We finally bought a stereo — with apologies to the audiophiles, we got an RCA RS2653 from Wal-Mart — and so far, it seems to suit us fine. (We can always return it within 14 days if we don’t like it.) However, in the course of setting it up, I’ve discovered a problem… not with the stereo, but with my Apple AirPort Express, which we use to stream music from our computers via AirTunes.
The AirPort Express is no longer producing any right-side audio output — only left-side. I did some testing and determined that the problem is definitely not with the speakers or the cable or our computers or the songs being played, but with the AirPort Express. Unfortunately, it’s no longer under warranty (I bought it in summer 2004), so while I can take it into the Apple Store, I doubt there will be a cheap solution. And a new one costs $99, perhaps a little less from a reseller or eBay, but still a good bit of change that I wasn’t planning on spending.
One interesting thing, though, is that the failure of the right-side audio seems to have coincided with the appearance of a red light constantly glowing out of the audio output jack, which is a problem that I also experienced on my PowerBook last year — although in that case, it caused my laptop speakers to stop working entirely, but both left and right audio worked fine when I plugged in earphones. Anyway, the red light supposedly means that something has kicked the audio into “optical” mode. I wonder if that could account for the right-side audio not working, and I wonder if there’s any home remedy to such a problem?
UPDATE: As noted in a later post, I brought the AirPort Express to the Genius Bar at the Knoxville Apple Store, and:
[V]oila! — my latest Apple saga had a quick, happy ending. Although the AirPort Express itself isn’t under warranty anymore, the Genius said the AppleCare plan for my PowerBook covers one base station, so I can get service under the PowerBook’s plan. I’m not sure if that’s actually true or if he’s stretching the rules for me — I sort of suspect the latter — but either way, I’m certainly not complaining. Anyway, he confirmed that the unit is broken, and he’s going to “swap it out” for a new (or rather, I think, refurbished) one that should arrive in 3-5 days, at no cost to me. Sweet!
That was the evening of Thursday, June 28, and it actually arrived on Sunday, July 1. Nice.
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Categories: Technology & Nerdy News
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June 28th, 2007 at 5:05:31 pm
Before calling it dead i’d try two things, first check your cable, it could be that the cable is bad, try using it to connect to a different audio out source and see fi you get stereo there. Second try reseting the AE: http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/mac911/2004/08/000282/
June 28th, 2007 at 5:25:33 pm
I should have mentioned that I already checked the cable, but indeed I did. :) Thanks for the resetting idea, though, will try that.
June 28th, 2007 at 5:29:25 pm
apple stuff seems so great :)
June 28th, 2007 at 5:35:21 pm
apple stuff seems so great :)
Well the problem isn’t the Apple stuff, its Brendan, he just seems to break all his gadgets, or get ones that will break. Its why i’ve decided never to let him babysit any future kids i have…
June 28th, 2007 at 5:49:01 pm
Heh. In the case of the AirPort Express, though, apparently random failures after 1-2 years have been a recurring problem — if you read the customer reviews on the link to the product page, you can see that. (Granted, customer reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt, because people are much more likely to complain than to praise a product — but still, it seems to be happen quite often.) And it’s not like I’ve abused my AirPort Express in some way. With cameras and laptops, you can say I use them more heavily than the average person, but not with this.
While I’ll still put the quality of Apple’s products up against most other companies, I am starting to get a bit annoyed with all these problems. (My PowerBook is continuing to have issues, BTW. I’ve been cataloguing and taking screenshots of every single failure/crash/weird behavior, and may take it back to the Apple Store at some point, armed with a full armada of evidence of everything it’s done since I got it back, with a brand new OS and various brand new parts. There was no honeymoon period — it started having issues right away.) Of course, I never put Apple on a pedestal and believed its products are flawless, so it’s not like my belief system is being challenged here. The reason I prefer Apple products is because, when they work, they work better than most… and they “work” at least as often as most other companies’ products, if not moreso. But I recognize that all electronic products are liable to have failures, both hardware and software. That said, I do think it’s reasonable at this point for me to be a little annoyed at Apple. What isn’t reasonable is for people to turn that into, “Haha, Apple sucks,” without offering an alternative about exactly which other company is so much better… because really, this is pretty much par for the course with every consumer electronics manufacturer I have experience with.
June 28th, 2007 at 5:52:38 pm
I did not say it sucked I have more class than that :)
June 28th, 2007 at 5:58:45 pm
Incidentally, resetting the AirPort Express didn’t work. :(
June 28th, 2007 at 6:01:52 pm
“…— with apologies to the audiophiles, we got an RCA RS2653 from Wal-Mart — …”
How about some apologies to the proletarian Wage-slaves, ya bigfat bourgeois Scab ;> When the Union’s inspiration through the Workers’ blood shall run / There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun / … nyaah, Nevermind. :)
June 28th, 2007 at 6:14:45 pm
Good night, that’s a massive jumble of cables you’ve got going there, slick.
Thank you for supporting the Tennessee Valley Authority.
June 28th, 2007 at 9:18:53 pm
You and Becky are the zoo are putting out too many EM waves! I think you’ve been in over drive for the past month and you’re frying the equipment.
June 28th, 2007 at 9:19:39 pm
That should have read:
“You, Becky and the zoo….”
June 28th, 2007 at 9:33:13 pm
Thank you for supporting the Tennessee Valley Authority
Hahahaha Jay thats awesome!
June 28th, 2007 at 10:53:48 pm
whoa….cable maintenance?
i just got airport extreme tonight actually….802.11n mmmmmmm
June 29th, 2007 at 10:52:31 am
because really, this is pretty much par for the course with every consumer electronics manufacturer I have experience with.
Which is the whole point since Apple people (not necessarily you) insist “get a Mac/Apple and you won’t have any of these problems”
June 29th, 2007 at 12:54:36 pm
Which is the whole point since Apple people (not necessarily you) insist “get a Mac/Apple and you won’t have any of these problems”
Depends on what you define “these problems as”. I have never met an Apple fan who claims that Steve Jobs has somehow magically eliminated all mechanical failures from his products. However i HAVE seen and this is further proof that when something does go wrong, rather than screwing you over like most companies, Apple will actually stretch the rules (i was in an Apple store waiting for service once and a guy next to me had an iPod that had just gone out of warranty and they fixed it anyway). In addition there definitely ARE things you won’t have problems with like viruses, spyware, etc. Apple’s aren’t perfect, just better :)