AirPort Express 2nd gen Airplay problems

Unfortunately, the Express does not have the capability to receive an 802.11ac signal, so we're looking at numbers that the Express cannot use.

Open AirPort Utility and click on the AirPort Express and a smaller window will appear

Look for "Connection". Does it say "Unknown"?

Is there any way that you could connect the Express to your main router using an Ethernet cable, so you don't have to use the ancient wireless technology in the Express? Wired connections always work faster and are more reliable than WiFi connections.

The next item to check would be to find out what version of firmware the Express is using. A number of users have reported that the latest version.....7.8.1......has a number of issues that were not present in the previous version.....7.6.9.....so if you have not already done so, try rolling back the firmware on the Express.

You can see the current version of firmware by opening AirPort Utility, clicking on the AirPort Express and looking for version in the smaller window that appears.

To roll back the firmware, hold down the option key on your Mac and click on the actual version number. A drop down menu will appear with previous versions of firmware that can be reinstalled.

Thanks for the additional details. The following document may be helpful, or, at least, a good reference to the Express base station's capabilities: Apple AirPort Express Audio Performance - Ken Rockwell

The key here is that you are depending on the base station's internal DAC for the audio digital-to-analog conversion to your mixer.

Three things that come to mind:

1. As Bob has mentioned, downgrading the Express to either 6.9 or 6.8, would be a good first step.
2. If that doesn't resolve the problem, we will need to take more Wi-Fi measurements to see potentially where a bottleneck may exist.
3. On the off chance that the base station is faulty, or at least, the station's built-in DAC is having issues, you may want to consider getting a dedicate DAC. I have used both a Rotel RDD-1580 & a AudioLab M-DAC with great results.

The 2nd Gen AirPort Express was discontinued by Apple over 2 years ago, so you either purchased a used device.....or.....if it was billed as new, it would have been sitting on a shelf somewhere for the past 2 years.

The first thing to check is the WiFi signal quality that is present at the location of the AirPort Express. To do that, you will need a Mac laptop.

Locate the Mac very close to the AirPort Express

Hold down the option key on your Mac while you click on the WiFi menu at the top of the screen

Jot down the information that you see for:

Channel

RSSI

Noise

Tx Rate

PHY Mode

MCS Index

Post back your results

jimmyl_8214 wrote:

The audio path is AirPort Express > mixer > power amplifier > speakers. It is joined over WiFi to my router, which is an AirPort Extreme 802.11ac.

The actual audio path will be: streaming device > AirPort Extreme > AirPort Express ... That is because the stream will go to the wireless network, provided by the Extreme, and then, be sent from the Extreme to the Express.

FWIW. By default, the Express is designed to include a 2s delay for AirPlay streaming. See if the following user tip article can help: AirPlay Troubleshooting - Dropped Streams… - Apple Community

Plugging an ethernet cable into it and the router just freezes up my network, no matter which ethernet jack I plug it into.

No wonder. If you just connected an Ethernet cable without doing anything else, you are setting up a feedback loop on your network that will effectively crash the network.

In other words, if you are going to use an Ethernet cable, then the Express has to be configured to use it.

Start over with a Hard Reset, connect the Ethernet cable from a LAN <--> port on your main router to the WAN "O" port of the Express and set it up to create a wireless network. If you don't need the WiFi service from the Express, you can turn it off using AirPort Utility.

For what it's worth, AirPlay works just fine on my Ethernet connected AirPort Express running firmware 7.6.9. But, I'm only using one Airport Express. With a wired connection, you don't have to worry about the weirdness of WiFi.

So far, you seem to be assuming that the used Express is working correctly. I'm not convinced that it is so far.

This is a common thing that appears when the AirPort Express (or another AirPort router) is not functioning correctly.

Try a Factory Default Reset on the Express. It is not that easy to do.

Power off the Express

Unplug the Ethernet cable connected to the Express

Wait a minute

Hold in the reset button first, and then keep holding it in for another 8-10 seconds while you simultaneously power up the Express

Release the reset button after the 10 second hold and give the Express a minute to restart

Restart your Mac

Connect the Ethernet cable to the WAN "O" port on the Express

Try the setup again. The setup utility will indicate that the Express will be set up to extend the network, then indicate that the Express will extend using Ethernet. This confirms that the setup utility has picked up the Ethernet connection and the correct settings will be applied to the Express

This is the same setting as create a wireless network, but Apple calls it extend using Ethernet when 2 AirPorts connect together using Ethernet.

Once the Express is set up, you can turn off the WiFi if you don't need the additional signal.

If you want to give it one more last gasp try, make sure that the IPv6 settings on your Mac are set to Link Local Only.

If you are not sure how to do this and want to try, post back.

... and that path, at least between the output of the Express to the speakers is most likely, not the culprit here.

What is the origin audio source type? Are you using the Express port for digital or analog output? Does the mixer have ADC/DAC functionality, and are you using that with it?

FWIW, the only things, at this point, I've found that can potentially help with the "delay," are:

1. Using Airfoil, or
2. Replacing the base station.

Sorry, I don't think that I can help any further with this, since I cannot duplicate the error that you are seeing. Frankly, I think you have a defective Express.