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I just want to be able to stream Spotify to my stereo while controlling it from my phone... what do I need?

Krusty09

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I believe it's in the name Chrome CAST Audio. Cast is not the same as stream at least to me. Casting is when you use a device lto send info to another . Stream like Netflix's is when a device is pulling in direct itself from a device that acts as a server. If in the cca there is not a login embedded on the device itself then I believe you are casting. Another way to test would start casting and disconnect you phone from wifi and if it's still playing then it's streaming and if not then it's casting.

Maybe the device change over time I'm not sure but I think that's the way it use to work.

Anyway whatever you pick you will be fine and happy listening.
 

Reed

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I have an NAD C658. I use Spotify Direct and Tidal Direct via their iOS apps. That allows me to control the volume of the C658 (not the level of the outbound digital signal) via the hardware buttons on my phone or tablet. This capability was the only feature I demoed at my dealer. Love it. Other integrated amps or preamps that shake hands with the Spotify Direct app should do this. You’ll need to verify. If you don’t care about controlling the volume via the hardware buttons you have more options.
 

Jimbob54

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I believe it's in the name Chrome CAST Audio. Cast is not the same as stream at least to me. Casting is when you use a device lto send info to another . Stream like Netflix's is when a device is pulling in direct itself from a device that acts as a server. If in the cca there is not a login embedded on the device itself then I believe you are casting. Another way to test would start casting and disconnect you phone from wifi and if it's still playing then it's streaming and if not then it's casting.

Maybe the device change over time I'm not sure but I think that's the way it use to work.

Anyway whatever you pick you will be fine and happy listening.

Im not sure your definitions matter. Or your understanding or beliefs of how it works. Yes, you can indeed "cast" a file on your phone to a chromecast if you are on the same wifi network.

But when talking about streaming services, Tidal, Spotify, Netflix etc, I can assure you that once you have told the relevant app on your phone to play the content on the chromecast, the phone is then no more than a remote control.

I have both tested this by disconnecting my phone and playback continues and, y'know, looked at how it actually works ;-)

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/how-does-chromecast-work/
 

Jimbob54

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Jim.

Maybe the Chrome Cast works that way but not the Chrome Cast Audio.

https://www.lifewire.com/chromecast-audio-4162032

Tell me which part of that article says any different to what I said? You control the CCA with your phone or a google speaker thingy, but when you are "casting " from a streaming service, the CCA is most defintely connected via your wifi to the streaming service directly.

Again, I have tested this- I can switch my phone off and the music keeps playing long after any buffer would have run out.

I dont wish to be confrontational, but nothing in that article you posted contradicts what I previously said and have experienced.

EDIT- the language they use is not helpful- "stream via your phone" isnt representative of what happens. Your phone (or the google assistant on a speaker thingy) tells the CCA where to get the stream from - it controls it, but doesnt broadcast the stream to the CCA. The CCA is in direct connection to the streaming service servers. I have set my CCA to stream BBC radio before going to work and come home 8 hours later and it still be playing, despite my phone having been with me.
 
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mSpot

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Maybe the Chrome Cast works that way but not the Chrome Cast Audio.

https://www.lifewire.com/chromecast-audio-4162032
The article is completely wrong. It says this:
Chromecast Audio device can only stream audio content from the internet, via your mobile device (or computer), to traditional speaker(s).
From a phone I can cast to Chromecast Audio from the Spotify app (or Tidal or Qobuz) and start it playing. I can then quit the Spotify app (or even turn off the phone) and it will continue playing. This demonstrates that Chromecast Audio independently pulls the stream directly from the internet without the phone involved.
 
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Jimbob54

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The article is completely wrong. It says this:
Chromecast Audio device can only stream audio content from the internet, via your mobile device (or computer), to traditional speaker(s).
From a phone I can cast to Chromecast Audio from the Spotify app (or Tidal or Qobuz) and start it playing. I can then quit the Spotify app (or even turn off the phone) and it will continue playing. This demonstrates that Chromecast independently pulls the the stream directly from the internet without the phone involved.

Yup - reading it again, they use massively unhelpful language. I do wonder if this is one of the reasons it never took off. People thought they needed their phones to be doing the heavy lifting, which they dont.

The key phrase in that quite is "only stream audio" (to contrast with the video chromecast), not the way it handles the stream .
 

Krusty09

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Jim. It sounds like I upset you somehow as that was not my intention. I am simply explaining what I understood as the way it work as so does the article explains it the same way. I am happy for you that it works the way you say. Just keeping listening and let the good times roll.
 

Jimbob54

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Jim. It sounds like I upset you somehow as that was not my intention. I am simply explaining what I understood as the way it work as so does the article explains it the same way. I am happy for you that it works the way you say. Just keeping listening and let the good times roll.

And again, I have to say how you understand something to work has no bearing on how it actually does work. Neither does mine for that matter. Neither does some shonky poorly worded article on the internet.

But unless you are casting files stored on your phone or mirroring a chrome tab or casting your phone screen , the cast device is doing the heavy lifting and talking directly to the streaming servers with the phone and the app in question being nothing more than a controller. This can be quite frustrating when your phone disconnects from the device and to simply skip a track requires you to press a few buttons , open and close apps etc . It isnt a perfect system. Spotify Connect works the same way. You initiate the stream from a phone app etc as the controller , but the receiving device gets the stream from Spotify directly and can be controlled from any other spotify equipped device logged into the same account.

Interestingly Apple Airplay is the opposite, where the phone is doing the heavy lifting and so, presumably, is a more significant battery drain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Cast

Enjoy
 

mSpot

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Yup - reading it again, they use massively unhelpful language. I do wonder if this is one of the reasons it never took off.
Over the long term, Chromecast Audio would not survive because the consumer market moved in the direction of smart speakers (Alexa, Sonos, HomePod, etc).

In the earlier days Google could have promoted Chromecast Audio more, but they have a pattern of being interested in creating technology, but then losing interest and not following up to make the product successful in the marketplace. Thus the Google graveyard:
https://killedbygoogle.com/
https://gcemetery.co/
 

pf223

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Like the OP, I also am looking for a simple way to play Spotify on my stereo and control it via my phone. (I won't get into the argument of whether or not that's considered casting or streaming :D ). Getting a used Chromecast audio might still be the simplest, although I see they are now $50-$60 on ebay, which does show there is still demand for them. But I wonder if there is a chance they will just suddenly stop working one day if Google decides, since presumably they still connect to Google servers somehow. Or even if they don't kill it, it probably won't get support for new features. So when Spotify rolls out support for HiFi, will the Chromecast support that?

An interesting alternative I have found referenced here is the Nexum Tunebox devices, also cheap and still current although product details and support seem to be spotty at best. Only seen a few reference on this site, like this,
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/chromecast-audio-rip.6201/post-209171
 

Jimbob54

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Like the OP, I also am looking for a simple way to play Spotify on my stereo and control it via my phone. (I won't get into the argument of whether or not that's considered casting or streaming :D ). Getting a used Chromecast audio might still be the simplest, although I see they are now $50-$60 on ebay, which does show there is still demand for them. But I wonder if there is a chance they will just suddenly stop working one day if Google decides, since presumably they still connect to Google servers somehow. Or even if they don't kill it, it probably won't get support for new features. So when Spotify rolls out support for HiFi, will the Chromecast support that?

An interesting alternative I have found referenced here is the Nexum Tunebox devices, also cheap and still current although product details and support seem to be spotty at best. Only seen a few reference on this site, like this,
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/chromecast-audio-rip.6201/post-209171
I would have thought it likely that if CCA are still working full stop, they will be able to handle lossless Spotify. Unless spotify do mqa (now there's a thought).
 

gvl

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Just a caveat, Spotify to Chromecast is limited to 256 kbps. Sonos Connect does Spotify Connect, which is the platform to stream "very high" quality (320 kbps). But that might change in the future with the announcement of HiFi.

Different codecs. 256kbps AAC stream that CCA gets is about the same or better than OGG Vorbis 320kbps that you get on desktop or other clients. For all practical purposes the quality can be considered the same.
 
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pf223

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Oh that is interesting to note about CCA and discovery, I didn't know that - could be a deal breaker for my use case. Sometimes I control Spotify from the phone but sometimes I'm sitting on the sofa with my laptop running the Spotify app and would like to be able to send music to the stereo. So if the desktop Spotify app won't be able to see the CCA under Spotify Connect then that won't work for me.

I tested this out last night with an Apple TV I have. Installed Spotify on it, logged and voila it worked great from both phone and app on laptop. I did rewire Apple TV to go to my stereo via HDMI instead of direct to TV like it normally does (need to go direct to support 4K). And it does still play audio even with TV off. However, one issue is that the Apple TV will go to sleep after awhile and then it doesn't show up as a Spotify connect device. Not sure if that will still be an issue with these alternative Spotify Connect devices like Nexum, Harmon Kardon, etc.
 

escape2

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Again, I have tested this- I can switch my phone off and the music keeps playing long after any buffer would have run out.
Oh, but how long exactly? I have tested this myself, and the CCA will only play for a couple of songs and then stop if it detects that your phone is no longer on. So, while I agree the stream is flowing directly between the source and the CCA, for practical purposes you need to keep your phone ON and connected to the same wifi network if you want your CCA to keep playing.
 

mSpot

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CCA works similarly to Spotify Connect devices, but it doesn't support the Spotify Connect discovery mechanism, so you can't connect to them from your Spotify desktop client for example.
That is not true for me. I can connect to CCA from both my Mac and PC desktop clients directly with Spotify Connect. Here are screenshots. Spotify is not running on any of my mobile devices.

Screen Shot 2021-03-07 at 12.15.00 PM.png
Screen Shot 2021-03-07 at 12.09.39 PM.png
 

Jimbob54

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Oh, but how long exactly? I have tested this myself, and the CCA will only play for a couple of songs and then stop if it detects that your phone is no longer on. So, while I agree the stream is flowing directly between the source and the CCA, for practical purposes you need to keep your phone ON and connected to the same wifi network if you want your CCA to keep playing.
It's not massively stable. But as I said, sometimes a few songs, sometimes a whole day of Internet radio streaming. I think it's more to do with the CCA ability to keep a link to your router than anything with your phone.
 

mSpot

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I have tested this myself, and the CCA will only play for a couple of songs and then stop if it detects that your phone is no longer on. So, while I agree the stream is flowing directly between the source and the CCA, for practical purposes you need to keep your phone ON and connected to the same wifi network if you want your CCA to keep playing.
That is not my experience. For me, it will play out the current play queue, which may be a playlist that runs for hours. Perhaps CCA might stop and not retry if it encounters network errors.
 

Krusty09

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Other nice thing about sonos is that it has built in hard line ethernet port with a loop thru so if you like that that's cool and it has 2 types of digital outputs both spidif and coax and Analog out and a aux input that you can even if you wanted to get cheap bluetooth receiver and select aux in on you phone app and so they have you covered there as well .I have mine for like 10 years or something like that and never had problem. Also the gui is is really very good. Btw s1 ver doesn't get updates anymore but the s2 does still if that means anything to ya.

Good luck on your choice.
 
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