Airport Express - how much lag should I expect?

[EarsEarsEars]

Hi there

I recently set up an airport express on my home network feeding via optical out into a DacMagic. After figuring out that the sound level difference was due to the volume control in iTunes rather than anything serious, I quite enjoyed the whole setup and stayed up way past my bedtime trying out different music on it.

The one issue I had was with the lag time from when you choose a track to when it actually starts coming out of my speakers - it was anything from about 3 seconds up to nearly a minute! In any case, I was just wondering what sort of lag people are experiencing, and what was considered *acceptible*.

Once an album or playlist was up and running, everything was fine, but the chopping and changing between tracks was a bit annoying.

Also, there were a few tracks where there would be the odd CRACK in the middle of the song. Is this likely to be ripping error or transmission error?

Oh, the last thing I should probably mention was that after reading a few threads on what upgrading to iTunes 8 can do to the system (dropouts etc) I have resisted clicking the upgrade button when it is offered. Could the buffer system used in the earlier iTunes version be contributing to the issue?

Cheers...

Ears

 

[Messiah]

As far as the lag time is concerned my tracks switch over almost immediately. (This is using the iPhone to change tracks)

 

[El Hefe]

Same here. No lagging issue. Once I click play on iTunes, it will connect to the AE almost immediately. It also changes tracks with no lag. And I am using the latest iTunes.

 

[John Duncan]

Same here, can't say I have issues either with lag or dropouts, though I'll admit I had to hard reboot my AE after rearranging my network somewhat last night - though once it was back on the network I haven't seen any issues.

But yes - if it's taking a minute to start up, you have issues - I'd hard wire the connection temporarily (or at least connect it to the router), and see if that resolves the issue - then you know you have network problems. Note also that if you're using Windows, you need to turn off Windows Zero Configuration, which can cause regular dropouts by searching for new wireless networks on a regular basis.

 

[professorhat]

Takes about 1 - 2 seconds from double clicking a song before it comes out of my speakers - once started, no issues and it's in sync in all my rooms (have 3 AEs).ÿ

EarsEarsEars:ÿAlso, there were a few tracks where there would be the odd CRACK in the middle of the song. Is this likely to be ripping error or transmission error?

This is probably a bad rip - I've had a few of these and one of them was one of my favourite albums which was an old CD and had been heavily used. I bought a new version, ripped this and then had no issues.ÿ

ÿ

 

[cayorob]

Is this just an Airport Express issue? i.e is iTunes fast when just playing / selecting songs via your computers speakers.

 

[EarsEarsEars]

Hi peeps

Thanks for the replies. Well, I'm happy to say that the issue was nothing that a good reboot or two didn't fix.

I'm loving the iPhone remote option, too! Gadgetastic!

Ears