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View Full Version : Airport Express To Stereo Quality

Maciej
2004-08-18, 13:42
How does the music sound? Actually when I am streaming it to my stereo is it distorted or fuzzy or anything? Most of my music is encoded in 160 kbps AAC. What do all you A.E. owners got to say?
Mr Beardsley
2004-08-18, 15:35
Sounds perfect to me. Not fuzzy or changed in the least. It sounds just as good as if I had my stereo plugged into my computer.
DMBand0026
2004-08-18, 15:54
I'd let you know, but I'm having huge issues right now with the audio skipping. But when it does work, sounds pristine, just like optical should.
Maciej
2004-08-18, 16:57
Excellent, I will probably pick one up for my dorm room this fall then!
MacDr
2004-08-24, 13:19
(Other than having to wait for it to be shipped from Apple When I could've just walked into the Apple Store & picked one up but, it was a gift so I can't complain).
I had a little sanfu setting it up I had to actually extend the range of my AirPort Base Station(which is useless because my AirPort covers my whole house & yard & they're within 10 feet of each other) in order for it to work I couldn't get it to work by just adding it.
The quality is excellent I haven't had any trouble with mine. In fact I never realized my stereo/speakers sounded so good & loud until I started playing iTunes through it.
Just make sure you have open RCA ports on your stereo I only had the phone & VCR open tried it on Phono & it sounded like crap plugged it into the VCR & viola I'm playing all 60 GB (so far) of my music through my stereo
AmanoGinji
2004-08-27, 10:57
On my Logitech Z-680's, I have had no problems with connectivity or sound distortion. My Airport Express is connected to my speakers via optical cable I picked up at walmart for 15 bucks, Philips Magnavox. Everything sounds great, btw this is in my dorm room ;)
Maciej
2004-08-27, 13:13
Are you in Riverside, California?
opuscroakus
2004-08-30, 23:01
...My Airport Express is connected to my speakers via optical cable...

AmanoGinji - I have my AE hooked up via optical cable to my Sony receiver and every time a new track starts I lose the first second or two of the song because the optical signal drops out when switching tracks and my receiver has to then sync back up at the start of the song. Do you have this problem with the Logitechs? I've tried turning on crossfade and setting it to 0, but that doesn't seem to help. I'm using the 1/8 - RCA connection now and I'm hoping to figure out how to solve the optical problem?!?!? :grumble:
DMBand0026
2004-08-31, 00:55
Set crossfade to one or two seconds, it don't make much of a difference to the sound of the songs. It fixed everything for me.
TheBigPA
2004-08-31, 18:17
I hate to say this but I'm less than happy.

The compression that Apple have chosen to use to squeeze the audio data through WiFi has a weird effect on SOME records.

As a result of this compression I find that the vocal level is reduced. Sometimes significantly. I posted on the Apple disucssion board and it was suggested I try ripping with a higher bit rate but this has made no difference.

Has anybody else experienced this?

Cheers,

Paul.
DMBand0026
2004-09-01, 02:03
Everything works fine for me. I notice really no difference in audio quality, and I'm using a big system with some relatively nice speakers, so I know quality audio when I hear it.
dfiler
2004-09-01, 08:17
The compression that Apple have chosen to use to squeeze the audio data through WiFi has a weird effect on SOME records.
Interesting, I'm close to getting one myself but am worried by reports like these.

I think the botched sound is a result of something other than the compressions. Apple is using a lossless codec, meaning, it is the exact same file after transmission.

Perhaps, the original compression to AAC or MP3 is causing the problem. Or... it could be the differences in DA converters. If using the analog output, DA conversion is done in the airport express. Or, if using the optical output, the conversion is done by your receiver. Previously, it was done inside your mac.
TheBigPA
2004-09-01, 15:48
I actually A-B'd last night using an original CD and the AAC file that I had ripped and the vocal levels were still reduced through the Airport Express.

Help!!
dfiler
2004-09-01, 16:53
I actually A-B'd last night using an original CD and the AAC file that I had ripped and the vocal levels were still reduced through the Airport Express.If you haven't already...

Make sure "Sound Enhancer" is off in the iTunes Preferences

Turn off the iTunes equalizer.

Then, if you have the AE plugged into a different source on your receiver, make sure there isn't a surround field or EQ applied to that source.
originalmac
2004-09-02, 10:22
I'm using optical to my home theater equipment & sound quality is excellent.

I'm very happy with this setup. My 200 CD Changer is now gathering dust in the basement.

I'll echo a previous post: review your equalizer settings: use iTunes' or your stereo equipment's EQ, not both.

I use soundcheck and sound enhancer with no problems.
aponteluis
2005-11-19, 07:52
I connected the Airport express to my AV receiver using the optical cable, but it does not work. There is no red light coming out of the cable or the AE. Do I need to set something up within the Airport Express to use the optical connection? Please help.
chucker
2005-11-19, 17:45
I connected the Airport express to my AV receiver using the optical cable, but it does not work. There is no red light coming out of the cable or the AE. Do I need to set something up within the Airport Express to use the optical connection? Please help.

This belongs in a separate thread in the Genius Bar.

As for your question, I believe you'll need an adapter to extract the digital information?
jimbo123
2005-11-20, 03:22
I have two AE and stream to both depending which room I'm in. The quality is superb and the only thing I wish I could do is be able to stream dfferent songs to either AE at any one time. Can't make my mind up if this is an iTunes or AE limitation?
:)
Win2Mac
2005-11-22, 23:36
Please read this review from Stereophile magazine site:

http://www.stereophile.com/accessoryreviews/505apple/index.html

I have two of them used in 2 rooms. One is optical out, one is analog. The sound quality of the former is clearer than that of the latter. Analog is definitely not CD quality, but it's convenient and good enough for background enjoyment. All my songs are encoded at 320 kbps from CDs. I turned off (disabled) cross fade.