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Gapless playback with CCA from Android App Hi-Fi Cast


Qhwoeprktiyns

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  • 1 month later...
How's the iOS version going, are you planning to release soon? Thanks

Hmmm. I've been so busy concentrating on the Android version of the app I haven't really put any more thought into an iOS version.

 

And even though I've received a lot of positive feedback about the app, I think I may have overestimated the demand for gapless playback via Chromecast devices. So I doubt if I'll ever be able to justify the effort required to create an iOS version. I'm not ruling it out completely but if it does happen it won't be anytime soon.

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  • 5 months later...
On 11/14/2016 at 6:30 PM, hopkins said:

Discovered recently the Hi-Fi Cast app, which offers a sleek and user friendly design, as well as gapless streaming (with FLAC files, so far) for the Chromecast.

 

Can read local files on your phone/tablet, and more importantly connect to a Upnp server. I have tested it with Minimserver and AssetUpnp and it works very well.

 

The developer is responsive and eager to improve the app with additional features, but so far has a limited user base. So I thought I would give a heads up. No affiliation whatsoever, so just an enthusiastic user!

 

The chromecast audio is unfortunately a little underrated. With a good quality Toslink input on a DAC, it has really good SQ, and the simplicity and flexibility, for a ridiculous cost, is unparalleled in my opinion. This type of app makes it even easier to use.

Hi there. I have also recently discovered the app and completely agree with the above post.

I too find the CCA a fantastic solution to play music from local sources and/or Spotify and the like. 

However, I was slightly annoyed, to use a mild expression, discovering there was no gapless playback inherent in CCA. Or at least, so far there isn't. So I was excited to find I was actually able to play gapless using Hi-fi Cast. 

Now, while I definitely agree that casting  local files from your tablet and phone to the CCA using an app like Hi-fi Cast to take advantage of locally stored lossless files and gapless playback is great, I read somewhere that sending lossless (hi-res)  files directly from your device to the CCA might result in some (heavyish?) processing of the original files, as opposed to playing music from a server/s,  thus bypassing your tablet or phone. 

My newbie question is : is this really so? Is what I'm hearing through my headphones still flac music or not? In fact, I don't hear much/if any difference when listening to flac files streamed through CCA or played on my hires DAP. It might be that I can't really appreciate the difference anymore, being in my 50s, though?. 

Looking  forward to a well-informed reply, 

Thanks a lot

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Hi Hikoki,

 

7 hours ago, Hikoki said:

I read somewhere that sending lossless (hi-res)  files directly from your device to the CCA might result in some (heavyish?) processing of the original files, as opposed to playing music from a server/s,  thus bypassing your tablet or phone. 

My newbie question is : is this really so? Is what I'm hearing through my headphones still flac music or not? In fact, I don't hear much/if any difference when listening to flac files streamed through CCA or played on my hires DAP. It might be that I can't really appreciate the difference anymore, being in my 50s, though?.

Any extra processing by the device on the audio files at the server/sender end of a network audio file streaming system should have no impact on sound quality at the renderer/receiver end (ie your CCA), given that the Hi-Fi Cast developers (findhdmusic.com) have stated that the gapless providing function is bit perfect. See the first key feature on findhdmusic.com's Hi-Fi Cast page:

http://www.findhdmusic.com/high-resolution/android-apps/music/dlna-upnp-chromecast/hi-fi-cast/

 

Possible concern about the extra processing is simply one of resources in that the handheld Android device will need to be able to cope with it, especially its battery. So nothing to do with sound quality!

 

Incidentally, bit perfect does not necessarily mean that the CCA is receiving an actual FLAC file stream. However, it will still be as you say "flac music", since this would mean that the Hi-Fi Cast app has itself (bit perfectly) decoded and gaplessly played the FLAC files in the playlist in order to produce a gapless continuous PCM stream to send to the CCA over the network.

 

John

We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.

-- Jo Cox

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Hi Cebolla

Thanks a lot for the very quick reply. I needn´t worry then about  SQ getting somehow ˇworseˇ when locally stored files are played from my tablet to the CCA. You´ve made my day.:)

Thanks again for taking the time to write this very detailed explanation. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!!!

 

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Don't use the CCA much, as I switched to Roon at home.  Hi-Fi Cast is still my favorite player on my phone and tablet when I am on the go... 

 

Not sure there is much difference in SQ between local files and using a dnla server. I think it is more a question of convenience. 

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Hi hopkins, 

Didn't know anything about Roon until I checked the Roon Labs website after reading your post. What does Roon have that CCA doesn't in terms of SQ and convenience of use? Mind you, recently I've only been listening to music from Spotify and off of my tablet using CCA and its analogue out to a headphone amp or a reciever. 

Cheers

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14 minutes ago, Hikoki said:

Hi hopkins, 

Didn't know anything about Roon until I checked the Roon Labs website after reading your post. What does Roon have that CCA doesn't in terms of SQ and convenience of use? Mind you, recently I've only been listening to music from Spotify and off of my tablet using CCA and its analogue out to a headphone amp or a reciever. 

Cheers

 

That would be the topic for a different thread. There are many on Roon, and you can try it out for 14 days to find out how you like it. 

 

Vis à vis the Chromecast, you cannot compare it with Roon, as Roon works with other "interfaces". If you are using the CCA with analogue out, you can try the toslink out instead but you need a DAC in your system. SQ will then depend on the DAC... 

 

Here again, this is the subject of many other threads... 

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Ok, thanks a lot for replying. An external DAC has been on my mind for quite some time, but since the CCA internal DAC is no slouch according to many and myself, the tough question is what DAC to get for a reasonable price to hear any difference. 

Thanks a lot

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30 minutes ago, Hikoki said:

Ok, thanks a lot for replying. An external DAC has been on my mind for quite some time, but since the CCA internal DAC is no slouch according to many and myself, the tough question is what DAC to get for a reasonable price to hear any difference. 

Thanks a lot

 

Exactly. Cannot help you with that one... 

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