Digital Trends

Apple AirPort Express

August 9th, 2004 | by Jeff Fila

Playing Music

Apple's iTunes is one of the most popular software music players, and their iTunes store is the most popular online music service. Integrating the AirPort Express with iTunes makes sense for the company and those that have been searching for a way to use iTunes with their home stereo equipment may appreciate the product. However, this is not the ultimate in music streaming.

Streaming music from your computer to your stereo through the AirPort Express is very simple. Once your AirPort Express is setup to stream music, all you need to do is change your output option from the main iTunes page with one click (as shown below). This turns off your computer speakers and turns on the AirPort Express streaming. You cannot play music on your laptop and your stereo at the same time.

But keep in mind that the AirPort Express requires that you use the computer to control the music on your stereo, a proposition that some users may find a bit clunky. There is no remote control, no on-screen display, and no built-in display on the unit.

There is also a bit of a lag associated with streaming music with the AirPort Express. This lag is not as bad as the latency experienced with the Linksys Wireless B Media Adapter or the Actiontec Wireless Digital Media Player, but it certainly is not the instant response we experienced with the SlimDevices products and the Gateway Connected DVD Player. When selecting a song to play, expect a second or so lag before it begins. The same is true when pausing a track or manually switching from one song to another. This is the case for both the analog and digital connections from the AirPort Express, but the digital optical connection adds one more annoyance. When connecting digitally from your AirPort Express to a stereo, there is a noticeable gap that cuts off the beginning of a song. We watched the light of the optical connector as it switched tracks and noticed that the light is actually turned off for a fraction of a second, which certainly is the cause for this gap.

The latest version of iTunes, updated to support the AirPort Express with what Apple calls AirTunes has a few new features. One feature we really liked was what they call the “Party Shuffle” which allows you to pick songs you want to hear from an ever-changing selection that the application updates each time a new song plays. This allows you to pick your favorite from a list and then be presented with a new list each time.

One other thing worth mentioning when it comes to music and the AirPort Express is that the device gets quite hot. Apple suggests that you give it enough airflow and open space to breathe, something that may be tough to do if you want to put it in an audio rack.

Printing with the AirPort Express

Having a wireless print server in your house for all computers to access sounds like a great idea, and for the most part, this feature works fine. Apple's list of supported printers did not list our test printer — the Epson Sylus Photo 750 — but we knew from using the Compex NP54G-USB and ClarkConnect's Linux printing that it should work fine.

We had no problem following Apple's instructions and getting a PC on our network to see the printer and begin printing. This process takes only a matter of seconds. However, hooking up a Mac client was not as simple. Apple instructs you to use their Rendezvous protocol to achieve this, but following their instructions does not seem to work. Several posters at the support forums reported the same issue. It turns out that adding a printer with the OS X printer configuration utility does not work, but adding it while in an application, like Text Edit does the trick. As of this writing Apple has not issued a fix for this and only users of the product seem to be aware of the issue.