Airport Express (1st generation) won't stream music

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Airport Express (1st generation) won't stream music

Dear Apple community,

Since 5 or so years I have a first generation Airport Express (Model No. A1264), which recently has the following problem when used from both my iPad 2 Mini (running iOS 8.1) and my MacBook Air (running Yosemite 10.10):

Both devices do recognize the Airport Express and do also connect with it, but when streaming music (Spotify) through the Airport Express, the speakers don't give any sound (of course I checked and triple-checked that the problem is not with the speakers themselves ;-). Spotify plays, the iPad or MacBook are connected with the Airport Express but no music from the speakers. Immediately when I disconnect the device from the Airport Express the music can be heard through the device's own speakers, so the problem is not with Spotify as well.

I find this very odd, and have tried resetting all devices in question already (including the modem). The problem however is persistant, and to make things even morre complicated: sometimes both devices DO play music through Airport Express (I also have an iPhone 4 running iOS 7.1.2, which doesn not have the problem!). For instance, when I let my MacBook connect with the Airport Express through iTunes (which I don't use generally) and afterwards run Spotify, the music is audible. Through the iPad it does work sometimes as well, but recently more often not.

Again, the Airport Express is visible in both iPad and MacBook, and there is no error connecting (you can even hear a faint connecting sound from the jack cable when I put the speakers' volume on maximum, so something is clearly happening). Just no music can be heard while Spotify is streaming. Both devices connect with our AppleTV (2nd generation) as well; no problems there.

Any thoughts? Is this perhaps because my Airport Express is too old and is not compatible with newer versions of OS and/or iOS? I am very grateful for possible solutions from experts, since I myself am quite the humble Apple amateur :-)

Last note: the Airport Express is connected wiressly with our ADSL modem. Average ADSL speed is 5-7 MB (download), so not very fast. However, Spotify runs quite smoothly on both MacBook, iPhone and iPad. Airport Express connects with our WiFi signal, does not expand nor creates it. Airport Express only used for streaming audio.

Airport Express -OTHER, Other OS

Posted on Oct 26, 2014 8:33 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

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Oct 26, 2014 9:31 AM in response to jordbaer

Just to be sure I understand. You can stream from iTunes on your MacBook Air or from the Apple Music app from the iPad to your 1st generation AirPort Express, but do not get consistent streaming from the Spotify application from either platform ... correct?

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Answer 2

jordbaer Author

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Oct 26, 2014 12:07 PM in response to Tesserax

Streaming from iTunes on the MacBook Air to the Airport Express works, however also this connection is prone to unexpected 'silence' in the streamed music. What I do mostly, is selecting the Airport Express not through iTunes, but through the volume logo in the upper part of my MacBook screen (pressing ALT while clicking the volume logo gives you the possibility to select audio output). But as mentioned, this does connect the MacBook to the Airport Express, but music playing on Spotify remains silent on the speakers.

Streaming from the Apple Music app in the iPad and iPhone I have never done, since I don't have music on these devices and for streaming Spotify I simply used to swipe the screen from the bottom to activate the streaming through Airport Express (or the AppleTV when necessary). As said, this works on the iPhone but not on the iPad (which leads me to think there is perhaps a problem with never versions of iOS and the 1st generation Airport Express, as my iPhone 4 is older and is on iOS 7.1.2).

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Answer 3

jordbaer Author

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Oct 26, 2014 12:08 PM in response to jordbaer

Never = newer 🙂

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Answer 4

Tesserax

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Oct 26, 2014 2:40 PM in response to jordbaer

Streaming from iTunes on the MacBook Air to the Airport Express works, however also this connection is prone to unexpected 'silence' in the streamed music.

Since you are successful with streaming from iTunes verifies that AirPlay is functioning correctly. However, if you are getting unexpected drop-outs that would be another issue all together ... Wi-Fi interference and/or limited bandwidth between the iTunes host and the AirPlay "speaker."

As you probably already know, Spotify, like iTunes, uses AirPlay for streaming.

If I also understood you correctly, streaming to the Apple TV is NOT an issue ... correct? If that is so, then you may be right in that the issue is between the host and the older 802.11n AirPort Express. I would more suspect the issue to be with the newer operating systems than the Express itself; however, any thing is possible.

To double-check, I pulled out the same version Express that you have. I was able to stream from both my Mac mini (Yosemite) & iPad (v8.1), using iTunes & the Apple Music app, to the Express without a hitch. I don't currently use Spotify on either, but will load it up on both and report any findings when I get a chance.

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Answer 5

jordbaer Author

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Oct 27, 2014 3:54 AM in response to Tesserax

Wow, Tesserax, many thanks for all these insights!

If I understand you correctly, I might have two problems on my hand:

1. Unexpected drop-outs in the streaming due to WiFi-interference (I don't know exactly what that is 😊) or a slow connection (which is possible, since our ADSL is known to be quite slow sometimes).

2. A possible conflict between the older Express and the newer operating systems of my iPad and iPhone.

However, since streaming with the first generation Express and your devices through iTunes and the Apple Music app works well, the question is why my devices cause problems. What I am going to do is test with iTunes and the Music app on the iPad and iPhone as well, to see if the problem is limited to Spotify. This will take some time, since the whole setup is currently taken down as we are in the middle of building works.. Also, I resetted the Airport Express to factory setting so I will have to re-install it before I can do any further tests.

But many thanks for the help so far, and I am quite curious what your test through Spotify brings!

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Answer 6

Tesserax

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148,453 points

Oct 27, 2014 12:20 PM in response to jordbaer

Ok, I had an opportunity to load up the Spotify app on my iPhone 5S, which is running iOS v8.1. I was able to successfully stream from the Spotify app to both my 3rd gen Apple TV and to my 1st gen AirPort Express. When I get a chance I will do the same from my Mac mini.

The key to successful streaming without dropouts is adequate bandwidth. In your case that bandwidth would also include what is provided by your ISP since you are streaming from the Internet. However, audio streaming takes very little bandwidth. Most likely a lot less than what is provided by your ISP ... but, if you are experiencing any interruptions from your ISP this may be one of the causes of the dropouts that you are experiencing ... especially when streaming from Spotify. The only things you can do about this are: 1) Ask your ISP to "test the line" to your modem, 2) Have them replace the modem with a newer model, especially if yours is over 3 yrs old, 3) Upgrade your Internet service, and finally, 4) Change ISPs.

For streaming on your local network, you want to remove any forms of Wi-Fi interference that may be present.

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Answer 7

Nov 12, 2014 5:07 AM in response to jordbaer

Ok I have the same issue overhere.

Since upgrading my MacBook Air (2013) and iMac (late 2012) to Yosemite I have a hard time streaming (Spotify) music via my AirportExpress. Streaming music from any iPhone is no problem. The Airport Express is visible in the Sound Output options. But sometimes it takes up to 15 minutes before I does the job (stream the music to the amplifier).

Will monitor and provide an update as soon as I know more...

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Answer 8

koertos

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Nov 12, 2014 8:24 AM in response to jordbaer

Ok, another Dutchie here with exactly the same issues streaming Spotify since the Yosemite update. Soft resets and hard resets have had no effect, software is up-to-date (7.6.4). Would love to hear what could solve this problem!

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Answer 9

koertos

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Nov 12, 2014 8:28 AM in response to koertos

BTW, using a 2nd generation Express, same problems though...

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Answer 10

cmc57

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8 points

Nov 13, 2014 4:27 AM in response to jordbaer

I have the same problem. IPad Mini connects to Airport Express, but no sound from the speakers from any audio apps. However, if I connect to the Airport Express with iPhone 6, AirPlay works fine. Both devices have the latest version of iOS 8. Sound from AirPlay via iPad stopped working suddenly last week. I've tried soft-resetting iPad multiple times. And have reset all modems/routers in the wifi setup.

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Answer 11

koertos

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Nov 15, 2014 2:04 PM in response to jordbaer

Ok, I found the answer to my problem, but it probably doesn't solve yours. I had just installed a vpn service for anonymous browsing after updating to Yosemite. It clearly obscured the connection between my mac and airplay...(my bet is anyone with a bit of knowledge about computers would have figured that out, I'm a noob when it comes to this ****). Anyways, mine is working again!

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Answer 12

Nov 26, 2014 10:44 AM in response to cmc57

Hi

Is there any news about this problem?

I have the exact problem also. It works fine from an Ipad with iOS7, but all devices with iOS8/8.1 does not work.!

Regards

Kenneth

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Answer 13

cmc57

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8 points

Nov 27, 2014 4:25 AM in response to jordbaer

AirPlay with iPad Mini started working again after iOS 8.1.1 update.

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Answer 14

Nov 27, 2014 4:35 AM in response to cmc57

Not for me and iphone does not work either 😟

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Answer 15

CHdB

Level 1

5 points

Jan 1, 2015 2:14 PM in response to jordbaer

Same problem here. First generation Airport Express connected to router by means of Wifi. All devices (MacBook Airs, iPhones, iPads) that were upgraded to the latest version of OS X or iOS lost their ability to stream Spotify.

Any solution available yet ?

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