From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

I don't know who might be interested - Andy H maybe? - but if, like me, you've been using an elderly Airport Express to send audio to even more elderly hi-fi equipment, and are wondering what to do when the Express croaks, I just came across something new to me, at least.

It's an open source package called shairport-sync, and is basically a reverse-engineered Airplay 2 clone. I've installed it on a Raspberry Pi (just
a 3 model B+; I don't think it's very demanding), and hooked up an old Behringer DAC I had lying around. Seems to work fine!

https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync/blob/master/BUILD.md

Mike Brady's instructions at the above link are good, but I also referred to this:

https://howtohifi.com/how-to-create-an-airplay-endpoint-with-a-raspberry-pi/

Maybe this is old news to everyone, but thought it was worth a mention.
--
TimH
pull tooth to reply by email
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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

I don't know who might be interested - Andy H maybe? - but if, like me, you've
been using an elderly Airport Express to send audio to even more elderly hi-fi
equipment, and are wondering what to do when the Express croaks, I just came across something new to me, at least.

It's an open source package called shairport-sync, and is basically a reverse-engineered Airplay 2 clone. I've installed it on a Raspberry Pi (just a 3 model B+; I don't think it's very demanding), and hooked up an old Behringer DAC I had lying around. Seems to work fine!

https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync/blob/master/BUILD.md

Mike Brady's instructions at the above link are good, but I also referred to this:

https://howtohifi.com/how-to-create-an-airplay-endpoint-with-a-raspberry-pi/

Maybe this is old news to everyone, but thought it was worth a mention.

To be honest, that looks far too finicky for me these days.

For old fashioned listening, I have Technics SL-1800, NAD 7020, and a pair
of little Tannoys. IrCOm listening to more vinyl at the moment.

However, I now have a Sky Glass Air TV, which does have an Optical Audio
output (wasnrCOt on the original Glass TV). I got a little DAC off Amazon,
and linked that to the NAD. That obviously plays audio to the analogue
setup - and even sends audio from my Apple TV box as well - the Glass TV
has the Apple TV app, but not Music.

I do also use the HomePod Minis as well, for the digital audio needs, but really use AirPlay much, other than to Handover from a device.

I tend to stick to physical connections as much as possible now, it just
seems a lot less bother.

Cheers anyway.
--
Andy H
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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

I don't know who might be interested - Andy H maybe? - but if, like me, you've
been using an elderly Airport Express to send audio to even more elderly hi-fi
equipment, and are wondering what to do when the Express croaks, I just came across something new to me, at least.

It's an open source package called shairport-sync, and is basically a reverse-engineered Airplay 2 clone. I've installed it on a Raspberry Pi (just a 3 model B+; I don't think it's very demanding), and hooked up an old Behringer DAC I had lying around. Seems to work fine!

https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync/blob/master/BUILD.md

Mike Brady's instructions at the above link are good, but I also referred to this:

https://howtohifi.com/how-to-create-an-airplay-endpoint-with-a-raspberry-pi/

Maybe this is old news to everyone, but thought it was worth a mention.

Fine, but why bother? There is a near infinite supply
of elderly Airport Express boxes at next to nothing,
or even completely free.
Certainly far cheaper than a Raspi, and less bother,

Jan
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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 18 Mar 2026 at 12:05:14rC>pm GMT, "J. J. Lodder" <J. J. Lodder> wrote:

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

I don't know who might be interested - Andy H maybe? - but if, like me, you've
been using an elderly Airport Express to send audio to even more elderly hi-fi
equipment, and are wondering what to do when the Express croaks, I just came >> across something new to me, at least.

It's an open source package called shairport-sync, and is basically a
reverse-engineered Airplay 2 clone. I've installed it on a Raspberry Pi (just
a 3 model B+; I don't think it's very demanding), and hooked up an old
Behringer DAC I had lying around. Seems to work fine!

https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync/blob/master/BUILD.md

Mike Brady's instructions at the above link are good, but I also referred to >> this:

https://howtohifi.com/how-to-create-an-airplay-endpoint-with-a-raspberry-pi/ >>
Maybe this is old news to everyone, but thought it was worth a mention.

Fine, but why bother? There is a near infinite supply
of elderly Airport Express boxes at next to nothing,
or even completely free.
Certainly far cheaper than a Raspi, and less bother,

Well... looking at completed items on ebay now, they seem to be -u27 and up. That's for old gear that's really quite likely to have a limited life. In my case, I already had the pi (which is too old for a lot of things one might otherwise use a pi for) and the DAC, so it was essentially free, for 30
minutes playing around.

And it'll run on a pi Zero, which is something like -u15. (Though I know they always end up costing more, when you add power supplies, cases etc.)
--
TimH
pull tooth to reply by email
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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

On 18 Mar 2026 at 12:05:14?pm GMT, "J. J. Lodder" <J. J. Lodder> wrote:

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

I don't know who might be interested - Andy H maybe? - but if, like me,
you've been using an elderly Airport Express to send audio to even more
elderly hi-fi equipment, and are wondering what to do when the Express
croaks, I just came across something new to me, at least.

It's an open source package called shairport-sync, and is basically a
reverse-engineered Airplay 2 clone. I've installed it on a Raspberry Pi
(just a 3 model B+; I don't think it's very demanding), and hooked up
an old Behringer DAC I had lying around. Seems to work fine!

https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync/blob/master/BUILD.md

Mike Brady's instructions at the above link are good, but I also
referred to this:

https://howtohifi.com/how-to-create-an-airplay-endpoint-with-a-raspberr
y-pi/

Maybe this is old news to everyone, but thought it was worth a mention.

Fine, but why bother? There is a near infinite supply
of elderly Airport Express boxes at next to nothing,
or even completely free.
Certainly far cheaper than a Raspi, and less bother,

Well... looking at completed items on ebay now, they seem to be u27 and up. That's for old gear that's really quite likely to have a limited life. In my case, I already had the pi (which is too old for a lot of things one might otherwise use a pi for) and the DAC, so it was essentially free, for 30 minutes playing around.

And it'll run on a pi Zero, which is something like u15. (Though I know they always end up costing more, when you add power supplies, cases etc.)

Typical prices in these parts are about 10 euro,
with lots of them on offer,
(ranging from free to 60 euro asking price)
No reason to buy a spare ahead of time.

Jan
(have one switched with the amp power block,
takes about 5 seconds to lock into the network)


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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 17 Mar 2026 at 9:05:19rC>pm GMT, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

I don't know who might be interested - Andy H maybe? - but if, like me, you've
been using an elderly Airport Express to send audio to even more elderly hi-fi
equipment, and are wondering what to do when the Express croaks, I just came >> across something new to me, at least.

It's an open source package called shairport-sync, and is basically a
reverse-engineered Airplay 2 clone. I've installed it on a Raspberry Pi (just
a 3 model B+; I don't think it's very demanding), and hooked up an old
Behringer DAC I had lying around. Seems to work fine!

https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync/blob/master/BUILD.md

Mike Brady's instructions at the above link are good, but I also referred to >> this:

https://howtohifi.com/how-to-create-an-airplay-endpoint-with-a-raspberry-pi/ >>
Maybe this is old news to everyone, but thought it was worth a mention.

To be honest, that looks far too finicky for me these days.

No worries - I know the feeling very well :)

For old fashioned listening, I have Technics SL-1800, NAD 7020, and a pair
of little Tannoys. IrCOm listening to more vinyl at the moment.

However, I now have a Sky Glass Air TV, which does have an Optical Audio output (wasnrCOt on the original Glass TV). I got a little DAC off Amazon, and linked that to the NAD. That obviously plays audio to the analogue
setup - and even sends audio from my Apple TV box as well - the Glass TV
has the Apple TV app, but not Music.

I do also use the HomePod Minis as well, for the digital audio needs, but really use AirPlay much, other than to Handover from a device.

I tend to stick to physical connections as much as possible now, it just seems a lot less bother.

The shairport-sync setup seems very stable so far, unlike the Yamaha receiver in the other room, whose Airplay connection is not 100%, especially with the old kitchen iPad.

I'm using the pi + shairport to stream to an older (there's a theme emerging here) Roberts internet radio, which I probably wouldn't have bothered with,
had it involved actual money. Which would have been a shame, because I'd forgotten how good the Roberts actually sounds!
--
TimH
pull tooth to reply by email
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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

On 17 Mar 2026 at 9:05:19rC>pm GMT, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

I don't know who might be interested - Andy H maybe? - but if, like me, you've
been using an elderly Airport Express to send audio to even more elderly hi-fi
equipment, and are wondering what to do when the Express croaks, I just came
across something new to me, at least.

It's an open source package called shairport-sync, and is basically a
reverse-engineered Airplay 2 clone. I've installed it on a Raspberry Pi (just
a 3 model B+; I don't think it's very demanding), and hooked up an old
Behringer DAC I had lying around. Seems to work fine!

https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync/blob/master/BUILD.md

Mike Brady's instructions at the above link are good, but I also referred to
this:

https://howtohifi.com/how-to-create-an-airplay-endpoint-with-a-raspberry-pi/

Maybe this is old news to everyone, but thought it was worth a mention.

To be honest, that looks far too finicky for me these days.

No worries - I know the feeling very well :)

To be fair, IrCOm often tempted to have a go at these things, but rarely have any spare cash to be buying the necessary bits.

IrCOm pretty much in the rCyif it ainrCOt brokerCa.rCO camp now. Although I do have a
bit of mind on escaping the Apple ecosystem, just in case circumstances
dictate such a thing at some point. But despite my efforts in hunting down
a replacement ecosystem, nothing actually works as well as the Apple one
does, especially if you really embrace much of the iCloud system. And in reality nothing else works out any cheaper anyway.

For old fashioned listening, I have Technics SL-1800, NAD 7020, and a pair >> of little Tannoys. IrCOm listening to more vinyl at the moment.

However, I now have a Sky Glass Air TV, which does have an Optical Audio
output (wasnrCOt on the original Glass TV). I got a little DAC off Amazon, >> and linked that to the NAD. That obviously plays audio to the analogue
setup - and even sends audio from my Apple TV box as well - the Glass TV
has the Apple TV app, but not Music.

I do also use the HomePod Minis as well, for the digital audio needs, but
really use AirPlay much, other than to Handover from a device.

I tend to stick to physical connections as much as possible now, it just
seems a lot less bother.

The shairport-sync setup seems very stable so far, unlike the Yamaha receiver in the other room, whose Airplay connection is not 100%, especially with the old kitchen iPad.

I'm using the pi + shairport to stream to an older (there's a theme emerging here) Roberts internet radio, which I probably wouldn't have bothered with, had it involved actual money. Which would have been a shame, because I'd forgotten how good the Roberts actually sounds!

Yeah, thererCOs a lot of mileage still left in some of the rCyclassicrCO brands and gear. I built up my Hi-Fi setup for not a lot of money (not much more
than the two HomePods in fact), and buying new would by multiple times more costly for a similar sound.

The HomePod speakers are good, but theyrCOre nowhere near the sound I get
from the almost 50 year old stuff. We tend to use them for background
noise, or for playing AppleTV stuff, or for when I simply canrCOt be bothered to move from my seat :-).
--
Andy H
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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 18 Mar 2026 at 12:55:30 GMT, "TimH" <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

Fine, but why bother? There is a near infinite supply
of elderly Airport Express boxes at next to nothing,
or even completely free.
Certainly far cheaper than a Raspi, and less bother,

Well... looking at completed items on ebay now, they seem to be -u27 and up. That's for old gear that's really quite likely to have a limited life.

There is a surprising number of Airplay enabled devices available now, some with a form factor similar to the Airport Express: <https://www.guidingtech.com/best-airplay-receivers-for-speakers-stereo-sound-systems/>
--
Martin
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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 27 Mar 2026 at 6:08:31rC>pm GMT, "Martin-S" <invalid@nomail.com> wrote:

On 18 Mar 2026 at 12:55:30 GMT, "TimH" <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

Fine, but why bother? There is a near infinite supply
of elderly Airport Express boxes at next to nothing,
or even completely free.
Certainly far cheaper than a Raspi, and less bother,

Well... looking at completed items on ebay now, they seem to be -u27 and up. >> That's for old gear that's really quite likely to have a limited life.

There is a surprising number of Airplay enabled devices available now, some with a form factor similar to the Airport Express: <https://www.guidingtech.com/best-airplay-receivers-for-speakers-stereo-sound-systems/>

Interesting, but the cheapest of those is -u90, which makes the Pi + shairport-sync option look even more attractive.
--
TimH
pull tooth to reply by email
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From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Martin-S <invalid@nomail.com> wrote:

On 18 Mar 2026 at 12:55:30 GMT, "TimH" <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

Fine, but why bother? There is a near infinite supply
of elderly Airport Express boxes at next to nothing,
or even completely free.
Certainly far cheaper than a Raspi, and less bother,

Well... looking at completed items on ebay now, they seem to be u27 and up. That's for old gear that's really quite likely to have a limited life.

There is a surprising number of Airplay enabled devices available now, some with a form factor similar to the Airport Express: <https://www.guidingtech.com/best-airplay-receivers-for-speakers-stereo-sound-

systems/>

But at prices that are way higher than a second hand Airport Express,

Jan


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