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Level 1

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Airtunes stops after end of song.

I use an Airport Express (model with 802.11n) only to stream music to my stereo. The wireless is disabled and my laptop is connected to the LAN directly (read: not using wireless anywhere). I can connect to the AE using the Airport Utility without fail, the AE's LED is always green, and iTunes on my MBP is set to Shuffle (read: music does not stop...ever). The AE is running the latest firmware (7.4.1), the MBP is running Leopard w/ iTunes 8.

The problem is after a random number of songs (from 3 to 10, rarely beyond), Airtunes stops playing music. Note, this only happens at the END of a song, and never during a song in progress. The visualizer in iTunes continues throbbing, so I know music is still streaming from iTunes. In fact, the network switch between my laptop and the AE continuously blinks, as if traffic is still being sent to the AE. However, there is no sound out of the AE (using it's analog out). I have to pause or stop the current track, then hit play, for Airtunes to work again.

This began happening since upgrading to the latest firmware (7.4.1). I've reset the airport multiple times, reset its configuration, and still get the same results. When Airtunes drops out, I've checked the AU and found the Airport still active. I've checked the log, and it's empty aside from the connection established messages and the ntp clock sync messages, both of which happen outside the time of the airtunes drop out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro 2.0, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Mar 21, 2009 4:49 PM

81 replies

May 7, 2010 9:50 AM in response to Inkjetmac

Thanks, I'm trying a fully wired connection now and we'll see what happens. What's confusing, though, is why the drops always happen between tracks; a lot of people are having this sort of problem. It could well be that the wireless link between my Macbook and D-Link router needs to be strengthened (maybe by moving the router), but there must be something about how iTunes buffers the next track that causes a drop exactly at that point.

Inkjetmac

Level 1

125 points

May 7, 2010 12:39 PM in response to ajfisher1970

I'm not sure, I've never experienced such a problem myself. We run the Ax's all the time while we're at home. Sometimes we forget to switch the music off. It might run all weekend without dropouts, to two or four Ax's simultaneously.

May 7, 2010 12:45 PM in response to Inkjetmac

Wish I could say the same, but lots of people have been having problems like this. In any case, I think you're absolutely right about the wireless connection between the Macbook and the router being the culprit. I've been wired up all day and the AX has been playing without a hitch. Looks like I need to relocate the router and experiment with different channels. I still think there's something about iTunes' buffering that chokes when there is some kind of interruption in the wireless network.

Thanks for offering these ideas.

May 8, 2010 8:38 PM in response to Inkjetmac

Just a quick follow up... What I've tried is to set the AX to create a network, and place the AX out of the way of any wires or other electronic equipment. Then using iStumbler I chose a fixed channel for the AX that is not used by any other routers in my neighbourhood. Since then AirTunes has been nearly flawless, with no drops. For me, at least, the problem with AirTunes drops seems mainly to have to do with the strength and continuity of the wireless connection between my Macbook and the router.

Thanks again for the advice!

May 11, 2010 6:54 AM in response to fdawg4l

So what I have noticed is that this only happens when I'm playing albums in mp3 format and especially the ones my brother ripped using media player. Itunes plays the song, more or less stops 5 secs before end of song, then continues and goes to next song and sound is lost. When I create aac versions of these albums, the problem is over. Equally, the Foobar2000 player has an option for mp3 files: "Rebuild MP3 stream". When I use this function on the Itunes mp3 files, the problem is solved after the rebuild. To me this means something is wrong with the mp3???

henningp

Level 1

0 points

May 12, 2010 12:58 AM in response to fdawg4l

I had the same problem (Airport Express no longer playing after track changes about every other time), and it seems to have gone away when I disabled the fancy wireless modes on all my wireless equipment, like 802.11g++ and 802.11n (draft). I haven't experienced a drop since.

Maybe this helps somebody.

Airtunes stops after end of song.