Entry-level DAC with Chromecast built in?

[CorvusCorax]

I'm new to the audiophile hardware world. I have a 20-year-old pairing of a NAD receiver and KEF speakers that I like a lot.  I'd like to cast Primephonic hi-res music from my phone to my receiver. Is there an entry-level DAC with Chromecast built in? 

 

I know about Chromecast Audio, but it tops out at 24/96.  Many of the Primephonic tracks are 24/192.  From an OCD standpoint, I would also like the idea of a DAC with lights to indicate the stream quality.

 

I realize that I might not hear the difference between 24/96 and 24/192 on my speakers, but I listen a lot on headphones (HiFiMan 400i 2020) and would like my receiver to deliver 24/192 sound to my headphones. 

[CorvusCorax]

@RedDogCo I read up on the CCA and found that it won't pass 24/192 music to a DAC, even with its TOSLINK optical link. The highest quality it will pass is 24/96. That's probably good enough for my ears, but I'm wondering if there is a DAC that can natively accept a Chromecast connection and provide 24/192 quality. 

 

Separately, would you think that a Topping 50 or Cambridge DacMagic 100 would improve on the CCA's native DAC?  

 

Thanks!

[CorvusCorax]

@davide256 One reason that I want to use my receiver to power the DAC instead of my phone is that I use Android phones and the Android system limits its USB stream to 16/44. (Unless I use USB Audio Pro, which won't work with the Primephonic classical music service.)

 

I could switch to Apple phones to avoid this downsampling, but I'm pretty experienced with Android.

[CorvusCorax]

The Primephonic app supports Chromecast. Also, I chucked my Blu-Ray player years ago when Netflix streaming quality improved.

[CorvusCorax]

@RedDogCo Thanks for the advice.  BTW, Primephonic now offers a Platinum tier that offers many recordings at 24/192. Most of their catalog is still 16/44, but quite a few are 24/96 or 24/192. 

 

I'll look around on eBay for a used DAC.

 

I'm jonesing for a Cambridge CXN, but I'll need to save my pennies for a while.

[CorvusCorax]

I think the solution is to save up for the Cambridge CXN V2. It has everything I want in a single package.

[CorvusCorax]

If I use a Chromecast Audio connected to a Topping D50s via the 3.5mm-to-Toslink jack, will the sound effectively be DACed twice -- once by the CCA and again by the D50s?  Or can the CCA pass an unadulterated digital stream to the D50s for analog conversion?

[CorvusCorax]

On 2/11/2021 at 2:00 AM, RedDogCo said:

No, the signal does not get DACed 2x with the mini-toslink connection. 

The 3.5mm output jack on the CCA performs dual functions:

1. If you put a standard 3.5mm jack into it, it provides an analogue output from the internal DAC.  

2. When you put a mini-toslink connector into it, it delivers a digital signal directly from the internal streamer and bypasses the internal DAC.

 

By definition, a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) only processes a Digital signal to an Analogue signal.

There are DAC models out there which perform multiple functions and which may have analogue input.  If that is the case you need to read the fine print in the specs to see how that signal is processed.  (It will either bypass the DAC chip or it will be converted to Digital first before being converted back.)

 

I hope this helps.

Excellent explanation.  Your replies have been very helpful.  I decided to go with a CCA and a Topping D50s.  Both arrive today.  Once I find time to hook them up, I'll report back.

[CorvusCorax]

Which battery pack do you use? Do you leave the battery pack plugged in to the wall power socket, or do you charge it up from time to time?

 

I'm happy with the CCA and Topping D50s combo so far. The only slight niggle is that the CCA maxes out at 96KHz and so can't stream 192KHz, but I don't know if could hear the difference between 96 and 192 anyway. 

[CorvusCorax]

I suspect that the reason you're seeing the Tidal Masters at the 44.1 kHz on the DAC is because the DAC can't process the MQA stream; Tidal probably steps the stream down to 44.1 kHz. For stereo components, only those that are explicitly MQA-compliant can decode MQA.  

 

When you stream it via Bluetooth, your phone's Tidal app is decoding the MQA and sending the resulting signal via Bluetooth to the DAC.  The Bluetooth LDAC protocol maxes out at 96 kHz, so your phone is downsampling the MQA stream to 96 before sending it on to the DAC.

 

So, you're hearing a better stream via Bluetooth because of the hardware's MQA limiation. Streaming over Bluetooth will also tax your phone much more: it's actually receiving the signal, decoding it from MQA, and re-encoding it to Bluetooth...  instead of asking the CCA to handle all the streaming directly from Tidal.

 

I'm new to all this... so take with a grain of salt.