Digital Audio over Ethernet

[jcfergus]

My digitial audio server (iMac) resides in one of the bedrooms (office) in my house and of course, the audio system is elsewhere (living room). I having been trying to graduate from using Airport Express for this connection to benefit (or at least determine if there is a benefit) from higher def music files.

 

My first attempt has been with an AudioEngine D2 wireless system to connect with BitPerfect on the source end. Although I've followed their guidelines on placement of the transmitter (away from other 802.11 wireless devices, setting the 802.11 network to channel 1 or 11, etc.), I still get sporadic cut-outs. Sometimes it makes the music unlistenable and other times I may get a single cut-out during hours of listening. There is also some weird noise that I can't really quite hear, but seems to come and go, that is never present when playing material directly on the audio system, such as from a CD or LP. This may simply be a lower impact result of a bad connection that doesn't occur as a cut-out.

 

While the folks at AudioEngine have attempted to help, I'm not confident that wireless is the way to go. I found another product made by Vanco that converts digital audio (coax or TOSLINK) to something that is are transmitted over ethernet and then converts back to usable digital audio at the other end. It's very inexpensive (~$100), but I'm thinking I may end up with a different set of problems than I've already got, but more subtle and difficult to resolve.

 

Does anyone have experience with such a device? On paper, it seems like a really good idea as it supports up to 96kHz bit rate. I'm just a little suspicious that something this inexpensive has some downside I haven't thought of.

 

Thanks

Jim

 

If you want to see my audio system, it's posted here.

[Isaacc7]

Can your system accept Ethernet? I use powerline adaptors to give me a wired connection across the apartment. Works well and no drop outs. It's also cheap:)

[jcfergus]

I should clarify. The Vanco system uses Cat5/Cat6 cabling but it doesn't appear to be Ethernet in the conventional sense as a network protocol. It is a simple, point-to-point, apparently, proprietary connection using network cabling. It is limited to 330'/100m.

 

Jim

[pachieh]

Few questions on your WIFI setup... Are you using 802.11g, n, or ac? 2.4GHz or 5GHz?

 

Try this for scanning if you haven't... Do a Spotlight search for 'Wireless Diagnostics.' Once it opens, go to 'Window' menu and select 'Utilities.' Now click the 'Wi-Fi Scan' tab and do a search. It'll tell you what's out there in better details and give suggestions for the best channel to use. Once you figure that out, force your wireless router onto one of those channels.

 

I'd recommend using a 5GHz channel if you can, while there is less range, that part of the frequency spectrum is much less cluttered than the 2.4GHz spectrum.

 

If that doesn't fix it, try doing a traceroute using the Network Utility to your router (guessing your router gateway IP is 192.168.1.1 since most people don't change the default). If you are showing packet loss, than you need to change spectrum channels.

 

If all else fails, run some ethernet (CAT5e/6). It's simple and doesn't rely on convertors (that could fail). If you EXISTING system accepts ethernet, use it.

[jcfergus]

I'm using a 5th gen Airport Extreme. I've configured the radio mode for 802.11a/n - 802.11b/g for manual channel selection, using channel 11 for the 2.4GHz band and channel 161 for the 5GHz. I also have an 2nd gen Airport Express at the other end of the house set up to extend the wireless network. It's connected via Ethernet to the Airport Extreme and serves 2.4GHz on channel 1 and 5GHz on channel 36. I've set most of the various devices in the house to prefer the 5GHz band.

 

While I have Ethernet in the living room, I'm not aware of any means to get the output from iTunes onto Ethernet and back out. That was the reason for using the AudioEngine D2. It transmits the audio signal over it's own proprietary, closed wireless network and converts it back to digital or analog audio.

 

The 802.11 wireless network in my home is only a problem in that it operates in the same band as the D2 and though the manufacturer claims that it has the ability to find a clear band to operate on, this apparently doesn't always work. It may be, as I was told by one of Apple's wireless engineers a few years ago, "a best-effort connection", with no expectation that it will work 100% of the time as a cable connection does.

[Biku Toru]

...I also have an 2nd gen Airport Express..I'm not aware of any means to get the output from iTunes onto Ethernet and back out..

 

I'm not sure what seem to be the problem, but I just use Airport Express(1st get), enable AirPlay in it:

Connect its optical out to DAC,

then in iTunes select it:

and press play.

It will do it over Ethernet without any problems. Has been doing it, since 2004, can't believe my music was flowing to them(yes I have multiple) for over 10 years!

It is fun to read about all the other different solution and devices, I even tried a few, but AirportExpress has been my favorite. AppleRemote app on iPhone/iPad - imho, I find it to be excellent.

[jcfergus]

An Airport Express works fine, but is constrained to 16bit/44.1kHz. I've been trying to get a high quality, high definition connection between the iMac and the living room. The AudioEngine D2 supports 24bit/96kHz audio files. I can take the TOSLink output and feed a DAC or use the internal DAC (there are both analog and digital outputs).

 

By using BitPerfect with Apple Lossless high def files in iTunes and the D2, I can (when it works), get high definition audio without having the computer adjacent to the hifi system. This improves the WAF (wife acceptance factor) and is very convenient. I can control the program material from my phone or tablet anywhere in the house.

 

I'm likely to just buy the Vanco system and try it since there doesn't seem to be anyone with a similar setup. I'm actually a little surprised there isn't more interest in this kind of a setup. It keeps the living room system really clean and very little different than a conventional 2-channel setup.

[jabbr]

Go wild: get a cubox and run volumio on it (like an airport express but outputs USB/SPDIF does both Ethernet and wireless).

[jcfergus]

Go wild: get a cubox and run volumio on it (like an airport express but outputs USB/SPDIF does both Ethernet and wireless).

 

Most interesting!

 

Thanks for the tip.

[Biku Toru]

Go wild: get a cubox and run volumio on it (like an airport express but outputs USB/SPDIF does both Ethernet and wireless).

 

I tried volumio too, but it is not very user friendly. I also found it to be quite a sluggish.

May be Bluesound Node is next thing to try.

[jriver]

Can your system accept Ethernet? I use powerline adaptors to give me a wired connection across the apartment. Works well and no drop outs. It's also cheap:)

+1 Ethernet over Powerline works very well.