black banshee

Q: Airplay audio cuts out intermittently

Hello, I'm having an issue with Airplay I can't seem to fix. When I play anything via airplay with my Ipad, Ipod touch, or Iphone, it will play OK for a minute or two but then the audio cuts out for 5-10 seconds. The audio comes back, but then it will cut out again repeatedly every few minutes. I am playing through my Airport express. I have two airport express units, and they both have the same issue no matter the source (Ipad, Ipod, or Iphone). I'm also using an Airport Extreme as my router. Since it's all Apple hardware you'd think it would just "work", but not in this case apparently.

I've searched for answers, here's what I've tried so far without success:

1) Disabled bluetooth on the source devices
2) Updated firmware on all devices
3) I've restarted/rebooted all devices numerous times
3) It's not a range issue, because I've placed the Ipod touch within inches of the Airport express. Same problem.

At a loss, any ideas folks? thanks.

Ipad, Ipod, Iphone, Windows XP Pro, playing audio through to my airport express units

Posted on Jan 1, 2011 7:19 AM

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Q: Airplay audio cuts out intermittently

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  • by joebob1,

    joebob1 joebob1 Oct 11, 2011 7:43 PM in response to black banshee
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    Oct 11, 2011 7:43 PM in response to black banshee

    The problem is primarily with Spotlight on the phone.

     

    I had the same problem -- airplay cutting out frequently from iphone but not imac.  I reasoned this must be a problem with the phone rather than the network.  What, I asked, does the phone do intermittently that might interrupt its processing/sending of the music to the network at regular intervals?  Only one thing:  Spotlight Indexing.

     

    To remedy:  Turn off Spotlight Indexing on your phone,  Go to Settings/General/Spotlight Search, and uncheck every item.

     

    Problem totally solved for me, at least.

     

    If it persists, turn off pushing for some applications that your phone is regularly engaging with.

  • by sfbayrealtor,

    sfbayrealtor sfbayrealtor Nov 3, 2011 4:11 PM in response to joebob1
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    Nov 3, 2011 4:11 PM in response to joebob1

    I tried all the tips here, including turning off spotlight...I still get the audio cutting out every 5-10 minutes for about 5 seconds.

     

    Same problem whether I'm streaming AirPlay content from my MacBook, iPad 2 or iPhone 4s. I've got an apple time capsule working as the wifi router to my apple tv 2. Total apple ecosystem. Disappointed they're not playing flawlessly with each other.

     

    C'mon apple: what is the silver bullet to put this issue to rest??

  • by Jatin186,

    Jatin186 Jatin186 Nov 15, 2011 1:08 PM in response to sfbayrealtor
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    Nov 15, 2011 1:08 PM in response to sfbayrealtor

    Hi sfbayrealtor , have you managed to solve your problem? i'm having the same problems with my new iphone 4s, it tends to cut out after 5 seconds of putting it via my airport. It also seems to disturb my internet connection afterwards!. My airport via mac has always been fine, and was perfectly fine with my old 3GS!

  • by kieranfromworthing,

    kieranfromworthing kieranfromworthing Nov 16, 2011 6:05 AM in response to Jatin186
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    Nov 16, 2011 6:05 AM in response to Jatin186

    There appear to be issues specifically with the iPhone 4S and AirPlay. I am certainly having problems but only with the 4S and not with any other of me Apple devices. Check out the below discussion thread:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3413370?start=105&tstart=0

  • by sfbayrealtor,

    sfbayrealtor sfbayrealtor Nov 16, 2011 8:24 AM in response to Jatin186
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    Nov 16, 2011 8:24 AM in response to Jatin186

    Hi Jatin186,

    Actually, I did solve my problem. But technically, my solution doesn't have anything to do with the iphone; it had to do with my appleTV2. (I have a jailbroken ATV2, and the screensaver app was behaving badly, so I assasinated it .

     

    It's nice to have free flowing uninterrupted airplay content.

     

    Good luck with your troubleshooting efforts!

  • by craspeh,

    craspeh craspeh Nov 18, 2011 11:52 AM in response to black banshee
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    Nov 18, 2011 11:52 AM in response to black banshee

    Hi,

     

    I have an appletv2 and a macbookpro and my better half has a laptop with win7 on it. My mbp uses wireless N and the laptop uses wireless G.

     

    Since i hate itunes so much i got rid of it on my macbookpro, instead i use vlc/spotify combined with airfoil. Airfoil is basically a product that allows you to stream any kind of audio produced by your device to an airplay enabled device.

     

    With my mbp i never had any stuttering issues using airfoil, the laptop however had lots of problems (it WAS using itunes for windows). I solved this by installing airfoil on the windows machine as well and just let itunes play through airfoil. Apparently airfoil has a better buffering system so it can stream over airplay without ever stuttering.

     

    There seem to be no buffering options in itunes for streaming over airplay. My advice: use airfoil (google it). There is a trial version which allows you to stream for 10 minutes and after that it broadcasts some white noise over your audio, but it should suffice to test before buying it.

  • by Jatin186,

    Jatin186 Jatin186 Nov 19, 2011 9:40 AM in response to kieranfromworthing
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    Nov 19, 2011 9:40 AM in response to kieranfromworthing

    Thanks for letting me know. i went to the Genius Bar today to enquire about the issue, the advisor was fully aware of the matter and was convinced that the issue would be rectified after a hard restore. After doing this i thought it worked, but after 30sec of airplay connections started to fail once again. May have to bug them once again...

  • by SFGaffer,

    SFGaffer SFGaffer Nov 19, 2011 12:03 PM in response to black banshee
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    Nov 19, 2011 12:03 PM in response to black banshee

    Airport Express was cutting out and then back on every 3-4 secs.  Turned off Home Sharing in iTunes and then turned Home Sharing back on and the problem was solved.

  • by CaHawkfan,

    CaHawkfan CaHawkfan Dec 3, 2011 4:57 PM in response to billypie
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    Dec 3, 2011 4:57 PM in response to billypie

    I had been immensely frustrated with this issue until I tried your non-intuitive yet totally effective solution.  My music streams flawlessly to my ATV2 as long as I am using the remote app on my iPhone.  If I simply press play with my Macbook in iTunes, the same song that I was just listening to without a problem immediately begins cutting in and out!  Why in the world would it matter that I am hitting "play" with my phone and not my computer?  The music is all stored in the computer HD!  Bizzare stuff.  BTW, this only started happening within the last month.  I had no problems at all streaming music until all the recent Apple updates. 

  • by fortuit,

    fortuit fortuit Dec 31, 2011 12:26 PM in response to taylorvh
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    Dec 31, 2011 12:26 PM in response to taylorvh

    I have been having the exact same problem for months, resetting my Apple TV 2 would fix it for a short time but the would soon start cutting in and out.

     

    I finally saw the reply above regarding the screen saver.  I have turned my screen saver to "Not Show during Music" as well as to Start After "Never".   This seems to have fixed the problem for me.  Who would have guessed that the screen saver would play a role in the streaming quality.  Obviously a bug that Apple may need to look into.

     

    Hopefully this fix works for the rest of you

  • by danielfromwashtington,

    danielfromwashtington danielfromwashtington Jan 5, 2012 11:22 AM in response to fortuit
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 5, 2012 11:22 AM in response to fortuit

    When running the 'shared' system from my PC and selecting only my computer's hardwired speakers, I  still experience drops.  Yet I can drive one speaker at a time from my iPhone and/or iPad using Air Play (with my 'shared' sytesm turned off, so I'm suggesting it's not a wireless, iPhone or iPad problem, and instead a problem with the 'shared' software.

     

    Just for clarity, I've also used the remote software, turned off blue tooth, and disabled the screen saver, with no improvement.

     

    I hope that helps someone more technically inclined than me to identify the problem and find a solution.

  • by charlesfrompittsburgh,

    charlesfrompittsburgh charlesfrompittsburgh Jan 14, 2012 11:33 AM in response to black banshee
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    Jan 14, 2012 11:33 AM in response to black banshee

    What Ed Adams 2 said on the second post worked for me. 

     

    The issue was resolved by connecting the Express to teh Extreme router using an ethernet cable instead of wireless.  I have been having this skipping issue with my PC and tried a lot of solutions on this page and the hardwire connection is the only solution i found to work.

     

    The probelm is data rate related.  When I connected my PC to the Extreme via ethernet and had the express connected to the Extreme the skipping got better (less).  If I used an ethernet on both the PC and Express connections to the Extreme, skipping did not occur.  If i use wireless to the Extreme and ethernet to the Express skipping did not occur.  Problem mainly in the Extreme / Express wireless connection - too slow.

     

    To connect the Extreme to Express using ethernet:

    1. Open Airport Utility

    2. On Extreme check "allow this network to be extended"

    3. On Express turn off wireless

    4. Update

     

    So glad this problem is resolved.

  • by danielfromwashtington,

    danielfromwashtington danielfromwashtington Jan 18, 2012 9:00 AM in response to charlesfrompittsburgh
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    Jan 18, 2012 9:00 AM in response to charlesfrompittsburgh

    Ed, I'm happy your problem is resolved, however mine is not.  I don't even know what Extream or Express from Apple are.  However I do know that:

    1) running 'home share' from my PC, and driving only my PC speakers, the music pauses, arghh.

    2) running airplay from my ipad to any any singular airplay enabled speaker in my home works just fine, (no pauses).

     

    By the way, the only router involved is the one comcast provided wich seems to work just fine with iPad/airplay, but not PC/home share.

     

    Still looking for solutions because I've stopped using home share which is the main reason I set the sytsem up.

     

    Dan

  • by Drew Harris,

    Drew Harris Drew Harris Jan 20, 2012 7:33 AM in response to black banshee
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2012 7:33 AM in response to black banshee

    Hi all,

     

    My intermittent cutting out problem was solved when I configured my system so there was only wifi connection to the Airport Express. The problem seemed to occur when both the MacBook and iPhone were connected to the home network through the AE, which was linked to my sound system. I suspect the poor little AE could handle the in & out load. By the way, I have two AEs and one TC all linked by ethernet to an Asus RT-N13U running DD-wrt that sits behind an ActionTec router on my Fios network. They all share the same network name. I may have to figure out a way to limit the number of wireless connections to this router ensure it doesn't get overloaded in the future.

     

     

     

     

  • by danielfromwashtington,

    danielfromwashtington danielfromwashtington Jan 20, 2012 8:08 AM in response to Drew Harris
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2012 8:08 AM in response to Drew Harris

    Drew - I don't run AE and still have the problem.  The only wireless actioin happening in my home is between the router Comcast provided, and my PC running Home Share, and still the problems.  So far my only remedy has been to plug my PC directly into the router via eithernet cable.  By the way, when running Air Play directly between my iPhone/iPad (without Home Share) and  an Air Play speaker, I have no problems.  I'm thinking Apple needs to address this because we shouldn't  have to band-aid solutions.

     

    Dan

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