AirPlay 7 minute cut off

[Wavertonwood]

A recent issue has cropped up whilst using Apple AirPlay.  Any song longer than 7mins, the track goes silent at the 7min mark but the song appears to keep playing according to the time counter.

 

I can get the track to produce sound again by pausing it and rewinding to just before the 7min cut off and press play. The track then plays as normal.
 

It happens with a variety of source files AAC, ALAC, MP3.   The files are locally stored on an external hard drive connected to a MacBook Air.  Apple Music Player sends the track, via AirPlay, to a Apple TV with a optical output to KEF LS50s.
 

I have restarted every link in the chain and also checked for updates but it still happens. 

[kirkmc]

Does this happen with other devices, such as an iPhone or iPad? (If so, this excludes the storage as a factor.)

 

In the Energy Saver preferences, do you have the MBA set to go to sleep after 7 midnutes perchance? 

[Marco Klobas]

Not related to your issue: I've noticed that gapless playback doesn't work anymore since iPadOS/iOS 14.7.1 (maybe even since 14.7, some users say).

 

A couple of seconds are missing at the beginning of every next track. Quite annoying.

 

Another issue with AirPlay I personally noticed – and it's somehow similar to what you're experiencing – is a little hiccup after about 8 minutes of AirPlay playback. It happens on Wi-Fi only (for example from an iPad). It's particularly evident if a drummed track is played because it goes slightly out of tempo. After that it plays fine for hours.

 

It doesn't happen via Ethernet.

[Wavertonwood]

3 hours ago, kirkmc said:

Does this happen with other devices, such as an iPhone or iPad? (If so, this excludes the storage as a factor.)

 

In the Energy Saver preferences, do you have the MBA set to go to sleep after 7 midnutes perchance? 

Thanks for the reply. It doesn’t happen when I am listening to the tracks on the MacBook Air (using a USB dac) and when played to Sonos1 via AirPlay.

The Power Adapter setttings are set to 15mins to turn the display off. Nothing else is set around the 7min mark.