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Airport Express Experiences

D

deltaunit

pfm Member
I'm considering getting an Airport Express for my kitchen system.

Does anyone have any experiences of using one in a 2nd system? SQ, ease of use (can you press play on a remote and expect it to work instantly?), reliability etc?

All my digital music is stored on a Mac Mini with 802.11g wireless - would this be fast enough to stream lossless?

I'm currently using an iPod as a source and would like access to more of my library, obviously I'm not too concerned about high end SQ but hopefully it wouldn't be a step down - does anyone know?

Cheers
 
Fine for background IMO, but no substitute for a good CD player / transport even when using the digital out into a DAC. Great for the cash though, and it certainly works. I've got one, though seldom use it now as I just use a very long USB lead into the DAC, but I do this mainly for reasons of latency e.g. watching iPlayer, YouTube etc which is impossible over WiFi to an Airport Express as the sound is a second or two late.
 
Thanks Tony, are you on a g or n wireless network?

My library is in ALAC so my main concern is being able to reliably stream it via 802.11g and it being instant and easy to use. I currently use an iPod and quality isn't supreme importance as the music has to compete with noise from the kitchen anyway.
 
deltaunit said:
Thanks Tony, are you on a g or n wireless network?
Click to expand...

I'm still on g, though no shortage of bandwidth for music, e.g. I can stream video off my Time Capsule upstairs whilst simultaneously playing music to the AE from iTunes. I was rather surprised by that one! I'm not trying to put you off the AE at all, it's a great product at a bargain price, just don't expect the sense of coherence / timing you get out of even a budget CD player. It has a bit of a lifeless quality somehow.

I do need to get an n router at some point though, it's the only thing that's holding me back as all the other stuff I own is n compatible.
 
Thanks Tony, it's sounds like it should work for me.

I've moved all the quality gear out of my kitchen now for fear of damage from smoke, oil and steam etc, so have already taken a quality hit. At the price it is if it works then that should be enough for me.
 
Ive used one for years. They were problematic at first, but the current software version is reliable. You'll have no problem streaming ALAC.

If you have a tv near by, consider opting for an AppleTV. They serve the same purpose, but the AppleTV has added functionality
 
Another vote for AE. Very stable now. I fixed the apple network channel rather than left it in roaming/auto mode. This seems to have helped.

Use for internet radio in to nDac myself.
 
I use the AE in my main system, feeding a Simaudio DAC and the results are excellent.
There are occasional drop-outs - mostly when the microwave is turned on - but these are relatively rare when food is not being nuked. There should be no issue with streaming in the house with 802.11g since the audio streaming bandwidth is just 1.4Mb/s, compared to over 30Mb/s that should be available if you have decent reception.
 
AE/V-Dac and iPad or iPod touch here. Music on a drive plugged into my office iMac, n network. Not quite as good as a decent CD player, but you have to be listening properly to notice. Probably good for a second system.

I quite like the idea of sticking a couple of other set ups in the House (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom) - but the amount of kit (speakers, AE, iPod, some kind of amp - or just active speakers) takes up quite a lot of space, and just a radio is all I mostly need. And they make radios small.

It runs off your main computer system - so OK if the person using the computer and the person in the kitchen want to listen to the same thing. And it is as instant as the computer is. So assuming it is always on - fast.
 
Oh - and the remote app for iPhone/iPod doesn't give you access to all the 7,000 radio stations in the same way iTunes does from the Mac/PC you are streaming from. You have to create a playlist of all the radio stations you want to listen to - then you can select the ones you have selected via the remote app.
 
I've tempered my enthusiasm slightly for the AE recently as I've seen it play up with one or two dacs which don't like the way it has to keep talking to the mothership to remain working. But usually it works very well.
Where it really flies is used as a standalone unit because the built in analogue output is actually pretty decent and the results aren't unlike you'd get from a budget CD player. Should be fine for a secondary system and for £70 you can hardly complain.
 
I've used an AE/V-DAC combination now for a number of years and it's fine.

Robert, I think that may have something to do with one of the latest itunes updates - seem to remember reading something about it somewhere.
 
avole said:
I've used an AE/V-DAC combination now for a number of years and it's fine.

Robert, I think that may have something to do with one of the latest itunes updates - seem to remember reading something about it somewhere.
Click to expand...

Thanks - it always used to work perfectly into my CA840C and current DM but I know others had problems with the 840 and I've heard it click and distort when feeding our Behringer.

Always seems fine via analogue out.
 
AE / DM with an iPad as a remote on a 802.11g network steaming from a Mac Mini and a NAS. Only problems have been with interference when next door started using the same Wi-Fi channel...
 
Robert said:
and I've heard it click and distort when feeding our Behringer.

Always seems fine via analogue out.
Click to expand...

Which is also strange because it worked fine into that Behrigner DAC for ages and then developed an issue. However the DAC works fine over here on my AE, but my AE doesn't like your DacMagic!
 
Robert said:
I've tempered my enthusiasm slightly for the AE recently as I've seen it play up with one or two dacs which don't like the way it has to keep talking to the mothership to remain working.
Click to expand...
Have you turned off the network time sync?
 
Tenson said:
Which is also strange because it worked fine into that Behrigner DAC for ages and then developed an issue. However the DAC works fine over here on my AE, but my AE doesn't like your DacMagic!
Click to expand...

Perhaps AEs are just variable, or something drifts off with use.
I do know that the optical output isn't very bright and you really need to be using a short cable of decent quality.

As you know, I ended up just putting the computer directly into the system for good reliability.

mokes said:
Have you turned off the network time sync?
Click to expand...

Interesting. Details on this please?

cheers,
 
Robert said:
Interesting. Details on this please?
cheers,
Click to expand...
Not sure if it is still an issue with new firmware..... the AE gets its time from an Internet time server, and there were plenty of reports in the past that dropouts decreased after turning off the network time feature. I can't think of a reason to keep this feature on - I guess only if you need logs. In any case in my setup network time is off. Make sure to update your AE firmware - Apple is fixing bugs there on occasion.
 
I've used an AE wired into a DAC for a few years.

The AE It's linked to my Mac wirelessly and is fine for ALAC.

Jack
 
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