Airtunes sound quality

I have an iTunes library in my iMac with all the music files ripped from my CDs in Apple Lossless. The iMac is connected to an Airport Extreme as my wireless router and I have 2 Airport Express as repeters. In the iMac I have the Squeezeserver running.
In one of my HiFi systems I have one of the Airport Express connected via Ethernet cable to a Squeezebox. The digital coax output of the Squeezebox is going to a Genesis TimeLens De-Jitter and from there to my PS Audio PerfectWave DAC. The output of the DAC is feeding my Woo Audio tube headphones amplifier.
Last night I connected the digital Toslink output of the Airport Express to the Genesis TimeLens to then follow the same sound chain as above.
I compared the sound of the exact same song (file in iTunes) one from the Squeezebox and the other from Airtunes. To my surprise they sounded different. The sound using the Squeezebox chain was significant better. More focus, better bass, more realistic and with better texture. The sound using AirTunes was lean and difussed with a huge and un-realistic soundstage.
I don't undrestand if I am using the same source file and the same electronics from the Airport Extreme on why it is so different. I tried the equalizer route with minimal success.
Is iTunes or AirTunes doing something in the processing? I would liekto eliminate the Squeezebox solution but not at the cost of quality of the sound.
Message was edited by: Musicman159

I am not a big fan of using the AirTunes feature of iTunes because it is not Applescriptable and because you can only output to one stream at a time. The sound quality is quite good as far as I can tell. The only time it suffered is when I was using iTunes on my laptop that was playing from the shared music on my server. The stream would get choppy and sometimes choke, but it is working better after changing my wireless router channel to the other end of the spectrum.
It is really nice that it outputs to optical, preserving the digital signal and eliminating the need for expensive shielded cables to reduce noise from all the other wires behind my stereo.
If I were to do it over, I would have saved the money that I spent on airPort Express to use on my irTrans project.

Similar Messages

Airtunes sound quality - Please share your experiences

I use a Powerbook G4 to stream mostly lossless classical music files to an Airport Express 802.11n linked using a standard cable to a NAD 326BEE amplifier (auxiliary input) and PSB Imagine B speakers. The sound is very good with not a lot of bass but I find that despite all the "sound enhancements" features of iTunes [8.02 (20)] being unchecked, the music is projected forward, overeager, too present vs. a portable CD which I also use from time to time. For a start, the maximum volume of this CD player has nothing to do with iTune's maximum volume which is sensibly louder but still, even at volume levels that appear comparable, the sound from Airtunes has a glow which can be fatiguing after a while. Are there differences between computers over Airtunes? Are some better than other? Any idea on how to improve the sound?

Tesserax wrote:
Are there differences between computers over Airtunes? Are some better than other?
Not really. The AX can only handle audio at a 44.1kHz sample rate, regardless of the source ... so switching devices shouldn't make any difference.
iTunes uses a QuickTime CODEC to convert audio files to Apple Lossless, and then, uses AirTunes to send them to the AX. In turn, the AX uses built-in software that converts the Apple Lossless to an Encoded Digital Audio format. From there, digital audio is sent to a optical transceiver to convert the electrical signal to an optical one before sending it to the innermost part of the audio port.
The AX works only with iTunes v4.6+ and is limited to music files that iTunes can read; ie, 16-bit data only. (An exception is you can use a third-party product like Rogue Amoeba's AirFoil to stream other non-iTunes sources.) These data, though, can be in any file format that iTunes recognizes, from lossy MP3s at the low-quality end of the spectrum to Apple Lossless and lossless AIF or WAV files at the high end. Again, it is important to note that the AX functions only at a 44.1kHz sample rate. When you play 32kHz or 48kHz data, iTunes sample-rate-converts the data in real time before sending it to the AX.
In all honesty I have no idea what half of that means.
I'm having the same problem, horrible Airport Express sound. And all of my files are Apple Lossless which is apparently a completely copy of whatever is on the CD.
kHz and sample rate is irrelevant as far as I know. It's Lossless. It's a straight up copy basically, right?
So why does it sound so godawful through Airport Express?

Airtunes Sound Quality with Lossless music

I have all my music in iTunes ripped from CDs with Apple Lossless Encoder. When I play via Airtunes on my HiFi (Fibre Optic cable to an Onkyo AV receiver) although the quality of the sound is very good you can hear a noticeable difference between the iTunes files and the original CD. I know music is transmitted as lossless to the Airport Express but the sound doesn't seem to have the same quality as the original CDs. I'm thinking about ripping in AIFF although that will mean HUGE files!
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Switching to AIFF format may not buy you much ...
For the AX, the audio is handled by a Texas Instruments PCM2705 digital-to-analog converter which it outputs on a 3.5mm stereo minijack. However, the innermost end of the 3.5mm jack is an optical S/PDIF transmitter.
The AX works only with iTunes v4.6+ and is limited to music files that iTunes can read; ie, 16-bit data only. (An exception is you can use a third-party product like Rogue Amoeba's AirFoil to stream other non-iTunes sources.) These data, though, can be in any file format that iTunes recognizes, from lossy MP3s at the low-quality end of the spectrum to Apple Lossless and lossless AIFF or WAV files at the high end, as you are suggesting. However, it is also important to note that the AX functions only at a 44.1kHz sample rate. Regardless of when you play 32kHz or 48kHz source data, iTunes sample-rate-converts the data in real time before sending it to the AX.
iTunes uses a QuickTime CODEC to convert audio files to Apple Lossless, and then, uses AirTunes to send them to the AX. In turn, the AX uses built-in software that converts the Apple Lossless to an Encoded Digital Audio format. From there, digital audio is sent to a optical transceiver to convert the electrical signal to an optical one before sending it to the innermost part of the audio port. For analog, the AX has a built-in DAC to convert the Encoded Digital Audio to Analog which is sent to the same audio port.

Fuzzy low sound quality with AirTunes

AirTunes sound quality sounds like a put a pillow over my speakers and its very fuzzy. I have no idea what could be wrong. Any thoughts?
And it has a good connection so that isnt the problem.

I asked the Apple WM guy if the AX Toslink digital signal could be sent to an outboard DAC ...and he said, no, it's an analog (music) signal, and then basically gave a disclaimer that Apple doesn't support any other uses for it. (???)
Huh? No. The Toslink is optically coupled digital data. It's the same data supplied to the Express's built-in DAC. The DAC's output is analog. Toslink (or the generic name digital optical audio) is commonplace with audio equipment.
http://www.toshiba.com/taec/components/ProdLineGuide/toslink.pdf
Apple's own specifications say the Express has a "3.5-mm audio minijack for analog *or optical digital sound*". The Einstein you spoke to doesn't understand his own product. Ask to speak to someone who does.
You could easily modulate an analog signal and transmit it over optical fiber using the same inexpensive plastic fiber optics that Toslink uses, and subsequently demodulate and amplify the received optical signal. I did that in grade school. But that does not describe the Express's optical output, which is strictly a digital signal.
Perhaps this product would interest you?
http://www.audiocubes.com/product/Audio-TechnicaAT-HA25D_HeadphoneAmp.html
Here's another:
http://www.audio-technica.com.sg/products/headphones/at-dha3000
Message was edited by: John Galt

Poor sound quality on airtunes and airport express

I recently configured a new Airport Extreme base station and two airport expresses. I used the airport expresses to extend my network but the sound quality is very poor when I run itunes no my stero. can anyone tell me why and how to fix it. The sound is very scratchy and there is no volume.
Rich

Dear All,
I'd like to follow up because I think that the answer to why I am getting poor sound quality my be in how I set up my wireless network. I'd like to get some feedback about this and some help about how to correct it.
My wireless network has three components.
1. "Base Station" which is a new Airport Extreme.
2. Unit "Number 1" which is an Airport Express located in my living room and connected to my stereo. it is 30 feet away from the "Base Station."
3. Unit "Number 2", also an Airport Express that is upstairs in a bedroom and connected to a ruby imac. via its ethernet port.
Wireless strength is excellent in all locations and all other services are working well from a laptop, the ruby mac or the imac. My problem only seems readily apparent when playing itunes through the stereo's speakers.
My wireless system is configured as follows:
Base Station: Wireless mode is set to participate in wireless network and to allow this network to be extended. The WDS mode is main and is set to allow wireless clients. The two airport expresses are identified by ID number as remotes.
Unit 1 and 2 are configured as WDS remotes and to allow wireless clients and identify the base station as WDS main.
I recently configured a new Airport Extreme base
station and two airport expresses. I used the
airport expresses to extend my network but the sound
quality is very poor when I run itunes no my stero.
can anyone tell me why and how to fix it. The sound
is very scratchy and there is no volume.
Rich

Apple TV Sound Quality

Recently I compared the sound quality of a music track in several ways:
1. Original CD played directly in Bose Lifestyle.
2. Same track stored as AIFF on MacBook streamed with Apple TV with TosLink Cable.
3. Same track stored as AIFF on MacBook streamed with Apple TV with Analog Cable.
1st option gives an excellent and dynamic sound. 2nd option is less dynamic and 3rd option is the least quality.
As AIFF is a non compressed format of the original track of course I expect the same high quality with option 2.
Some advise using a D/A Converter. Is this the solution? Or is there another solution to enjoy the original CD sound quality through Apple TV?
Regards,
Cemmy

What are 2+3 running into, the Bose system?
I would not expect the AppleTv analogue out to be of decent quality as it's likely to have dirt cheap components.
As far as 2 goes, I assume by streaming you are not using Airtunes, but playing the track on AppleTV directly. I ask as Airtunes will add adjustments applied in itunes and can sound different to AppleTV direct.
Was the track synced to AppleTV and played or streamed - there could well be differences in sound that you would not expect.
Assuming the CD rip was good AppleTv should just output the bitstream and the amp's D to A converter would largely be responsible for the quality. Assuming this is the Bose DAC, you would imagine it might use the same DAC as for the internal CD, which would make you wonder why - it could be down to a better CD transport in the Bose giving a more accurate bitstream, less jitter or better jitter correction than applied to other inputs.
All very well having a different DAC, but if the analogue input on the amp is not up to par it may not help.
Also check your Toslink input does not have some processing applied eg pseudo surround or similar which could adulterate the sound.
You could also try playing the track via the Macbook directly using a mini-toslink adapter.

Miserable sound quality in Itunes on my IMAC G5

Hi there
I am new to the MAC world and I just finished installing my brand new IMAC G5 with Superdrive, connected my IPOD 60GB and set up my near High End Stereos via Airport Express. I have imported the first say 50 CDs (AAC 128 Kbyte to 320 Kbyte).
To make a long story short, the sound quality I get is miserable to say the least. Whether I listen to music directly from CD on the IMAC with Sennheiser PX200 or via Airtunes (NAD / Musical Fidelity Stereo) or on the IPOD the quality is really bad. Some music is ok but some songs sound terrible Eg. Maxwell "arroz con pollo" on Embrya the Bass is jittery, Treble as well. It makes one shiver. As said, the CD sounds terrible itself when played on the MAC but is perfectly ok on my CD player.
I can hardly believe that this is what Mac and Ipod is about.
Is it possible that there is something wrong with the soundcard? I tried various adjustments but the results remain the same.
I would highly appreciate any help I can get.
Thank you
Christian

Sounds like something is wrong with your drive...
test on another computer.

I play music on my hi fi via an airport express attached to my iMac. Since installing maverick the sound quality is terrible and I get frequent distortion, which never happened before. I have reset the airport express and reconfigure my wireless settings.

I play music on my hi fi via an airport express attached to my iMac.
Since installing maverick the sound quality is terrible and I get frequent distortion, which never happened before.
I have reset the airport express and reconfigure my wireless settings. I have also used Ethernet on its own but still get the same sound problems.
I would love to turn itunes sound off as you used to be able to do, but this I believe can't be done.
Has anyone else been having the same types of problem, and better still has anyone got the answer?

When the AirPort Express Base Station (AX) is connected by Ethernet, you will find an option in the AirPort Utility, labeled: Enable AirTunes over Ethernet on the Music pane. Just select this option to allow streaming iTunes via the AirPort's Ethernet port. You should also be able to disable the AX's wireless so that it shouldn't interfere with the nearby TC.

AirTunes Poor Quality

I just set-up AirTunes and the sound quality is not good. My wireless set-up is 1 Airport Extreme as the main router, and I use my Express as a network extender to the Extreme. I have the Harmon Kardon Sound Sticks (SS). When plugged directly into my computer the sound quality is top notch. When I plugged the SS's into the Express in my living room and played music through them, there was this constant buzzing sound and the subwoofer was basically not working. All the connections are set up correctly. I then plugged in my Bose headphones into the Express and they sounded excellent. Any guess as to why the SS's have such low quality?

I will try to speak in simple terms so that you can understand.
If you look carefully at the male audio plug that goes into the AirPort Express, you'll see 3 separate points on the plug that must make good electrical contact with the internal contact points on the female jack within the AirPort Express.
Your headphone plug is making good contact at all 3 internal points. That's why the headphones sound great.
The powered speaker male plug is not making good contact with the jack on the AirPort Express. That's why you hear distortion. When the powered speaker plug makes good internal electrical contact with the jack on the AirPort Express, your speakers will sound great.
It's very possible that the same plug makes good contact when you plug it into your computer. That's why you hear good sound when you do this. This happens for the same reason that the headphone plug makes good contact when you plug it into the AirPort Express.
You have three options:
1) Have a shop install a new male plug and verify that it will make good electrical contact with the jack on the AirPort Express
2) Use a hacksaw to carefully saw open the case on the AirPort Express and have a shop install a new jack that will make good contact with the male plug on the powered speaker setup
3) Convince someone at the Apple store that you have a defective AirPort Express (even though it will test perfect at the store) and hope that the plug on your powered speakers will make good electrical contact with the new Express.
Otherwise, you move back to the top of the numbered list to start over again.
Let us know what you decide and what works.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

My AirTunes sounds horrible with iTunes 9

Since i downloaded iTunes 9 the sound quality of airtunes is horrible. Any ideas?

Without more info as what "horrible" means it's hard to begin.
Have you done any trouble shooting on your speakers and amplification system?
First thought though that applies to any broadcast situation would be is your source (itunes - airport) over or under modulating? If the volume level in the iTunes window is set too high or too low it may send a distorted signal into your airport card. Try backing off the volume in iTunes to between 50% and 75%.
You might also look at the volume level set in your equalizer. If the equalizer is set for a volume level much higher than 100% it can also be a source of distortion.
I am running iTunes 9.0.1 on an 09 iMac and an 07 MBP, both through an airport extreme into three separate airport express location on three different speaker configurations and all combinations sound great.

IPhone 5s Call Sound Quality

Hey- I have a brand new iPhone 5s with AT&T and I've noticed that the call sound quality is worse than my old iPhone 4. The call sound is more muffled and a lot less crisp. Is this a common issue or is it just my phone? Thank you!

When I hold my iPhone 5S in my left hand to my left ear the sound is muffled. I remember Steve Jobs saying you're holding it wrong. Although this had nothing to do with the problem we're having now it got me to thinking. I looked at my hand holding the iPhone my thumb was on the left edge with my to two Center fingers on the right edge. My index finger was up close to the noise canceling mic on the back of the phone and my palm was down by the regular mic. I could see as I talked the voice could hit my palm travel up my hand to my index finger which was close to the microphone on the back.
I called my wife on the house phone using my iPhone 5S. She said that my voice was muffled. I took my index finger away from the microphone and moved it next to my two Center fingers on the right side of the phone. This moved my palm away from the microphone at the bottom. I did this while she stayed on the line. She said that now she could hear me clearly. I then moved my index finger to completely cover the back microphone. Once again she said that the sound was still good. I then moved my index finger a small amount away from the microphone and she said that my voice was muffled again.
I believe that the way I was holding my hand acted as a megaphone to the noise canceling microphone in the back. The noise canceling microphone thought my voice was noise and was suppressing it.
I work in a noisy environment, so I like the idea of the noise canceling microphone. Going to the settings and turning off the noise canceling microphone or putting a small piece of tape over the microphone is really not a good option for me.
For now I will use this new way of holding the phone until Apple can fix this issue.

Poor sound quality in timeline and export; fine in Source?

Hello all.
Newbie to Pr but experienced pro in digital audio. I'm stumped and know I'm just missing something somewhere.
I've made a music video for one of my songs. The graphics are all done (in AE), imported to Pr and eveything looks great. I import the final mix of the audio and it sounds very low quality when played from the timeline and in the final output, regardless of format (I've tried several presets and custom settings as well). I played around and noticed that the audio sounds fine when played from the Source window inside Premier.
The Pr session is comrised of 18 video tracks (not all playing at once, of course) and one stereo audio track.
I've tried re-exporting the audio from Logic at different bit depths, sample rates and file formats (mp3, wav, AAC, etc) but the results are the same every time: Source (Pr)sounds fine, Logic output sounds fine, rendered / timeline playback sounds like very low quality mp3 and final product sounds just as bad.
I've tried everything I can think of. I hope one of you can show me what I'm missing.
TIA!
Mark
Premier Pro CC
Processor 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 8 GB 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256 MB
Software OS X 10.9.1 (13B42)

Thank you for the reply!
I was experiencing the same results no matter what export settings I used. Plus the poor sound quality was present in the timeline itself, without even exporting the project.
I finally threw my hands up, started a completely new project, drug the same audio file in... sounded fine. Copied / Pasted the video clips from the original, broken project and boom, eveything is fixed. Yeah, corrupted Pr file it turns out. All I had to do was start a new project and import all the old components.
I've had to do this in Logic a lot (increasingly, these days). I just wish I'd tried it 10 hours earlier! Ha.
Anyway, problem solved, and thanks very much!

Poor sound quality on podcasts after upgrading to leopard

I upgraded my Powerbook G4 to Leopard yesterday. Currently, my podcasts from Bloomberg on the Econonmy are almost uninteligible as they skipp words, have static etc. Before the update, everything worked fine. Is this a compresssion issue? What can I do to improve sound quality? Please feel free to respond directly to [email protected] thanks

Sorry to here about your problems since upgrading to Leopard, Charles.
I don't know whether there's a cause/effect relationship of one and the other going on there but you've posted on the iTunes for Windows side of these boards and although for the most part we're a pretty nice bunch of people here - if I do say so myself - generally speaking you'll be better off if you post your question over on the iTunes for Mac side.
Good Luck.

Why is the sound quality and volume in itunes so different than when I use other media players

This is an issue which has been vexing me for some time. I've researched it all over the web and have not found a worthwhile answer. Some other posts on these forums have asked similar questions without successful answers. But, none the less, I will try...
I have spent a lot of time over the last two years trying to get my itunes library organized as well as getting good digitized versions from my vinyl records as well as CDs. I was pleased with my results and then I added the songs to itunes. I could not believe how inconsistent the sound quality was. Invariably the volume is always lower. [Please do not post a reply such as: Check the volume controls in itunes proper as well as in itunes preferences (i.e., Sound Check, Sound Enhancer) & the Volume Adjustment in the Information pane under Options for particular songs.] I tried all of those means of adjusting volume. They do NOT work.
There is something more insidious at work in itunes which prevent good sound reproduction. I will give an example. I have played Frankie Valle and the Four Season's song "C'Mon Marianne" on the OS X system sound (i.e. clicking the play button to the song file when selected on the desktop or wherever it resides) as well as in Amadeus Pro. The song sounds great. When I play it when it's in the itunes' library the first part of the song is too lound and then when Frankie Valle starts singing his voice is at a significantly reduced volume.
I have edited the foregoing song in Amadeus Pro to a very high volume (i.e., Effects>Amplify), reloaded it into itunes and it still does not inprove the volume of Frankie's voice in the song, even though the rest of the song is somewhat louder. I have played with the Equalizer in itunes to no effect. It just does not work.
Now, I would glading move away from itunes and use another media player. However, I have other Apple devices through which I listen to music. And the only way I know of to listen,e.g., on the iphone is through itunes.
The other related problem with itune, or should I say iCloud, is icloud match. The icloud Match has taken great sounding music and given me back music of an inferior quality, even though it is a Matched AAC format.
I'm am sorry if I am a little peeved about this issue. If anyone has some suggestions or input to a solution, I will be eternally grateful. Thanks a bunch.

fbuerg,
You are welcome. Glad my good fortune was helpful to you.
Time Keeper

The sound quality of my speaker suddenly got really poor when playing music or videos. Sounds like an old AM radio or Sputnik. Pretty sure it's hardware related but maybe not. Thoughts on what the problem might be and if it can be repaired?

The sound quality of my speaker suddenly got really poor when playing music or videos. Sounds like an old AM radio or Sputnik. Pretty sure it's hardware related but maybe not. Thoughts on what the problem might be and if it can be repaired?

The batterys the ipods come with are very sensetive somtimes they dont react right to the first couple of charges. Try fully charging it and then leaving it on until its completely drained a few times. If that doesnt work it might be a lemon.

Airtunes sound quality

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for