The Computer Audiophile Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Hey Guys - Google just announced its Chromecast Audio device for $35. The press is touting the analog output, but according to Google it's got optical out of the same port. This could be pretty cool. I just ordered mine. https://store.google.com/product/chromecast_audio Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
new_media Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Enjoy seamless, high-quality sound wherever there’s Wi-Fi. Chromecast Audio streams straight from the cloud, so your music sounds the way it was meant to be heard. Would love to hear Neil Young's reaction to this claim. Link to comment
agillis Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Should be fairly straight forward to make it play back music from a local file server such as a VortexBox. You would need to have your music shared out via HTTP since Chromcast plays from a URL. You would also need to have it in the correct format. The video Chromcast only support mp4 (h264) and WAV audio. I wonder if this will support more audio formats since it's an audio player? agillis Small Green Computer http://www.smallgreencomputer.com/ Link to comment
rickca Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 What is the actual player app on this device? Sure there is Spotify but it isn't lossless yet. So if I mirror Qobuz or TIDAL streams to this device, what app is playing the music? Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs i7-6700K/Windows 10 --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's Link to comment
mrvco Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 AQ and Uptone must be happy that it has a USB port -- My Audio System Link to comment
rickca Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 AQ and Uptone must be happy that it has a USB port The USB port is just to power the device, it can't be used for audio output. The only digital audio output is optical. I wish it supported USB audio output, that would be fantastic. Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs i7-6700K/Windows 10 --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's Link to comment
robbbby Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 What is the actual player app on this device? Sure there is Spotify but it isn't lossless yet. So if I mirror Qobuz or TIDAL streams to this device, what app is playing the music? You can only use apps that are made for "casting". I'm going to guess qobuz and tidal aren't going to be adding the casting functionality to their apps. Link to comment
andybob Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 You can only use apps that are made for "casting". I'm going to guess qobuz and tidal aren't going to be adding the casting functionality to their apps. But Chrome has a Tidal plug in and will cast. Do we know what the digital optical out is ? I had heard 24 bit 96k. Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Tidal will support cast audio soon. My Chromecast Audio shipped today and will be delivered Wednesday. I hope to test it before leaving for RMAF. Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
Abee_V Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 The USB port is just to power the device, it can't be used for audio output. The only digital audio output is optical. I wish it supported USB audio output, that would be fantastic. +1 Link to comment
hk6230 Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Awaits for your feedback Devialet 200, KEF LS50, NUC (Roon), Sonos Connect Link to comment
rickca Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 You can only use apps that are made for "casting". I'm pretty sure Google said you can mirror audio if your app doesn't support casting. I'm asking how this works, and what player is actually playing the music on the Chromecast Audio in such a case. Chris, can you please test Qobuz when you get your device? I switched from TIDAL to Qobuz because I primarily listen to classical and jazz. I think this means that the Chromecast Audio device would not independently stream the FLAC files like it would if the app supported casting. Separate question ... if TIDAL is going to have casting support, does that confirm that Chromecast Audio supports FLAC without transcoding? The original Chromecast did not. Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs i7-6700K/Windows 10 --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Just connected the Chromecast Audio via optical output to my Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC RS. According to Google the device supports 24 bit / 96 kHz playback. I guess we'll find out :~) Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 So far this thing sucks. It's resampling all audio to 48 kHz on the digital output. Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
rickca Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Hmm the support pages say High Dynamic Range (that's what Google calls it) is always enabled for digital optical. I guess you will need to use their support forum. That's disappointing. Let us know what you try with redbook, please. Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs i7-6700K/Windows 10 --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Hmm the support pages say High Dynamic Range (that's what Google calls it) is always enabled for digital optical. I guess you will need to use their support forum. That's disappointing. Let us know what you try with redbook, please. I'm guessing the HDR setting removes volume normalization, but not 100% sure. My first test was with a few different audio sources. Streaming Spotify 44.1 material is output at 48 kHz. Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
rickca Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Sorry yeah you're right HDR in Google terms relates to volume rather than resolution. So even 44.1 is resampled to 48? Hopefully there's a firmware update. Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs i7-6700K/Windows 10 --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's Link to comment
wgscott Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 So far this thing sucks. It's resampling all audio to 48 kHz on the digital output. Apple TV does the same. It sounds ok to me for a bedroom source. Does the sound quality suck, or is it the fact it resamples what sucks? Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Apple TV does the same. It sounds ok to me for a bedroom source. Does the sound quality suck, or is it the fact it resamples what sucks? So far the sucking comes from the resampling and the fact that getting apps to work with the Audio device (not the Chromecast Video device) is difficult. I'm getting all kinds of error messages with different apps, likely because the device is new. I haven't even spent time listening to sound quality yet. Still fighting with usability. Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
Snowmonkey Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 I often stream music from my phone to my normal (video) Chromecast, using the Cast Screen function, then to my DAC via the TV's optical audio output. Gizmo also allows you to cast from JRiver, though there is obviously some downsampling. Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. - Einstein Link to comment
Toolonginexile Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 While I have read the forums here for years this thread is the first that compelled me to post. The chromecast audio holds so much promise if it can execute simply. I mean most of us just want to stream uncompressed non down sampled files from a cpu to the digital input of their choice. Particularly flac files. High Rez would be gravy. Please please keep keep this thread alive because if one can figure out how to use a 35 dollar dongle which does not molest their files it would be quite a coup. Plus if it could play higher res files it and hit market share it might finally scare Sonos into going higher Rez. I mean I don't think the folks on this forum think that steaming through AirPlay gets anywhere near acceptable quality beyond background Link to comment
speavler Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 While I have read the forums here for years this thread is the first that compelled me to post. The chromecast audio holds so much promise if it can execute simply. I mean most of us just want to stream uncompressed non down sampled files from a cpu to the digital input of their choice. Particularly flac files. High Rez would be gravy. Please please keep keep this thread alive because if one can figure out how to use a 35 dollar dongle which does not molest their files it would be quite a coup. Plus if it could play higher res files it and hit market share it might finally scare Sonos into going higher Rez. I mean I don't think the folks on this forum think that steaming through AirPlay gets anywhere near acceptable quality beyond background airplay is cd quality Link to comment
jeffmudrick Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 FWIW Tidal works fine with Chromecast Audio using the Bubble UPnP Android app and feeding my Audio-GD DAC. It was a breeze to set up and it works reliably . Love the convenience. Link to comment
tgb Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 hi jeff what about sound quality? Does the Chromecast reduce SQ compared to your std streamer or it is a top notch streamer ? thks 2.1 basic stuff => 2 mains are Dynaudio Core59 + sub Dynaudio 18s Actives / digital AES in / active correction on PC side Passive daddy setup is dead Link to comment
Toolonginexile Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 airplay is cd quality Your right...but just barely lol. Anyway, my chrome cast should arrive this week so i can report on whether i can get it to stream direct natively without transcoding to pm3. I may not be the best tester thought since i run a mac and use ipad/iphone as a remote and i believe that in the past use of the flac player apps may cause transcoding down to mp3. Not sure on this but i will try vox, golden ear and Onkyo HD player and see what kind of output i can get from the chromecast. While the chromecast's specs say up to 92hkz, I hope to see this in the real world. Link to comment
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