Chromecast Audio replacement, for Roon + Tidal Connect + Chromecast

Audio Gear Talk
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preface, feel free to skip: I thought this would be simple, but it’s appearing to be very complicated, and may need multiple conversations to handle my full setup in various rooms (2x 5.1s, projector, great sony bravia’s with unused atmos, a plethora of wireless speakers), but will concentrate on the traditional hi-fi setup in my home office first.

Currently, a very simple entry level setup, a couple of dali stand mounts, an onkyo amp, and a chromecast audio in to the amp.

Music is 100% streamed from either mobiles (tidal mqa, usually downloaded to device) or via pcs using roon. Vinyl setup I’ll disregard as concerned with digital only here. Other members of the house just cast from whatever they’re using (spotify, youtube, bbc sounds, whatever). Obviously have access to higher quality audio but the chromecast audio can’t handle it and cap’s out lower than I want. For context the entire house has gigabit networking + a great wifi setup with 8x wifi points.

I feel that I need a good DAC and a way to get the digital audio to it wirelessly without complex apps. Then hopefully I see the short comings in my speakers and can replace them, then likewise the amp. Budget is ideally ~700 but can go higher or lower as required.

Considered 2x cambridge audio devices, their streamer and their dacmagic + something else. Gut says the streamer I’ll find frustrating and the DAC will be over priced and that there are better I just don’t know about. Considered a node but being so locked in to one integrated solution or replacing half it’s functionality later doesn’t sit well. Considered Wiim Pro if I can get one then (insert DAC here?).

If I can get this bit right, get the music wirelessly from whatever I’m using to control it (roon, tidal etc) to an am via a decent dac, then I’d like to keep that bit of the puzzle and upgrade other components as I can get away with it.

Can anybody shed any light, as it appears I’m seeing two sets of feedback, great praise on cambridge streamer / node etc from whathifi and the likes, then tech posts on avr and other sources showing all the failures compared to other things.

My only requirements are to be able to take full advantage of higher bitrate audio, and do so without 40ft of wires. Help?

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Well speaking of the Cambridge streamer. Mine just arrived today (CXNv2). It was a breeze to setup through WiFi. It’s completely Roon Ready so very easy to use in Roon.

When it comes to its accompanying apps (Cambridge Connect and StreamMagic). I’ve ran into an issue with them on my iPhone. They just don’t want to find the streamer. After installing the apps on my old Nokia phone running on Android, that one works straight away.

At the moment I’ve hooked up the Cambridge to a set of PreSonus Eris E3.5 BT monitor speakers through its RCA output. The PreSonus speakers are active speakers so they have their own build in amplifier. This is a test setup as I’m planning to do some rearranging to get my streamer connected digitally to my Harman Kardan receiver in the living room.

Your gut might prove you’re wrong there. It is very easy to use and pretty straightforward. Didn’t read the manual and I was up and running very quickly. After first boot it takes you through the setup, and after connecting to my wifi and opening up its admin page through a webbrowser it went ahead and updated its firmware. After that you only have to do some minimal changes if you like. Like changing its name that shows up on your network or its AirPlay and Chromecast functionalities. I’ve also enabled the preamp option in its settings, so I can remotely change the volume of the device.

The only other streamer I have at home is my WiiM Mini. Its app, WiiM Home, works pretty similar to StreamMagic. If you are familiar with the Qobuz and Tidal apps you’ll find your way around StreamMagic fairly easily.

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Good thinking on your gut, there.

The conventional value-oriented wisdom on this forum is to get a Raspberry Pi 4 (about $200 right now), put RoPieee on it, and then pair it with a Topping DAC ($150-$500, depending on what you exactly want) via USB. So that would fit your $700 budget. If you want to get into audiophile mythology and see-what-I’ve-got-manship, the prices can go sky high.

There are many other solutions. Excellent DACs from Topping and SMSL cost very little. Streamers abound, though the ones sold by audiophile sources are typically 2x to 10x more expensive than the DIY small computer ones.

I finally got sick of all these piecemeal frankensystem patchworks, and bought a Roon Ready integrated amp that does it all. I’m also fond of Nest Audio speakers, sometimes found on sale for $45, for less demanding spaces.

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@SandsOfArrakis Mine just arrived today (CXNv2)

Thanks! How did you find it vs what you had before?

@Bill_Janssen a Roon Ready integrated amp, nest audio

Can I ask which one you went for? I have a host of nest audio speakers too about 15, a couple I’ve found i can bluetooth connect to via sony bravia tv, then group that through to the 5.1 which is awful but saves running wires through to the media cupboard which was not very future proof when installed!

Very much not interested in pushing the limits here, I just want the ease of use and a “wow I’m glad I bought that, this sounds so much better” moment, then an excuse to buy better speaker setup(s)!

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The NAD C 3050 LE. So far, very happy. Now to buy better speakers!

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It beats the WiiM Mini hands down. I also have an iFi Zen DAC V2 which is connected through USB to my MacBook Pro. And I also have 2 AirPlay powered Harman Kardon Citation One speakers in the kitchen and bedroom. Together with the Cambridge they make up the endpoints in my Roon system.

The iFi has MQA which the other devices don’t have. I quite like MQA, but it is not a necessity for me.
It does sound really good hooked up to the Mac’s speaker system (PreSonus Eris E4.5 BT). The bigger brother to the set my Cambridge is currently hooked up to. But it is only a DAC and does not have its own network connection. Either through Ethernet or WiFi. The Cambridge has both of them.

If you are looking for an easy to setup device. The Cambridge won’t disappoint. The WiiM Mini I also had up running in no time in Roon. The only problem is that since the Mini has very little RAM built into it is currently not Roon Ready and only connects through AirPlay. Which works. But that is limited to 16/44.1. While I have been happily listening to 24/192 tracks on Qobuz on the Cambridge.

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I’m now up for a speaker hunt at some point as well.

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@Bill_Janssen NAD C 3050 LE

Wow, that just C 3050 LE is stunning, I’d never seen it before, I immediately want it.

@SandsOfArrakis

Thanks so much for sharing your full setup(s) and feedback on other devices I had stumbled on, it’s invaluable - for interest I owe you a debt of gratitude, it was actually one of your posts which lead me to this forum (about the wiim mini), and likewise to roon, so my ears thank you greatly!

Both, interested in the speaker side too - my wife may find it less painful if I don’t swap things for the next year or so and just go straight for a great setup that lasts another few years.

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Turns out the walnut cabinetry is much prettier (to my eyes, anyway) than it appears in the photos. Thinking about matching it with walnut Klipsch Forte IVs, or maybe KEF R7 metas.

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I’ve bought the Cambridge with the intention that it should last for several years as well. Now I have to refill my bank account before I can go shopping for new speakers and perhaps a new amp. Since my current amp is getting close to 20 years of age.

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Collating information here for future reference, appears the cxnv2 does not do mqa unfolding, https://techsupport.cambridgeaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411352799633-Can-the-CXN-V2-support-MQA-content- I know it’s perhaps off topic but roughly half of my listening will be via android based mobile using tidal connect, and this is precisely the issue I’m trying to solve, I can’t listen to master’s via chromecast audio, so to then outlay a decent amount and find the same thing for the cxnv2 would be quite the disappointment.

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No it doesn’t. The only device I have here that has a built in MQA decoder is my iFi Zen DAC V2. Roon can do the first unfold, but the second and final unfold is through the hardware itself. It doesn’t bother me that much to be honest.

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Roon’s signal path with the iFi playing an MQA track. MQA Studio is the same basically.

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Same track with the Cambridge.

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Three questions:

  • audible difference between the two?
    – same with a higher quality MQA track?
  • tried the ifi plugged in to the cxn? if so any improvement? (as per their guidance for magicdac in the aforementioned link)
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Sadly I can’t plug the iFi into the CXN, as the CXN only has digital inputs. And the iFi Zen DAC V2 only has an analog output. The more expensive iFi’s have a digital output as well I believe.

Truth be told. When it comes to MQA or FLAC, the iFi sounds pretty much the same. So I’m not really missing the whole MQA thing on my Cambridge.

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You can use the CXN with an external DAC so you can connect the Ifi to it, it should pass through MQA fine. Roon wont report its doing so as spdif doesn’t feed back.

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If you didn’t preorder one then unlikely you will get one very limited run all out of stock here in UK.

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Yes, that’s right. But they do have the C 3050 now. If you order that with an MDC2 board installed, you have basically the same setup. No walnut, though.

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Its got nasty cheap vinyl wrap that will likely peel off, just like it has a tendancy to do on speakers. Can I ask why you contemplating the Klipch Fortes they are about 3 x the cost (here in UK at least) of the amp seems like a bit overkill ?

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Well, I haven’t seen them, so I don’t know how cheap it actually is. But if you have to stick it in a cabinet, that doesn’t really matter, except then, why bother with VU meters? I’d probably get something like the M33 instead.

Yeah, it’s a good question. I don’t really think the relative cost an interesting metric. They do sound delightful to me in my dealer’s showroom, particularly at low volumes. The Fortes are ridiculously sensitive. I’ve got a very large room, and they have the ability to fill it.

But I haven’t pulled the trigger yet. The newer KEF R7 meta also looks interesting, but I haven’t been able to audition it yet.

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The Fortes look lovely I have to admit. I would love a larger pair of floorstanders like those but dont have the space to accomodate them.