Question Should I replace my Chromecast Audio? Problems with Spotify Premium

Real Ramona

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Hi all, I have just taken up the offer to have Spotify Premium free for 3 months. First thing I did was to set streaming quality to Extreme. Now it does sound considerably better than the standard free setting. But it keeps stopping. App still running on my phone but it has disconnected from CCA and track stopped playing.
I am certain the CCA must be the weak link in the chain now. Here is what I have:
Cast to CCA with Android phone
CCA is hardwired via the ethernet mains adaptor. Plugged into a Gigabit switch which is plugged into Asus router. I am on a fibre connection , currently getting 38 Mbps.
This CCA is plugged via optical cable into opti input of a Cambridge CXA60
Could this be a problem with the streamer? I have heard about issues with CCA and Spotify before, but nothing resolved.
The device works perfectly for streaming from my Plex server I think. Though I did notice some odd artifacts at the end of a couple of tracks last week.
If the device is faulty, then would a Teufel Connector be a good replacement? Assuming I can find one.
Thanks
 
Is that the official ethernet adapter that's built into a replacement power plug or one of the many adapters you can get?

As a part of trouble shooting could you try using the original power supply and a WiFi connection.

The reason I suggest that is because I had similar issues with one of my CCAs which turned out to be a failing power supply.
 
.....and Teufel Connectors are discontinued and the latest Tuefel Streamer doesn't have Chromecast. Agree with @Jamie it is more likely a power supply issue or a networking issue with your setup. I run a Chromecast Audio on wireless in a garage loft which is 2 cavity walls and over 40ft away from my wireless router and it works perfectly. Might be worth investigating the QoS settings on your router.
 
Hi, I am using the official adapter. I dont think its a failing PSU but its a thought.
 
If the combined ethernet adapter PSU does prove to be suspect & your WiFi connection is ok anyway, you've also got the option of powering the CCA via the CXA60's USB BT adapter port (assuming it's not already in use).


BTW, Spotify restricts its audio file tracks to 256kbps streams for Chromecast devices on a Premium account connection (it's 128kbps on Spotify Free), as opposed to providing their best quality 320kbps streams that you can get for Spotify Connect devices.

There is an unofficial way of getting Chromecast devices to appear as true Spotify Connect devices & 'trick' Spotify's online server into supplying the 320kbps streams, using the Logitech Media Server with the Spotty & Chromecast Bridge LMS plugins as the go betweens.
 
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If we could troubleshoot the CCA that was actually going to be my next suggestion, but then I'm a big fan of LMS anyway.
 
I have found a Raumfeld Connector on ebay that I am waiting to get. Will see if its any better. But in the course of further research about this 256k/320k business (which I didnt know about) I found out this on Spotify forum:

Q: I own a " Teufel Raumfeld Connector² " that supports "Spotify connect" . So i purchased a Spotify premium membership. My problem is that i can find my own Computer and Smartphone , but not the Teufel connector. Anyone knows how to solve this? Thats the only thing why i got the premium ......

A: I think the problem is that your Teufel is not connected to WiFi, but is instead wired. Spotify connect only works over WiFi. Both your phone and device have to be on the same WiFi network.


That sounds just weird. So if you are wireless, you can use the Spotify Connect component and get faster rate, but if you are wired - you cant.
 
I have found a Raumfeld Connector on ebay that I am waiting to get. Will see if its any better. But in the course of further research about this 256k/320k business (which I didnt know about) I found out this on Spotify forum:

Q: I own a " Teufel Raumfeld Connector² " that supports "Spotify connect" . So i purchased a Spotify premium membership. My problem is that i can find my own Computer and Smartphone , but not the Teufel connector. Anyone knows how to solve this? Thats the only thing why i got the premium ......

A: I think the problem is that your Teufel is not connected to WiFi, but is instead wired. Spotify connect only works over WiFi. Both your phone and device have to be on the same WiFi network.


That sounds just weird. So if you are wireless, you can use the Spotify Connect component and get faster rate, but if you are wired - you cant.
I have two Connectrors and one is wired and the other is wifi and I can connect to both using Spotify Connect using a tablet connected by wifi. Therefore I would argue that information in the Spotify Forum is wrong, not everything written on the interweb is necessarily true.
 
Okay thanks, good to know. Do you run the Spotify settings to Extreme manually? Its not clear whether it will do this automatically if on wired connection. Or if you set it to Extreme if it will go back down to automatic when I leave the house and play it in car.
 
You cannot access/change the settings when running through Spotify Connect - they are set by Spotify. Once you are not using Spotify Connect (SC) it will revert to your chosen settings. Remember that when you are running SC your phone/tablet is only telling the SC device to go and play the stream, it has no further involvement until you tell the SC device to do something else. You can test by telling the SC device to play a playlist/album and then turn off your phone/tablet, the stream will keep playing until you re-connect your phone and tell it to do something else.
 
Thanks, thats helpful. Found this post which is useful - if its correct:
"Automatic" toggles between Normal (96kbps) and High (160kbps) depending on the quality of your cellular reception. However, it never uses Extreme.
Presumably only applies if you are casting or listening direct.
 
I would fact check that against Spotify's own information

 
Thanks, thats helpful. Found this post which is useful - if its correct:
"Automatic" toggles between Normal (96kbps) and High (160kbps) depending on the quality of your cellular reception. However, it never uses Extreme.
Presumably only applies if you are casting or listening direct.
??? That post is irrelevant as far as Spotify Connect (& Chromecast) devices are concerned, anyway - the Music Quality setting only applies to the Spotify app's internal/local player. When you select a Spotify Connect device or a Chromecast device, the Spotify app's Music Quality setting is greyed out & disabled to let you know that it doesn't apply.

Plus, just in case the penny hasn't dropped - both Spotify Connect devices & Chromecast devices will stream the audio file tracks directly from Spotify's online server, so the audio definitely does not go via the Spotify app you've selected them on.
 
Going back to the original issue, his is quite long standing issue between spotify and the CCA and there is an outstanding issue on the Spotify forum


Experiences vary - for me the music drops after a couple of minutes and is linked to the phone's battery optimisation. Once reconnected it usually stays connected.

While the music is streamed directly between the CCA and Spotify other clients on your spotify account can interrupt the stream to a CCA; So Spotify thinks you are listening on another device and terminates the stream to the CCA. Some reports of the CCA's disappearing for a while from the list of available devices,

I use the LMS work around to optimise the bit rate and don't generally get the drop out
 
Thanks for clarifying some issues for me. I was aware that if I am casting to CCA from Spotify, my phone is just a remote control for the transport device. And I can turn the phone to standby after starting a playlist, so I know its not going through the phone when playing. I did wonder if it could still control playback quality though. But of course it makes no sense really, if running from wireless why would you choose a sub-optimal stream quality?
The CCA has been behaving perfectly for last day or so anyway. I still have a used Teufel Connector on the way though, so it will be interesting to see how they compare. There must be better components in a £100 + device than a £30 device surely?
 
It turns out that BT are having some serious DNS issues on their core network and may have been the cause of your stream dropping out for no reason. BT have told me this should be fixed by early next week. If you are still having issues then I would wait and not fiddle with anything until they resolve their network issues. I am suffering with websites not being reached or when they do they do not complete loading properly, but only sometimes.

Re the difference between the Teufel and the CCA, the Teufel has a much better DAC and more streaming features but if you are using the optical out of both then they are both just digital transports
 

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