Airplay and Airport Express - direct and network

Hi,
I understand that i can stream music to an airport express (connected to an av receiver) either directly from my iPad 2 or from a PC upstairs via my wi-fi network. My question is whether the AEX can be set up to do either depending on source, (for example if i dont feel like going upstairs to switch on my PC and run itunes)?
Basically if I'm downstairs I'd like to stream directly from iPad with my pc off. Another benefit may be if the wi-fi connection may be weak so i could prefer to use the iPad directly (not upstairs to router then back down).

Thanks.
Was worried that you needed to either set it up to either join a home network or to be a standalone server but could not set up both at the same time. How do I set it up to accept either/or (without reconfiguring)?
Using:
AirPort Express wirelessly streams iTunes music as a standalone device
or using:
Connecting to an existing Wi-Fi network, exclusively for iTunes music
Ideally in future it will provide a wired media player access to a NAS drive, sometimes it would stream from iTunes on a computer to my A/ Receiver, othertimes it will stream music from my iPad to my AVR, but without reconfiguring each time.

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