I've fairly recently bought a Denon hifi system, centering around
this Network Audio player.. (actually, I've had it since January, but as I wanted all the work on our extension to be completed before installing it, I only tried it for the first time last week......)
So. Set it all up and initially had problems getting the unit to "speak" to the network due to firewall issues, but got this sorted without too much difficulty. Now the whole system comprises of the above mentioned Network Audio player, a CD player and a amp/receiver. CD is fine, amp is fine, FM reception is fine, DAB radio is fine, Internet radio is fine.
The problem is when streaming from music stored on my laptop. There's two choices here:-
- Connect directly to music on the HDD and choose tracks via the smallish display on the Denon
- Go into iTunes and, using Airplay, choose all the songs etc from the iTunes interface, then stream to the hifi
For the former, there's no problem. OK, the display is a bit tiny to see from the other side of the room, and navigation is clatty, but the sound is good, and there's no stuttering, buffering, stopping etc
So, my issue is when using iTunes and Airplay. Basically it
is stuttering, buffering, stopping all the time and ruining the experience.
Thought originally that it could be down to the wireless connection. The router is in the hallway, about 30 feet from the laptop and hifi, which are in the living room. Signal strength is showing an average of 82% here. So, have just tried moving the router (via a phone extension cable) temporarily into the living room and hardwiring via LAN into the Denon - this gave 100% signal. Still got the issues though. Last thing I have tried is a LAN from the laptop to the router as well, meaning full wired connections. With this setup (which is not practical and also defeats the streaming ideal) the music flows perfectly. However, unplug the LAN from the laptop and music instantly stops. Not surprising, but weirdly, switch the wifi off on the laptop whilst leaving the physical connections and it also stops!
It would seem from all this that the wireless setup is OK, as when not using Airplay the music is fine. But with iTunes and Airplay then the issues start. I don't think there's any buffering problems with iTunes itself, as played via the laptop speakers it's fine. So it's almost as if iTunes is spitting out it's dummy unelss there is 100% perfect connection 100% of the time....?
I can find precious little about these sort of issues online, so was hoping that an expert out there might read this and give me some advice!!