i hooked up a chromecast audio to my chord mscaler but could not find the exclusive mode or integer mode settings? before that i was going direct from my imac with optical into my mscaler and i had core audio exclusive mode with those settings available. if i try a masters album now with the google chromecast audio i no longer see the sample rate automatically changing in the mac’s settings like i did when i went optical out from the computer into the mscaler.
finally how is the quality sound wise of the google dongle generally perceived by roon members?
There is no “Exclusive Mode” on the Google Chromecast Audio. The Chromecast Audio is only capable of outputting audio from one source at a time, and its digital output is bit-perfect.
Some users report that the Chromecast Audio exhibits audio dropouts during 24/88.2kHz and 24/96kHz playback regardless of the playback source. These formats work for some users, but others cannot get them to play without glitches in the audio playback.
The CCA is hardly in the league of anything Chord makes…not even close, so I’m wondering why anyone would bother at all unless it’s just a proof of concept.
Actually as a Roon capable endpoint I would put the CCA at the very bottom of the list IMHO. I have 2 of them and seldom hook them up for even non roon use.
Being as they are not the easiest thing to get a hold of and are overpriced now when you do find one, I would maybe look at a raspberry pi as a Roon Endpoint. With a good dac and ethernet connection you should get great audio and no dropouts. They are pretty cheap and still well supported. (Unlike the CCA)