Hi! As list members will know I have a Rotel A14 stereo amplifier in the Den which has a variety of input connections. The amp has a built in DAC that accepts 2 coaxial and 2 optical toslink inputs a piece so plenty of room for expansion. Also present in the Den is a Google Hom which is at my command. The Google Home is amazing as you all know as to what it understands from your voice but not too amazing when it comes to the quality of sound produced through its internal speaker for music so obviously my thought process turned to the Google Chromecast Audio device and I started wondering how this would sound if I connected it to the Rotel A14 via a digital link, - the Google Chromecast can accept either an analogue or digital toslink connection via its 3.5MM audio output jack. Unfortunately the original Chromecast Audio device I bought had stopped working so time to buy another and they’re cheap enough at around $60 per device which isn’t much bigger than a wristwatch. So the new Chromecast Audio was connected to one of the optical in connections of the amp and the power to the Chromecast is provided by a dedicated USB port on the back of the Amp, its almost as though Rotel thought people would want to connect a Chromecast of similar to the Amp. The next thing was to set up the new Chromecast Audio device which is done through the Google Home App, I named mine “Shed Speaker”. So now when I issue voice commands to Google Home I suffix them with the name of the device I wish to hear streams through. For example, “Play my music library on Shed Speaker” and then the Chromecast Audio takes control of the stream delivering it via the digital link to the A14. Whilst the Chromecast isn’t a top notch device when it comes to audio quality its certainly good enough given the Chromecast can accept up to 96K at 24 bit, twice as better as the Apple AirPlay 1st generation devices, I’m not sure what AirPlay II will support at this time. I have quite a collection of Googlecast devices including 2 JBL Playlist speakers with Chromecast built-in which I use in separate rooms, a Chromecast Video which is connected to the Denon AVRX3400H surround-sound entertainment hub in the lounge etc. I hope that more powered speakers with Built-in Chromecast functionality will make their appearance in the near future.
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