How to Set Up Whole House Music using Chromecasts

[Gary_Peaslee]

Roon Core Machine

Win 11 (Core i5 - 8400, 8 GB RAM)

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Netgear Orbi 750 Mesh System, Wi-Fi, no VPN

Connected Audio Devices

Roon Ready preamp, Chromecast HD, Chromecast Audio, Chromecast HD w/ Google TV

Description of Issue:

I am trying to set up a simple whole house music system using Roon and various Chromecasts:

1. TV Room - using Chromecast HD (HDMI 1) to display on Sony TV and using eARC send audio to my Roon Ready audio system.
2. Living Room - using Chromecast Audio with small receiver and 2 ceiling speakers. No video.
3. Main Bedroom - using Chromecast HD (HDMI 1) to display video and playback sound on Sony TV.
4. Guest Bedroom - using Chromecast HD w/ Google TV to display video and playback sound on Toshiba TV.
5. Kitchen - using Chromecast HD w/ Google TV to display video and playback sound on Toshiba TV.

Note: Both Sony TV’s have Chromecast built in, but I couldn’t get any video or sound with them.

I set up a group containing the 5 Chromecasts called Whole Home Music in the Google Home app. In the Roon Audio tab, I can see all 5 Chromecasts as well as the group. All are enabled. In the Roon Display tab, I can see all of the Chromecasts except the Chromecast Audio. All are enabled and configured to “Enable lyrics”. Here is what I am getting:

1. TV Room - audio. No lyrics. Google screensaver w/ Roon Music logo.
2. Living Room - audio
3. Main Bedroom - No audio. Lyrics.
4. Guest Bedroom - audio. No lyrics. Roon splash screen.
5. Kitchen - audio. No lyrics. Roon splash screen.

So my questions are:

1. TV Room - why aren’t lyrics displaying?
2. Main Bedroom - why is there no audio?
3. Guest Room - why aren’t lyrics displaying?
4. Kitchen - why aren’t lyrics displaying?

[Wes]

Hi @Gary_Peaslee,

I apologize for the slow response. I actually bought myself a couple of Chromecast TV (4k model) units to test some of the features and just tested this for us.

1. Set up speaker group in Google Home.

2. Set my zone to be the group name I created in Google Home “Chromecast TVs”.

3. Started music.

In both cases, my TV’s played the music but there was no track name, progress bar, artist art, or lyrics.

This is likely expected behavior. The only way to group a Chromecast zone is by using a third-party application and the application may not be properly handling all of Roon’s features as a result. I am able to utilize all of the above features when playing to the individual zones.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Regards,
Wes