With Airfoil Speakers, a free accompaniment to Airfoil, you can use Airfoil to transmit audio to other devices on your local network - Macs, PCs and Linux machines are all supported, as well as iPhones, iPods Touch, and iPads. Now you can send music around your house without even needing an AirPort Express!
To get started, just install Airfoil Speakers on any device to which you wish to send audio. Once Airfoil Speakers is running on another device on your local network, that device will appear in Airfoil as an output and you'll be able to send audio to it. Below, we'll cover Airfoil Speakers for Mac, but Airfoil Speakers for Windows, Airfoil Speakers for Linux, and Airfoil Speakers Touch are all virtually identical.
You can download complimentary copies of Airfoil Speakers for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux right from the Airfoil site. There you'll also find a link to Airfoil Speakers Touch, for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
Airfoil Speakers In Action
Airfoil Speakers main window
Airfoil Speakers Touch main window
When launched, Airfoil Speakers will appear with the window seen above, and also show up in your menu bar. You'll see Airfoil Speakers as an output in any copy of Airfoil running on your local network.
Once Airfoil Speakers is running on your receiving machine, you can send audio to it from Airfoil. It will appear and function with Airfoil just like a standard AirPort Express. Simply click the Transmit button next to the AirPort Speakers item in Airfoil's list, and audio will be sent out. Just like a physical AirPort Express, audio output is delayed by approximately two seconds.
If you're running a firewall, you may need to adjust it for Airfoil Speakers to work. For more details, see this page.
General Settings
Start Airfoil Speakers at login (Desktop versions only): Turn this option on to have Airfoil Speakers run automatically when you login to your computer. This setting will mean your machine is always available for output from Airfoil.
Float above other applications (Desktop versions only): When on, the Airfoil Speakers window will float above all other windows, making it instantly accessible.
Automatically check for software updates (Desktop versions only): With this option activated, Airfoil Speakers compares itself to the most current version available from our server and alerts you when a new version is available. Leave this on to stay up-to-date.
Speaker
Name: You can adjust the name with which Airfoil Speakers appears in Airfoil's list. By default, your Mac's name is used for this setting.
Require password to connect: When active, a password will be required to connect to the Airfoil Speakers output. Use this setting to prevent undesired audio playback.
Play audio through (Desktop versions only): This setting adjusts the output device through which audio from Airfoil Speakers plays.
Level Meters (iPhone OS versions only): Turning off the Level Meters can improve battery life when using Airfoil Speakers Touch.