Chromecast audio - can anyone comment on sound quality?

[audiobomber]

What music player are you using? It still stutters for me if I cast from the Qobuz app at 24/96. No problem at 16/44 (well, except for gapless ).

Also, my firmware never updated and has remained at 1.42.172094.

Firmware is the same here. I use Bubblesoft, QNAP Music Station and QNAP QMusic music controllers, via DLNA/MPD from a QNAP NAS to my DAC's (Audiolab 8200CD, Schiit Modi 3, iFi nano iOne).

I have a lot of LP's ripped to 24/88.2 and a handful of DSD files, that play with no dropouts.

 

[markbrauer]

What music player are you using? It still stutters for me if I cast from the Qobuz app at 24/96. No problem at 16/44 (well, except for gapless ).

Also, my firmware never updated and has remained at 1.42.172094.

Mine CCA firmware is also at 1.42.172094. I use BubbleUPnP to play high-res files from my server. I also use and app called Hi-Fi Cast to play high-res files from my phone. It sets up the phone as the "server" and casts bit perfect over local WiFi to the CCA. Both of these play 24/96 with no dropouts. Finally, I use Tidal but my understanding is that their streamed file size maxes out at 24/48, so not a true test. (I have never been able to do dropout-free streaming of 24/192 files to the Chromecast or either of my other 2 streamers. I blame the local network.)

 

[c4sadler]

Is there anything that replaces Chromecast Audio?

 

[audiobomber]

Is there anything that replaces Chromecast Audio?

Nothing I've seen, certainly nothing from Google.

 

[rkw]

Is there anything that replaces Chromecast Audio?

There won't be a replacement. It never became popular, and the market and industry have gone in the direction of smart speakers.

 

[mobbaddict]

There won't be a replacement. It never became popular, and the market and industry have gone in the direction of smart speakers.

What is very strange is that the headphone market is the only one where all manufacturers seem to ignore the Google cast technology. On the other hand it's easy to find speaker amps with Chromecast built in.

 

[dosley01]

Is there anything that replaces Chromecast Audio?

Just started using this setup so that I can cast Spotify from my Macbook without having to go through my phone. Firestick -> HDMI Audio Extractor -> SPDIF -> DAC.

 

[rkw]

Just started using this setup so that I can cast Spotify from my Macbook without having to go through my phone. Firestick -> HDMI Audio Extractor -> SPDIF -> DAC.

It is also possible to do a similar setup using the regular (TV) version of Chromecast. Definitely a workaround compared to Chromecast Audio.

 

[SCOTTBALL]

Wow I didn't even realise the Chromecast Audio was phased out. I bought one a while back to attach to my amp just as an easy way for people to connect spotify and I really liked it (of course turn the high dynamic range option on)

 

[markbrauer]

Seeing that the title of this thread indicates it is about sound quality, the posts about using a video streamer got me wondering what audio bitrate is passed through the HDMI output of such a device. I found this Roon thread that indicates the maximum audio bitrate out of a video Chromecast is 24/48.
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/chromecast-sample-rates/45615
I know that the HDMI spec allows for much a higher audio bitrate so maybe the Fire TV device is different?
I also ran into an article which indicated that some HDMI audio extractor devices can alter the bitrate.
I know that none of this matters one bit (pun intended!) when streaming Spotify, or 16/44 "CD quality" for that matter. I'm just being curious.

 

[dosley01]

Seeing that the title of this thread indicates it is about sound quality, the posts about using a video streamer got me wondering what audio bitrate is passed through the HDMI output of such a device. I found this Roon thread that indicates the maximum audio bitrate out of a video Chromecast is 24/48.
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/chromecast-sample-rates/45615
I know that the HDMI spec allows for much a higher audio bitrate so maybe the Fire TV device is different?
I also ran into an article which indicated that some HDMI audio extractor devices can alter the bitrate.
I know that none of this matters one bit (pun intended!) when streaming Spotify, or 16/44 "CD quality" for that matter. I'm just being curious.

I can't comment since I really only need Spotify support, but I do find it interesting that Amazon's HD music service isn't supported on the Firestick. At some point I might cave and buy a Echo Link but I'm a big fan of Spotify's Discovery algorithm, I've found so much new music that I can't imagine I would have ever listened to.

 

[markbrauer]

At some point I might cave and buy a Echo Link...

I did buy an Echo Input (when some "refurbished" units were selling for $10) to assess its viability as a general purpose music streamer and specifically as a Chromecast Audio replacement. The SQ seemed OK, maybe even on par with the Chromecast. Analog only - no optical output. At the same time I signed up to trial Amazon Music HD. The Amazon Music app will cast to the Echo but the app's interface is awful. The Echo does not support casting directly from the Spotify app or the Tidal app. One must install "skills" for those services in the Alexa app and then use voice commands to play music. There is no way to browse or search. I quickly found out that Alexa isn't very "smart". Once I figured how to set Tidal as the default for Music, I spoke "play beethoven piano sonata number 23 by alicia silverstein" in an attempt to stream one of my favorites for checking sound quality. Alexa played something by a group called "silverstein". I tried various permutations on the request with no success and finally gave up.

I also looked into ways to stream from my own server and, while evidently possible, the recommended way is to install Plex server on my network and set up the Plex "skill" in Alexa. It was not clear whether I could cast directly from the Plex app. And I doubt that Alexa would understand complicated vocal requests any better in that scenario. I was not willing to go the effort to find out.

WIth these and other issues I ran into, I never really was able to assess the SQ of the Alexa Input other than to say "it seemed OK". I found that playing music I wanted to hear was next to impossible.

With its digital coaxial and optical outputs I would expect the Echo Link to deliver good SQ, but with all the issues around streaming from anywhere but Amazon, not to mention its cost, I would definitely avoid it.

 

[rkw]

With its digital coaxial and optical outputs I would expect the Echo Link to deliver good SQ, but with all the issues around streaming from anywhere but Amazon, not to mention its cost, I would definitely avoid it.

The information I see on the web is that Echo Link supports Spotify Connect. But it seems that it doesn't even support their own Amazon Music UHD yet at hi-res (24/96).

 

[mobbaddict]

What music player are you using? It still stutters for me if I cast from the Qobuz app at 24/96. No problem at 16/44 (well, except for gapless ).

Also, my firmware never updated and has remained at 1.42.172094.

I have this one too, it's the current production firmware. 1.44.185164 is the preview firmware, you can try to subscribe here
https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7124014?hl=en

 

[Slater]

I have this one too, it's the current production firmware. 1.44.185164 is the preview firmware, you can try to subscribe here
https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7124014?hl=en

I’ve had the preview firmware selected since I got mine, and it’s never updated to 1.44.

I’ve reset and rebooted a billion times. At this point, I think it’s a bug where no one has 1.44.