MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Only downside to that is all your notifications, calls, etc will also be 'cast'.
are you sure about that ?
I think you cast a stream to the chromecast device and it then takes over that stream, so you can then switch your phone off if you want.
Not if the source of the cast is your phone's screen/sound though.it then takes over that stream, so you can then switch your phone off if you want.
Not if the source of the cast is your phone's screen/sound though.
well in that case you will get notifications as that is what you have asked for...
I was disappointed with mine as I was expecting the same functionality of the normal chromecast but just without the video output.
if you want to cast youtube then you have to have it playing on your phone screen and cast the phone audio (as mentioned above) and if you do that don't look at the video on the phone or the poor sync will drive you mad.
That is more a problem of youtube as they have done that to stop you using it as a free music service and want you to subscribe to their service so fair enough I guess. But it does work okay for chrome browser tab casting so works well from that.
Thanks for the PSA. I got one last year (for £25), but having a 2nd to use in the garage or as multi-room in the house will be great!
Cheers DrP. I'm now £45 poorer, and it seems the £130 I spent on an Arcam Miniblink and a Sony BM10 last year was a bit of a waste.
Not sure if they're better or worse than any others, but I'm using one of these to hook my original one up to the main stereo and it seems to do the job nicely;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XO-Digital-Mini-Toslink-Optical-Cable-Premium-Install-Series-DTS-SPDIF-AV-Amp-/391130858299?var=&hash=item99c7e33c63
using the spotify cast method I mention above, Ive just checked and it doesnt play notifications through the chromecast. You can also go about other business on the mobile while it continues to cast the sound in the background, and you can let the phone sleep. You cant turn the phone off though, obvs.
as mentioned above though, if you are casting youtube vids, you have to have the video playing on your screen at the same time. I bet there's an app to deal with that though.
BTW - youtube have a subscription service in the US called Youtube Red which permits background playing which would get around this. But seems an expensive sledgehammer to crack a nut. I wonder if there are any 3rd party apps out there that will do it?
hm. the sony phone i've been mildly annoyed with myself for buying might just have redeemed itself. the native music player will also cast. 😀
If you have a chromecast and a media collection of any size, Plex server is absolutely brilliant.
[url= https://plex.tv/ ]https://plex.tv/[/url]
It has all the movies, music and tv from our NAS and streams them effortlessly to any of the devices in the house, including the Chromecast. It's free and very easy to set up, can't recommend it enough.
Has anyone used one of these things to play audio from Windows Media Player? Googling suggests that it's not possible.
I've not tried it, but this sounds as though it would send all Windows audio to the Chromecast;
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-send-your-computers-audio-to-a-chromecast-1750297581
I've seen that, thanks. However, when you delve deeper there are so many potential issues with fixes which you need to be a computer expert to fix, it hardly seems worth bothering. I just hoped there was a simple way of doing it.
[url= https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/6279402?hl=en ]haven't tried it, not sure it's the solution i'd want in your position, but maybe worth a poke.[/url]
From Del's link. This sounds easy. Too easy? 😕
With Windows laptops/desktops you can cast your desktop/laptop audio (vs just the specific Chrome tab). Follow these instructions to start casting your system audio:
In the top right corner of your Chrome browser, click the Cast icon Inactive cast extension .
Next to where it says, “Cast this tab to …”, you’ll see a small dropdown. Click on that to change the source selection.
Choose “Cast this screen/window”
Choose the Chromecast Audio device you want to cast to.
In the “Share your screen” dialog, choose “Entire screen.”
When active, the Cast icon will turn blue Inactive cast extension.
Enjoy your music!
It is that easy, but casts at about half volume.
Poweramp casting coming soonish, apparently. Everything else seems to be streaming first and foremost, not found a good method of playing my own stuff.
iPlayer and Pocketcast doing the business lovely. Off to curries at lunch for a couple more!
Didn't realise it had optical output.
I already have the required toslink connector back from the minidisc era.
Just ordered, cheers for the psa.
What does the optical output give you? Just means you're using your receiver's DAC rather than the DAC in the thing, which, from what I've read, is pretty darned good.
Or is there something else?
Ned...the optical out can be useful if the speaker is 'clever'.
Our soundbar, when 'fed' via the optical cable, actually switches itself on, and onto the correct 'aux in', once a signal comes through.
Basically, helps if you are lazy.
DrP
Ah. Fancy (lazy) Dan.
Mine are jut going into dumb amps.
Ta.
It may have just been a duff cable but I was getting staticy crackly interference when using a 3.5mm to Audio L+R cable.
The optical cable has been perfect.
Got one to revive my tivoli model one radio. Think I'll get a few more for multiroom.
Has anyone tried one with a wireless speaker with battery and usb power output as a portable option?
Yes, powered mine off a battery speaker/USB socket as a portable wireless streamer.
I also ran mine off a backup battery and plugged my headphones in. Worked a treat, sounded great.
Which speaker are you using?
It's not technically a speaker. It's a DEWALT DAB radio.
Hooked my new one up to a rechargeable Bluetooth speaker and powered the Chromecast using the free EE portable charger*, worked a treat 🙂
My main one is powered using the USB socket built into the stereo.
We have a Pure One DAB in the kitchen which has a mini USB socket, I don't know if it's powered though. If I can find a mini to micro USB adapter, I'll test it out...
* I know I'm supposed to return it but I like to live dangerously...
bit late to the party, but not sure if this is what i want or not.
im all sorted in my lounge, i can cast chromebook/android phone to a chromecast in my tv which is connected to my hifi, so i dont think i need anything else there.
the only place i can see it being any use is for my pure dab radio, which has the aux option. i often connect my phone to it with a wire and play deezer/google play etc. i assume this would just replace the wire with the chromecast audio and allow me to use my phone remotely?
but, i assume it wont connect by bluetooth, so no good for camping/days out etc? this is the time id really appreciate something. at present i have a different anker bluetooth speaker for those occasions, i assume the chromecast audio wont bring anything to that party? id prefer to use the pure radio than the anker as the battery and sound are faaaar superior.
cheers
the chromecast does appear in the list of Bluetooth devices but I think that must be for setup rather than casting.
For trips might as well just wire the phone to the aux on the pure
I'm looking for a portable speaker with an integrated USB charger E.g JBL Charge 2+. For another room I'm also looking at amps or active speakers with integrated USB charger. Just want to cut down on the amount of plugs and wires kicking about. Any suggestions you clever people?
Polaroid Block has bluetooth in, aux in and a usb charging port.
Bonkers loud too with plenty of bass.
Asda.
Had the chromecast audio running through my old ipod dock all weekend, seems to have resolved the crop out problem I had with the bbc listen again radio app and the bluetooth adapter I had before.
It worked really well once I realised there was a chromecast app I needed!
I'm looking for a portable speaker with an integrated USB charger E.g JBL Charge 2+. For another room I'm also looking at amps or active speakers with integrated USB charger. Just want to cut down on the amount of plugs and wires kicking about. Any suggestions you clever people?
Probably best to start your own thread and ask?
Sadexpunk: it seems there's no single solution to every requirement, but I've just [url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B014J0TUR0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AONS7HEF348I5 ]come across this[/url] and I thought it would be good for camping as you can run it on 5v which will power the headphone port only (on the back) so you could plug it into your Pure radio, or feed it 12v and connect a couple of bigger speakers 🙂
Torminalis - MemberIf you have a chromecast and a media collection of any size, Plex server is absolutely brilliant.
It has all the movies, music and tv from our NAS and streams them effortlessly to any of the devices in the house, including the Chromecast. It's free and very easy to set up, can't recommend it enough.
Belated thanks, I have got Plex playing my saved music which is good to know is available if we have wifi issues. It also means the old ipod classic can be sold to fund a new amp and speaker set up. 🙂
I've been using mine for work, casting from a tab on my laptop. Which was fine, unless i did something cpu heavy like compile in visual studio. I often got blips/drops where the stream from the laptop was dropping. Not the chromecast's fault but the laptop unable to keep up.
I've since found this app on itunes so generally cast from phone. Once cast from phone, the audiocast streams direct so doesn't affect phone battery etc.
http://blog.tunein.com/post/103557533153/tunein-is-now-available-on-chromecast-today
v useful for radio and podcasts. Also AllCast is handy for streaming music off your phone, and likewise pics and movies for the video version.
Enjoy.
I bought a Chromecast audio and a video but had a problem. I rent here in Oxford and for WiFi use BT with Fon. This needs signing in to to use unless you can play with the router settings. The router is in next doors house and they don't want me to go fiddling with their computer. Grrr.
Own fault. They'll be on the classifieds tonight when I take a photo.
Don't give up so easy, there must be a network solution using an old router. Can you get a wifi repeater and broadcast your own network and hook into the Fon. Don't know enough about fon to give a specific solution.
[url= https://community.bt.com/t5/Broadband-Extras-from-BT/Using-an-extender-with-BTfon-Opnezone/td-p/642980 ]This suggests you can[/url]
Now even cheaper! (just)
[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121995910260?clk_rvr_id=1035786000651&rmvSB=true ]Currys on ebay[/url]
Still £15 at curry's so just ordered a third, running a group with synchronised 6 music around the house, the third one will attach to my lounge hi-fi. It's saved me a fortune as I'd been eyeing up Sonos type stuff before. Performance seems to be excellent using the chromecast app on Android.
Very happy with my purchase!
Ordered another 2 and set up a group. Casting to the group works fine using tune in radio app but it won't cast to the group from Spotify. Any else had this? It connects fine to individual devices but when I try and select the group it just hangs 'connecting' forever. I uninstalled the Spotify app and reinstalled it and it worked once but then when I stopped casting and tried to start again it wouldn't connect. Any thoughts?
Mines just arrived. My old logitech bluetooth adaptor was seamless. This is really flaky. Sometimes picks it up. Sometimes not. Have i missed something?
Ok. After another 5 minutes playing. My google music is fine. Significantly better tbh. But it just does not pick up Soundcloud where most of my stuff is.
FWIW I've had good results using the chromecast audio stream solution. It is a work in progress but has been fine.
https://github.com/acidhax/chromecast-audio-stream
Currently £20 at tesco.com. No delivery charge if you collect from a local store including Tesco Express.
[url= http://bit.ly/2cTMJWb ]Linky[/url]