touch screen and all and would be kind of a waste to pay the money for one with little storage just to have it sit next to your receiver and play music.

    For a bare bones setup, all you would need is a patch cable from the headphone jack to RCA plugs to plug into your receiver. The iPod would then run off its own battery.

    A better solution might be getting a powered dock which will allow you to hook up to the receiver when the iPod is in the dock and stay charged.

    Still another option you didn't mention. Do you have a computer near the receiver? If so, you could hook the computer's output to thhe receiver and play music directly out of iTunes on the computer.

    Patrick
  • by Daru,

    Daru Daru Apr 2, 2009 5:25 PM in response to PT
    Level 1 (110 points)
    Apr 2, 2009 5:25 PM in response to PT
    Patrick, thank you for your reply. I stopped at the Apple Store in Fresno today and learned I could buy an Airport Express, plug it in near the AV receiver, extend my home network, cable the Express to the receiver, and play from my computer. I've got it set up and working, but it keeps cutting out. Unsatisfactory.

    If I can't get it to work, I'll get the Classic you suggest and probably the powered dock. I'll call support to see if they can suggest a solution to the cutting out, but my guess is there are too many possibilities of interference for it to be reliable. My base station is a Time Capsule, and I extended it with an AirPort Extreme, so now I've got three stations, and I certainly don't need the third one if it doesn't do this one thing...
  • by PT,

    PT PT Apr 2, 2009 5:49 PM in response to Daru
    Level 7 (20,875 points)
    Apr 2, 2009 5:49 PM in response to Daru
    That's too bad. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with Airport express so can not offer much help there.

    Patrick