Ed Selley
Hi-Fi Editor
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Very interesting article - just wondering that there is not much mention of recording audio though. I am a big fan of Minidisc recorders - desktop ones which are brilliant, but since they are now defunct, I am thinking of something like the Tascam DA3000 recorder. Be very interested in your thoughts on this.
This is routinely ignored by the reviewers on this forum for whatever strange reason - probably too cheap so must be rubbish attitude.A nicely constructed analysis. In your discussion you might have made reference to the ubiquitous nature of the Chromecast audio device. In my opinion a piece of genius. This 30 quid device immediately brings old and vintage amplifiers and recievers out of the attic and skip and gives them a new lease of life.
There were plenty of well regarded simple stereo amplifiers from the good names marantz, denon Sony etc which have fallen by the wayside for want of a streaming option and this is what the Chromecast does in a very elegant fashion... Enough said
Thank you. I looked over the specs of the DAC included in the CCA. , And it id certainly not shabby. The chip of Japanese design is capable of 24 bit 192k decoding, although it is constrained to 96k in its implementation in the CCA.This is routinely ignored by the reviewers on this forum for whatever strange reason - probably too cheap so must be rubbish attitude.
The market thinks differently though
Google has sold over 55 million Chromecasts and cast devices
Can't agree with this at all. I am the only person among my friends to keep 2 channel going. I've a main HiFi stereo system and a 9.1 but I'm single and have the room for it all. Everyone else has gone down the big soundbar or multi room Sono's type system. Even my two HiFi mad friends, one with Proac speakers the other with PMC speakers, both have all the kit to do justice to them, no longer use them. Its criminal as my friend Del has his HiFi dumped in a corner upstairs and says he'll never use it again. Yes his music blasting out all around his home does sound good, but not as good as his stereo did to my ears. It's all about convenience.
We've seen a lot of HiFi companies go under or bought out before they go bust, Arcam for one. I doubt many will have a dedicated 2 channel system in five years time. To add to this I went to get a Naim Unity Atom last month to be told it went up by £250 in October, I didn't buy it, I felt that big an increase was unjustified.
And as a side note I have 3 CCA on various bits of kit to give me multi room music and it sounds fine for casual listening. CCA is a fantastic cheap way to do it.
... My GF is in utter disbelief that I'd spend 1400 on a stereo amp, ... Women.
Ask you GF how much she has spent on SHOES, and to what end.
Steve/bluewizard
To be fair, I think those sorts of devices were alluded to in the comment about getting things to work by filling the gaps. I haven't used the Chromecast audio device yet. I was thinking of getting one, but then we got some Echo dots which we use as intercoms. They also double as bluetooth receivers (rarely use this feature but its nice to have) and obviously work as voice controlled streamers to boot.A nicely constructed analysis. In your discussion you might have made reference to the ubiquitous nature of the Chromecast audio device. In my opinion a piece of genius. This 30 quid device immediately brings old and vintage amplifiers and recievers out of the attic and skip and gives them a new lease of life.
There were plenty of well regarded simple stereo amplifiers from the good names marantz, denon Sony etc which have fallen by the wayside for want of a streaming option and this is what the Chromecast does in a very elegant fashion... Enough said
My wife spends very little on anything certainly not shoes! Hixs girlfriend will no doubt be much younger than my wife but their views on amplifiers and other hi fi kit are exactly the same. Up to about 18 months ago it was easy for me as she smoked - then she stopped!! Other things are also a waste of money such as TVs, PCs, cars, in fact a car should last 20 years at least, getting a new one because you enjoy it is just stupid. If she spends any money it is on our little Grandson who was born 16 months ago, he has clothes to fit him up to school age!
If you already have a DAC in your avr, there would be little logic in getting the Chromecast audio to replace it.. My point is was that it provides a very adaquate, maybe even better than that ,method of reusing older kit, which does not have Dacs and bringing it up to modern standards. In my case it allows me to stream from a 20 year old marantz which is driving 2 decent speakers , and to have the same functionality as last year's amplifier. In fact the functionality might even be better as the streaming software by induviual manufacturers may be less developed than the generic android one. Often of the older amplifiers have good power outputs and low distortion, and this gives them a whole new lease of life. That would be the case with my marantz, which is also an AVR with the dolby prologic chip, though never used in that mode.To be fair, I think those sorts of devices were alluded to in the comment about getting things to work by filling the gaps. I haven't used the Chromecast audio device yet. I was thinking of getting one, but then we got some Echo dots which we use as intercoms. They also double as bluetooth receivers (rarely use this feature but its nice to have) and obviously work as voice controlled streamers to boot.
Having lived with my used and very cheap v1067 for several years, I have to say it's shocking that more people don't desire a decent spec av receiver which can do so much more than a typical 2 channel amp in most rooms. It's incredible how much people spend on standalone dacs where a typical high end av amp has handfuls of the same plus amplification, preamp input selection and room eq. I think there is perhaps a market for a high spec av receiver with 2 solid amp channels, and a smaller chassis. But I wonder if there's also room for education and marketing of existing av receivers.