i have 3. 1 of which is not used.

better buy another.

thanks op

Bluetooth just sends whatever audio is coming out of your device to the receiver.

With this, you connect it to by wifi and control the actual Chromecast. So nothing actually plays on the device your are using to control it. If you put Spotify on and turn off your phone, Spotify will keep playing because it is streaming through the Chromecast itself.

This gives you better audio quality (especially if you use the digital output to a good DAC), means your mobile device isn't needed once you have chosen music (no message alerts interrupting music, no hammering the battery streaming and sending via bluetooth simultaneously, no dropped signal if you move too far away etc). Plus you can easily do things like multiroom with these.

Basically it's a mini computer and your mobile device is the controller.

1 for the toilet? Or loft? :laughing:

You do the sensible thing and not use iTunes :stuck_out_tongue:

Good Spot OP :smiley:

Scorchio <3

Awesome! Thanks :smiley:

Are the brand new with warranty?

Brand new item :wink: thanks bought

Yes, with a 12 month gurantee.

i have 3. 1 of which is not used.

better buy another.

thanks op

Doh! I just bought one from the other deal.

Got four in the house already. They're such brilliant pieces of kit. Wish I needed more but I don't. Heat added.

1 for the toilet? Or loft? :laughing:

Bought a fourth one. Does anyone have any advice on returning one of these? One I bought now has a solid yellow light and is undiscoverable from my devices so can't reset that way. And even holding down the button for 25 secs plus is not factory resetting. Typically a week past my 30 day return period at Currys.

You can still take it to store with your receipt, you're covered with warranty.

****, I havent even used the 4 I bought yet and I've lost a £1 :smile:

On a serious note, has anyone found the ethernet adapters cheaper. Only seem to be in the google store and I'm struggling to bring myself to pay the same amount again for an ethernet adapter (I need 4). Do they ever have an vouchers/offers for the google store?

brilliant deal. have mine hooked up to the surround sound, they're brilliant.

Is any banks offering cashback on ebay?

As an 'alternative', could this rather help:

Edimax CV-7438nDM N600 Dual-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi Entertainment Bridge for Smart TV, Blu-ray, Gaming & Music Streaming, for £16.99, was £50.99 (Save £34.00), at 7DayShop

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/edimax-cv-7438ndm-n600-dual-band-gigabit-wi-fi-entertainment-bridge-for-smart-tv-2452437

I have three so far so do I need a fourth? What the hell I can then buy a new speaker as well

Items at Currys are guaranteed for one year, the return period and grantee period are not the same.

Combine with 10x nectar points offer on eBay:
https://www.nectar.com/offers/56BNA33218

140 points so 70p worth

Note although nectar says offer starts at 8am eBay activation page says 10am so might be worth waiting until then.

Link from nectar takes you to an eBay page saying it's activated on your eBay account so you should then be able to go through topcashback for another 1% / 14p

Does this work with the Qobuz mobile app & through a line in stage on an amplifier?

cheers
Dont forgert 1% cashback as well

Bought......will try it out....

wow! got this - now to look for a decent speaker/soundbar deal...

Seriously, what do the do

They

Thanks, but no I already have 4 Chromecasts, I just need ethernet adapters:

https://store.google.com/product/ethernet_adapter_for_chromecast

They are all co-located in the comms cupboard so can be plugged straight into the switch. They're replacing my Squeezeboxes in the Multiroom audio setup, so has to be seamless, hence the preference to plug them in and avoiding the pitfalls of Wifi.

Thanks OP

£15 on their own website and instore.

Pointless for most paying the extra quid but means I can use my gift card, may also be useful if you'd rather collect immediately from store.

New Manufacturer Sealed

There is an intact manufacturer's seal, and the item is brand new and pristine.
Some product boxes are unsealed as supplied by the manufacturer, these are still brand new, pristine, and listed as "New".
Items listed as "New" come with 12 months Currys/PC World Outlet warranty.

How do I send my itunes music to this from my phone? I don't believe it supports AirPlay?!

Not sure, but to be honest. But we dont like apple here. lol

You do the sensible thing and not use iTunes :stuck_out_tongue:

Ridiculous price for such a brilliant piece of equipment

I have already got one of these when it was £15. Now I got another. I am just wondering, how do you connect these up to older amplifiers. As I am thinking my father could do with this. He's has no line in, but i am sure he has the aux left and right ports. So I assume i would need to have a left and right aux, to 3.5m. So I can connect to chromecast. Is that correct?

Yes, white and red RCA phono cable with 3.5mm aux jack on the other end for the chromecast

I have 2 of these hooked up to my old amps and speakers, sounds great with spotify.

Interested, but how do these differ from, say, a Belkin Bluetooth Receiver which I am currently using?

TIA....

1. it uses Wifi.

great spot!

Where was that Chromecast + Audio deal bundle? expired?

Thanks

Does cc audio support Amazon prime music?

Return to the store with your new receipt for your fourth bought one returning the faulty one for exchange.

Don't need it so bought one obviously....

and you listen via aux then?

Bought one in December and still haven't set it up.

Still undecided how this improves things over my bluetooth setup - convenience of all phones and tablets connecting via bluetooth vs better audio yet having to have chromecast compatibility

Nationally customers as a whole pay for their cashback. If "cashback" were to be a state benefit on your consumption there would be uproar to scrap it by tax payers. As like tax, an army is employed to adminster the schemes, this "cashback" culture is run by an army of admin staff and call centres running into tens of thousdands of people pushing cashback around to the population. I explain more:-
Price of item is £10, reduce it by 50p, sell for £9.50, simple price discount, no one is employed.
Price of item is £10, cashback is 50p, so sell for £9.50, but cashback requires people and IT system to handle :-
1) missing cashback
2) incorrect cashback,
3) programming the code for cashback token capture
4) more complex algorithmns for merchandising system
5) financial reporting on cashback costs
6) management reporting and analysis on cashback effectiveness to business
7) blah blah,..........so who pays for this, add it to the price of £10 eventually and up it

There's a lot more to it than that. It won't auto connect, whereas all my mobile devices auto connect to bluetooth. Using Bluetooth i can output all audio from my phone / tablet. This requires a chromecast app installing on each device, and then the source app you're using having the option to output to chromecast (e.g. BBC Radio does not allow this).

For Bluetooth you do need to be in close range of the receiver - it's likely over WiFi you may have a greater range. Audio quality is better over WiFi than Bluetooth.

i want the improved audio quality that the Chromecast offers, but i also want to be able to stream audio from any app. The biggest issue of all though is the fact that the rest of my family also use Bluetooth to connect. I don't think I can handle having to provide tech support for another way to connect devices together!

thank you for the incite on the workings of how cashback works. But what does this relate to, for the question i ask then?
Oh, it doesnt. Please... next your be on about the hidden agenda of mircosoft and apple. Get a grip man

Sorry I did not answer your question, now spend your time and personal effort to find out using Google?

Download Google Music Manager, upload all your tunes to google, then use the Google Music app to play them.

What's this like vs a bluetooth receiver with aptX, quality wise?

Do you have to power this off the mains

If you prefer currys have them for £15 but you will get it sooner

I really need to get my organisation to ban this website :stuck_out_tongue: Thanks op, ordered

Bluetooth just sends whatever audio is coming out of your device to the receiver.

With this, you connect it to by wifi and control the actual Chromecast. So nothing actually plays on the device your are using to control it. If you put Spotify on and turn off your phone, Spotify will keep playing because it is streaming through the Chromecast itself.

This gives you better audio quality (especially if you use the digital output to a good DAC), means your mobile device isn't needed once you have chosen music (no message alerts interrupting music, no hammering the battery streaming and sending via bluetooth simultaneously, no dropped signal if you move too far away etc). Plus you can easily do things like multiroom with these.

Basically it's a mini computer and your mobile device is the controller.

My amp just has line 1, line 2, line 3 etc but any aux input on an old amp should work fine

Yes you do. I have mine and a bluetooth speaker plugged into a double socket

Thanks, I've been wondering what to use my £10 off £20 voucher for, I needed a £7 memory chip, but couldn't think of anything to push it past £20.

mike

Or USB, one of mine works plugged into the USB (mp3) bit of my amp.

This looks a possible way to do it on the cheap. I've got a cable and usb network card at home, so might try this when I return from working away, don't know if my network connector uses the right chip, but got to be worth a try.

hot

Oh yes it does! I've got 6Music running in three rooms right now!

Got one in the loft already! And bluetooth speaker in the bathroom. I'm thinking about putting one in the garage next!

Yup you should save for a rainy day.

Might be a stupid question but does a normal Chromecast do all the things this does?

In case any HUKDers don't know, both Bubble UPnP and ES File Manager will stream anything on your device (or on another device with the Bubble server on it e.g. your pc or laptop) to Chromecast. You don't have to have an app (say Neutron or Poweramp) with casting built in. That goes for audio and video.

Can't comment on Apple users.

Kind of, except I don't think Chromecast has audio out does it? Not easy to connect it to speakers/hifi.

FYI: works really well on Android with the BBC iPlayer Radio App.
The Google Cast App puts a casting icon in the Radio App menu bar to 'connect to device'.

A tip/idea: I was able to utilise an "TV Optical input" on my Amplifier for the Chromecast in that when the Amp's TV is off the Amp can be set to default to using that optical in, rather than the normal HMDI audio/video out that it would be driving the TV with otherwise!

Uses HDMI into TV so carries audio as well as video. So probably not suitable just as a audio device.

Ordered 3, cheap and easy way to get multi-room audio!

A normal chromecast can't do multiroom. For me, that's the killer USP of the chromecast audio.

Another 2 ordered to add to my ever growing collection...

Yeah I thought so. Not really practical to make your TV part of your hifi system, I have radio/music on most of the day.

anyway to use these as part of the aux in, in a car ? or would I need to buy a router as well??

They won't work without an internet connection (irrespective of whether you want to cast local music files or not). You *could* run it with some kind of 3G/4G mobile wireless router, but really for cars I'd just stick to Bluetooth.

Anyone recommend a decent speaker to go with this for the kitchen? doesn't have to be massive, but a nice immersive sound is essential. Circa £30 if possible

google doesnt show it up for me. Ive checked. But I know barclays has partner offers. Santander has selected merchants. As for rest i unsure about. Hence why i ask if anyone else knew. That question, has nothing todo with tax

​I am listening to BBC 5live via the app as I type via the cast button.

Wish this worked with youtube. Good price though

These Wharfdales from Richer Sounds are good - but they are speakers only (not powered) so you'll need an amp.
http://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/wharfedale/diamond-9.0/whar-9.0-blk

I have one of this but haven't found it useful. I have plenty of music on my mobile but none of the music players will stream it to chrome cast. I don't have Spotify premium and so it doesn't work either.
May be I am missing something.

This app lets you cast local content:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.stefanpledl.localcast

The 3.5mm output is average at best, where the Chromecast shines is its optical output into a decent DAC, this gives great sound with Spotify premium and tunein radio etc

You can mirror whatever you are playing on your phone from somewhere in the settings. So you can stream non premium Spotify. Just not sure how without playing.

​I am going 3.5mm to RCA in to my Hi-Fi. It sounds fantastic. Remember to turn the HDR setting on. Why it is off as default I don't know.

That's how I was using it, I bought an arcam irdac 2 today and connected it via optical, it sounds a whole lot better

So could I run the optical into an av receiver to turn it into (effectively) Bluetooth enabled?

3.5mm is still better than Bluetooth, although you probably wouldn't hear any difference versus atpX on cheap speakers.

Using the optical out basically bypassed the analogue stage and passed it onto a much more expensive analogue stage of a decent DAC, the Chromecast now just spits out 0s and 1s. You can't expect a £14 device to have a high quality analogue output. If your av receiver has optical input then I can almost guarantee it will sound better although it won't add any functionality

*edit* I think I know what your asking, using the optical out of the Chromecast into your receiver will give your receiver the option to stream Spotify, internet radio yes and it will sound better than just using the 3.5mm jack into the RCA aux of your receiver

If you are using a PC can you use a workaround; install Chrome and the Cast extension and you can cast the sound from that tab.

I would say it depends, the audio engine b1 Bluetooth receiver would outperform the Chromecast based purely on a higher quality analogue output but it costs a whole lot more, also the Bluetooth streaming has the disadvantage of phonecall, notifications broadcast over your hi-fi!

​Interesting. I'm running in to a Musical Fidelity A3cr pre/power duel mono block amps and Monitor Audio GR60 speakers. You have piqued my interest. (scuttles off to eBay looking for a Musical Fidelity M6 DAC at the right price)

I ran a side by side comparison on my hifi amp using an optical input vs RCA, expecting optical to be marginally better, but it wasn't, it was worlds apart, this is an amp that was bought before my 9 year old was conceived, so if an amp that old sounds better, I'd expect the difference to be even better with modern equipment.

I'd rather hoped to find no difference because this world is full of people telling you to spend £100s on cables etc. but nope, it was more significant than switching HDR mode on. If you've got the input available, buy the cable, it's worth it. If you haven't it's still better than any alternative bluetooth input into the amp.

mike

Hehe sorry! A decent DAC doe's make a world of difference!

If you were comparing optical vs RCA do you mean both signals were digital ? Otherwise you're comparing the DAC in the Chromecast to the another DAC.

The Chromecast 3.5mm output is designed for cheap speakers, if you have a decent amp and speakers then using the Chromecast as transport only is the way to go.
I was disappointed with the Chromecast when I got it and never used it, plugged into the DAC I bought today makes it a very solid investment and makes the £10 per month Spotify a pleasure to have.
When I say I was disappointed with the Chromecast audio, it was connected to an ATC sia 150 amplifier and ATC scm40 speakers with my other source being a naim cd5x. After adding the acram irdac 2 Spotify is around 80% of the sound quality of the naim cd5x which is quite an achievement!

The analogue output might be better but it's receiving a compressed source, albeit a high quality one. If you're streaming from Spotify, for example, you've got one layer of compression in the mp3, then another in aptX stream. If you go through the Chromecast you're only getting one layer of compression.

He was comparing the DAC and analogue output of the Chromecast to the ones in his amp, the amp was much better which is to be expected

Google play? Did you install the cast app?
You need to connect your phone to the same WiFi your Chromecast is connected to, you can't use 3/4g mobile data

I know that, but I'm comparing a DAC made 15+ years ago with one made today, so it's not so clear cut which should win. If you dig out one of the old Chromecast Audio threads, you'll see there was a big discussion about it. My amp is not a high end split DAC system more typical of what many readers would use.

Basically any other setup would not show how good or otherwise the DAC in the Chromecast is, we're not comparing cables or separate DACs, we're trying to determine if it's worth using RCA or optical outputs, for most people. To be honest you'd struggle to find a system with a DAC that makes the Chromecase sound worse than RCA, you might not get better with the optical output, but I'd say it was odds on that you would.

As a summary of what was said, I was trying to determine if the cut price nature of the Chromecast would be offset against the volume of DACs (millions) they were buying, compared with an amp sold in the 10s of thousands, not to mention the leaps made in minaturising electronic components and thus potentially reducing noise.

mike

Yeah I didn't get that, an amp with a DAC built in that's 9 years old? I'm missing something here.... anyhow for 14 notes you can't go wrong

Your right £14 for the convenience is great but if you have an amp/DAC with optical input it's a blinding deal! The other option is sonos connect at £264 which won't give improved sound if using optical out

I would suggest even a fiio taishan connected optically to the Chromecast would provide a decent upgrade in sound quality

​I stopped upgrading around 15 years ago. Spending £200 on a .8m VDH RCA cable was where I had to look at myself. So I'm a bit out of touch. But the Chromecast has me excited about my Hi-Fi and music again. So back I jump on the upgrade path again. The £15 Chromecast could get quite expensive.

I have bluetooth speakers and headphones, do I need this?

Seems still over-priced to me and cannot really do much with the device unless I use it in my car, ohh that has Bluetooth too

Don't forget guys, these actually make a really good portable dac / amp for headphones. They are an improvement over the headphone out of most smartphones and likely cheap soundcards. Just put the volume down low to begin with...

Re its practicality or usefulness v Bluetooth the advantage of Chromecast audio is that Bluetooth is a lossy way of transmitting data, whereas streaming over WiFi using this is not (assuming files are 24/96 or lower, otherwise this would downsample...).

So, if you have a good source and a half decent speaker / amp receiving this, it is technically a better solution than Bluetooth.

Hehe yep, stay away from +£30 cables

Thanks guys, just what I needed!

cheers ordered

Thanks OP, been thinking about buying a second. Great little device.

Thanks for info guys, ordered :smiley:

You can do it from your chrome browser on laptop. Just download the chromecast extension.

That looks quite interesting, I've got limited digital inputs on my amp, and several devices with only coaxial digital, I'm wondering whether the similar devices that do tos to coaxial would impare the quality. Now you've got me wanting to spend more money.

I would recommend purchasing one of those devices that turns off secondary sockets when the primary isn't under load, so that your Chromecast is turned off, when the amp is turned off, that way, the issues you get with Chromecast if left turned on for weeks, should be avoided, if your device is powering the Chromecast then this won't be necessary.

I love the fact I've got a server with loads of media, 2 old HP touchpads running android, my old amp reinvigorated and Plex server+client, combining together to compete against a Sonos system and in many ways, much better.

mike

Is this even real? I ordered one this morning and it's been despatched. Blimey!

Yes that is the best app currently for streaming local MP3 folders to chromecast audio. I added my WD Mypassport network hard drive with smb:// protocol and plays them too. Shuttle+ android paid version also plays local folders of MP3. Poweramp dev's chum says he might include chromecast not in next update, but in one after that if he is feeling perky enough:

http://forum.powerampapp.com/index.php?/topic/5475-chromecast/&page=3

My default music player is Poweramp, which does not appear to support chromecast audio. Can anyone recommend a decent music player that is supported.

Ahh I see my question has now been answered ^

Great, thanks for an informative reply. I too have the same issue with the family, so I may just use this in parallel with one of my existing BT devices. Had to have one at that price to check it out. Cheers.

What do you use them for?

Thanks. It is working well.

Upload your music to Google's play music servers and use that - think you can load 30,000 tracks free of charge now and if they have the music already on their servers it's all uploaded in no time.

What is chromecast?

Heat added. Had to purchase at this price

Do you still need premium sorority to stream Spotify apps etc

50,000 I think

edit: yup
https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/1143668?hl=en
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/25/8107131/google-play-music-song-upload-limit

Has anyone got problems with casting from Android device? I can cast audio to spotify with my android tablet but not android phone :-| all on same network!

we do.... you don't

Over-priced? Guessing you just don't understand what it does!

It doesn't compare to bluetooth (and I previously owned bluetooth speakers)

Yes

I've had a look through the thread and am still a little confused. I have my MP3s on a microserver running Server 2012 which I will occasionally want to play via optical to an old amp.

Ideally I'd like to control this through an iPad so if we have guests over people can picks songs and playlists. Is this possible or would I have to control it through my android phone?

This sounds like a job for Plex. I've got a Dell Poweredge with 24TB of storage containing all my media. I've installed Plex server, and set up libraries for my films, tv shows and music. This is picked up by using a Plex client on your phone/tablet/PC I happen to use Android but I believe the iOS one is just as good. Best bit, it's pretty much free to try, the server software is free, you might have to pay for the App, but you can try it out for free and pay just to get rid of the nagging screen that pops up every once in a while.

When you're playing media, you have the option to cast to the Chromecast. It works well for Android, so I'd expect a similar experience with iOS. You can't cast on the PC App, but you can cast when browsing the web interface from Chrome, which covers the PC.

On Android, Plex has the ability to play local media as well (I assume iOS does too), so you don't even need the server on, if you've got media on your phone or tablet.

I'd suggest downloading it and giving it a whirl on your setup.

mike

Thanks for the suggestion Mike.

I've always run my media through osmc/pi's so hadn't considered plex. I'll give it a go.

Gear4 Xorb from Amazon?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PG735EUK-Universal-Speaker-Adapter-Smartphone/dp/B008YU9G8K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464431584&sr=8-1&keywords=gear4+xorb

can you stream music from music stored locally on a phone?

For example playing via PowerAmp?

What is it ?

Hi all. Using these is a super cheap way to replicate Sonos, now with multiroom and spotify support as well. I posted this video last time which several people found useful. Basically shows how to use these to replicate Sonos for a fraction of the price Using mini amps and cheap speakers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrJjL7Me_5I

A couple of other questions I was asked a lot: generally you can only stream audio from certain apps to these, eg. Youtube isnt included (it is on the normal chromecast). However if you go I to the Google cast app, you can "cast screen/audio", which will allow you to play any audio on your phone through these.

As for casting music saved on your phone, download an app called Allcast (android)

​get yourself a pair of Mackie CR5BT monitors. Amazing speakers with Bluetooth connection and a snip at £180. Amazing sound quality

Great price for a great piece of kit, we just live in a world of apple vs Google, and so for me these are garbage. Shame I can't AirPlay, but oh well, I'll keep my squeezeboxes

Don't forget these have optical in too. (Uses the same 3.5" socket) you can by a optical to mini optical, or buy a couple of converters for a few quid on-line.

Just come to set mine up after buying them 5 months ago.

So now I need premium Spotify and premium Deezer to play in order to stream to Chromecast audio?

I'll go back to Bluetooth and adverts.

Been looking for a pair of these or Edifier 1800 / 2000s over in that Amazon Warehouse deals thread but nothing popping up I'm afraid

I use a couple of small things to play my MP3 albums from my PC or network drives to Chromecast. Anyone wants some, quote me so I know and I'll dig up the links.

Try Juno DJ or Total sounds (where i got mine as i live nearby) Honestly these sound superb for the money and wipe the floor with most £300+ monitors! And let's not even compare these to songs or bose stuff!

Is anyone using these with USB power from a speaker itself? I tried but am getting a lot of interference (speaker is a Gear4 Xorb)