Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 1

0 points

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

20 replies

hkoers

Level 1

0 points

Apr 25, 2015 11:43 PM in response to jordbaer

I was wondering if there are any updates on this?

Looks like I have a similar problem: my Airport Express works OK when I select it directly from iTunes, but I get no sound when I select it through the System Preferences pane. This latter option used to work as well, and that is how I was streaming music from Spotify, browser, etc. (which now is no longer possible). I suspect this change happened after an OS upgrade a couple of months back.

I am on MacBook Pro running on OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, and _believe_ a first-generation AE. Also in the Netherlands (anyone see a pattern there 🙂 ?)

Thanks for any advise.

Update: it tried changing radio mode for my Time Capsule (which I use the create WiFi network) to "802.11a - 802.11 b/g" and that seems to help. Not sure yet if this is reliable/consistent.

Jokanok

Level 1

2 points

Jun 15, 2015 1:46 AM in response to hkoers

Just wishing to report a similar issue with my AEX (A1264).

I can perfectly stream from iTunes to AEX on my PC, but streaming from my iPhone to AEX will only work when I completely restart/reboot the AEX. From the moment I use Airplay again with iTunes, streaming from my iPhone to AEX does not work.

I had some other issues as well with regard to the optical output of the AEX. There a downgrade to firmware 7.6.0 did the trick.

However the issue as first described remains even with latest firmware update of the AEX.

IMO the Airplay issues are software related with regard to the iPhone, the AEX and/or possibly iTunes.

So Apple should look into this. I am afraid they just don't care.

Jokanok

Level 1

2 points

Jun 15, 2015 11:13 AM in response to Jokanok

Answer to myself.

I closed Airplay on my PC and shut it down. I started to stream from my iPhone 4s and saw the red optical signal in my AEX but this signal was not recognised by my DAC. So no sound. This is really a firmware issue that can related to the AEX or the iPhone. I am really disappointed in Apple. This will be my last AEX!!!

Aug 11, 2015 8:03 AM in response to jordbaer

I had been experiencing this exact same issue for months! Drove me crazy! It was working fine in Yosemite for a long while, then one day, it just suddenly stopped working 😕

But I have just come across this rather old Mac OS X Hints article, and it has resolved the issue for me!! I am beside myself! http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20120108083136856

I've found that dropouts occur when the network router wireless settings allow for both TKIP and AES security protocols (on a WPA security setting). I've found that by changing my router wireless settings to either TKIP or AES, but not allowing the use of both, the dropouts no longer occur.

Which is better: AES or TKIP? Choose AES, as it is more secure. This article explains why: http://www.howtogeek.com/204697/wi-fi-security-should-you-use-wpa2-aes-wpa2-tkip -or-both/

WPA2-PSK (TKIP): This uses the modern WPA2 standard with older TKIP encryption. This isn’t secure, and is only a good idea if you have older devices that can’t connect to a WPA2-PSK (AES) network.

WPA2-PSK (AES): This is the most secure option. It uses WPA2, the latest Wi-Fi encryption standard, and the latest AES encryption protocol. You should be using this option. On devices with less confusing interfaces, the option marked “WPA2″ or “WPA2-PSK” will probably just use AES, as that’s a common-sense choice.

In short, simply change your Wi-Fi's password encryption to WPA2 (AES), which is the most secure.

I am so happy that this has finally resolved my issue. I hope it works for you too!! ❤️

Sep 9, 2015 3:24 PM in response to jordbaer

I just downloaded and installed Airfoil and it's solved the problem for me.

Can't get my iPhone 5 to play through the AE1 using any player (including iTunes) yet though!

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