finally a competitor for Sonos??????

[phil_cardiff]

Watchman said:

I'm struggling a little bit with a way to play tunes from my NAS to the Chromecast Audio.

I come from the old days of IT where we used file managers as a single view of all connected storage devices. As a result, I downloaded and installed ES file manager on my android phone which allows me to connect with my NAS, view pictures and films, and play music on my phone.

There's a Chromecast plug-in which I have but it doesn't appear to be compatible with the Chromecast Audio "puck" (as opposed to the HDMI version). This is very irritable, so now I'm looking for a way to play music from my NAS on the CA pucks (I now have 3 - couldn't help myself when I noticed one in PC World over the weekend).

Anyway, I think the problem *may* be that ES file manager only allows you to cast certain files and not others which I think sounds ridiculous. Well, that's what some of the comments on the Google Play Store seem to suggest anyway, but I'm sure the majority of my stored files are MP3 and any product that can't deal with the industry standard is stupid, stupid, stupid so it can't be that.


Any suggestions? I would have preferred to use the Google Play Music app that came with my phone but that won't allow me to connect to the NAS - or at least I don't think it does. It seems limited to connecting with the Google cloud storage or local (i.e. on the phone) storage.

Can you play the audio on your phone? If so the chromecast app allows you to cast whatever your phone is playing. I was casting stuff hosted on my phone and played via the Samsung music player just yesterday.

[Watchman]

phil_cardiff said:

Can you play the audio on your phone? If so the chromecast app allows you to cast whatever your phone is playing. I was casting stuff hosted on my phone and played via the Samsung music player just yesterday.

I can, yes. The ES file explorer has a media player which plays on my phone. It allows me to select from my list of Chromecast Audio devices but never actually switches to them, continuing to play on the phone.

[phil_cardiff]

Watchman said:

phil_cardiff said:

Can you play the audio on your phone? If so the chromecast app allows you to cast whatever your phone is playing. I was casting stuff hosted on my phone and played via the Samsung music player just yesterday.

I can, yes. The ES file explorer has a media player which plays on my phone. It allows me to select from my list of Chromecast Audio devices but never actually switches to them, continuing to play on the phone.

Are you tryingto cast using the ES app? The chromecast app has an option to cast whatever your phone is doing.

Apologies if you've already done this but I'd try:

1. Play the music via ES media player.
2. Go into the Chromecast app.
3. Select cast screen/audio from the drop down menu.

This works for me when casting songs from youtube or the samsung media player.

[Watchman]

phil_cardiff said:

Are you tryingto cast using the ES app? The chromecast app has an option to cast whatever your phone is doing.

Apologies if you've already done this but I'd try:

1. Play the music via ES media player.
2. Go into the Chromecast app.
3. Select cast screen/audio from the drop down menu.

This works for me when casting songs from youtube or the samsung media player.

Thanks - I'll give this a go this evening and let you know.

[phil_cardiff]

Watchman said:

Thanks - I'll give this a go this evening and let you know.

Any luck?

[Watchman]

Sorry - meant to get back to this.


No, no success. In the Chromecast app, the ES "Chromecast" plug-in for the ES file explorer isn't found in the "what's on" tab. If I go to the link on the right which is "find more", this takes you to the "get apps" tab and in there you can scroll to the bottom and "browse all apps" which just takes you to the Play Store.

In there, you can browse "your apps" and I can see that the ES "Chromecast" plug-in is installed on my phone however only the ES file explorer is listed on my phone. The plug-in is not listed as a separate app.

I'l try uninstalling and reinstalling the plug-in. I didn't consciously install the plug-in but I've had ES file explorer for a long time, so I guess it may have arrived as an upgrade at some point. It's possible that the introduction of the Chromecast app prompted the plug-in's installation too but it's not listed in the apps I can cast to... yet.

[phil_cardiff]

No, no, no!

Go to the Chromecast app. Press the 3 horizontal bars. Under there should be an option to cast screen/ audio. This will then ask you if you want to mirror your device.

[Watchman]

Ah, I see. Partial success. It does play but at a very reduced volume - very tinny sound - and it stutters similar to a bluetooth connection to be honest.


If I load the music directly onto my phone, as opposed to trying to stream it from my NAS, and play/cast from Google Play Music, it's perfect.

I think it's the ES app I'm using. I need to find another file explorer with a built-in media player that's a bit further along the development path I reckon.

[phil_cardiff]

Watchman said:

Ah, I see. Partial success. It does play but at a very reduced volume - very tinny sound - and it stutters similar to a bluetooth connection to be honest.


If I load the music directly onto my phone, as opposed to trying to stream it from my NAS, and play/cast from Google Play Music, it's perfect.

I think it's the ES app I'm using. I need to find another file explorer with a built-in media player that's a bit further along the development path I reckon.

I should have made my instructions clearer.

Bad news that the quality is poor from the nas. I uploaded all my ripped music to google play music in the end. Was a faff and took hours but I probably won't buy a nas now as I don't have a need for one really.

[Watchman]

I should have read the instructions instead of skim-reading like I normally do.


I can't rely on on-line services as my internet connection is so slow. The Sonos works off the NAS and streaming radio to both the Sonos and Chromecast is usually fine (notwithstanding the unreliability of the network connection).

Might upgrade to fibre internet this year - at which point I'll do the same as you and poke everything into the cloud. In the meantime, I've a few candidate apps to try as alternative file explorers and/or media players (I only really need a media player that can "see" my NAS, play music, and is compatible with cast).

[phil_cardiff]

https://www.avforums.com/threads/casting-music-fro...

Any good?

[Watchman]

phil_cardiff said:

https://www.avforums.com/threads/casting-music-fro...

Any good?

That looks spot-on. Thanks. I've downloaded it and will try it out tonight. If I like it, I'll buy the ad-free version - I like "purchased" apps.

Brilliant - thanks again.

[Watchman]

Mmm... needs more testing. It's not casting either. I'll spend more time with it later to rule out my idiocy.

[Watchman]

No, keeps crashing and asking me to reboot my Chromecast device. Won't actually cast.

Trying a few other apps now.

[paulrockliffe]

Over the last few weeks I've picked up a few more devices, a couple that Currys were punting on eBay for £22 (Christmas returns with damaged boxes) and a couple of unwanted gifts from Gumtree for similar. I've now got 5 setup, one covers the kitchen and conservatory, one for the bathroom, living room, workshop and the last one covers all the other rooms (Two bedrooms, landing and dining room). Eventually I'll add a few more to split the last one up properly.

Multicast works really well, the groups just work perfectly and it's dead easy to swap between them. Really pleased I gambled that technology would over-take Sonos and didn't spend a fortune on that when I fitted everything!

My only complaint is that when you have more than a few devices, you have a huge number of possible groups. When I select my device I get a choice of the 5 CCAs, the two Chromecasts on the TVs, some Apps give me my smart TV too, then the groups. It's quite a list! There needs to be more thought on this, as a minimum you need to be able to hide the single devices if you only want groups and possibly set which devices are available in which apps.

What really needs to happen is a revamp of the sound settings in Android, so when you're at home it brings Chromecast into the sound settings. There should be an on-off switch for Chromecast Audio, then in details a set of tick boxes to select which devices to use, so the grouping is dynamic. If sound is going to CCA from one app, opening another gives you the choice of hijacking the existing setup, or casting to a new set of devices.

To illustrate the point, when I've finished buying devices my list of options will look something like this:

Living Room TV
Living Room Audio
Kitchen Audio
Bathroom Audio
Blacksmiths TV
Blacksmiths Audio
Living Room TV (DNLA)
Dining Room Audio
Landing Audio
Bedroom 1 Audio
Bedroom 2 Audio
Whole House (Group)
Upstairs (Group)
Downstairs (Group)
Kitchen and Dining Room (Group)
Whole House and Blacksmiths (Group)
Downstairs and Blacksmiths (Group)
Bathroom, Landing and Bedroom 1 (Group)

[kingston12]

paulrockliffe said:

My only complaint is that when you have more than a few devices, you have a huge number of possible groups. When I select my device I get a choice of the 5 CCAs, the two Chromecasts on the TVs, some Apps give me my smart TV too, then the groups. It's quite a list! There needs to be more thought on this, as a minimum you need to be able to hide the single devices if you only want groups and possibly set which devices are available in which apps.

Yes, this is one of the areas where Sonos really scores - creating the groups 'on the fly' in the same app that you are playing the music from.

For me this is offset by another one of the Sonos advantages. When I had my Sonos system, all of the zones that consisted of the 'Play' speakers were auto-sensing so if they were part of the group the music would start playing. Now I have Chromecast Audio in those zones I have to physically switch the amp/speakers on in each one. Because of this, I usually just cast to my 'Home' group which contains all 5 of my Chromecast Audios and turn them on as I need them.

Sonos definitely still has the edge if you can use it in your environment because:

1. The above factors.
2. The app allows you to use any of your streamed services and your own library in one place.
3. The app allows multiple Spotify streams, so you could feasibly listen to 10 different tracks in 10 different zones if you wanted to.

If Google can release an app that does as much as the Sonos app can then surely it is game over? The Chromecast hardware is much cheaper and supports 5ghz for those who need it.

[anonymous-user]

kingston12 said:

If Google can release an app that does as much as the Sonos app can then surely it is game over? The Chromecast hardware is much cheaper and supports 5ghz for those who need it.

I would say the odds must be pretty short on them developing that in the short to medium term.

[paulrockliffe]

desolate said:

kingston12 said:

If Google can release an app that does as much as the Sonos app can then surely it is game over? The Chromecast hardware is much cheaper and supports 5ghz for those who need it.

I would say the odds must be pretty short on them developing that in the short to medium term.

I'm not sure, at the moment Chromecast is fundamentally different in that it doesn't try to be your music app. You use the normal apps you'd use, but you just select the output configuration using the Chromecast button that magically appears in the app.

Both approaches have their merits, I like having the choice of app and if something isn't supported you can find another app to get what you want. But it does make control of the output to multi-room more clunky. It's still acceptable, bearing in mind multi-cast is only a couple of months old. Hopefully CC will be integrated into the Android sound settings properly to overcome it's current limitations.

The actual Chromecast app is only really for setting the devices up and for 'fixing' any apps that don't support CC by mirroring the device audio.

[kingston12]

paulrockliffe said:

desolate said:

kingston12 said:

If Google can release an app that does as much as the Sonos app can then surely it is game over? The Chromecast hardware is much cheaper and supports 5ghz for those who need it.

I would say the odds must be pretty short on them developing that in the short to medium term.

I'm not sure, at the moment Chromecast is fundamentally different in that it doesn't try to be your music app. You use the normal apps you'd use, but you just select the output configuration using the Chromecast button that magically appears in the app.

Both approaches have their merits, I like having the choice of app and if something isn't supported you can find another app to get what you want. But it does make control of the output to multi-room more clunky. It's still acceptable, bearing in mind multi-cast is only a couple of months old. Hopefully CC will be integrated into the Android sound settings properly to overcome it's current limitations.

The actual Chromecast app is only really for setting the devices up and for 'fixing' any apps that don't support CC by mirroring the device audio.

It is an advantage to be able to use the 'source' apps in their own right, and Plex and Spotify work well for me, but the real beauty of the Sonos app is having everything in one place. I felt much more confident passing the control of Sonos to a 'technophobe' than I do for Chromecast Audio.

Now I am used to it, I actually quite like the approach but I think that Google could really become dominant here if they combined a Sonos-type app with the much lower priced, 5ghz compatible hardware they already have.

[paulrockliffe]

kingston12 said:

It is an advantage to be able to use the 'source' apps in their own right, and Plex and Spotify work well for me, but the real beauty of the Sonos app is having everything in one place. I felt much more confident passing the control of Sonos to a 'technophobe' than I do for Chromecast Audio.

Now I am used to it, I actually quite like the approach but I think that Google could really become dominant here if they combined a Sonos-type app with the much lower priced, 5ghz compatible hardware they already have.

I see what you're saying and agree to an extent, there are users/circumstances where that's better.

The Google approach is based on everyone having a phone already that they know how to use. So long as they install the Chromecast App and are on the WiFi network, they can use your setup, they just press the CC icon that appears.

Again, they should integrate Chromecast into Android, so that the App isn't required at all. Then you just need to be on the Network. They could even get rid of that by using something along the Windows Phone WiFi sharing model which gives access to your networks to your contacts automatically.

My partner wouldn't touch my original setup, which was Raspberry Pi running XBMC and the Yatse app as a remote control. Once I convinced her to get an Android phone I spent 30s putting Chromecast on her phone and now she uses it all the time, because it's just an extra button and her phone is always to hand. Whether that's better than Sonos depends on the user, but it's certainly a lot cheaper!