Apple Airport Express Replacement
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Dswankey
Lunatic Member
What was/is the old AAE connected to? I used to use one connect to a receiver to stream my music files from MBP worked like a champ. I currently have an Extreme which I'm pretty sure I can Airplay over but I just use it for WiFi
My guess is you already entertained the thought of buying a used one? there's plenty of them and Extremes out there.
My guess is you already entertained the thought of buying a used one? there's plenty of them and Extremes out there.
I was using it to stream to a receiver in the kitchen that streams to the screened in porch and kitchen. Yeah I am looking at used. I found a YT video showing that they seem to fry the boards after a while. So I wanted to move with something else maybe. Seems there'd be a market for reconditioned AEs.
RTally
Speaker addict
In my area used Apple Airport Express sell for $10 to $40, either 1st (rounded edge version) or 2nd (squared edges) generation. They pop up frequently. I use one of each.
If one of them were to fail, I would buy the Wiim Mini as suggested above. It is new and is well supported. Pretty much plug and play.
I am not aware of any other, low cost Airplay capable device.
If one of them were to fail, I would buy the Wiim Mini as suggested above. It is new and is well supported. Pretty much plug and play.
I am not aware of any other, low cost Airplay capable device.
Dswankey
Lunatic Member
I agree however Apple has moved on so if there were it would be a 3rd party entity.
mhedges
Super Member
I had some old 1st gen AE's - you are welcome to them if I didn't toss them when we moved. I'll check.
As far as new devices - Wiim Mini (or Pro) is a good option. If you want an all-in-one solution I like the Yamaha MusicCast receivers; I have three of them and they work well with Airplay - better than I was ever able to get AE's to work.
As far as new devices - Wiim Mini (or Pro) is a good option. If you want an all-in-one solution I like the Yamaha MusicCast receivers; I have three of them and they work well with Airplay - better than I was ever able to get AE's to work.
Lou G
Super Member
Mark, just curious, how does the Yamaha work better than an Airport Express? I assume the internal DAC in the Yamaha is better than the AE if you are not using an external DAC.
I have been using AEs for over 13 years with no issues. Initially I used the 1st generation and now the 2nd generation. Once set up, I never touch them for years. I have never had a dropout or any other issue. I use the optical output into stand alone DACs and the SQ is excellent.
mhedges
Super Member
Issue I had was dropouts. I could never get rid of them. Now, to be fair it was mostly when I was streaming from a laptop running iTunes, controlled by my phone. I think it did better streaming directly from my phone.
Lou G
Super Member
Interesting, we streamed from a MacBook Pro initially and currently from a Mac Mini running headless and using iTunes. We use our iPhones or iPads as controllers and have never had a dropout in about 13 years of use.
uofmtiger
Addicted Member
Airplay 1 had a short buffer, so if you had any issues with wifi, it might drop the signal. Airplay 2 ( which is available on the later AirPort Express units) increased that buffer, so there are less dropouts ( in theory).
I never had issues with any of my AirPort Express units going all the way back to “ AirTunes”, but we are out in the suburbs, so there isn’t a lot of interference in the area.
I never had issues with any of my AirPort Express units going all the way back to “ AirTunes”, but we are out in the suburbs, so there isn’t a lot of interference in the area.
mhedges
Super Member
I think it was an issue with Windows and iTunes not playing nice. I had problems even when I lived in the middle of nowhere in Upstate NY, where the closest neighbor was 600+ feet away.
I never understood why they made the buffer so small. Maybe due to the price of memory at the time Airplay came out?
I never understood why they made the buffer so small. Maybe due to the price of memory at the time Airplay came out?
This is exactly how I've used them. Set and forget with no issues. I also had first gen and when those burned out, the second gen. The one that just burned out was starting to drop the iPhone connection. So that seems like an indication that it is almost done. It'd be nice to know if anyone repairs these as I see renewed ones on Amazon.
uofmtiger
Addicted Member
Most likely and they wanted to keep the price on these affordable. I was talking with the guy that ran our marketing dept about them several years ago since he was known for being a Mac guy ( everyone else had PCs) and he didn’t even know they were for music. He used his for connecting a printer in a room without Ethernet before wifi printing was popular.
I mainly used mine with Macs/iOS devices, but for a while I used a program called Airfoil on the PC ( last I checked they dropped PC support) and it worked well. I still have Airfoil on my Macs but don’t use it as often these days. I don’t use AirPlay with my PCs these days.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
The DAC in the Airport Express was pretty poor so I used the optical connection to feed the HT system. Now days I use the 4k Apple TV instead. . It also does surround sound very well too. You could use a blue tooth interface to. I use a Mcintosh piece, but they are pricey. But it works very well and sounds great. Much much better than the Airport Express ever did. Its even better than my year old DAC.
I use Airfoil on my office iMac. Very convenient and works well.