I have bought a new airport express and using it with my macbook (iTunes 10.2.2). I have joined an existing network for internet in my home and with that i am trying to play the music via itunes but there is audio dropouts every 60 secs or so. any soln ?

Question

I have bought a new airport express and using it with my macbook (iTunes 10.2.2). I have joined an existing wireless network for internet in my home and with that i am trying to play the music via itunes but there is audio dropouts every 60 secs or so. I am using a set of speakers from kenwood connected to the airport express. The operating system on my macbook is mac os X 10.5.8. i am sure it is not a problem of streaming music online because i have even tried playing music which are stored in my macbook.
Is there any problem with the setting in itunes or quicktime ? Kindly reply...... I am waiting for your valuable suggestion.
Thank you a lot in advance.

Answer 1

I am shocked to have found this same AX audio dropout problem starting TODAY, every few seconds the audio just drops for a couple seconds and then resumes:  Latest software versions of everything.  No iPad, iPhone or Touch.  Internet hardwired to D-Link DES1105 (1000baseT Switch) hardwired to new 80211N AX, AX optical to stereo, AX Wi-Fi internet to basic 1st-gen MacBook operating at 80211G, and an older 'G' AX extender at the far end of the house, away from all this.  The MacBook streaming iTunes is usually 12 feet from AX.  I've used this setup for years of trouble-free AirTunes / Airplay until today.  Today I also found 2 very reliable fixes and 1 way to force a dropout, but first, I read some posts and tried ALL following settings one-at-a-time and restored them ALL because NONE of them helped:  Turned off IPV6.  Streamed to multiple speakers 'Computer' and 'AX' (restored to just AX).  Turned off 'Ask to Join new (WiFi) Networks'.  Turned off Bluetooth (can't live without Magic Trackpad, so glad that wasn't it).  Here's my discoveries:  Lo and behold, each time I click the Airport icon in the Menu (you know it shows you've got 4 bars from AX) when the status switches to 'Looking for Networks' for a second it CAUSES the AX audio to drop out for a couple seconds (it never did that before today.)  iTunes still playing, streaming, AX laser still lit, but the 'PCM' light on stereo and the sound GOES OUT EVERY time I click the Airport icon in the menubar, just like the regular, annoying dropouts.  So, to reduce traffic I quit Safari (3 tabs, no streaming, just Gmail, Google, and Netflix browsing).  Lo and behold, the dropouts stopped altogether.  No other Web apps going (not iTunes Store, Genius, Ping, nothing), so I launched Chrome to the same 3 tabs and the dropouts HAVE NOT RETURNED.  That's right, not only did simply QUITTING SAFARI cure it, and Chrome doesn't contribute to it, but I can demonstrate it just by forcing my Airport to re-scan.  Works for me, written using Chrome.  The other reliable fix is to hardwire MacBook to the Switch.  This is obviously not ideal, but Airplay audio doesn't drop out over Ethernet.  Also, in all my tests, it made no difference whether iTunes did the streaming, or Airfoil did.