Adding AirPlay to a home theatre receiver/amplifier

[KevinJS]

Airplay is well supported by manufacturers of hifi gear, but if you have your sights set on a receiver/amplifier that does not offer the capability, all is not lost as there are a couple of ways to deal with the problem.

The components you will need are the Apple Airport Express router and/or AppleTV. (The Airport Extreme does NOT have the necessary output for connection to an amplifier.)

Connect a cable with a 3.5mm stereo jack to the Airport Express. The other end needs RCA stereo ends. These cables are easy to find, and very cheap. Plug that end into a spare audio input on the receiver and you are set to go.

You will find that iTunes now has a volume control for Airport Express.

For Mac users: Clicking on the "volume" control in the menu bar with the "Option" key held down will give an extended set of volume controls for each piece of attached equipment, so that output from other programs can be sent to the router.

Plugging an AppleTV into a spare HDMI input will allow a receiver to be used with AirPlay video, and is, in fact, the only way of using AirPlay video.

 

[KevinJS]

I recently discovered that the 3.5mm outlet on an Airport Express doubles as a digital output, same as the one on the MacBook.

So plugging a mini Toslink optical cable into it will send a digital signal to an outboard DAC or amplifier/receiver.

 

[KevinJS]

The information concerning the volume control on Macs needs updating.

macOS Sierra gives access to the extended volume controls without the need to press the Option key.