The Computer Audiophile Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Get them while they last. Google has killed the Chromecast Audio. Google: ”Our product portfolio continues to evolve, and now we have a variety of products for users to enjoy audio. We have therefore stopped manufacturing our Chromecast Audio products. We will continue to offer assistance for Chromecast Audio devices, so users can continue to enjoy their music, podcasts and more.” Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
athegn Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Thanks. Put my order in for two spares. Find this device ideal fof my needs. tmtomh 1 Link to comment
Melvin Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Glad I bought a backup when the price dropped a couple of weeks ago. Link to comment
tmtomh Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Yes, just snapped up two of them, because for the price it's worth having them around even if I'm not yet sure exactly what I'm going to do with them. Google store already was out of stock, but Staples has them (as of this comment, anyway). Link to comment
Popular Post mansr Posted January 11, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted January 11, 2019 No matter how cheap, I fail to see the appeal of a device that can't do gapless streaming. wgscott and Hugo9000 1 1 Link to comment
Daccord Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 12 minutes ago, mansr said: No matter how cheap, I fail to see the appeal of a device that can't do gapless streaming. It does gapless from Google Play Music and apparently from Roon. And from Spotify, if you disable volume leveling. Hugo9000 1 Link to comment
mansr Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 9 minutes ago, Daccord said: It does gapless from Google Play Music and apparently from Roon. And from Spotify, if you disable volume leveling. I don't use any of those. The limitation can obviously be worked around by having a proxy, such as Roon, join the files and feed the device a continuous stream. I'd rather have something that supports UPNP gapless playback directly. tmtomh 1 Link to comment
Melvin Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 18 minutes ago, Daccord said: It does gapless from Google Play Music and apparently from Roon. And from Spotify, if you disable volume leveling. And your own library (UPnP) using an app like HiFi Cast. Link to comment
Mark Dirac Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 16 hours ago, Daccord said: It does gapless from Google Play Music and apparently from Roon. And from Spotify, if you disable volume leveling. And gapless from Tidal. Link to comment
Miska Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Good to know, need to go and shop for few spare ones... Another one after Apple nixed Airport Express. Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 53 minutes ago, Miska said: Good to know, need to go and shop for few spare ones... Another one after Apple nixed Airport Express. The slow death of popular networked TOSlink sources. Link to comment
Miska Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 23 minutes ago, Em2016 said: The slow death of popular networked TOSlink sources. I think it's time for me to finally get one BlueSound Node 2i's and see how it fares... Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 29 minutes ago, Miska said: I think it's time for me to finally get one BlueSound Node 2i's and see how it fares... It’s very good. Capable of 24/192kHz on TOSlink output (as long as your TOSLink cable and input play nice at 24/192 also). The BluOS app is ok - not as good as the “native” apps of the streaming services (in my experience) but ok. Spotify Connect gets around this though (and Airplay 2 for Apple Music users). So both of the most popular streaming services can play direct to the Node 2i using their native apps, which is cool. Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 41 minutes ago, Miska said: I think it's time for me to finally get one BlueSound Node 2i's and see how it fares... Maybe also wait, potentially for an Amazon Echo Input competitor (that keeps TOSLink output that CCA had hopefully...) "Chromecast Audio as we know it could never keep up with today’s smart speakers, as it lacks Google Assistant capability. This could be a good opportunity for Google to launch a similarly affordable Google Home device that turns an older speaker system into a proper Assistant smart speaker, similar to the Echo Input." https://9to5google.com/2019/01/11/google-discontinued-chromecast-audio/ Link to comment
Popular Post crenca Posted January 12, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted January 12, 2019 This short and/or unpredictable life cycle is a downside/con of just about anything from likes of Google and the wider electronics world. Miska, Melvin and 4est 3 Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math! Link to comment
Miska Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 3 minutes ago, Em2016 said: Maybe also wait, potentially for an Amazon Echo Input competitor (that keeps TOSLink output that CCA had hopefully...) "Chromecast Audio as we know it could never keep up with today’s smart speakers, as it lacks Google Assistant capability. This could be a good opportunity for Google to launch a similarly affordable Google Home device that turns an older speaker system into a proper Assistant smart speaker, similar to the Echo Input." https://9to5google.com/2019/01/11/google-discontinued-chromecast-audio/ I suspect they'll drop the Toslink... While Amazon is coming with their more interesting Echo Link: https://www.amazon.com/Echo-Link-Stream-stereo-system/dp/B0798DVZCY Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 1 minute ago, Miska said: I suspect they'll drop the Toslink... While Amazon is coming with their more interesting Echo Link: https://www.amazon.com/Echo-Link-Stream-stereo-system/dp/B0798DVZCY Nice! TOSlink lives on ! Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 @Miska Any idea if the native Spotify/Apple Music apps on iOS/Android/Mac/Windows can play direct to Echo Link? It doesn't say "Spotify Connect" specifically, so I wonder if it means you need to go through another app? Or is it ONLY controlled via Alexa by voice? That would suck. https://newsroom.spotify.com/2018-12-14/how-to-set-up-spotify-on-your-amazon-alexa-enabled-device/ https://www.spotify.com/is/amazonalexa/ Link to comment
Miska Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I'm not sure, I have couple of Amazon Echo devices. But Amazon's service availability in Finland is quite limited. In Germany on friend's system Spotify was working fine through Alexa/Echo, and probably through Amazon Alexa/Music App too. But not here... Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 2 minutes ago, Miska said: In Germany on friend's system Spotify was working fine through Alexa/Echo So not working like 'Spotify Connect' then, where you can use Spotify's own iOS/Android/Mac/Windows app? Link to comment
Miska Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 4 minutes ago, Em2016 said: So not working like 'Spotify Connect' then, where you can use Spotify's own iOS/Android/Mac/Windows app? I guess not, the integration I've seen so far has been through Alexa. Not too bad, just different. But I'd need to get it working on my own system with something like Echo Link to verify that all paths have the same result as Spotify Connect. In it's own way, asking Alexa for music is a lot of fun especially with guests! The overall experience when everybody in their own turn ask Alexa for something related to discussion topic to play is so much fun. Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 5 minutes ago, Miska said: But I'd need to get it working on my own system with something like Echo Link to verify that all paths have the same result as Spotify Connect. It isn't so much paths (and associated SQ) I don't like about these 3rd party methods. It's moreso that Spotify's own app has the best graphical/touch user interface (in my experience), compared with using Spotify via 3rd party methods, so that's where Spotify Connect is great. 5 minutes ago, Miska said: In it's own way, asking Alexa for music is a lot of fun especially with guests! The overall experience when everybody in their own turn ask Alexa for something related to discussion topic to play is so much fun. This is a great point and something I haven't experienced yet - I need to try. My above point is about the Spotify graphical/touch user interface being best for me, but I guess that becomes irrelevant when using voice commands. I need to try it. Link to comment
Miska Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 17 minutes ago, Em2016 said: It isn't so much paths (and associated SQ) I don't like about these 3rd party methods. It's moreso that Spotify's own app has the best graphical/touch user interface (in my experience), compared with using Spotify via 3rd party methods, so that's where Spotify Connect is great. This is a great point and something I haven't experienced yet - I need to try. My above point is about the Spotify graphical/touch user interface being best for me, but I guess that becomes irrelevant when using voice commands. I need to try it. Yesterday I wanted to move Spotify party music from one system to another. What I ended up doing is to start Spotify application on Mac Mini in listening room. MacOS default output going through AES output to HQPlayer Embedded server. Spotify desktop client also works as Spotify Connect endpoint in local network, so I could easily just tell Spotify client on iOS to start playing to that one instead of the living room system. asdf1000 1 Signalyst - Developer of HQPlayer Pulse & Fidelity - Software Defined Amplifiers Link to comment
Ajax Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Hi Chris, A little off topic but the Auralic Mini has also been discontinued. I really like this piece of kit and purchased 3 of them, with a 500g SDD installed in 2. You can pick one up for around $US350 or Euro300 on the second hand market so a lot more expensive than the Cromecast Audio but still quite cheap in audiophile terms. You reviewed it in September 2016 and I can assume you that the Lighting DS software has come along way since then and is very stable and enjoyable to use. https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/auralic-aries-mini-and-lightning-ds-review/ I use it as streamer only in my main system feeding a Devialet Pro 200 via USB and in my second system feeding a Marantz Integrated PM 5005 via a coaxial input, but could just as easy use the internal DAC with an SBooster upgraded power supply. Really versatile and user friendly as it provides me with his res and Tidal and the family with Spotify connect. Sounds very good as well. Features: Streams Tidal and Spotify Connect High-resolution music over WiFi at virtually any sampling rate, including Quad-Rate DSD and DXD. Decodes a vast spectrum of audio formats, including AAC, AIFF, ALAC, APE, DIFF, DSF, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, WV and WMA. Built in DAC uses an ESS Sabre DAC chip: ES9018K2M plus digital out via USB, Optical & Coaxial for an external DAC Ethernet, 802.11ac dual-band WiFi, USB input and optional internal storage such as 2.5’ hard disk or solid-state drive LOUNGE: Mac Mini - Audirvana - Devialet 200 - ATOHM GT1 Speakers OFFICE : Mac Mini - Audirvana - Benchmark DAC1HDR - ADAM A7 Active Monitors TRAVEL : MacBook Air - Dragonfly V1.2 DAC - Sennheiser HD 650 BEACH : iPhone 6 - HRT iStreamer DAC - Akimate Micro + powered speakers Link to comment
asdf1000 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 13 hours ago, Miska said: Yesterday I wanted to move Spotify party music from one system to another. What I ended up doing is to start Spotify application on Mac Mini in listening room. MacOS default output going through AES output to HQPlayer Embedded server. Spotify desktop client also works as Spotify Connect endpoint in local network, so I could easily just tell Spotify client on iOS to start playing to that one instead of the living room system. Have you found this to be true with Chromecast + Spotify (for example feed HQPe): or this? https://www.xaprb.com/blog/spotify-audio-quality/ Link to comment
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