Chromecast Audio vs. Sonos Streaming

heyraz

heyraz

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I've been using a Sonos Connect and an external DAC (Adcom GDA-700) for streaming Tidal. The Sonos is connected to the DAC by a coax cable.
My son told be about Chromecast Audio and for the price I had to check it out.
The CCA is connected to my DAC with an optical cable and after adjusting the Sonos and CCA output levels I can A/B compare them from the DAC with the flip of a switch.
My opinion...Chromecast audio wins, at least when streaming Tidal. The sound is fuller, bass is deeper, mids and highs are clear and crisp.
YMMV...
 
CCA is fine, if you use it with an external dac, AND you do not use its software volume control (just leave it 100%).
I moved to a Yamaha musiccast dac/preamp for these, but not only, reasons and very happy with it.
 
It's not clear to me why there would be any difference in the sound in this scenario, where neither of the devices' built-in DACs are being used. Assuming that both devices and cables are working correctly and that you have enough bandwidth in your network to feed both of them without any hiccups, you should be sending the same stream of ones and zeroes to the external DAC. One stream is coming in on the coax and the other on the optical, but that shouldn't make a difference.
 
Good question. I wish I could offer an explanation, but this is not my field of expertise and I consider myself ignorant.

I can't speak for the Chromecast Audio, but I have read that (unlike the original version of the Sonos Connect) the currently available version no longer passes a Bit Perfect signal and that 1db of compression has been applied to the signal before it gets to the DAC (internal or external). It has been suggested that even this slight amount of compression is perceptible, especially during musical crescendos. This may explain why I think the Chromecast Audio has a fuller and deeper sound than my Sonos Connect. This compression theory seems even more plausible to me as I look at the lights on my dbx 3bx series 3 during playback. The lights are livelier when using the CCA than when I use Sonos while playing the same material. The more lively the lights, the more dynamic the sound. The lights are very lively when I play vinyl.
Coincidentally as I write this, the Tidal service has just become intermittent. I switched from CCA to Sonos to rule out any problems with my Wi-Fi (my Sonos is hard wired to my router) and confirmed three things.
1. My WiFi is fine, the problem is with Tidal.
2. Even though Tidal is intermittent, what does get through is "flatter" sounding when played through my Sonos Connect.
3. The dbx lights aren't as lively when using my Sonos Connect as compared to the CCA.

Hopefully, someone with more knowledge can answer your question.
 
"2. Even though Tidal is intermittent, what does get through is "flatter" sounding when played through my Sonos Connect."

Do you have auto compression turned on in the Sonos? Check your settings and turn it off if you do.
 
Sonos compression is off and tonight Tidal is not intermittent.

If and when Net Neutrality is rolled back, I could see a less known, high-quality service like Tidal suffer if they are unable to pay for the speed and bandwidth to keep up with the bigger streaming services.

It's a shame....
 
I don't believe the scare stories. They haven't been true all year. However Tidal is struggling.
 
fredgarvin said:
I don't believe the scare stories. They haven't been true all year. However Tidal is struggling.
Click to expand...
I believe most if not all individuals (including corporations and isp's) will do what's best for their own bottom line.
 
This blog author has done some measurement for both analog and digital outputs of the CCA. It has decent measures for analog yet not brillant but given the price tag it does very well.

Digital output allow to show benefits from using it with an external DAC and only show some jitter due to the use of toslink interface, and according to the author, not worse than some very expensive CD Players. Otherwise it sound similar as the dac its connected to, there should be no audible difference with another toslink source.

If there's an option on the Sonos to remove the DSP compression you should disable it as well as any volume control or EQ and compare again
 
Last edited:
You can check if Sonos (or any streamer) is bit perfect by playing a DD 5.1 file into a pre/pro or 5.1 receiver. If it decodes correctly and the DD light comes on, you are bit perfect.

Last time I checked my Connect was bit perfect - but SW updates may have changed that.
 
W9TR said:
You can check if Sonos (or any streamer) is bit perfect by playing a DD 5.1 file into a pre/pro or 5.1 receiver. If it decodes correctly and the DD light comes on, you are bit perfect.
Click to expand...
Not sure of this, DSP will alter signal to compress audio and will output it as valid DD 5.1 to the receiver.
At least not in the Sony receiver I had when I was into HT with a PC as source the DD light was on any time there was a DD signal, no matter if I mixed up the levels or applied compression to the center channel.
 
Interesting - do you know if the DD coder in the PC was before or after all the processing you added?

Just curious because if I say change the output gain of a previously encoded DD signal in Sonos or JRiver the light goes out.

This was an easy way I could tell if I was bit perfect. It would be a bummer if it didn't work anymore.

Tom
 
Thanks Ben,
Very helpful.

I'll have to wait until I get back home from the holidays to see if I can replicate what I've done in the past.

The news earlier in the thread that Sonos is compressing the digital files is indeed disturbing if it is true. If true it means I'll be looking for another streaming solution.

Tom
 
You're welcome :)

Another thing I found disturbing with Sonos connect is that it does not support streaming above 16 bits 44.1kHz , CCA does 24/96kHz . This was confirmed by the brand it seems https://en.community.sonos.com/musi...228994/sonos-support-for-hi-res-audio-6765147

A possibility is the OP is indeed earing a downsampled version of the 24bit 96kHz FLAC stream when playing with the sonos playback. Dont know tidal that much maybe most albums are still in redbook format though.
 
I doubt that Sonos will ever embrace Hi Rez Audio streaming, which is another reason I'd move off their platform. If they are not bit perfect that will seal the deal and I'll have some stuff for sale. Still like the Playbar though.

Most Tidal is Redbook although they have a large and growing collection of MQA offerings that are worth a listen.
 
A possibility is the OP is indeed earing a downsampled version of the 24bit 96kHz FLAC stream when playing with the sonos playback. Dont know tidal that much maybe most albums are still in redbook format though.
Click to expand...
I compared many selections on both units, none of which were MQA.
 
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