Chromecast Audio & Tidal ?

Hi folks,
So I bought a Chromecast Audio, plugged it into my Cambridge CXA80 and successfully set it up but then boom. I did not know that it is this hard to play music from my mac using chromecast audio. Of course, you can do it by using the desktop player but it doesn't let you play with the highest quality (Master) but it lets you play with the one below (hiFi).
I saw on internet some people managed to do it by using upnp (or something like that) and I am sure somebody on this forum did the same because even from the mobile app the "master" option is not available. It is just for the macbook app which is unable to connect to the chromecast audio. I don't want to buy a USB dac or something, what is the best way to solve the issue? Thanks.

 

up

 

I have a CCA but with a Windows 7 laptop.

As far as I've been able to find out you have to use the Google Home app on a smartphone to get to the CCA settings for "Full Dynamic Range". You can't get access to these settings on a laptop or computer; has to be a smartphone with the Home App.

Otherwise, the CCA sounds kinda dull thru a good resolving system.

 

Don't know how to get it working from a mac. What I do know is when using the optical output it is currently not able to play 24/96 files without dropouts.

 

That's not true at all, the CCA is fine playing 24/96.

 

Yes only the Tidal application is able to play hi-res, this is a Tidal design which is very likely to be because of MQA licensing.

When you cast to a Chromecast you're not playing to the Chromecast from your device, you're instructing the Chromecast to play the stream directly, independent of the application you're controlling it from (unless you're mirroring).
As the Chromecast is not running Tidal's software only the AAC and 16/44 FLAC sources are available to Chromecast devices.
Qobuz is your best bet if you want lossless, high resolution playback (and without MQA).

 

If you use the analog out it's fine, if you use the optical out there are drop outs. Many users have this issue including me.

 

My CCA is on the way to me and I was planning on connecting the optical out to my DAC to stream Tidal and/or Spotify. Is it not as simple as running the app on my phone, cast to CCA? I'm only trying Tidal because of the Hi-Fi stream, but it's a non-starter if I lose that ability.

 

Not at all, my CCA is connected to my amp's DAC via toslink and plays files up to 24/96 cast from our Android phones and tablet running Blackplayer & Yatse with no issues at all.

Edit: Thing is the Chromecast Audio unlike the Chromecast, has a DAC inside that supports resolutions upto 24/96, this DAC is in use when you output via analogue.
When you use the toslink connection the DAC is not being used for conversion as your CCA is then a transport to your external DAC. If there's stoppages only when outputting to your external DAC it's going to be a issue with the external DAC or the optical connection. You sure your external DAC supports 24/96?

 

Yes it's that easy, it's just that Tidal doesn't cast the "hi-res" MQA Master releases. That's a Tidal/MQA restriction not a Chromecast issue.

 

You should have absolutely no problems casting from the Tidal app on your phone to the Chromecast. Just play the album, song or playlist on the app and hit the little icon (I believe it is at the bottom left) on the screen. Then choose your Chromecast.

 

Forgive my format ignorance, but what is the difference between Tidal Hi-Fi and MQA Master?

At my age it's no wonder I gravitate to vinyl.

 

Oh boy, hang on!

 

I have no problems streaming "hifi" level to my chromecast audio off tidal. The android app, however, does not do mqa. tidal claims to be working on making the app mqa able.

 

Instead of streaming , how bout playing it from external database

 

See, I know for sure it's the Chromecast Audio that is causing this issue. Many users have this as is proven by this thread:
Chromecast Audio - Stutter at 96Khz on 1.32.124602 - Chromecast Help

 

OK you may be having this issue but have you investigated other possibilities? I get no such issues and my CCA is on fw 1.36.139856.
So out of curiosity I'm currently casting YOB's latest album in 24/96 FLAC stored on my Samsung S9 to my CCA (outputting to toslink) on 5GHz WiFi and it's been fine for the past ~30 minutes, gapless playback across tracks and all. I'd post screenshots if I knew how.

It's a bit of a fringe case for me to be honest as I have a dedicated DAP for playing my digital library stored on a server/NAS but the CCA's a very handy device, especially for Spotify, radio, my missus' meditation app and for continuing my mobile listening when I get home.

Back to the OPs post though, Tidal doesn't cast hi-res as Tidal doesn't support it, either in-app or from a browser. Tidal's to blame for that though, it's not a CCA limitation.

 

I’m having this same problem casting from Plex. Is there any solution?

 

Hi-Fi is limited to CD quality audio.

Master uses MQA encoding to deliver better than CD quality. The TIDAL desktop app is able to do the first MQA unrolling step, generating a 24/96 stream. A setting in TIDAL can turn off this first unrolling, and send the encoded MQA stream to an external MQA-equipped DAC for full MQA decoding (meaning higher than 96 kHz audio, if such masters are being streamed).

However, MQA is a highly controversial subject, and there are many other threads in the Hardware Forum on that topic, so best to look there for the pros/cons.

 

The android app now has "Master" quality and a software MQA decoder.

Tidal brings master-quality audio to its Android app

 

I don't know. I don't use it anymore. Probably you can just wait for a firmware upgrade to solve this issue.

 

It does, but even though I am getting Master on my android app, it only casts Hi-Fi to Chromecast.

 

Being able to decode MQA in the Tidal app doesn't mean it will be able to cast MQA. MQA is a proprietary, lossy codec which is not supported by many devices.
Yet it doesn't mean you can't cast high resolution audio to the Chromecast Audio. It'd be no problem if you were using Qobuz for example as Qobuz provides high-res stteaming in FLAC, a proper lossless and open format.

 

Just ordered a Chromecast audio (15 bucks right now) to try as a Roon endpoint. Thanks for the thread!

 

I am going to try Qobuz when it becomes available in the US. Does Qobuz cast to Chromecast?