Stream Music and Movies across Your Home - iConnected: Use AirPlay, iCloud, Apps, and More to Bring Your Apple Devices Together - page 58

The idea came to me when I hosted a Super Bowl party and found myself constantly leaving the
TV to cook food, get more drinks, or answer the door — I was frustrated that I was missing the pre-
game show and then the game itself. So, being the geek, I hooked up the audio from my TV to a com-
puter and streamed that audio via AirPlay to the kitchen and hallway so I didn't miss a play (albeit
delayed by a few seconds). While sports might not be your thing, this technique is still very handy.
For example, if you're listening to the radio, an iPod, cassette player, CD player, or record player, you
could send its audio to all your AirPlay devices.
In most instances, you need to connect a mini (3.5mm) audio cable (the same connection that an
iPod's headphones use) to run from your source (a TV, radio, and so on) to the line-in port on your
computer. Look for a headphone symbol or a phrase like Audio Out near the audio jack on the source
device. Some devices use a composite audio cable (one white plug and one red plug that go into the
device); for these, you would use a composite-to-mini audio cable to connect to your computer's line-
in jack. The jacks are usually colored red and white, and may be labeled A/V Out or Ext Out.
Obviously, you need a computer near your device for this technique to work — or a very long au-
dio cable. If you can't easily move the audio device (such as a TV) near your computer, use a laptop
that you can bring close to the device.
Once you have connected your audio cable to the line-in jack on your computer, run Airfoil on
the computer to receive the audio from your device and stream it to your AirPlay speakers. In Air-
foil's Input menu, choose the option for your computer's audio-in jack. It may be called Built-In In-
put, Line In, or something else — you may need to experiment with different choices if it's not obvi-
ous. You'll know when you have the right option as you'll see the equalizer at the bottom of the win-
dow begin to move, letting you know that audio is being passed into Airfoil via the input you selected.
Now, choose the AirPlay speakers you want to stream audio to. If everything is set up correctly, you
should hear the audio from your source playing through your AirPlay speakers.