jrdub
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Noise during Airplay music playback

The noise I hear during iTunes 10.1 playback through AppleTV (2nd Gen) resembles static or old LP "pops" and it ranges from very occasional to almost constant. I've confirmed it happens on music from 256AAC selections purchased on the iTunes store or Apple Lossless or AIFF (lossless) cuts ripped from CDs but there may be other formats affected as well.

The Apple TV is hooked up via HDMI to a Pioneer VSX-1020-K receiver. My computers (happens on both) are either a Macbook Pro 2.33Ghz (circa 2007) running Snow Leopard or a Mac Pro early 2008 running Snow Leopard. I can either connect via ethernet or WiFi and the problem still exists. I can run the library and music files from an internal drive or an external drive and the problem still exists. I have an Apple Airport Extreme (2008) Wireless N router running the latest firmware (7.4.2). I have power cycled the router many times.

Any ideas?

Macbook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.33ghz 17", Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Nov 17, 2010 2:58 PM

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jrdub

Q: Noise during Airplay music playback

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  • by tparry,

    tparry tparry Oct 27, 2014 2:58 AM in response to jrdub
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Oct 27, 2014 2:58 AM in response to jrdub

    Guys, i've been dealing with this issue for several years.

    I'm currently using an iPad Air, and I AirPlay mirror the device to my PC using AirPlay receiver software called Reflector.

    My PC is on wifi, connected at 200Mbit.

    My iPad is also wifi (of course).

    My router is dual-band.

     

    I have drastically reduced the audio pops by changing the 2.4G and 5G channels on the router.

    I live in a high-rise apartment, so I do have a LOT of neighbours that use both the 2.4G and 5G bands, I currently can detect 15 other wifi signals.

    I used software which could determine the best channel for my router to use, and I don't get many audio pops anymore, but it hasn't completely gone.

    If I switch to other channels, I could end up with audio/video lag/dropouts.

     

    So some advise - experiment with different channels on the router, if possible run some software to find the least noisiest channel.

     

    Maybe some of you solved your problem by accident, just because your neighbour changed channels on their router, and are no longer interfering with your wifi network!

     

    PS - I notice that I get a LOT more pops during certain times of the day (mostly after 6pm), this is because some people leave their routers off during the day, and theirs doesn't auto-detect the best channel to operate on. So when you're having issues, re-scan your channels and find a better channel.

  • by tparry,

    tparry tparry Oct 29, 2014 9:45 PM in response to jrdub
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Oct 29, 2014 9:45 PM in response to jrdub

    I've been using Channel 2 on my router for quite some time, and rarely get any audio pops. The video doesn't lag at all!

     

    As you can see, there's so many other neighbours using the 2.4G network in my location.

    wifi techsupport singnet com 2.4G (2345).png

     

    Then last night, I tried to use AirPlay Mirroring. It was so bad, the video wasn't even moving, let alone get clear audio!

    When I re-scanned the networks in my area, I found that someone turned on a device called "Starhome72", which is using the same 2.4G channel as I was.

    So I reconfigured my router to use Channel 5, and it was perfect again! No more video lag, and no audio pops

    wifi techsupport singnet com 2.4G (ch2 bad, switched to ch5 - good).png

  • by syntheticzero,

    syntheticzero syntheticzero May 5, 2015 8:32 AM in response to jrdub
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 5, 2015 8:32 AM in response to jrdub

    Hey, I thought I'd post my experience here. I was using AirPlay with an Airport Express (roughly 2013 model) and a Micromega MyDAC (a great, low-cost DAC, by the way), with both my iPhone and my Macbook Pro with Airfoil and got constant pops, no matter what I did with network settings, 5G or not, whatever.

     

    So, finally, I just purchased a new AppleTV (MD199LL/A) and it works perfectly. No pops, no cracking sounds, it just works. Can use it to pump data into my DAC with the TV turned off.

  • by Baoshansheng,

    Baoshansheng Baoshansheng May 27, 2015 9:41 PM in response to syntheticzero
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 27, 2015 9:41 PM in response to syntheticzero

    But ATV upsamples redbook to 48KHz, which is not suitable in a HiFi setup.

     

    5 years elapsed, still there the static noise. I use:

     

    1. Arcam airDac, or
    2. Yamaha CD N301

     

    feed a DCS Debussy. The noise is easy heard when playing a 315Hz sine wave.

     

    So poor AirPlay experience.

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