iTunes radio goes silent when playing to AirPlay from Mac
Hi all,
This problem came up when iTunes Radio first launched, and hasn't been fixed by Mavericks / iTunes 11.1.2.
In brief, iTunes Radio, when played from iTunes on the dektop to my Airplay connected speakers, only plays for a five to 15 minutes before going silent. It isn't paused (playhead still moving), and it hasn't dropped the connection to the speaker; it just goes silent. If I pause and play the music again, it immediately continues playing. This does NOT happen when playing iTunes Radio from the iPhone or iPad to the same Airplay speakers, NOR does it happen when playing from iTunes to the computer's own speakers.
In detail…
I have speakers connected to an older Airport Express (model "Airport Express 802.11g") and can play music, podcasts, etc. to those speakers — from iTunes on the desktop, or from the iPhone or iPad, no problem.
FYI: I can no longer configure the 802.11g unit as it's only supported by Airport Express 5.6, which itself is no longer supported under Mavericks (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5022), but again this iTunes Radio issue pre-dates Mavericks. The Airport Express is configured as an AirPlay only device on an existing Airport Extreme network, and the Express is connected wirelessly, not wired, to the network. Since I can no longer configure the Express, I'm reluctant to plug it in wired to the network, as I have no idea if it'll suddenly try to be a repeater, which I don't want.
When playing iTunes Radio from iTunes on the desktop, after an inconsistent amount of time (usually in the range of five to fifteen minutes), the music will stop playing. The playhead is still moving, and the connection to Airplay is still active. The music simply goes quiet, as if it were muted. If I pause and play iTunes, it will immediately resume playing through the speakers, for another 5 to 15 minutes.
I can play iTunes Radio from my iPhone or iPad to the same AirPlay speakers, on the same network, all day long. I guess the only difference there is that the iOS devices are obviusly wireless, whereas the iMac I'm playing iTunes from is on ethernet — however I've tested from a Wi-Fi only Mac and the same thing happens. I've also tested both with Wi-Fi turned on and off on the Mac, and from multiple Macs on the same network.
The only consistent item seems to be the Airport Express, so I have to assume that it's the culprit somehow, but can't find any other reports of this.
Any insight or ideas would be appreciated!
-Joseph