Low, or lower-end audio. Or middle. But not high.

[Yw-slayer]

I never thought about controlling iTunes through an apple device as I've never tried it. Yes, I guess he could do that, and do so via a speaker of his choice. Much depends kn whether he wants WiFi and multi-room. Since I assume you guys all live in houses with 12 rooms and pretty big walk-in showers.

[George]

George, you already own an iPhone, you already own a PC. Just download iTunes to that PC, sign into your Apple account to pair the phone to it, import your USB music into iTunes (I recommend first copying the whole lot to the HDD to avoid messing up your file structure on the USB drive) and boom. You can connect to iTunes on the PC via wifi, and the PC can send your music out of Windows via whatever option you want.

This is exactly what I've been hoping is possible.

I already have iTunes on that very PC, as described in another thread about my failed (so far) attempts to commandeer an iPad as if I had stolen it (but I didn't).

I recommend first copying the whole lot to the HDD

Yes. It's all there already because that's the PC I rip CDs on, and I have it all on a removable hard drive also. And a bunch of it on a USB stick or three also.

Just download iTunes to that PC, sign into your Apple account to pair the phone to it

This seems perfect so far.

Let's say my PC is in the basement of Guard House 4 on the southwestern frontier of my estate.

I'm about to step into the walk-in shower in the Primary Residence Building and I have my iPhone in my hand. It is connected to the same wifi network as the PC.

You're saying I can browse my music on the PC from the phone, and then cause the phone to broadcast it somehow (whether bluetooth or wifi) to a nearby wireless speaker?

That would solve all (well, one) of my First World Problems. Do I have to download an app to the phone to connect to the PC? iTunes, maybe? It's not currently installed but I know where to get it.

[George]

It looks like iTunes Remote is the app for me. I’ll download it tomorrow. Bedtime now. Thanks gents.

[Yw-slayer]

Enjoy, also enjoy having saved money!

I do recommend looking into streaming services though. Sometimes they have exclusive online only recordings/streams, including from bands that you may both like. Not to mention podcasts etc. Obviously there will probably be alternative ways of obtaining the files, but they may well fall foul of the law and are probably more bother than they are worth (which I suspect is the main reason piracy is not, apparently, as big of an issue as it used to be).

[Rare White Ape]

It looks like iTunes Remote is the app for me. I’ll download it tomorrow. Bedtime now. Thanks gents.

No! Get out of bed! Get down and boogie!

Just be sure to have both your PC and iTunes signed into your Apple account. For instructions use the iTunes help menu and search for 'remote'. Home Sharing is the easiest way to do it (in iTunes click File > Home Sharing). If it doesn't work first time, just turn home sharing off (in both Remote app and iTunes settings) then on again.

[XHawkeye]

[Rare White Ape]

[George]

If I'm not pushing my luck, I'm wondering if you guys can save me hours of googling to figure just one more thing out with this iTunes business. There's always just one more thing, right?

Add music to your iTunes library. Control iTunes from your iPhone.

I have finally gotten around to doing this. I have iTunes running on my Windows 10 PC. I dragged one album that I have saved on that PC into iTunes. iTunes converted it to some other format. Okay, whatever. I guess that will simply take up more space on my PC's hard drive and not change the original files. But, I digress.

I turned on Home Sharing in iTunes on the PC.

I have the Apple Remote application on my iPhone.

I can select any or all tracks on the one album and cause them to play with my iPhone. So far, so good, and I'm grateful for all the help you guys have given me above.

However, I thought the sound would come out of the iPhone instead of my PC's speakers, and therefore I could re-direct the signal to a portable bluetooth speaker in other rooms of the house.

Can I do that, or is the sound always going to come from the PC?

And, if the sound will always come from the PC, would I then want a wi-fi speaker instead of a bluetooth speaker? I currently have neither but am ready to buy something that will sound decent and is portable enough to move from room to room occasionally.

I have googled but I'm only finding general iTunes and Home Sharing information and nothing yet about this specific situation.

[FaultyMario]

haven't tried it with an iPhone, but i think itunes gives you the option to choose the output once you have started home sharing. On the upper left hand side there's a triangle icon similar to the windows sound thingy where you mark which device you want to produce the sound.

[George]

I don't see that option within iTunes on the PC and it's definitely not in the iTunes Settings on the phone.

I think I'm going to need to select a different output from the PC in Windows, such as one kind of remote speaker or another, instead of the typical PC speakers that are plugged into it.