Airplay audio cuts out intermittently

After folling this thread, I seem to have worked out my issues by Disabling WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) and switching my security to WPA2. Thanks!

I have the same intermittent airplay disconnections mentioned in this thread. I also have Airfoil, which was the pre-Airplay solution to stream from a MacBook to AppleTV. I have way fewer problems while using Airfoil, but this also is not perfect. My set up is an Extreme (the new tower, 802.11ac) upstairs extended via a late model Express downstairs where both the MacBook Pro (streaming source) and AppleTV (input device to stereo speakers) are located.

This seems to have been a problem since I installed the new Extreme, so I'm thinking it has to do with the new router's multi-frequency switching capability as nicolasbol describes above. Can you tell me how to direct my MacBook to use 2.4Ghz instead of 5Ghz?

My problem was a few services installed on my PC by SafeNet. SafeNet Sentinel provides "Software Protection Solutions" for our CAD software (Antipiracy/Licensing).

I did an "End Task" on all three Sentinel services and it resolved the stuttering problem I was experiencing playing streaming internet radio from my Windows 8.1 PC to my Yamaha receiver over AirPlay. Of the three Sentinel services I suspect the "Sentinel Protection Server" to be the culprit.

I shouldn't have assumed it was iTunes or one of the devices on my nework (I don't use wireless). I should've started by killing processes using Task Manager.

Hope this helps.

I can see this happening (and your solution working is even better) with a PC based system. But, you'd think running Airplay to an AppleTV on an Apple wifi, sourced from a MacBook, I would not have to filter for background processes. I've tried running the signal strength routine on my AppleTV and it fails saying it can't connect to Apple server. This is strange, since it is constantly updating content via the same server and I can log out and log back in again. I'm starting to suspect this is a weak signal or possibly defective AppleTV. Thanks for your input!

Like many of you, I have had huge problems enjoying uninterrupted playback of music using Airplay, occasionally applying solutions that unfortunately only had short-term success.

Over time, I have noticed that Airplay playback was diectely affected by say,looking at embedded photos on forums and/or embedded YouTube videos on forums or Facebook, whether they were viewed or not. Sometimes, stuttering would start even when not engaged in these activities which I eventually learned was owing to automatic downloading and installation of apps on both iOS devices and various Macs around the house.

Even connecting my iPads and iPhones to my guest network instead did not alleviate these problems.

Yesterday, I installed a new router supplied by my ISP and connected my main Airport Express to it. Immediately this caused problems (which surprised me) and the APX refused to connect. Among the problems were DHCP clashes. I resolved these and tried again, but while it connected to the net, a new problem of Double NAT was exposed. The remedy seemed to be to put the APX in bridge mode. I did this and, while it may be early days, the stuttering Airplay playback appears to be gone.

Not once has it manifested itself since whereas prior to that it had rendered playback almost unlistenable. I have deliberately engaged in some of the activities I mention above to see if this would trigger problems, but even during extended listening sessions, this problem would finally appear to be gone.

As I mentioned - I have power cycled my denon then an update of firmware was available. I have not had the problem since. I'm on both 2.5ghz and 5ghz.

Just want to throw it out there again.

I also powered cycled (unplugged) my Denon receiver to clear up airplay cutting in and out.

Wow this is an old thread. I came here looking for a solution and found it here. I can airplay from my hard wired PC from itunes to our Denon reciever all day with no drops, but as soon as we try to airplay music from my iphone 5 or her 4GS over WiFi we experience complete dropouts. Music doesn't restart until you click on the airplay button on the device and restart the music. If you could get it to play for a couple minutes it would drop out when you browsed the web from any device or PC in the house.

What worked for us is what rmendes5 suggested,,, Disabling "Enable WMM (Wi-Fi multi-media) Settings" in your router. No dropouts since making this change!!

Our router is a Netgear R6250

I have the same problem using Airplay from my iPhone6. I first thought it was my old Apple TV and to confirm that I switched cables, HDMI TV input, etc. Finally, I remembered I had an old unused iphone 4 lying around (with whatever OS was around a while back). It works. Given that others have problems with not just the iphone6 so I imagine it's an apple iOS problem

I had this problem yesterday for the first time since first using AirPlay some 4 years ago. Specifically iPad Mini 3 --- Apple Extreme 802.11n Base Station (8 year's old) and a Marantz hi-fi with built-in AirPlay.

Almost every minute or two I would experience cut-outs (accompanied by a little 'crackling').

After reading one or two threads like this one I went into the AirPort Utility on my Mac Mini and checked the settings. I changed channel from '1' to 'automatic' and that was it.

Job done. I continued to listen - via AirPlay and the iPac Mini and hi-fi - for the next 2 hours with no glitches at all.

Oddly the channel it chose to use - after selecting automatic mode - was also channel 1 but i'm not bothered as the problem has gone.

I use AirPlay almost every day, often for hours at a time. I have up-to-date software/firmware on iPad Mini 3, Mac Mini and AirPort Extreme 802.11n

I was having this problem where I would connect my iPhone 5s to airplay and play mp3s. Sometimes, it would cut out for 3-10 seconds every minute or so. I tried just about everything suggested in the threads I found.

Ultimately, I figured out that it was because I connected to the 2.6GHz network. Apparently, that frequency is often cluttered with interference from cordless phones. So, I opened Airport Utility, turned on the 5GHz network with Automatic Channel selection, and used that. Presto! I got perfect, glitchless streaming audio over Airplay for several hours. Testing continues and I will update if it does fail. But good so far.

I verified this on an iPhone 5s, iPad 2, iPad 3 Mini, and a Macbook Pro. Older devices may not support 5GHz, milage may vary. See your owners manual, etc...

this worked for me too, thankfully!! when I check the stats for spotify now "alt" click on window and hit stats.. I get only max .1% attempted recovery v. 1.5% or higher before... awesome!

Hello All.

Apple has been trying to fix this problem for months. All recent updates to Mac OS and iOS have noted that "fixes a problem where music playback stops during AirPlay usage', or something to that effect.

It appears as if they have been unable to identify/isolate/repair the issue.

So much so, that Apple has requested that any Mac OS and/or iOS users help them figure it out.

What makes it difficult for Apple to fix it on their own, they claim, is that with the many thousands of different hardware configurations out there, it would be impossible for them to find a cure-all fix.

-mreo

on my mac pro - in addition to disabling ipv6 - I had to go to energy settings and prevent sleep. For some reason - even with spotify active - the machine was going in and out of sleep mode.. set it always on and no more problems

Man, I have absolutely had it with AirPlay!!!! I'd like to preface this rant with the fact that I'm a competent Systems Administrator with over 10 years of professional experience and 23 years of general computing experience. I've spent the last 6 hours (excluding the hour it took to draft this forum post) troubleshooting stuttering playback via iTunes and Airfoil between my main PC and my Yamaha RX-V473 receiver (I just got the receiver a couple weeks ago via my father, so AirPlay is still very new to me). My entire network is Gigabit when possible (the Yamaha receiver has a 10/100 Mbit NIC unfortunately). I have 2 Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit PCs, one in my living room (HTPC) and my bedroom (the fastest/most modern machine in my home, used for gaming, etc.). Everything is hard-wired via CAT5e Ethernet cables, including my ASUS RT-AC66U router which runs the latest version of Asuswrt-Merlin firmware. The other device I have on my network is a Cisco SG200-08 managed switch so I can take advantage of Link Aggregation on my Synology NAS. Here's where things get *INCREDIBLY* angering and annoying: My quad-core Q6600 HTPC which is quite a few years old *FLAWLESSLY* plays music over AirPlay via both iTunes and Airfoil. My main PC (which is a quad-core 4770K with HyperThreading) is having nothing but problems. I've also made certain to use the exact same test song on both machines (Marilyn Manson - Killing Strangers), I believe I've heard the first minute and 20 seconds at least 80 times today, to the point where I may vomit if I hear it again (which is unfortunate since I like the song). The aforementioned song *ALWAYS* starts skipping at the one minute 8 second mark on my main PC. Please note that I rebooted my PC every step of the way when appropriate, i.e. after uninstalling software I'd reboot, reinstall the software, and reboot again). I also rebooted my networking equipment after making changes to the router. Here are some of the troubleshooting steps I've tried (much of which is based on a bunch of Google research, and my own knowledge):

*Verified that both machines have ample free space on C:\.

*Verified that all equipment is on the same subnet (it is).

*Changed the Yamaha receiver from a DHCP IP to a static IP.

*Confirmed that QoS is disabled on my ASUS router.

*Completely removed the ASUS router and Cisco managed switch from the equation by temporarily connecting everything directly to an isolated 8-port Netgear GS108 switch.

*Moved the music I'm testing with off of my NAS and onto the primary SSD hard drive of each PC.

*Swapped the Ethernet cable running from the receiver to the switch.

*Swapped the Ethernet cable that runs from my main PC to the switch (I swapped my 25+ ft. cable with another 25+ ft. cable).

*IPv6 is already disabled on both machines, and has been for many months.

*COMPLETELY uninstalled *ALL* Apple software from my main PC (including scouring all of the various hidden system folders and cleaning the registry) - I got rid of every folder that contained the words "Apple," "Apple Computer," and "iTunes". I then reinstalled *JUST* Bonjour (I captured the Bonjour.msi file by opening iTunes64Setup.exe in WinRAR and manually extracted the Bonjour installer) and Airfoil and the problem still exists.

*I then reinstalled iTunes, QuickTime, iCloud, etc. and of course the problem still exists.

*Performed all of the various tweaks to my router's wireless settings, only to realize that the wireless functionality of my router is never entering the equation for my particular setup/issue.

*Updated both my NIC and Chipset drivers to versions directly from Intel (as opposed to the ones on my motherboard manufacturer's website).

*Unplugged the power cable on my receiver for 30 seconds and plugged it back in.

*Verified that my receiver is running the latest firmware (v1.16) - it already was.

*Disabled anti-virus and my Windows firewall (this shouldn't be necessary because the HTPC has the exact same software installed/enabled with no issues, but I was getting desperate).

*I'm pondering installing the RealTek audio driver/software from the RealTek website, but I suspect I'll lose some functionality if I migrate away from my motherboard manufacturer's installation.

*I'm also pondering doing a factory reset on the Yamaha receiver, but am not entirely certain of the ramifications of doing this (i.e. which settings will be lost).

I'd be the happiest person in the world if this problem was reversed (i.e. my HTPC had the stuttering and my bedroom PC was fine), because the HTPC is already directly connected to the receiver via optical audio, I don't need AirPlay to work on it! I desperately want to be able to send music to my receiver via my bedroom PC because it prevents me from having to turn on my HTPC just so I can listen to music on the best stereo system in my house (which is very nice while I'm doing chores or relaxing). As a quick aside, my roommate just successfully streamed an ambient song from her iPhone 6 to the receiver via the wireless router and it worked perfectly (that said, it was a completely different, much less complex song so this should be taken with a grain of salt). Right now the only difference I can think of is the length of Ethernet cables involved (my HTPC has a 3 ft. cable, whereas my main PC has a 25+ ft. cable). I could try temporarily swapping the longer cable to my HTPC to see if the problem is transferred to the HTPC, but it's going to be a bit of a pain due to the fact I have the long Ethernet cable perfectly routed along walls my living room walls running into my bedroom. In my mind there's no excuse for a PC that was built 7+ years ago to outperform a PC that was built less than 2 years ago!!!! All I want is to control the music being played on my receiver via the best PC in my house over a rock-solid Gigabit network, but I guess that's too much to ask in this modern day and age of gadgets...It's incredibly inconvenient to always have to turn my secondary PC on just so I can listen to loud music in my apartment, not to mention it's also a bad waste of electricity and additional wear and tear on my HTPC.

I'm well aware that I'm a Windows user posting to an Apple forum, but AirPlay is Apple's <insert expletive here> technology so I figured it wouldn't hurt (I also saw that a previous poster on this thread mentioned they had a Windows box so I figured it was acceptable). I apologize for the length of this post, and am fearful it won't be read in its entirety due to the classic TL;DR argument, but I'm unfortunately at wit's end at this point and am desperate for help!!!!

Much thanks,

-Snipe