Chromecast Audio, Muzo CobbleStone or other Audio Receiver

[Cornan]

6 hours ago, Cebolla said:

Cool - always look forward to your DIY forays (where do you find the time?)!

 

Great to hear that you look forward to my wacky experiments! ? For me the enjoyment with hifi is devided equal between tweaks and music. If I loose one part  or end up satisfied I'll simply risk to get bored. It have happened to me many times before...and I save myself by leaving all the old behind and starting fresh with something new! ?

[Rexp]

On 3/25/2017 at 6:53 AM, Cornan said:

 

Great to hear that you look forward to my wacky experiments! ? For me the enjoyment with hifi is devided equal between tweaks and music. If I loose one part  or end up satisfied I'll simply risk to get bored. It have happened to me many times before...and I save myself by leaving all the old behind and starting fresh with something new! ?

I love my CCA but the non gapless thing is a deal breaker for me. What have you tried as a replacement that sounds as good and does gapless (i mainly use Tidal)? Cheers!

[Cornan]

3 hours ago, Rexp said:

I love my CCA but the non gapless thing is a deal breaker for me. What have you tried as a replacement that sounds as good and does gapless (i mainly use Tidal)? Cheers!

 

Since gapless playback never have been a problem of mine I have never even looked for player that supports it. I've simply never needed it.

I use an Auralic Aries Mini on my main rig which supports gapless playback. If you look around I am sure you'll find one second hand for reasonable money. Not the same price range as CCA and Cobblestone ofcourse, but without a doubt a much better performer as well.

 

 

[BilboAlaska]

My Muzo arrived today and it works pretty well from iPad to home hifi across the room. It does not play loud though. Going above medium causes something like static or crackling sibilance. I will experiment with different wires and other room hifi systems. 

 

I did not know that it is only for iOS devices, ie iPad and iPhone not iMac OS. There is no Muzo app for Mac OS. I can use the iPad but it would have been convenient to use it from the home computer.

 

 

[Martin_Solo]

I guess there should be a better power supply to improve the sound quality of these players.  Can any one  recommend one?

 

[Cornan]

9 hours ago, BilboAlaska said:

 

I did not know that it is only for iOS devices, ie iPad and iPhone not iMac OS. There is no Muzo app for Mac OS. I can use the iPad but it would have been convenient to use it from the home computer.

 

There is a Muzo Player app for iOS, but not sure about OS though. Any UPnP app should work (but for Tidal or other cloud content it is very limited unless you run for example BubbleUPnP server on a PC)

[Cornan]

4 hours ago, Martin_Solo said:

I guess there should be a better power supply to improve the sound quality of these players.  Can any one  recommend one?

 

 

Battery power! Make sure to use a powerbank with a single USB output for best results and remove the charger while listening to music or keep the charger connected to a mains timer set on off during listening hours.

Recommendation would be a TP-Link Vivid 6700mAh powerbank, but just about any single output powerbank will no...but not all supply power while charging which Vivid do.

[Cornan]

With that said unprotected batteries sounds even better http://lygte-info.dk/info/isMyBatteryProtected UK.html, so using unprotected batteries with a mains timer is actually preferred (if will you ever hear the difference is another thing all together though) ?

[BilboAlaska]

Muzo Instruction Manual: "This device is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices running on iOS 6.0 or later and Android 2.3.3 or later." 

TIDAL is the perfect match for the Cobblestone, streaming music in lossless, high fidelity audio quality, ensuring the best sound experience possible. Add high definition music videos, curated editorials by music journalists, artists and experts, and so much more. NOTE: Currently only available on iOS. 

But other streaming is possible: "...you can stream from Mac or PC using iTunes Airplay."

 

I don't mind that really. I had just assumed wrongly that Tidal and Muzo Player App was for computers too.  

 

Today I am having no problem with the sound even when loud. I don't know why it started out badly. I have not moved it from the original location. Time will tell.  

 

Battery? I don't think that the Muzo has a battery. I find nothing in the literature and it only works when plugged in.

 

[Cornan]

@BilboAlaska

Well, here it is for iOS! ?

 

MUZO Player by Linkplay Tech Inc.
https://appsto.re/se/6Wo4W.i

You can power it just fine with a powerbank. The choise is your ofcourse. That is how I used it with better sq as a result. If you want the best possible sq out of the Cobblestone use BubbleUPnP on an Android tablet. It will stream in FLAC with a better sq than Muzo Player app.
 

[BilboAlaska]

Cornan. Thanks for the ideas. I didn't think of the powerbank. I was not aware of them so I googled them and see it is a big item. Rechargeable spare batteries basically. Tips on buying: https://powerbankreview.com. I love the idea of the solar powerbank and chargers.

 

I already have a brand new iPad (got as a gift for my wife who re-gifted it back to me). That make an Android tablet out of the scene. But, there are personal music players that are Android and stream Tidal. Not sure off hand which brands, maybe Sony.  A personal player is on my buy list because tablet is too cumbersome. I am going to look for a discussion of those. 

So one of those may sound better anyway and more convenient than a tablet. 

 

I also have no idea what Bubbleup is. Sounds like a soft drink. Well, whatever comes with the Android personal player should be great. Hopefully I don't even have to know what is uses. 

 

[BilboAlaska]

Muzo quit connecting to my wifi network. It was good for a few days, now of no use at all. About to toss in the trash.

 

So to send music wirelessly from a computer to a home hifi, that leaves CCA and Apple Airport, and?

[Cornan]

16 hours ago, BilboAlaska said:

Muzo quit connecting to my wifi network. It was good for a few days, now of no use at all. About to toss in the trash.

 

So to send music wirelessly from a computer to a home hifi, that leaves CCA and Apple Airport, and?

 

Remember that the iPad/iPhone/Android device needs to be on the same 2,4Ghz wireless network as the Muzo to work properly. Itndo not work with 5Ghz network. I never had any problems with my Muzo.

 

There is a lot of ways to send music from a computer to a home hifi. Muzo will work airplay (controlled from Tidal) and Foobar2000 with Bubbleguuum UPnP add-on and Bubble server installed (OpenHome selected).

Aurender, Auralic Aries Mini, Sonore microRendu, Sotm sms-200, Elaton Streamer etc are other more expensive (and better sounding) options than the ones you already mentioned, but there are plenty of other option depending on the SQ you seek.

CCA and Muzo have almost the same possibilities.

[BilboAlaska]

1 hour ago, Cornan said:

 

Remember that the iPad/iPhone/Android device needs to be on the same 2,4Ghz wireless network as the Muzo to work properly. Itndo not work with 5Ghz network. I never had any problems with my Muzo.

 

There is a lot of ways to send music from a computer to a home hifi. Muzo will work airplay (controlled from Tidal) and Foobar2000 with Bubbleguuum UPnP add-on and Bubble server installed (OpenHome selected).

Aurender, Auralic Aries Mini, Sonore microRendu, Sotm sms-200, Elaton Streamer etc are other more expensive (and better sounding) options than the ones you already mentioned, but there are plenty of other option depending on the SQ you seek.

CCA and Muzo have almost the same possibilities.

 

Thanks for helping! 

The Muzo was working for several days with my iPad Pro, so it must be on he right hz network whatever it is. The Muzo networks shows onscreen on the iPad which keeps repeating that it failed to connect. The Muzo voice also acknowledges that connection failed. I spent too many hours on it now in 2 days and my patience has maxed out. I am ready to get some higher end solution. 

 

So moving on to another way to get Tidal across the room wirelesly. I read a lot of reviews of Auralec and Sonore but I thought that they had to be hard wired to my network as does Bluesound?  

 

I considered an Apple Airport Express, which seems obvious to one on a Mac but I did that a few years ago and decided that it needed a DAC to connect because I was not impressed with the quality. I am not limited to these cheap units. 

I would go with a nice internet streamer on my main room system if I can find one that does not need to be hard wired to the network. 

From this forum I see the microRendu recommended often. I read their website but it got too complicated for me. How many pieces of gear does it take? Is it wired to the network, or wireless?

 

 

 

[Cornan]

9 hours ago, BilboAlaska said:

 

Thanks for helping! 

The Muzo was working for several days with my iPad Pro, so it must be on he right hz network whatever it is. The Muzo networks shows onscreen on the iPad which keeps repeating that it failed to connect. The Muzo voice also acknowledges that connection failed. I spent too many hours on it now in 2 days and my patience has maxed out. I am ready to get some higher end solution. 

 

So moving on to another way to get Tidal across the room wirelesly. I read a lot of reviews of Auralec and Sonore but I thought that they had to be hard wired to my network as does Bluesound?  

 

I considered an Apple Airport Express, which seems obvious to one on a Mac but I did that a few years ago and decided that it needed a DAC to connect because I was not impressed with the quality. I am not limited to these cheap units. 

I would go with a nice internet streamer on my main room system if I can find one that does not need to be hard wired to the network. 

From this forum I see the microRendu recommended often. I read their website but it got too complicated for me. How many pieces of gear does it take? Is it wired to the network, or wireless?

 

 

 

 

You are welcome! ?

MicroRendu is not wireless without the help of a wireless extender. For example the TP-Link RE450 AC1750 as I use will work, but there are plenty of other solutions out there. You will also need a DAC to connect the mR. Three boxes before your stereo if you require wireless in other words.

 

Auralic Aries Mini, Auralic Aries or Auralic Altair is a "one box solution" since it includes a DAC and are wireless as well. This would be a simpler solution with just one box before your stereo.

[BilboAlaska]

So I went with the Apple Airport Express since I am using an iMac and iPad Pro. Works great into a Bluesound Vault 2. Gapless, good sound quality, no drop outs. 

[Cornan]

On 2017-03-24 at 5:17 PM, Cebolla said:

Cool - always look forward to your DIY forays (where do you find the time?)!

 

Here you go Cebolla. I did'nt forget, but the OTG cable took forever to arrive! ?

 

If you follow my thread you will see a couple of more ChromeCast Audio experiments down the rabbit hole! ?

 

 

[Cebolla]

Nice one! Finding it hard to resist the temptation to follow you into Wonderland

[Cornan]

11 minutes ago, Cebolla said:

Nice one! Finding it hard to resist the temptation to follow you into Wonderland

 

*LOL* You're most welcome to join! ?

Now I am running BubbleUPnP server & BubbleDS Next (Tidal) with CCA on my Nexus7 tablet. We did'nt get together so well in the beginning, but it is working great now! ?