Airplay audio cuts out intermittently

I have this same audio-dropout problem, ONLY when trying to Airplay music playing in iTunes on my iPad (third-gen) to my Apple TV 3. The other devices in the house (MBP, iMac, three iPod touches and an iPhone) seem to stream perfectly. And here's the part that has me puzzled: I can Airplay huge 1080p movie files (in iTunes) from the iPad to the ATV with utter perfection. No hitches or dropouts in video or audio. The ATV is connected via WiFi, btw. Suggestions?

I have two A5 wireless speakers. When I stream music from my iMac or Pc the music, radio, pordcasts etc. stream flalessly. However when I open up an app on my iPad 2 or iPad mini and try to stream from the device directly to the home network the A5 speakers cut out repeatedly. The problem is not with the B&W Airplay speakers. The problem is somehwnere in the wirless connection going directly through the iPad to the home network to the A5 Speakers.

Joe

I installed the new Airport Express and was also having the stuttering problems. Then I read here about shutting down the 5GHz network and only using the 2.4 and it now works perfectly. This also had the benefit of making my multiple airports in my house work better with my 12 different devices.

Maybe it has something to do with the 5GHz network.

I finally resoved the constant drop-out after 3 frustrating days of fiddling around. (My model is the A1264)

Here is a good list of 12 steps to go through:

http://blog.bizmodeller.com/post/2011/08/21/10-Ways-to-Make-an-Airport-Express-M ore-Reliable.aspx

What solved it for me was step 10:turning off IPv6 (the others made no difference)

The unit now works great - let me know if this works for you

I was having Airplay dropping in and out (lasting a couple of seconds) with great frequency. I too found that my problem was that I was using third party application to monitor wireless signal strength (iStumbler). When iStumber was open/running, Airplay would drop signal. When I closed iStumbler, no problems. I am also testing the theory that having Airport Utility open/running constantly will help keep Airplay from dropping signal. Thus far, I have not found had any Airplay dropping music without Airport Utility closed. I hope this information helps others.

my wireless hardware:

Airport Extreme (current generation)

Airport Extreme (previous generation)

Airport Express (2008 generation)

Time Capsule (previous generation)

Your observation made me curious about my own set up. I've been having airplay audio dropouts when going wifi from iOS device to a wireless airplay speaker but never when going from my wired Mac to the same speaker(s). And even then, audio problems were most noticeable when the source was a streaming app like CBC music, songza or other.

Wondering if it was an issue with wifi in/out restrictions, I switched from the 2.4ghz band on our router to 5ghz from the iPad mini. The improvement was instant. Before, it was dropping every few seconds. Now, I've had a clean stream for over 2hours. I know that not everyone has a 5ghz band on their router and that not every iOS device can connect to 5ghz signals but this has, for now, solved my problem.

When I stream from my Windows or Mac computer to either of my two vintage airplay express units or to my new Apple TV unit I have no problems. The problem only occurs when I stream from my iPad 2 to either of these units. It doesn't happen all the time. In fact, if everything works ok at startup it usually continues without a problem. Frequently though when I use my iPad2 to stream something like NPR to one of the wireless units the green light will go from a green to a blinking amber, and the audio stream will actually pause. If I wait a while the green light will come back on and then most times the connection will be maid and the audio will stream. I believe the problem lies in the wifi connection between the iPad 2 and the Airplay unit.

I have a dual band routher (Linksys E4200) but switching to 5.0GHZ doesn't help. In fact the connection is better with the 2.4 GHZ SSID.

I just ordered a PLWK400 Powerline AV Wireless Network Extender Kit and will report back if this helps.

What worked for me is,

a) downgrading to 7.6.1

b) under the Channel for 5Ghz pick one rather than Automatic.

I have no idea why but it works so WHY question it.

I'm running an Time Capsule and Airport Expresses throughout the house.

Cheers

i'm having the same problem with Airplay. i'm using a wireless connection from an extreme and two expresses in only a 1000 sq ft apartment. Airplay was working fine for months until around the time i updated iTunes a few days ago. i did firmware upgrades yesterday and enjoyed a few hours of continuous airplay. today the drop outs are back worse than before. i can't really hook up with ethernet cable in a rented apartment. Apple's motto should be "With our solutions come more problems" ;-)

I found that the Time Capsule I was using was causing iTunes to drop out intermittenly. I have disconnected the Time Capsule (I was only using it for backing up, I was not using it to create my wireless network) and now I am streaming iTunes without any problems.

well i just did a soft reset on the express that was dropping out (the other one never had the problem) and it stopped dropping out. the soft reset(quick push) is best because it doesn't wipe out the setup info like a factory reset(push &hold) does. a paper clip is much easier than sorting through all the IT mumbo jumbo for me so hopefully it will continue to work.

Ok,

So I figured out the culprit of the problem and I have the solution. I will tell you how my system is setup and hopefully everyone can have fun.

Problem:

Airplay cuts out when streaming over the 5GHz network from a MBP.

Culprit:

iTunes version 11.0.2

Solution:

Roll iTunes back to 11.0.1 and you will be fine. If you have a backup of your system (via Time Capsule or something similar) you're great, if not, locate a copy of 11.0.1 from somewhere and follow these steps. (IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE MUCKING ABOUT WITH YOUR SYSTEM, DON'T OR GET SOMEONE WHO IS)

1) Open Terminal and run:

sudo rm -rf /Applications/iTunes.app

This will delete the iTunes 11 application.

2) Locate your backup of your system with iTunes 11.0.1 (via timecapsule or other means)

3) Copy iTunes from there to your current Applications Folder.

4) Enjoy problem free streaming again.

My System Setup:

iTunes 11.0.1

MBP running Mountain Lion 10.8.2

Time Capsule and 3 Airplay Express all running v.7.6.3

I have been using Airfoil since 2007ish, back in the AirTunes days... I primarily used it because AirTunes could not broadcast certain radio streams to my AppleTV due to their stream format. With Airfoil I was able to stream pretty much anything, which is great. It does have an annoying 2-3 second lag. So general listening is fine, flipping around though songs is no fun.

Then Airplay came along and was able to broadcast the radio stations that AirTunes could not. So I started using Airfoil less and less until Spotify came around. Then I started using Airfoil for the desktop Spotify app & MOG, which I still use today. Recently I have had drop out issues with Airplay that only seems to be resolved (temporarily) by restarting my mac. Funny thing though, Airfoil can run iTunes for hours upon hours without ever dropping out once (even Hi Res tracks), and I stream to 2 different AppleTVs (for the whole house experience)... So my conclusion is, there must be an issue with iTunes handling of Airplay, since my computer and AppleTV have no issue being 'locked-in" using Airfoil.... I think the router and network are scapegoats here, at least in my case... Apple, iTunes has an issue that needs attention.....Stat.

i too have problems with my airport express's dropping out from my airport extreme main router. I have a 6 year old iMac running mountain lion and the latest version of iTunes. The 2 expresses will drop out at the same time yet my Altec Lansing in air 5000 keeps on playing. My question is this. If i run cat 6 cables under my home to the expresses from the gigabit switch (i will have to buy to solve this problem - because 3 ethernet outs is not enough for my Extreme router if i have to resort to "hard wiring" to expresses) will that by definiton solve the "drop out" of my expresses? In other words for the most part does hard wiring eliminate the general problem of dropouts? I guess i am opening a can of worms because of so many things that can in fact go wrong with trying to stream music in one's home. I am not very computer savvy so please try to simpify your answers. thank you so much for your help.

i never had a problem when i ran ethernet cables at my old house, but it isn't an option for me now. if you haven't given the expresse a soft reset yet i would try that in the meantime especially if you recently upgraded iTunes.

definetly try before you buy!! all you need is a paper clip. have you updated the firmware for your expresses in airport utility?