Well, the PC nerd has finally been asked to integrate a Mac product into a system, and I would love to hear if any of you have had to invent this particular wheel before, and have any hints.

A client will have 5.1 two systems, where one has amps that run house speakers in five rooms, and he wants an iPod to be a source. Off the top of my head, I know he can do this with the iPod wherever he wants it, but he has assumed that he will be able to control it with a Marantz 5200. Do they make an IR-controlled iPod (I promise to go looking, too)? I could use a video out from the iPod to show him the iPod information so he will know what the heck he is about to listen to....

Any suggestions?

Ernie

An ipod is just an MP3 player. There is no video out. There is a wired remote control on the headphone lead but that is all.

The only way you could do this is to control his MP3 music library from his Mac, not from the ipod itself.

Roland

Ok, I did some checking.

As your client is a Mac fan he will have a Mac running itunes software. This software stores all the music that he puts on his ipod. itunes is probably the best and easiest to use mp3 software - the connection between mac and ipod is seamless.

When you plug the ipod into a mac it automatically updates the music you have on your mac and puts it in the ipod. This is done by Firewire (also known as 1394 or ilink) and is very fast (8 minutes to copy 100 albums), it also charges the ipod on the same cable.

Therefore you need to tell your client he needs to control the itunes program on his Mac where the music originated, not on his ipod which is for use outside the house.

There is software to let you automate itunes playlists (and your Mac friendly client could probably even write an applescript himself). There is even software to control itunes from the mac calendar program (ical) for example. All of this software is free with the mac or a free download.

However if he wants to select the music he will need to remote control the Mac. This is just like remote controlling any PC. You can use any infrared mouse/trackpad to control itunes remotely. All Mac mouse and keyboard connections are USB.

If you can generate RS232 commands from your automation system you can get RS232 to USB converters and this could possibly control the Mac though this may not work as well and requires experimentation.

Getting video out of a Mac is easy. Just get a PCI card for a desktop model and all Powerbooks have Svideo out as standard. All imacs have video out built in either VGA or svideo depending on the model.

There is also some basic home automation software for the Mac if you want it to be the master control. I'm not sure how good (or recent) any of this software is, however given that Macs are now essentially unix machines there are more possibilities along that route also.

The only way to send ipod sound into your system is to put an audio sender on the headphone ouput of the ipod - this is inelegant and not really the Macintosh way...

Those links in full:

apple.com - tech info on macs, itunes and ipod
shed.com
mousehouse.net
msystems.com

Roland

Actually, you can connect an iPod to any stereo using a simple cable from the iPod to the stereo's AUX input (the cable needs to have a 1/8" male headphone plug on the iPod side and split connectors on the stereo side). I always carry one of these cables with my Windows iPod, so that I can hook it up to my friend's stereos and then bask in the compliments I receive on the 4,000 tunes I carry around in my pocket! (grin)

Seriously, if you are in need of information about iPods (either the Windows or Mac versions), you should check out the forums at:

http://www.ipodlounge.com

They have more iPod related information than any other web site, including Apple's.

Does you client want to actually run his iPod or does he want a big MP3 machine?

thanks for the info. It is a big help.

westmetro,
As I now understand things, yes, he just wants a big mp3 player. But as he is not at all technically inclined and I was not familiar with the apple stuff, when he said he wanted to connect an ipod to the system, I just nodded and grunted affirmatively.

I did bring up to him that he would need to control the thing, and I had no clue that the ipod itself has so little in the way of controls.

Of course it makes sense to control it from the computer, which means he just wants a big mp3 player.

We don't have a home automation system, just a couple of xantech IR repeating systems (2 systems, same components, Marantz 5200 remotes).

I will be checking into mp3.com because I think they have components that can be loaded from macs and I know they have IR control. Still, the reason I was hoping for a video output was so he could tell where the heck he was in a menu system or in selecting cuts or "discs" to play.

thanks again, everybody!

Ernie

Have a look at the Onkyo (onkyousa.com) 'NetTune' audio series as well as their MB-S1 mp3 player/encoder. Onkyo has done a good job of integrating MP3 capability in to their new products including using a remotely controlled PC as the MP3 source.

There are products that can control the iPod. Go to www.ipodlounge.com

See you down there

There is an Onkyo streaming server that will stream from a mac running itunes, this will mean that the same playlist on his ipod will be available around the house