Sound output to Airport Express horrible except through iTunes Airplay

I've had an Airport Express for 2 or so months now, and I use it for both wifi routing as well as its Airplay functionality, wired into my stereo. I've used it with Airplay directly from iTunes as well as setting the system sound output on my Mac to go over to the Airport Express.
As of today, only the Airplay over iTunes works without issue. When I go to the system sound preferences and select the Airport Express, I hear a very loud pop, and all output is muffled and highly distorted. If iTunes is playing, that sounds bad too.  However, with the system sound prefs set to internal speakers and ONLY iTunes set to Airplay, it sounds fine.  This is not good at all for me, as I often send audio from Youtube and other streaming sites to Airport Express to play on my stereo.
How can I get sound output to Airport Express from the sound preferences to play nice again?
PS, I have the identical issue with Apple TV, though I don't use it regularly for Airplay. System output to Apple TV is terrible, iTunes Airplay to it is fine, and the audio from content on Apple TV is fine.

Is there any way to output any sound from a computer to Airport Express, not just iTunes?
Yes, check out Rogue Amoeba's AirFoil.

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    *Apple AirPort Express - Streaming Music on iTunes - Frequent Music Drop outs*
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    I'm having the exact same problem. As a classical music lover, this is driving me nuts. It's especially noticable in soft passages in the music, when the volume is turned up high. When the dynamics increase, the little pops/clicks appear (they sound a bit like static noise, as someone stated earlier in this thread). It happens at irregular intervals. When you play pop music, the clicks will disappear (drown) in the music. But for true audiophiles who listen mainly to jazz and classical music this is a severe problem.
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