You need to make sure all your Macs and Airport are in Wifi N, otherwise there is not enough bandwidth.

You can analyse the spectrum and select a different frequency. I have no issues at all. There are possibly 20 wifi networks I can see around me.

For video it might need N. I am talking music. i had at some point 3 airport express and they just don't work right. Even if I run them in a dedicated network.

Neither does my ATV pick up the signal correct and it did run in an all Apple network with the airport extreme as a router.

If you google the topic, there is quite a few users with these issues.

I will obviously give it a try, it should run on my old ATV me thinks ... I probabyl pick up the 99$ one as well ...

I have all wireless N units and had 3 zones with airport express.  No other wireless interference.  LOTS of sync problems and dropouts.  Even if *you* don't have any issues *A LOT* of people report issues with poor music sync and drop outs.  On the other hand, complaints of that type are extremely rare with Sonos.  The difference in quality of Sonos' mesh network is astounding.  I just purchased a Sonos system as noted in a previous post based on recommendations on these forums.  Apple may get there some day but they aren't there noww

Regarding the quality... (when it works) Airport transport the music with a lossless compression. So there is no loss in quality due to the transmission (I am not talking about dropouts here). 

The DAC in the Aiport express may be bad. You can use the digital connexion and an external DAC.

No, the sound wasn't bad at all. Dropouts is the issue.

To me the airplay is not such a big deal. Its convenient because I can start watching on the TV and finish of on the ipad.

Also, I can purchase on the IPAD but not on the ATV.

I don't see though that this is a must have feature for B&O to pick up. It as easy to just connect a 99$ ATV that B&O can fully control through STB .....

JK1002,

I understand your point about simply hooking an Apple TV to your B&O system, and, in fact, I plan to do that very thing when I get a BV-7 in the near future.  However, I feel B&O's audio head units and their upcoming "iPod dock speaker set-up" would greatly benefit from AirPlay technology in that those of us with Apple gear would more easily get our digital music played.  For instance, as I pointed out earlier, B&O makes it arduous for us Apple people to get our iTunes files on to their products in a native way - that's why I never considered a BS-5 despite the fact that I find the inherent concept appealing (i.e. that of a digital jukebox that attaches to Beolabs).

What I'd love is a B&O AirPlay device that was relatively simple; all it needs is an inherent DAC, some 5 pin DIN connectors for Beolabs, and a way to control volume that is consistent with AirPlay's protocols.  If B&O had this sort of device, their self-amplified, ALT-equipped speakers would provide the perfect sound solution, IMHO, for a simple, yet high-end, purist, audio system.  It'd give instant added value to their excellent line of speakers and they could leverage the fact that they have ICE speakers that don't need separate components (like receivers, amps, etc.).

The appeal of B&O to me is not only their aforementioned speaker technologies, but also their history of providing long-term value.  I want B&O's "future-proof-ness" to continue; in fact, as someone who has to save for B&O products, I'm going to demand this of B&O equipment in the future as I can't afford to spend that kind of money otherwise.

I think these Apple technologies represent a significant part of the future, AND I want to see B&O parlay their attributes (self-amplified speakers, tuned flat panels, the possibility for a "phantom" center channel, etc.) in such a way that embraces these emerging standards.

Mark

Ahem. Am I missing something here? You can just connect an Airport Express to your B&O Speaker. Since airplay seems to be working just like Itunes streaming you should be able to regulate volume just like you can today.

I take your point though, that if they would integrate that fully and one would not have to go through AUX and you could do the volume control thing from the IOS4 device and use your Beosound/Beocenter.

Their IPOD dock is actually always was dead at start to me. This does not fit their strategy, i.e. high end audio and television. It seems more like a parting gift from the prior CEO.

Anyhow, I wouldn't be surprised if we see more B&O on Iphones and Ipads. That Masterlink gateway was probably just a start.

Lastly lets all hail the lord that B&O has the STB and that we can control ATV through Beo4, Beo5 and hopefully Beo6.

I read somewhere a quote from Steve Jobs in reference to the new ATV that he was concerned about all these remotes in the living room.

I am not.

The key technology differences between what was possible yesterday and today is:

- Ability to transport video as well as audio.
- Enhanced capabilities with control over device to device synching - not just iTunes host to device. 
- 3rd party support.

For those of you concerned about bandwidth or dropouts, I would suggest looking at the latest simultaneous dual band routers like the current Airport Extreme (Netgear and others etc.) that support 5GHz to the ATV and 2.4GHz to your other devices. The only thing with 5GHz is that the device needs to be in relatively close proximity to work well, otherwise it'll switch to the 2.4Ghz network (or you could force it by naming the 5GHz network on a seperate SSID - but speed is impacted quite quickly as distance increases - which is less the case on the 2.4Ghz band.)  The Airport Express is 2.4GHz B/G/N only and great for extending networks around the house for your iPhone/iPad for general purpose internet.

Hope that helps

time to update for those who did not understand, yet : 

http://gizmodo.com/5696379/how-apples-airplay-is-about-to-change-your-life

I am a huge B&O customer, but for years I'm asking/telling :

-I'm more than happy with my Macs & iTunes, I only buy music through iTunes

-I like Apple's approach of iPhoto, iMovie

-I have everything on a dedicated Mac, affordable, with TimeMachine backup ...

-I have great iPhone, iPad, iPod touch apps, having access to that centralised data

....

What is the success of Apple ? They put the customer central, together with what that customer wants, needs and makes hum happy. Unfortunately, that's NOT what B&0 is doing. They want to impose their own "standards", getting out their own mobile phones, their own music library systems, their (silly) Windows based media centre (embedded, VERY old technology!), an iPort powered by an unofficial non-supported 3rd party software (for Mac)....

I DO have to upgrade my B&O system (BV6, BV Avant, BV5, BS...).. I like the B&O design, but today, I want more, more than the MasterLink which is in the meantime  -what - 25 years old ? Even if I decide to upgrade/change, I'll need to make lot's of hardware investments, including pulling new cables to new places in my house. Why is it so hard to understand that what I want and so many others is something simple like AirTunes, AirPlay , WIFI ? Stream iTunes music seamlessly over and to my entire B&O system ? 

If B&O is smart and wants to survive, they adopt AirPlay, iTunes, appleTV totally. They should integrate appleTV in all BeoVision systems. Plug in to iPhoto ...

This would open new markets to B&O.

Today, spending 500.000 for a B&O system which does not do what I want : that's something B&O is still selling, but only to people who pay that amount of money just to show they have B&O, rather than using it in a "contemporary way" ...

I really don't think B&O should try to integrate Airplay.  The tech behind Airplay is nothing new.  There are many people that have sync issues and dropouts with Airplay when used to stream to multiple audio sources.  It is a low-priced streaming solution.  B&O would be much better off working with a company like Sonos or some other high-end solution.  Compared to Sonos, Airplay is laughable. I've used both.  Anyone want to buy my Airport Express (US)?