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Google Chromecast Audio...bringing smart audio to dumb hifi

I need to eat my words about the CCA. I have now powered it off a USB port from my Anker battery pack that also powers my Beresford Caiman 2 DAC that the CCA is optically connected to. I'm gobsmacked at this arrangement. Folks, if you have a CCA, try feeding it off a suitable USB battery pack.

Rana,
I'm considering a Caiman SEG and would like to use with a CCA. How do you rate the CCA compared to other sources with the Caiman?
 
Rana,
I'm considering a Caiman SEG and would like to use with a CCA. How do you rate the CCA compared to other sources with the Caiman?

I'm scared to put into writing, but the CCA and Caiman (both running off the same battery supply) is very revealing. I have a top end Panasonic Blu-ray feeding one of the coax inputs and the battery powered CCA is as good if not better. Streaming Spotify, the CCA using battery noticeably is better than my AEX. Note that when I first tried the CCA using its own wall wart I was unimpressed by the sound though it was really easy to use.
 
And with what accuracy could you pick out the right one? What source material did you use? Honestly interested, because successfully telling 256k AAC from lossless is pretty rare except with a few pathological tracks. There are supposedly some people who do have reduced hearing at some frequencies that does prevent the perceptual masking from working, but that seems pretty rare.

this conforms broadly with my experience. songs on Radio Paradise at 320k and the same tracks on Tidal lossless sound the same to me.

however, i love me some Internet radio and i do hear a fairly significant difference between higher-rez streams and stations like my beloved FIP that broadcast at 128k. but FIP's just too good to ignore, even if the sonics are crappier!
 
I use the free google play music app which allows me to upload 50,000 songs for free.
If I buy one of these can I stream my music from the app on my iPhone to it?
Cheers
Curtis
 
I use the free google play music app which allows me to upload 50,000 songs for free.
If I buy one of these can I stream my music from the app on my iPhone to it?
Yes. And even better, you could switch your iPhone off, and Google would continue to stream your music directly from the cloud to your Chromecast Audio. That is, the music does not stream from or through your iPhone, as with AirPlay, but streams directly to the Chromecast, missing out your iPhone. Your iPhone becomes "just" a remote control.
 
Yes. And even better, you could switch your iPhone off, and Google would continue to stream your music directly from the cloud to your Chromecast Audio. That is, the music does not stream from or through your iPhone, as with AirPlay, but streams directly to the Chromecast, missing out your iPhone. Your iPhone becomes "just" a remote control.

Sweet! Thanks Mark.
Would It also be able to stream music from something like a WD mycloud wireless NAS drive?

Cheers
Curtis
 
Sweet! Thanks Mark.
Would It also be able to stream music from something like a WD mycloud wireless NAS drive?

Cheers
Curtis
It can stream from a NAS drive, yes. I haven't yet made mine do this, or take the music fom my lappy, but I believe it's possible.
 
Gents, yes you can do this using bubble upnp from an android device.

What's great about the CCA is that the volume control works. Anyone know if this degrades quality at all ?
 
Rana

What are you using as a battery supply?

Hi Chris

I'm using a 20000mAh Anker Pro Series that I originally bought, and still concurrently use, to power my 12V Caiman DAC. It also has a couple of USB outputs of which one powers my CCA.
 
I'm sure it would. How long it lasts is anyone's guess, but it's going to be a few hours. If the CCA draws 500mA (say?) then you'll get 13 hours. Even at 1A it will run for 6 hours, and I doubt the CCA can draw 1A. It has no heatsink so I suspect 1A would melt it in a very short time.
 
I'm sure it would. How long it lasts is anyone's guess, but it's going to be a few hours. If the CCA draws 500mA (say?) then you'll get 13 hours. Even at 1A it will run for 6 hours, and I doubt the CCA can draw 1A. It has no heatsink so I suspect 1A would melt it in a very short time.

Thanks Steve.
 


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