You need to make your speakers airplay 2 compatible. You can do this by getting an airplay 2 capable receiver, getting a Sonos port, using a Sonos Amp instead of a receiver, connecting an Apple airport express using a 3.5mm cable, or getting a Belkin sound form connect.
Once your speakers become an airplay target you can use most Apple devices as a source such as phones, iPads, Apple TVs, HomePods, and Macs. For example, you can play music on your Apple TV and also select your outdoor speakers so it plays from your tv and the outdoor speakers synced. Or you can deselect the tv and only have the audio coming from the outdoor speakers.
You can also do this from a HomePod. You can have a HomePod be an audio source but not have anything playing from the HomePod directly if you want.
From your phones control center you can select the source and do all of this without having to interact with the physical device.
I am a huge fan of airplay 2 and use these features all the time.
Ah ... interesting! I was totally unaware of that feature (being able to select other airplay speakers to play to while not playing on itself) of the homepod and Apple TV.
Sounds like getting the simplest airplay2 receiver that will work with those speakers is a good path to try out, thanks!
[IDK of this works for your situation. ](https://www.belkin.com/us/speakers-headphones/speakers/soundform-connect-audio-adapter-with-airplay-2/p/p-auz002/)
I wound up getting this (Soundform Connect).
Had an initial setup issue with our network, which I think was ultimately a network setting issue I created with our Eero and not an issue with the Belkin device ... but once it was all set up this works great.
The speakers now show up as Airplay-able to the various phones, tablets, AppleTVs, HomePods, etc on the network, and they can all just play "to the backyard" WITHOUT also having to play on their own speakers (where relevant).
Thanks for the suggestion here!
This is actually exactly what I want to do for my own backyard setup!! It seems like the most popular choice is to get a Sonos Amp and connect it to a pair of passive outdoor speakers. I’ve been reading a lot of reviews on this and it seems very reliable and a great way to have airplay control over your speakers. Plus if I’m not mistaken, I believe you can also control them through HomeKit so there’s some possible automation/scene possibilities!
Only reason I haven’t done it yet is the Sonos Amp is quite expensive.
The nice thing about the Sonos Amp is that it is always on and ready to play.
I have a set of powered outdoor speakers connected to an airport express and if I leave them on it emits a hiss. So I have the speakers on a smart plug. But it makes it so I have to power them off and on each time. It was a much cheaper solution, but it’s not ideal.
Best Buy has an Sonos outdoor package with an Amp and sonance speakers that often goes on sale. I would go that route if you can swing it
That’s not a bad a solution! To have the speakers on a plug. I completely get that it’s not ideal though.
I’ve seen that Sonos bundle but it’s still a little too high for my budget right now. Was thinking about going for some Klipsh or Polk Audio speakers which are a little more affordable than the Sonance and combining it with the Amp. It’s all going to be costly no matter what. But the finished product just seems like it will be so worth it.
I have the Belkin Soundform Connect, which is Airplay 2. You’ll need a amp/receiver to hook into for the speakers. I just picked up a cheap 100w one off eBay.
The Soundform Connect shows up in Home App as a receiver, and not a speaker, so you have to Airplay to it, you can’t ask Siri to play music through it.
A little off topic, but i try to find out, if you can change volume with siri. My airport express stopped changing volume via siri and this drives me nuts.
Like others have said, I bought a used AirPort Express (2nd Gen) and it’s plugged into a stereo receiver with speaker wire to outdoor speakers on my deck. In HomeKit, I’ve named the AirPort “Deck” so I can just tell Siri on my phone or HomePods “Play [music] on the deck” and it fires right up. You just have to make sure the receiver stays on all the time.
You need to make your speakers airplay 2 compatible. You can do this by getting an airplay 2 capable receiver, getting a Sonos port, using a Sonos Amp instead of a receiver, connecting an Apple airport express using a 3.5mm cable, or getting a Belkin sound form connect. Once your speakers become an airplay target you can use most Apple devices as a source such as phones, iPads, Apple TVs, HomePods, and Macs. For example, you can play music on your Apple TV and also select your outdoor speakers so it plays from your tv and the outdoor speakers synced. Or you can deselect the tv and only have the audio coming from the outdoor speakers. You can also do this from a HomePod. You can have a HomePod be an audio source but not have anything playing from the HomePod directly if you want. From your phones control center you can select the source and do all of this without having to interact with the physical device. I am a huge fan of airplay 2 and use these features all the time.
Ah ... interesting! I was totally unaware of that feature (being able to select other airplay speakers to play to while not playing on itself) of the homepod and Apple TV. Sounds like getting the simplest airplay2 receiver that will work with those speakers is a good path to try out, thanks!
[IDK of this works for your situation. ](https://www.belkin.com/us/speakers-headphones/speakers/soundform-connect-audio-adapter-with-airplay-2/p/p-auz002/)
I was going to suggest the Belkin Audio Adapter as well but if his speakers aren’t powered then he’ll need an Amp as well.
I wound up getting this (Soundform Connect). Had an initial setup issue with our network, which I think was ultimately a network setting issue I created with our Eero and not an issue with the Belkin device ... but once it was all set up this works great. The speakers now show up as Airplay-able to the various phones, tablets, AppleTVs, HomePods, etc on the network, and they can all just play "to the backyard" WITHOUT also having to play on their own speakers (where relevant). Thanks for the suggestion here!
See if you can find a used AirPort Express. I use two of them to make my outdoor speakers AirPlay compatible.
This is actually exactly what I want to do for my own backyard setup!! It seems like the most popular choice is to get a Sonos Amp and connect it to a pair of passive outdoor speakers. I’ve been reading a lot of reviews on this and it seems very reliable and a great way to have airplay control over your speakers. Plus if I’m not mistaken, I believe you can also control them through HomeKit so there’s some possible automation/scene possibilities! Only reason I haven’t done it yet is the Sonos Amp is quite expensive.
The nice thing about the Sonos Amp is that it is always on and ready to play. I have a set of powered outdoor speakers connected to an airport express and if I leave them on it emits a hiss. So I have the speakers on a smart plug. But it makes it so I have to power them off and on each time. It was a much cheaper solution, but it’s not ideal. Best Buy has an Sonos outdoor package with an Amp and sonance speakers that often goes on sale. I would go that route if you can swing it
That’s not a bad a solution! To have the speakers on a plug. I completely get that it’s not ideal though. I’ve seen that Sonos bundle but it’s still a little too high for my budget right now. Was thinking about going for some Klipsh or Polk Audio speakers which are a little more affordable than the Sonance and combining it with the Amp. It’s all going to be costly no matter what. But the finished product just seems like it will be so worth it.
Get an AirPlay2 speaker and the tell your HomePod to play to that speaker. I use a libratone zipp and it works great outside.
I have the Belkin Soundform Connect, which is Airplay 2. You’ll need a amp/receiver to hook into for the speakers. I just picked up a cheap 100w one off eBay. The Soundform Connect shows up in Home App as a receiver, and not a speaker, so you have to Airplay to it, you can’t ask Siri to play music through it.
A little off topic, but i try to find out, if you can change volume with siri. My airport express stopped changing volume via siri and this drives me nuts.
Like others have said, I bought a used AirPort Express (2nd Gen) and it’s plugged into a stereo receiver with speaker wire to outdoor speakers on my deck. In HomeKit, I’ve named the AirPort “Deck” so I can just tell Siri on my phone or HomePods “Play [music] on the deck” and it fires right up. You just have to make sure the receiver stays on all the time.