Chromecast Audio - Tell us you success stories

arbalest

Active Member
My issues aside, I think it would be interesting to hear from people who use one or more CCAs and have no problems with it. It would be most helpful to hear what exact device you use for your wireless access point or wireless router -- and configuration details that made a difference.

I would be curious about more of your your digital streaming set-up but I don't want to derail this thread with other details. Again, if you set-up a CCA and are now able to forget it is there, while using it regularly, and it works really well all of the time (or even most of the time) please tell us about it.

My story - after many hours of trying to get CCA reliably working I am sending it back along with the second unit I haven't even opened yet. I have tried everything, read everything and posted everywhere. The support forum for the Chromecast was of no help as they have a few canned replies and some of those don't even line up with the question asked. Short story - doing everything by the book after a while the phone could not connect to the CCA unless I rebooted the phone or went through the CCA set-up again.
 
Were you able to cast from a PC ?Eric

I didn't even try. I wanted the most basic configuration (i.e., use just what I used to set-up the CCA and verify initial operation). I had the phone, router and CCA within inches of each other.

Worked for a while, turned off casting, left everything as it was and came back later and tried again and unable to connect to the CCA. Repeated several times with many configuration settings.

I don't want to use this thread to debug the problem -- I'd like to hear what worked well for everyone else.
 
Try setting up the CCA from your PC. I did that and never had a problem casting from a Android Phone.

I have two, on a network that runs from a Apple AirPort Time Capsule.

Zero Issues. We use a Blackberry Priv, Iphone 6s, Iphone 8 and a Lenovo Laptop as controllers and sometimes a Asus Tablet as well.

Eric
 
I never had a problem with my CCA. I set it up from my Samsung Galaxy and upgraded the firmware. It has been working ever since. I eventually added the Chromecast plugin to Logitech Media Server and now LMS sees the CCA as a Squeezebox device. I control the CCA with the same smartphone using the Squeeze Commander app.

My WiFi router is a Linksys AC1900.
 
Big fan of chromecast - two CCA, one (video) Chromecast, one Google Home and I just bought a Google Home Mini today. CCAs are connected with 3.5/RCA cables to amps. The Google Home is in the kitchen. Mini will go in bedroom. No trouble setting up but took one or two tries. I believe bluetooth was needed for initial set up which I did from an Android tablet. Router is a primative Actiontec provided from my ISP. Files are stored on a Western Digital NAS. I cast my own music files using the BubbleUp app on a tablet or I stream music stations or podcasts from the Google Play app. Infreqently I use the Plex app because my Plex server is on a laptop that is usually sleeping. Before I got CCA I casted from Plex to a Roku box.

I set up groups so I can listen while working at my desk and then putter in the garage. The CCA power supply is switched with the amp so there is a short delay while it boots.

For most listening on my main system I use a Rasberry Pi with Rune because I can control it from any device at hand - phone, tablet, laptop, Kindle reader. But in other rooms I cast to one of the Google devices. To my ears the CCA sounds as good as the Pi with my econo DAC. I prefer the Pi because it doesn't require an internet connection to listen to my own files like CCA does and with the internet I have the universe of internet radio stations available (although more and more station web sites have added the Chromecast icon).
 
I have bought and set up four of them with no problems - just followed the directions. It doesn't take hours, it takes a few minutes. My Wi-Fi is provided by a garden variety Pace DSL modem/router from my ISP, with all the default settings. The one I set up for my nieces was in a similarly simple Wi-Fi environment. The only issue I have ever had with them is that the app I am using (Google Play Music or Bubble UPnP) will occasionally trip over itself or lose synch with what is playing, but I can always regain control by going into the Google Home app and stopping the cast.

Arbalest, I have to think that either you're doing something fundamentally wrong (do you understand it's not a Bluetooth device?), or possibly the unit tried to update itself to a newer firmware and something went haywire and it got bricked. Don't give up - these things are great. I'm sure you could get some help here if you're ready to take another crack at it.
 
Arbalest, I have to think that either you're doing something fundamentally wrong (do you understand it's not a Bluetooth device?)

In my earlier reply I said that it WORKED and then later (without changing or moving anything) the phone will not reconnect to the CCA unless I either reboot the phone or go through the CCA set-up again.

Obviously not bricked and obviously I am not trying to connect to it via bluetooth.

I do get it to work then turn off the casting and do something else for a while. Later, I pick up the phone, open Google Home, select device to cast to, get message "connecting... disconnecting". Other people on Google's support forum have this problem too. Support replies with the boiler plate link to checking router settings which I have done time and time again.

So each set-up takes minutes, yes. But I have spent hours trying to make it work reliably. That includes posting to the appropriate google support page and 24 hours later getting an inane reply such as "try a different power adapter".

I didn't want this thread to be about debugging . But, the phone and my wireless network work well for all other uses. My wife and I are both software developers. We have phones, laptops and tablets that give us no problems. I have a Linksys wireless router running DD-WRT configured as a Access point (to a home network that have a wired router to the ISP). I also have a Linksys WAP that acts as a repeater. We are saturated with solid Wi-Fi signal. I access both devices via our LAN and have set and confirmed all of the configuration options that I have access to. Neither device has a setting for IGMP which is mentioned in some of the configuration advice.
 
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I set mine up from my TV. It’s hooked WiFi to our regular cable modem nothing special. Control it from either iPhone, iPad, Kindle or laptop. Any problems we have are with our ISP. CCA>DAC>PAS2. I reset it maybe once a week and that’s usually just because not for any problems. I do need to close and restart the app on my iPhone a few times a week.

Edit: we do only use it to stream from Spotify, Amazon etc.
 
I've had a first gen Chromecast. It didn't do quite what I wanted, but I've hooked it up to the HDMI input on my Oppo 105 to stream music from a phone (largely for background music). Ever since then, it has worked flawlessly.

I have a CCA in the kitchen. Set it up once, and no issues whatsoever. Bought a second and third CCA due to the $25 sale a few weeks ago. I just hooked up one of them today, in the living room. Worked fine there. I set it up in a group with the CCA in the kitchen--they were synced perfectly (and you can adjust the sync in microseconds if needed in the Google Home app).

One slight hiccup on setting up the 2nd one--I could not get it to connect to the 5.0 network, just the 2.4. Once I put it on 2.4, smooth sailing. I'm thinking I might have done this with the other CCA in the kitchen. The CCA can see the 5.0 network but doesn't really seem to like connecting to it for whatever reason.

No fancy router or WAP here yet--just one of my cheap, crapola Linksys consumer-grade routers with DD-WRT loaded on it. Upgrading to the Ubiquiti access point soon though, so I can blast a good signal throughout the house. I'm thinking I might retry setting up the CCAs on the 5.0 network once I get that new WAP in place.
 
I bought a couple of chromecast devices before Chromecast audio came out. Then I bought one Chromecast Audio when it came out. I had great success with all three devices until I bought a Google Home Device. The Google Home Device "captured" and "managed" my ChromeCast Devices.

I wasn't pleased with the Google Home thingy so I returned it. In the meantime it had HiJacked my Chromecast devices; which made them inaccessible to my computers and android phone.

After a couple of months I figured out how to decouple them, and unistall Google Home, thereby making my Chromecast devices once again accessible to my phone and laptop.

In the meanttime the interface in Google Chrome had changed from an extenstion to a drop-down item in Chrome (that took me a while to figure out too, and I'm not stupid).

When I stream YouTube from my laptop, it inevitably starts hanging and skipping, and I haven't figured out how to stream YouTube from my Samsung Phone.

So I primarily stream Google Play Music and Pandora from my phone. The nice thing about Google Play Music streaming is that it will continue to stream even after the phone is out of range, i.e., the Chromecast Audio takes over once it's initiated. The Pandora from my Samsung eventually drops and starts playing back on the phone after a couple of hours, or stops once the phone is out of range.

Happy with Chromecast Audio and Google Play Music? you bet.

p.s. I have an Amazon Echo Dot sitting in a drawer and unplugged.
 
I had 0 technical issues setting it up but I'm very disappointed in SQ playing Spotify using its optical output to a DAC as compared to just using a PC. Same Toslink cable, same Dac/input. CCA sounds veiled and congested. Okay for background music only.
 
I didn't want this thread to be about debugging . But, the phone and my wireless network work well for all other uses. My wife and I are both software developers. We have phones, laptops and tablets that give us no problems. I have a Linksys wireless router running DD-WRT configured as a Access point (to a home network that have a wired router to the ISP). I also have a Linksys WAP that acts as a repeater. We are saturated with solid Wi-Fi signal. I access both devices via our LAN and have set and confirmed all of the configuration options that I have access to. Neither device has a setting for IGMP which is mentioned in some of the configuration advice.
I would just try another one. I suspect it will Just Work, but if you have the same issues, you'll know there is some local condition in your home network that for whatever reason the CCA can't deal with. You could also ask a friend or relative to try the original one at their home, if you haven't already sent it back.
 
I had 0 technical issues setting it up but I'm very disappointed in SQ playing Spotify using its optical output to a DAC as compared to just using a PC. Same Toslink cable, same Dac/input. CCA sounds veiled and congested. Okay for background music only.
I'm using Spotify Premium with CCA into a "cheap" SMSL Sankrit DAC. The fidelity is pretty darn good! I think Eric Auer has a similar set up. Your situation sounds unusual (pardon the pun). Have you tried skipping the external DAC with something like the following (with CCA set to full dynamic range)?

81YGRdW87bL._SL1500_.jpg
 
I've had my CCA for quite a while, and it's worked quite well. I mainly use it with my android phone, my wife's android phone, and occasionally with a linux desktop, an old iPad, and a Macbook pro, through the Chrome browser.

The only connection problem I had, was when I changed wifi routers, from a cheap Netgear router to an Apple Time Capsule. For some reason, when I got on the Time Capsule, the CCA couldn't find it. The Home app would just search and search, then say no device found. Honestly, I don't remember what I did to fix it. I think I just rebooted the CCA a few times, and it's been good ever since.

Sometimes I will lose control of the stream. I'll be casting from the Tidal app, and it will show as disconnected in the app, but is still playing, although I can't control it. I then can go into the Home app and stop it there, then go reconnect through Tidal.
 
I'm using Spotify Premium with CCA into a "cheap" SMSL Sankrit DAC. The fidelity is pretty darn good! I think Eric Auer has a similar set up. Your situation sounds unusual (pardon the pun). Have you tried skipping the external DAC with something like the following (with CCA set to full dynamic range)?

I tried the internal DAC in general but I didn't try to compare it to the external DAC in that particular configuration. Maybe I should however I don't know how it is going to help as I'm probably not going to use the CCA's DAC in my main system anyway, well perhaps if it sounds closer to the external DAC it could be my CCA's optical output is defective. It doesn't sound bad per se, if I didn't compare I probably would have been a happy camper. I'm running Spotify through JRiver's WDM driver on my laptop out to a WASAPI device and it sounds wonderful, I was hoping the CCA could be a simpler solution with equivalent SQ out to external DAC but no dice.
 
I have two CCAs. Android phones HTC One M9 and Samsung Note 5, Dell PC with Windows 10 over a Bell Fibe router to CCA with RCA cord to Yamaha receivers. No issues casting Tidal HiFi. Also have the 6 year old ipad working as well, but it crashes fairly often I believe due to its age and limited capacity and its general dislike of Chrome.
 
I think Santa will be bringing me a CCA, so I'll be trying to figure this thing out myself.

I thought you could initially do the CCA setup via a laptop w/o bluetooth instead of a smartphone via the Chrome browser download.

Is this not true?

TIA!
 
I had a few original chromecasts. They were too limited IMO, and I gave them to my parents, and I continued to use a bulky, gainly HTPC.

CCA on the other hand, I really like it in my two channel setup. I have it hooked up to my anthem preamp by optical. I use my PC to stream directly to it with the unofficial "audio cast" app from github. I use foobar controller on my smartphone to control it all during playback.
 
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