Chromecast Audio

In message , Adam Aglionby writes

Yeah picked up a couple more from PCworld a couple of weeks ago for £15 each, we have 3 here now. Works so much better than bluetooth.

Though haven't played with the multiroom bit yet.

I've not worked out the best way to play back local content (say from the server, via the phone), but then we stream spotify and iplayer mostly.

Did all that some 30 odd years ago. A single telephone cable with 10 balanced pairs going to every room. 4 receivers feeding it - 4 channels covers most of my listening needs. The 5th stereo circuit carries the output of the main sound system in the lounge.

So all that's needed in any room is a selector switch, amp and speakers. You can use cheap if not worried about the quality, or decent one where needed.

Convenience in a 2" wireless box, have a few audio lines tied around but this makes anything with an aux in a wireless internet receiver.

Reminds me in principle of the long gone Kerbango internet radio that was tied to Real Player :-/

Multi room sync was selling point to me, set up couldn`t be simpler, few apps can integrate DLNA or serve from local drive, Bubble and Local Cast seem to be popular away from Plex and Kodi at full media server end.

Yes - but you seem to have had to wait for 30 years to get what I did then. And wireless anything is never as good as cable.

In article , Dave Plowman (News) scribeth thus

The ring main concept of the GP desks lives on;!...

Became an issue with DAB, analogue radios in seperate rooms are by nature in sync, when moved to DAB , 6Music is general background here, delays between different sources became irritating.

Freeview audio seemed to take precedence over couple of Pure DABs have about, which being different eras wouldn`t sync with each other even from cold start.

Phone or tablet as remote saves a stack on panel controls :-)

Tend to agree on wired generally being preferable.

Wireless allows matching sounds in the garden though and Wifi is far preferable to bluetooth :-)

Of course. I nicked the idea from the BBC. ;-)

Other problem with a radio in each room is providing a decent aerial signal to it. The prime reason for my audio distribution system here as FM reception in this part of London was poor. And I wanted the ability to have the output from the main sound system in every room. So since the major amount of work was installing the cables, might as well use a multicore. Telephone cable is very cheap.

Yes. So if flitting between kitchen and living room when cooking, I use the sound from the lounge TV. You'll not really see a sync difference you can clearly hear.

If the sound in your garden is loud enough to hear any delay from that to the house, glad I'm not a neighbour. ;-)

I should imagine not so much a "Ring Main" as a "Linear Bus" (same as the 'Cheapernet'(tm) principle where both ends are terminated in the cable's characteristic impedance loading where the sources are very low impedance transmitters (or at least half that of the cable impedance) and the receivers - 'listeners' - are high impedance 'monitoring' amplifier inputs).

It's what it was called at the BBC.

Mine is as you say - actually just a radial circuit with terminations at the end. Driven by SSM 2142 line drivers with an op amp before them to set the gain. And SSM 2143 line receivers.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Well yeah, but this is now, not 30 years ago :-). I don't think dam is claiming that multiroom audio is a knew thing just that the Chromecast Audio is a pretty cheap and easy way of doing it.

It's somewhat easier (and cheaper assuming you already have the output device) to plonk down a few quid, plug it set it up (dead easy) and be playing whatever in a few minutes.

Well horses for courses an all that. Whilst I do have cable to some bits of the house ICNBA with the faff and disruption of getting it neatly to all the places I might want it in this house (and I'd still want wifi there anyway). WIfi is generally good enough now in this house (though it did require 3 access points to get good coverage.

Not had any problems streaming audio with the Chromecasts over wifi