Sonically I could not tell a difference either, however, prior to the Airplay 2 upgrade, I experienced unacceptable dropouts with the Airport Express. After the upgrade to iOS that added Airplay 2 support, along with the latest firmware available for the Airport Express, they became usable. It was a big change: multiple speaker Airplay 2 capability and no more dropouts. I assume the new version of the software is doing better buffering. The improvement was so good I recently purchased two more Airport Express nodes to bring two more rooms into the system. Now I run a total of five Airport Express nodes around the house.I really couldn’t tell a difference between the two firmware’s that went from airplay 1 and 2
I have an AE Gen 1 and AE Gen 2, both running the latest firmware (7.8.1). This was my experience pairing them my 2 DACs, a Soncoz LA-QXD1 and an AudioEngine D1:
AE1 + Soncoz = unusable, lots of skipping.
AE2 + Soncoz = no skipping, but some nasty high frequency clicks
AE1 + AudioEngine = okay (I didn’t do much critical listening)
All doing AirPlay from my 2018 iPad Pro, with excellent WiFi connections. Disappointing results, for sure.
Tomorrow I’ll try the AE2 with no DAC (use analog out from the AE2). I’ll probably use that for my game room, and stick with my AppleTV 4K for streaming to the stereo / home theater.
Looking forward to learning what you experienced.I have an AE Gen 1 and AE Gen 2, both running the latest firmware (7.8.1). This was my experience pairing them my 2 DACs, a Soncoz LA-QXD1 and an AudioEngine D1:
AE1 + Soncoz = unusable, lots of skipping.
AE2 + Soncoz = no skipping, but some nasty high frequency clicks
AE1 + AudioEngine = okay (I didn’t do much critical listening)
All doing AirPlay from my 2018 iPad Pro, with excellent WiFi connections. Disappointing results, for sure.
Tomorrow I’ll try the AE2 with no DAC (use analog out from the AE2). I’ll probably use that for my game room, and stick with my AppleTV 4K for streaming to the stereo / home theater.
Yes, I’m using this unit, which also comes in a 4K flavor. It works great, very solid. I had dropouts with another brand.Are you using an HDMI audio extractor with the Apple TV? I was thinking of getting the new Apple TV and an HDMI extractor so I can use Apple music interface on TV and not Airplay music from phone or ipad
You may try AE Gen 1 with Firmware 6.7.1.? Also Shairport-Sync might be an interesting option. + Depends if you require Airplay 2 multiroom.I have tested multiple AEs and all of them did it on AirPlay 2! Using AirPlay 1 does away with it, but the drop outs are really bad in my apartment both on ethernet and 5GHz.
Yep, Volumio is Shairport-Sync too, if i am not wrong.I think I will now be using a RPi4 with Volumio for AirPlay
Farfelix, I'm also thinking of getting the Belkin to connect to a DAC via the optical out. For your music playing from the iPad, are you using Apple Music or something else? Because it's my understanding that Apple Music on iOS can't stream lossless over Airplay 2.I had been using AirPort Express from day 1 and I have never questioned it really. But recently I started lacking something in my system. I started to think about measurement and when I played some test tones I have discovered the crackling issues. It is not really audible in day to day listening, but if you play a sine wave, there are very clear pops instead of a clear tone. I have tested multiple AEs and all of them did it on AirPlay 2! Using AirPlay 1 does away with it, but the drop outs are really bad in my apartment both on ethernet and 5GHz. Plus you cannot do concurrent audio like calls and videos while listening, so that’s a no go for me.
So I started to compare the sound quality with USB to DAC from Mac and iPad and I was blown away! Radical improvement in my ears. Better soundstage, better dynamics, more detail. Speakers disappearing. All the stuff people say when they talk about great hifi sound!
I have blind tested this with my family. They are not critical listeners, but they would say that USB sounded better in 5 out of 6 songs (exactly the same votes. Ironically the one they didn’t like played in 96kHz from the USB!)
Yesterday the Belkin Soundform Connect arrived. Pairing was pretty flawless through NFC and the iOS Home app. Yes it plays everything as 48kHz, but I cannot tell the difference from USB now. It plays perfectly fine. The box says it supports up to 44.1kHz, so I wonder if there is not something Apple changed in the AirPlay 2 (possibly in conjunction with Lossless?) that makes the iOS upsample the sound to 48kHz? If that would be the case the AE would need to downsample it back to 44.1? I have no way of confirming this, but I don’t know why would the Belkin upsample something to a point outside their stated spec range?
Nevertheless, if you have an AirPort Express with AirPlay 2, try playing some test tones and if they come up garbled, then those 99 bucks for the Belkin dongle will be the best upgrade you can do to your system right now!
You can stream lossless via Airplay 1 which the olde Airport Express can do. Volumio on a Raspberry Pi is also Airplay 1Farfelix, I'm also thinking of getting the Belkin to connect to a DAC via the optical out. For your music playing from the iPad, are you using Apple Music or something else? Because it's my understanding that Apple Music on iOS can't stream lossless over Airplay 2.
Belkin has fixed 48kHz Output, what I read. So it is changing the signal. RopieeeXL is donationware and uses Shairport-Sync too next to several other functions like e.g. Roon. Using a Pi you are much more flexible imo. You can add an audio Hat too, if you want too. If you are not with Roon but e.g.Volumio just install that. Like said much more flexible using a Pi with options to fantastic SQ for little money.Farfelix, I'm also thinking of getting the Belkin to connect to a DAC via the optical out. For your music playing from the iPad, are you using Apple Music or something else? Because it's my understanding that Apple Music on iOS can't stream lossless over Airplay 2.
Would be great, if so easy Take e.g. a look here on the measurements or the many other discussion about this topic...Keep an eye on Airplay 2 streaming aac instead of ALAC...Apple TV resamples everything to 48, so no bitperfect from 44.1...etc etc etc...https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/apple-music-lossless-mess-part-2-airplay-r1026/As expected, sound quality is identical.
Yes, I need my time and better equipment too to get the differences. But they are there. For casual listening, I do not care and prefer the Airplay 2 multiroom features, etc. Also you can pair Sonos S1 and Sonos S2 environments by using Airplay 2 and to your homepods too at the same time of course. What is pretty cool imo! . For intensive listening however like to use the Airplay 1 endpoints (Shairport-Sync or Airport Express Gen 1 with 7.6.1 firmware) Upsampling from web 128 mp3 streams by using Airplay 1 sounds pretty nice imo. Apple did a good job there imo.I’m aware of the technicalities. But to my ears the sound quality via optical is identical.
The Apple TV upsampling affects my ability to play DTS files, but for two channel I can’t tell the difference.
Volumio only supports AirPlay1. Try DietPi with Shairport it supports AirPlay2.I think I will now be using a RPi4 with Volumio for AirPlay