# Keep-alive (AirPlay)

> Playing inaudible noise so AirPlay doesn't suspend the stream during silence and renegotiate it, about 370 ms, when sound resumes.

Updated 2026-10-06. Canonical page: https://lagless.app/glossary/keep-alive/

> An AirPlay keep-alive plays never-zero noise at a very low level so the driver never sees silence and doesn't suspend the stream. Without it, the first sound after a pause waits about 370 ms for a new stream.

Related: [Why the start of sounds gets cut off](/guides/airplay-sound-cut-off-at-start/) · [dBFS](/glossary/dbfs/)