Playing to grouped chromecast (grouped in google app and the group selected as endpoint in roon) google home, mini and CCA. The CCA drops out of group when MQA track is played. Other google devices resample and continue to play ok. Not a dealbreaker but any ideas ?
Should have said CCA is output via optical
Does your CCA drop out of the group or just stop playing? The reason I ask is that my CCA ( not in a group)
does not play some formats when using its optical output. The analog output plays everything I have tested that the optical output will not. This is really annoying when in Radio mode since the sound stops every time a track with a problem format is selected.
My current theory ( I am a Roon newbie so this could be way off base ) is that when the CCA is using its optical output it is acting as a transport and passing what it receives on to the next device and the problem is with the DAC in the next device. In my case the next device is a Samsung HW-J7500 soundbar which I am willing to believe does not have the world’s greatest DAC.
The formats that don’t play on my soundbar using the CCA’s optical output are
DSD - DSF DSD 64 - Roon is sending 88.2 24
FLAC 88.2 24 - Roon is sending 88.2 24
FLAC 192 24 - Roon is sending 96 24
MQA 176.4 16 - Roon is sending 88.2 24
MQA 96 24 - Roon is sending 96 24
MQA 192 24 - Roon is sending 96.24
Not sure if the problem is sample rates over 48 or 24 bit samples.
I bought the optical cable to see if it sounded better than the analog cable but I found this problem before I had a chance to seriously evaluate the sound difference if any. This is in my home office and I’m fine with going back to analog if that’s required to get all formats to play.
Tim
I would say your correct and your soundbar is the issue. It likely only supports up to 48khz. A lot of soundbars don’t even support Dolby digital or DTS which I can’t understand as they are standards for dvd, Blu-ray and streaming services. I would check its sepcs to see what it can handle as Roon won’t be able to check this via an optical connection or try downsampling to 48khz and see if they play.
I moved my CCA to a Denon 3808CI receiver (2007 vintage) a friend just loaned me and tested all the same tracks using an optical connection. Everything played and sounded fine except for the FLAC 88.2 24 album (Buffalo Springfield) which I could hear but the volume was very low. I tried another FLAC 88.2 24 album (Buffalo Springfield Again) and it sounded fine. Both FLAC 88.2 24 albums were purchased from HDTracks.
To me this confirms that a CCA device will pass at least 96 24 out its optical connection but the DAC at the other end may have issues which could result in no sound.
I’m going to create a new thread to discuss options for dealing with this issue.
Tim
I think you have nailed it. I have the CCA optically inputting to an older receiver - makes sense it’s a DAC sample rate limitation. Thanks for the reply