I was reading about what happened to Chromecast Audio: it was high-quality and affordable hardware that now sells for $100 (used) because it was TOO good. Google has removed stereo output from its entire product line to incentivize buying Google speakers and subscribing to YouTube Music. Casting normal YouTube videos to audio devices is blocked. Music and hardware companies do multi-million-dollar licensing deals to decide who can play what music where, so a cheap device like Chromecast Audio that allows casting any audio anywhere is TOO POWERFUL TO BE ALLOWED TO EXIST. Thus why everyone on this forum is inventing custom casting solutions with UPnP DLNA, of course.
But there's something to be said for the convenience of using the built-in casting feature of YouTube and Chrome rather than something custom.
The regular Chromecast devices thankfully still support casting anything anywhere, but only with HDMI, not with stereo output. To use a regular Chromecast as if it were a Chromecast Audio, you need to use an HDMI audio extractor to access the digital audio signal, and then a DAC to create an analog signal, and then an amplifier to gain a usable signal for connection to your audio system. See more detail in threads like this:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...cast-with-google-tv-as-audio-streamers.29078/
The problem with using a bunch of random no-name boxes for this Chromecast->audio conversion process is that you are getting poor quality. You end up spending money and time trying various products to end up with something that barely works. I know because I tried.
Every part of this audio chain is solved. Companies know how to make an "all-in-one" adapter for this. They can afford to buy one of every Chromecast device to guarantee that a line-level signal comes out of this adapter with low noise. And we KNOW that there is money to be made in such an adapter because the $10 or $20 of parts in the old Chromecast Audio sell for $100 on ebay, and Google sells YouTube Music for $10/month, and they only let you cast that service to one of their $100 speakers. This adapter concept would let you do that PLUS cast normal YouTube videos to any speaker system using a regular Chromecast with HDMI.
My message here is to all the affordable audio manufacturers we know and love from Amazon and Aliexpress: you can (and should) make an unofficial Chromecast audio adapter. Maybe name it "Hifi HDMI Music Adapter", and list other compatible HDMI devices in the product description so Google doesn't feel targeted lol. Put an HDMI passthrough output on it to pretend that it's a video device. I don't care about the details, just make it output a clean signal at a proper voltage. NOTHING I've tried from Amazon or Aliexpress has done the job right; everything either sounds like crap or is too big and expensive with too many features. This is a really simple device: HDMI to stereo with good enough parts so it doesn't sound like a microwave. Let's get it done.
If anybody DOES find an affordable, powerful, and transparent-sounding HDMI-to-stereo adapter that isn't a pile of boxes and knobs, please bump this thread with a reply. And forward this message to your favorite audio manufacturer! If Chromecast Audio was good enough for Google to strangle in its crib to stop it from competing with their speakers and services, then it's good enough to reproduce with an enthusiast-level HDMI-to-stereo adapter for regular Chromecasts.
But there's something to be said for the convenience of using the built-in casting feature of YouTube and Chrome rather than something custom.
The regular Chromecast devices thankfully still support casting anything anywhere, but only with HDMI, not with stereo output. To use a regular Chromecast as if it were a Chromecast Audio, you need to use an HDMI audio extractor to access the digital audio signal, and then a DAC to create an analog signal, and then an amplifier to gain a usable signal for connection to your audio system. See more detail in threads like this:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...cast-with-google-tv-as-audio-streamers.29078/
The problem with using a bunch of random no-name boxes for this Chromecast->audio conversion process is that you are getting poor quality. You end up spending money and time trying various products to end up with something that barely works. I know because I tried.
Every part of this audio chain is solved. Companies know how to make an "all-in-one" adapter for this. They can afford to buy one of every Chromecast device to guarantee that a line-level signal comes out of this adapter with low noise. And we KNOW that there is money to be made in such an adapter because the $10 or $20 of parts in the old Chromecast Audio sell for $100 on ebay, and Google sells YouTube Music for $10/month, and they only let you cast that service to one of their $100 speakers. This adapter concept would let you do that PLUS cast normal YouTube videos to any speaker system using a regular Chromecast with HDMI.
My message here is to all the affordable audio manufacturers we know and love from Amazon and Aliexpress: you can (and should) make an unofficial Chromecast audio adapter. Maybe name it "Hifi HDMI Music Adapter", and list other compatible HDMI devices in the product description so Google doesn't feel targeted lol. Put an HDMI passthrough output on it to pretend that it's a video device. I don't care about the details, just make it output a clean signal at a proper voltage. NOTHING I've tried from Amazon or Aliexpress has done the job right; everything either sounds like crap or is too big and expensive with too many features. This is a really simple device: HDMI to stereo with good enough parts so it doesn't sound like a microwave. Let's get it done.
If anybody DOES find an affordable, powerful, and transparent-sounding HDMI-to-stereo adapter that isn't a pile of boxes and knobs, please bump this thread with a reply. And forward this message to your favorite audio manufacturer! If Chromecast Audio was good enough for Google to strangle in its crib to stop it from competing with their speakers and services, then it's good enough to reproduce with an enthusiast-level HDMI-to-stereo adapter for regular Chromecasts.
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