Apple AirPort Express with AirTunes Digital Media Streamer (M9470LL/A)
- Type: Digital Media Streamer
- Usage: Music
- Connectivity: Wireless / Wired
- Network Standard: IEEE 802.11g/b, IEEE 802.3 10Mbps Ethernet, IEEE 802.3u 100Mbps Ethernet
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Poorly documented, and unacceptable as an audio component
Pros
Neat idea, as is usual for Apple
Cons
Far too many problems
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
If none of the problems I described apply to you, you might like it. Otherwise, avoid it.
I found this product maddeningly difficult to install (despite having been a multi-platform computer hobbyist for over 24 years) in a wireless network including only Apple products. Nothing in the documentation or the included setup utility appeared to address WDS, or mentioned that I would need to reconfigure the AirPort base station to get it to work with the AirPort Express. I can't believe Apple bothered to do any usability testing before rushing this product out the door. Worse yet, I could not find any support contact information -- not by phone or even email or WWW. I was finally able to get things working after figuring out just the right search terms to find the document I needed from Apple's so-called support site.
Once I got things working, I connected the AirPort Express to my stereo using the analog signal. I found the sound quality of the built-in DAC unacceptable, so I switched to digital output, which eliminated the roughness in the treble, but I immediately found that there is a known problem with the digital audio output: the first second or two of each song or playlist is dropped by the receiver as it synchronizes clocks with the transmitting device. This could be corrected either by outputting a constrant stream of silence when not playing a song, or by padding the output from iTunes with a configurable length of silence each time playback begins. Apple appears unmotivated to fix this problem, though it would be simple for them to have done so with an iTunes update, or in any of the firmware updates they have issued for the AirPort Express so far. (You won't get the firmware updates through Software Update, either. You'll have to take it upon yourself to watch for them and download them manually.)
Also, I want to reiterate what others have said about the impracticality of streaming audio across WiFi in an urban setting. I live in a building with large apartments, and most of the time AirTunes works for me, but every few days the spectrum gets too congested, presumably when my neighbors' wireless network activity rises above a certain threshold. It just took me 37 frustrating minutes to listen to a 6.5-minute song -- an experience which finally motivated me to write this review.
Once I got things working, I connected the AirPort Express to my stereo using the analog signal. I found the sound quality of the built-in DAC unacceptable, so I switched to digital output, which eliminated the roughness in the treble, but I immediately found that there is a known problem with the digital audio output: the first second or two of each song or playlist is dropped by the receiver as it synchronizes clocks with the transmitting device. This could be corrected either by outputting a constrant stream of silence when not playing a song, or by padding the output from iTunes with a configurable length of silence each time playback begins. Apple appears unmotivated to fix this problem, though it would be simple for them to have done so with an iTunes update, or in any of the firmware updates they have issued for the AirPort Express so far. (You won't get the firmware updates through Software Update, either. You'll have to take it upon yourself to watch for them and download them manually.)
Also, I want to reiterate what others have said about the impracticality of streaming audio across WiFi in an urban setting. I live in a building with large apartments, and most of the time AirTunes works for me, but every few days the spectrum gets too congested, presumably when my neighbors' wireless network activity rises above a certain threshold. It just took me 37 frustrating minutes to listen to a 6.5-minute song -- an experience which finally motivated me to write this review.
