Airport Express 2nd Gen - "No Lock" to DAC

[alex santos]

Hi

 

I just unboxed an Airport Express (small one that looks like AppleTV) about 2 hours ago. My AudioLab 8200CD reports "No Lock" intermittently about once a second. My previous express (previous model) never had this problem but it died.

 

I tried firmware 7.6.3 and 7.6.4 and performance remains the same.

 

I have tried streaming from iTunes on a MacBook Air 13, an iMac 27 and a Mac Mini; they all exhibit the same issue. The Macbook Air and Airport Express are in line of site to each other and within 6 meters of each other.

 

Is there any solution?

 

***PS, My Apple TV 2 works absolutely fine - I just swap it out for the airport express but I wanted to use the express for 44.1KHz.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Audio_ELF]

The AE has large levels of jitter causing problems with a lot of DACs.

 

Use the Apple TV and don't worry about the sample rate conversion.

 

Eloise

Hi

 

I just unboxed an Airport Express (small one that looks like AppleTV) about 2 hours ago. My AudioLab 8200CD reports "No Lock" intermittently about once a second. My previous express (previous model) never had this problem but it died.

 

I tried firmware 7.6.3 and 7.6.4 and performance remains the same.

 

I have tried streaming from iTunes on a MacBook Air 13, an iMac 27 and a Mac Mini; they all exhibit the same issue. The Macbook Air and Airport Express are in line of site to each other and within 6 meters of each other.

 

Is there any solution?

 

***PS, My Apple TV 2 works absolutely fine - I just swap it out for the airport express but I wanted to use the express for 44.1KHz.

 

Thanks in advance.

[alex santos]

Thanks Eloise

 

I will get a refund for the express.

 

Is there an alternative to the AppleTV?

[Audio_ELF]

Thanks Eloise

 

I will get a refund for the express.

 

Is there an alternative to the AppleTV?

Some streamers such as Marantz NA7004 and Denon DNP-720AE offer AirPlay. Arcam have a new AirDAC promised soon.

 

Eloise

 

PS. If you're feeling geeky and experimental, it's also possible to set something like a Raspberry Pi or Beagle Bone up as an airplay receiver.

[Cebolla]

Some streamers such as Marantz NA7004 and Denon DNP-720AE offer AirPlay. Arcam have a new AirDAC promised soon.

Similar 'mid-fi' AirPlay supporting streamers, the Pioneer N-30 & N-50 also worth looking at. The NA7004 may be hard to find as it's now discontinued in most parts.

 

Also, if you intend taking advantage of their UPnP/DLNA streaming capabilities, the Denon DNP-720AE doesn't support gapless playback when using its own Denon control app nor with any third party app (ok with its remote control). It's possible the NA7004 may suffer from the same problem, as the Marantz & Denon apps are virtually identical. The Pioneer streamers do support gapless playback with the Pioneer ControlApp and remote control.