AirFoil 2.0.5
Rogue Amoeba Software
Price: $25 (demo available)
Pros: Simple to use, clean interface, streaming from almost any source (including we sites).
Cons: Sound delay when streaming, not video friendly, no simultaneous streaming to multiple Airport Express's under Windows.
by Miguel Lopez, 1st Lt, USAF
A few months ago I was looking to buy a wireless hub for my house and being a standard PC user, went looking at the PC websites for hubs and reviews. My friends however, introduced me to Apple's AirPort Express and its phenomenal ability to stream my music through it to a source of my choice became a must-have feature. Everyone knows iTunes streams your music itself, but having an older PC that barely runs iTunes and wanting to stream my favorite radio station to my amp from a website meant I needed something more. My friends introduced Airfoil as the only program I would ever need.
Airfoil unlocks Apple's AirPort Express to allow any type of application to stream audio through AirPort Express to your speakers or amplifier of choice. This is pretty much self-explanatory. It allows users to use the audio player of their choice (WinAmp, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, etc) and still listen to the music outside the confines of computer speakers.
For users of the PC, we know and understand that the installation process can be akin to Russian Roulette - sometimes flawless and sometimes blowing your brains out with frustration. Downloading Airfoil was not an issue at all; installation being crisp and clean.
Now, when it comes to audio players, I am a minimalist. I want to have the smallest area of desktop used and still have full usability. This is such a big deal to me that I have been using WinAmp since 1998. Some say only caveman still use it, but as shown by Geico, cavemen are highly sophistaced individuals. So it was great to see that AirFoil's interface is simple and efficiently fits in one tiny window.
Upon opening Airfoil, without any input, it found and listed the available AirPort Express's in my network. I have two and they are listed with their own separate volume control and activation buttons. Now I open WinAmp, play my music, hit the activation button to the desired AirPort Express, and presto, I'm playing streaming music to my amp. It is truly that simple.
There are other simple functions: monitoring the music at my computer while streaming and control of volume either at the computer or at my amp. The only tricky part is remembering there is a streaming delay vetween when the sound is produced on your computer and when it is heard at the other end.
The magic of Airfoil is not just limited to audio players. Now from a website, I enjoy listening KROQ 106.7 from Los Angeles, CA. I was ecstatic to know I can play music from my favorite radio station website to my amp. At the bottom of Airfoil there is a popup menu allowing you to choose your audio source. I found the Firefox window with the streaming player from the radio station's website and it is now playing out of my amp. Utterly fantastic for sources that aren't purely web-based or not compatible with iTunes!
On the down side, Airfoil will not work with videos. I thought to myself, it would be great to watch a movie on my laptop and stream the audio to my amp, but the almost three second delay while transmitting to the AirPort Express makes it impossible to enjoy video unless you use the advanced audio sync features in VLC. Even that trick doesn't work with any other sources that require synchronized audio and video, like games.
My experience with Airfoil on the Mac has been similar. The interface and features are almost identical. Notable additions being the ability to use widgets and radio receivers like Griffin's RadioShark as audio sources and an optional plug-in for routing audio from the entire systems instead of just one application. It's also worth noting that only the Mac version supports multiple base stations and it can even sync the output to each.
Airfoil is a spectacular program for the PC and Mac. Allowing a wide range of options to the user on what and how they want to stream to their AirPort Express. Be it MP3s or a favorite radio station's online stream from back home. Whatever the usage, for those wanting big sound from sources other than iTunes, Airfoil is a must have.
System Requirements:
* Mac OS X 10.3.9/Windows 2000 or better
* 1.8GHz or better processor
* AirPort Express
* Wireless Network