Airplay Issues with Marantz MCR603

[Chr1s_J]

Hello, I was wondering if someone could help me out...

I recently bought the Marantz MCR603 as a replacement for a 10 year old Denon mini system, it's playing through some B&W 684 Floorstanders.

Now one of the things that attracted me to the Marantz were its networking capabilities, specifically Airplay.

Now, I'm no Apple fan boy, infact I don't own any Apple devices, but, I do use iTunes. All of my CDs have been ripped as Apple Lossless.

Because of the ALAC format of these lossless files they don't show up when using the Marantz in Media Server mode, however, everything else does and I'm able to play them fine. I'm missing out on a large proportion of my music by not being able to see the lossless tracks though and this is far from ideal, as is the slow method of selecting tracks, albums, artists etc using the Marantz' display.

I would much rather have access to all my music and be able to select it to play from iTunes.

Now I've had some success with this. The latest firmware is installed, as is the Airplay upgrade. I was even listening to a Kate Rusby album over Airplay earlier, but, after an hour or two it just cut out. This is a regular occurence and it's starting to get pretty annoying, requiring me to tell the Marantz to re-search for a Network connection and then reconnecting it via airplay to itunes on my laptop.

If I pause a track it loses the connection too. I also have to run the Network Connection setip on the Marantz every time I turn it on, otherwise iTunes doesn't see it at all (is this normal?)

Has anyone else had the same problem and if so how did you fix it? Not being able to get this to work is really starting to get to me now!

If it helps my laptop is running Windows 7 64bit, iTunes 11.0.1.12, my router is a BT Home Hub 3.0, the Marantz is connected directly to it via Ethernet and I connect my laptop to it via wifi.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

I had quite a few issues when using a MS laptop with windows on it with my CR603. It turned out to be the anti virus security settings and firewall settings.

Switched off them both for a while and it worked flawlessly; turned them back on and issues again; just like youre having!

TBH I've moved across to a MacBook Pro now but before that an iMAC and NEVER had any isues since!

 

[Chr1s_J]

What gets me is that it plays fine for a hour or more, then stops. I'd have thought if it was a firewall issue the problem would show itself sooner... maybe I'm wrong?

I've heard of issues with the BT Home Hub and airplay, but, my hub is the later version 3.0 which I've heard is much better.

 

[Cynic-al]

Hi Chris, I had same problem with my Denon Ceol ,i relocated my router and connected the Denon with an ethernet cable and ive had no probs since

 

[Chr1s_J]

Thanks Al, but, my router (BT Home Hub 3.0 ) is only 2m away from the Marantz and is connected by ethernet.

I think this is just airplay problem as the Marantz' Media Server mode works fine playing musc from my laptop, the same tracks/albums played using itunes (over airplay) cut out, yet only after an hour or so.

Still confused by it all!

 

[chebby]

M-CR603 + 5m Belkin ethernet cable to an Apple Airport Extreme 802.11N (5+ years old) connected to Virgin Media cable router (20Mbps 'L' service). iPhone 5.

Works perfectly and has always done so, even when we only had 5Mbps and I was using an iPhone 4.

Also no dropouts when 'AirPlaying' from iMac in an adjacent spare room (I keep all the lossless stuff there) even though there is a thick brick wall between rooms.

The girls don't use AirPlay on their iPhones/laptops upstairs, but they never have any problems with wireless internet.

I think it all comes down to...

(a) No strong neighbouring networks.

(b) Extremely reliable cable service.

(c) The AirPort Extreme 802.11N. (It's never failed us in over 5 years and has enough range for anywhere in the house we've ever had a computer/laptop/iPhone.)

 

[Chr1s_J]

Thanks chebby, it's good to know it can work!

I'm listening to a lossless album over airplay at the minute, but, I know in a bit it'll just cut out. Quite annoying, but, for shorter periods of listening (say 1 album or so) it won't present a problem, just got to try and tackle the reliability issue.

Can I ask why you mention your cable service? Are you meaning the quality of the internet connection makes a difference to its reliability?

I only ask as our internet connection isn't amazing (anywhere between a 1 to 6mb download depending on the weather/time of day/if the month has a J in it...).

Thanks

Chris

 

[chebby]

Can I ask why you mention your cable service?

Because much of my 'AirPlaying' is taken up with internet radio and iPlayer radio.

However, you are experiencing cut-outs with 'in house' stuff like iTunes via AirPlay so I would point the finger at either...

(a) Strong neighbouring wireless networks. (Find which channels they are on, and how strong, then select another less populated channel for yourself.)

(b) Your wireless router. (Although this should - in theory - be ok if your gear is only a couple of metres apart.)

Or a combination of dodgy router and strong neighbouring networks messing with yours.

 

[chebby]

Also ensure you have 'Network Standby' enabled on your M-CR603.

'Menu' - then use up/down arrow buttons to get 'Network' (enter/memo to select) then 'Other Network' (enter/memo to select) then 'Network Standby' (enter/memo to select) then 'On' (enter/memo to select) then left arrow button a few times to come back out.

This means your M-CR603 always remains connected to the network (even when in standby).

Hopefully this will remove the need to keep re-setting the network connection on your Marantz. (Assuming it's not your wireless network that is periodically dropping.)

 

[Chr1s_J]

Ahh right gotcha! Well all my airplaying is from laptop stored media, so the internet connection being a bit slow shouldn't make much of a difference.

I can rarely even see a rival wifi network, so not sure if the faint signals i can see are affecting things with my connection. The only wifi networks i usually see are my own, then the bt openzone/btfon networks which my router generates. I wonder if there's a way to shut those down...

Maybe it is the router, though my Marantz is connected to it via ethernet and i'm rarely more than 5 or 6m from it with my laptop. It streams internet telly and the like fine, but, then i guess they have a chance to buffer.

'Network standby' is enabled on my m-cr603, yet if i want to stream via airplay to it i still need to run a network connection setup every time i turn it on. Is that the same for you? When you want to use airplay to stream a lossless track from your computer what steps do you usually have to take to get it to work?

Apologies for all the questions

 

[chebby]

If the problem only occurs with your laptop, then maybe the built-in wi-fi card (or dongle if you use that) needs to be replaced.

 

[BigH]

If you only getting 1-6 mb speeds then sounds like it could be the problem, I used to have this, always dropping out even on music, I upgraded to BT now and get 16mb + although it does drop sometimes, like in afternoon, since then I rarely have problems.

 

[chebby]

'Network standby' is enabled on my m-cr603, yet if i want to stream via airplay to it i still need to run a network connection setup every time i turn it on. Is that the same for you? When you want to use airplay to stream a lossless track from your computer what steps do you usually have to take to get it to work?

I press the AirPlay symbol on iTunes then select 'Marantz M-CR603' and the Marantz wakes up (with the AirPlay symbol and track info showing on it's display).

From standby it takes about 10 seconds.

The same happens if I use the iPhone to stream radio or iPlayer Radio or iTunes. I just press the AirPlay symbol and select the Marantz and - if in standby - it wakes up displaying the AirPlay symbol and station/track/programme info...

If the Marantz is already on then it's a bit quicker.

That's the point of 'Network Standby'. It stays connected and doesn't need to re-establish a network connection each time. (Much faster too.)

 

[Chr1s_J]

Right, some more info...

Today I had the afternoon spare so connected my laptop up to my home hub by ethernet, so thats ethernet from laptop to hub and hub to CR603. I also remembered to turn off my laptops wifi.

The result, exactly the same.

I managed 15 'airplayed' tracks before it cut out midway through a Cara Dillon number. Damn

Again, the only way to get it working again was to run the connection setup on the Marantz. Once done, the airplay symbol reappeared in itunes.

It's strange though, as even before I ran the connection setup, I could still see it as a device on my network and also use the Music Server mode to play music from the laptop. So it does just seem to be airplay that's throwing its toys out!

Some people have recommended I have my laptop and hifi set to fixed ip address. I've tried this and it doesn't make any difference!

Anyone offer any guidance? I've read previous discussions of other people with similar problems, but, no resolutions as yet.

At this rate it'll end up going through the window and I'll have to buy a Unitilite!!!

 

[chebby]

Have you called D&M's UK technical support yet?

02890 279830

 

[Chr1s_J]

Have you called D&M's UK technical support yet?

02890 279830

No I've not, but, many thanks for the number!

I was kinda hoping todays test would give me an idea what was wrong so I held off looking for tech support numbers. Now is probably the time to phone as I'll atleast have some answers to any questions they ask!

One pleasant surprise earlier, was how good the playback was of some high res content using the music server mode. I downloaded a couple of albums from B&Ws society of sound as I got 6months membership by registering some speakers. The same Cara Dillon album i was listening to in ALAC format over airplay sounded simply superb as a 24bit FLAC through the music server mode.

 

[BigH]

HAve you thought about upgrading your broadband to a faster speed, cured most of my problems and even got it for a cheaper price, there are some quite good deals around.

 

[Chr1s_J]

I was under the impression my broadband speed wouldn't make a difference as all my media is stored on a laptop within a few metres of the hifi.

I'm only planning on using the Home Hub to connect my laptop to the CR603 (preferably using wifi), not to download any content.

If upgrading my broadband or even upgrading my hub to something else would make a difference I'll look into it.

Cheers

Chris

 

[csq2]

I bought a new Onkyo DS-A5 a week ago to try out Airplay. I fed an optic cable from my dock into the amp's bulit-in dac. Sound quality with Airplay is excellent, but you can hear some static sounds in the background when playing music. I wanted to play files through the internet and JRiver by using a software called Airfoil. At first, I got everything working perfectly, but when I restart my computer Airfoil would not connect with my dock through Airplay. After many frustrating attempts to get Airfoil to connect with my dock, I eventually gave up and returned the dock. Lesson learned here: stick with simpler setups!

 

[Chr1s_J]

Further info for those that might find it useful or interesting...

I spoke to Marantz tech support earlier and ran through a few things with them. They admitted my issues were strange (I've know that for years!), but, that it did sound like it was just Airplay that was having issues. They asked me what modem/router I was using and when i replied BT Home Hub, they pretty much said that that's what the problem will be and that I'd be best changing it for something else. They've highlighted such issues to BT on numerous occassions and to Pace, who manufacture the hubs and nothing's been about the issues as far as they're aware. Apparently the BT hubs are renowned for not playing nice when it comes to Bonjour, which is required for Airplaying. A quick google of this and you'll see dozens of discussions about such things.

Anyway, we did a factory reset anyway on the CR603 and played about with my Home Hubs settings (channel; set a dedicated channel (1) rather than letting the hub pick what it wanted / security type; set to WPA) and I then spent an enjoyable hour or so listening to various tracks over Airplay, until it cut out again.

I've since been onto Amazon and ordered an Apple Airport Extreme 802.1n (5th Gen) to take over the wifi router duties and last night I upgraded to BT Infinity (though it won't be installed for a few weeks) so I'll get a new box from BT to handle the modem duties.

With the Airport Express hopefully I won't have any more issues with Airplay. I'll let you know either way!

 

[Andrew Everard]

I've since been onto Amazon and ordered an Apple Airport Extreme 802.1n (5th Gen) to take over the wifi router duties and last night I upgraded to BT Infinity (though it won't be installed for a few weeks) so I'll get a new box from BT to handle the modem duties.

With the Airport Express hopefully I won't have any more issues with Airplay. I'll let you know either way!

Had similar problems with a VirginMedia SuperHub, so switched it into modem-only mode, added an Airport Extreme to handle the wiffery, and all is now stable and sorted. Still use wired networking and a couple of eight-port Netgear switches to handle all the music-streaming stuff, though...

 

[Chr1s_J]

Well, first impressions are good!

Just got the Airport Extreme connected up for router duties, with wifi disabled on my Home Hub and after a fairly painless setup process the Airplay symbol is now always there in iTunes and everything seems to be working fine. It seems that was my problem! I'll have an extended listen and see if I encounter any issues... fingers crossed!

 

[Anonymous]

Just going back to this...

I remember that I was having issues with our Virgin SuperHub; switched the wifi off on it so it's a modem only; connected the Netgear N300 router back up and switched wifi off on my MacBook Pro (it's hardwired into the network) and hey presto.

Not had AirPlay drop out since...!

 

[Chr1s_J]

No drop outs now after 5 hours listening, the airplay symbol is always there and it just works. Glad I spent my money on the Airport Extreme!

Will leave this discussion here now as all is well. If anyone else is suffering with similar problems and you've tried everything else I recommend you look to your router.

Thanks for all the help everyone! :cheers:

 

[chebby]

No drop outs now after 5 hours listening, the airplay symbol is always there and it just works. Glad I spent my money on the Airport Extreme!

They're good aren't they?

Our 'Extreme' is over 5 years old and never missed a beat.