Chromecast audio discontinued

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by winged creature, Jan 11, 2019.

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  1. winged creature

    winged creature Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    MikaelaArsenault, Archguy and james like this.
  2. nightstand68

    nightstand68 Forum Resident

    I have several and don’t use them anymore.
     
  3. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    i have my first on order. just need a Roon endpoint. good timing!
     
    jmrife likes this.
  4. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    Damn, will buy another one, as a spare. Always useful around the house.
     
  5. Ken Clark

    Ken Clark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago Suburbs
    I bought 4 at the $15 price. A great deal for something that I find works really well.
     
  6. Ulises

    Ulises Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    I’m in for 3 to hold as backups. Why would they discontinue? Currently running four in my house as Roon endpoints and they are brilliant for multiroom audio.
     
    Archguy and RND4mGuy like this.
  7. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Gone at the Google Store and Best Buy on line. Found one at Staples on line for $15, but you need $50 for free shipping. I found the $10 shipping to be cheaper than anything else I needed (i.e. nothing).
     
  8. carrick doone

    carrick doone Whhhuuuutttt????

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Darn! I wish I hadn't bought mine at full price just a couple of months ago. It is a nice idea but replicated too easily by other devices. I use it in my studio but it's lack of access to Flac is limiting.
     
  9. Blue Gecko

    Blue Gecko Peace

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Best deal ever, bought 3.
     
  10. Melvin

    Melvin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Glad I bought a spare when I saw the price drop a couple of weeks ago.
     
  11. CraigVC

    CraigVC Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I wonder how long the Google Home software (which is needed to operate these devices, correct?) will remain compatible with Chromecast Audio over time.
     
    sunspot42 and Archguy like this.
  12. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    If any of you do not use the Chromecast Audio devices, one can sell them online and get some money back and if one has a regular Chromecast for TV, you can buy an HDMI to AV converter for $15-20 or so online which you plug the converter into an outlet using an HDMI wall charger that plugs into an electric outlet, the regular Chromecast in to the HDMI input and then instead of hooking up the composite video along with the RCA audio, one only has to use the left and right RCA stereo cables and hook those up into the stereo. The DACs in these converters isn't nearly as good as those in the Chromecast Audio but it does work.
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2019
  13. Machiventa

    Machiventa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salida, Colorado
    I love chromecast audios when they work. I get dropouts and disconnections somewhat frequently, but that's probably my internet connection or router. And maybe 4 CCA's is too many to have connected at the same time with my configuration. I've noticed way less dropouts when connected to just one.

    What other devices do the same thing? I've never looked into alternatives.
     
  14. souladdikt

    souladdikt Forum Resident

    I have 8 CCAs connected. I used to get dropouts/disconnects when connecting to 4+ at time. I switched to a mesh wifi system (eero) and haven't had any issues since. Bummer that they're now discontinued. I use them as cheap Roon endpoints and wanted to add one or two more for complete coverage inside and outside my house.
     
    Machiventa likes this.
  15. DyersEve726

    DyersEve726 Schmo Diggy

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I wanted to do this also, but chromecast isn't capable of pairing with RAAT devices for multiroom playback. It's either all RAAT or all CC, can't mix, and my primary playback is a DigiOne Signature, so I'm stuck with other RAAT devices.
     
    souladdikt likes this.
  16. souladdikt

    souladdikt Forum Resident

    Yup, I got Roon right after they announced CCA support. I mainly use it to stream Tidal throughout the house. Gapless playback and integration with my own library are worth the cost to me. CCA's were by far the cheapest route to blanket my house.
     
    wipster likes this.
  17. wipster

    wipster Forum Resident

    I do the same thing, exactly. I have a couple groups set up and they work great for my purposes. When I read about the discontinuation today, I bit the bullet and ordered 8 from Staples. I may add a couple of them and some of my friends are planning to as well. Heck of a lot cheaper than Sonos. And I concur, they also work well with Roon... loving that product.
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2019
  18. RND4mGuy

    RND4mGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado, USA
    I was hoping they would come out with an updated version with maybe a better DAC or more features and instead they cancelled it. It was probably a loss leader. The video Chromecast is where it's at for the general populace. Glad I picked up a 3rd one for the bedroom on a whim when they were on sale for $15 at BB.
     
    wipster likes this.
  19. wipster

    wipster Forum Resident

    I'm wondering if they may combine the features in the Chromecast Deluxe (or something similar). They never did market the audio only product very well and it did confuse folks that weren't into audio that much. I don't think we've seen the last of it's features. After all, they have to come up with something new for us to spend our money on.
     
  20. Ken Clark

    Ken Clark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago Suburbs
    I have 4, 3 in regular use and have never had a drop out.
     
    wipster likes this.
  21. carrick doone

    carrick doone Whhhuuuutttt????

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Fair enough. Maybe not the same but 90% of what Chromecast does. My smart tv can stream almost any audio I want within its system and it's connected to my stereo/HT. I know people who use Alexa or Google Home for their music streaming. There is Sonos which I understand connects speakers wirelessly. I use Bluetooth speakers and so do friends of mine. Chromecast audio was first out of the gate by minutes if not seconds while other apps and devices were ready to go. Nothing does exactly what Chromecast audio does but these devices do similar things in the same range of fidelity. For most people that's enough.
     
    Machiventa likes this.
  22. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    Anyone heard of price reductions in Europe? They are still €39 over here :realmad:!
     
  23. spartree

    spartree Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Some shops have them for €25-30. eBay as well.
     
  24. souladdikt

    souladdikt Forum Resident

    Back in stock at google, though delivery date showing late February or early March depending on shipping.
     
  25. puddleduck

    puddleduck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lake District
    I have two of them, one in my main hifi system and another in a Yamaha CRX-550 mini-system in the living room (the Yamaha is superb sounding beast for it's tiny footprint)

    I really love these things - they sound great, take no space and seem to just work, it's great to hear a Youtube track on a proper system rather than the tinny speakers on most laptops. Spotify also connects to it, even the free service.

    I probably don't need another 1 but may pick another up if we see a similar price drop here in the UK.
     
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