Networks and Remotes > Remotes
Chromecast Audio & WiiM Pro Plus
madbrain:
--- Quote from: Hendrik on November 03, 2023, 07:24:21 pm ---We just feed the audio to googles library to manage Chromecasts. Do they still support Chromecast Audio?
--- End quote ---
They haven't sold them for a long time (2018 I believe), but I think they are still supported, though in maintenance mode.
The fact is that some apps work on my CCAs (Plex, Qobuz, Google Home) and others don't (here, JRemote2, but MO4 Media behaves the same). There is a bug somewhere, in some layer, but I have no idea which one.
For example, a while ago, it was discovered that having Home Assistant (running on a completely separate host!) with the Google Cast integration enabled stops the SirusXM Android app from being able to cast to CCAs. Very strange but completely reproducible bug.
I do happen to be a HA user and I use this cast integration to turn on amplifiers when playback starts, since I have so many zones and can't afford to leave the amps running hot 24/7.
Unfortunately, disabling this integration (and even stopping my Home Assistant VM altogether) does not fix the problems with JRemote2/MO4 Media.
I do have a fairly extensive home network with 153 static DHCP reservations. I figured I would try to strip it to the bare minimum to see if that made the CCA work.
I spent much of my day today doing so -:
1) I setup the Comcast gateway as router instead of just modem (bridge mode)
2) I disconnected my pfSense router from the WAN
3) I connected just 5 devices to a switch on the LAN side of the Comcast gateway
a) one CCA in my home office
b) one PC running MC31 server
c) one Wifi access point in my home office
d) the Raspberry Pi running my Unifi controller (so I could change the Wifi config and isolate the network)
e) the WAN
So, after disconnecting 148 IP devices from the network (they continued to function on a separate LAN, with no Internet access), lo and behold, both JRemote2 and MO4 Media could cast successfully to the lone CCA on the network.
I then reverted to the previous setup with pfSense and all the device, and was able to cast from JRemote2 as well for a while, even to a speaker group of 12 indoor CCAs. This was about 20 minutes ago. Then, I tried to cast from MO4 Media, and it failed. And then, back to JRemote2, it now fails as well. I rebooted the Android phone (S22 Ultra), but to no avail. I rebooted the CCA in my office too, using the Google Home app. Still no dice. I'm not sure how to proceed next to debug this failure. It seems the CCAs are very sensitive to the presence of other devices on the network, but I'm not sure which one(s).
Sigh.
markf2748:
--- Quote from: madbrain on November 03, 2023, 11:25:29 am ---My 14 CCAs all work fine in other apps such as the Google Home app (cast my audio feature), and Qobuz.
Any idea what might be going on and how to fix it ?
--- End quote ---
I run two original CCA's regularly using Android apps MO 4Media, JRemote2, JRiver Panel, and BubbleUPnP for Android, as well as directly from the MC Server itself. Reliability is pretty good on my smallish home network - sometimes it takes a little coaxing to get the first track in a playlist to start.
However, I never use a "cast" button in these apps. Instead I run BubbleUPnP Server on the MC server computer which makes the CCAs look like DLNA renderers to the apps and MC server. The CCAs appear as DLNA devices in the MC server's tree "Playing Now" and in the apps' player choices. I would recommend static DHCP addresses to maintain sanity. You can find many old posts about the setup in this forum, but it's really quite simple.
Win 11 Pro 64-bit 22H2 MC 31.0.80
madbrain:
--- Quote from: markf2748 on November 03, 2023, 08:22:27 pm ---However, I never use a "cast" button in these apps.
--- End quote ---
Have you ever tried, and if so, what was the result ?
--- Quote ---Instead I run BubbleUPnP Server on the MC server computer which makes the CCAs look like DLNA renderers to the apps and MC server. You should see the CCAs as DLNA devices in the MC server's tree "Playing Now" and in the apps' player choices.
--- End quote ---
Thanks. I have yet to give BubbleUPnP a try, though I have read about it. I read that it doesn't solve the lack of gapless support issue with CCAs, so I didn't pursue it. Does it help with reliability ? Also, does it support groups ? And does it properly multi-cast like the CCAs normally do ?
--- Quote ---I would recommend static DHCP addresses to maintain sanity. You can find many old posts about the setup in this forum, but it's really quite simple.
--- End quote ---
Yes, I use static DHCP addresses already. And pfSense allows giving my CCAs hostnames in its DNS too so I can use those too presumably.
madbrain:
So, I tried BubbleUPNP server on Windows. I created 21 DLNA renderes for all the CCAs, CCUltra, CCGtvs, and the 4 groups. JRemote2 unfortunately does not see those DLNA devices. Do I need the BubbleUPNP for Android program for that to work ?
The good news is that MO4 Media does see all those 21 DLNA renderers, and it even hides the corresponding Chromecasts, so there are no duplicates. Playback seems to work fine, except it's full of gaps between tracks, but I unfortunately knew what to expect in that regard.
Edit2: there are duplicates, I just didn't wait long enough for the full list of renderers to populate.
Edit: I tried the BubbleUPNP Android app also. It doesn't change the behavior for JRemote2 unfortunately - the DLNA renderers for the Chromecasts still don't show up.
The BubbleUPNP app itself shows a lot of devices to render to - all my CCAs, plus the corresponding CCA DLNA renderers, the video Chromecasts, the Airplay Marantz AVRs, and even some FireTV.
I set it to play from my MC31 library server onto a CCA BubbleUPNP DLNA renderer, and it worked fine (with gaps). Directly playing onto the CCA worked too, unlike JRemote2 and MO4 Media ... It is still very mysterious why some Android apps can cast successfully to the CCAs, and others can't.
madbrain:
--- Quote from: madbrain on November 03, 2023, 10:42:38 pm ---So, I tried BubbleUPNP server on Windows. I created 21 DLNA renderes for all the CCAs, CCUltra, CCGtvs, and the 4 groups. JRemote2 unfortunately does not see those DLNA devices. Do I need the BubbleUPNP for Android program for that to work ?
--- End quote ---
Turns out I was missing something. I was using the cast button in the JRemote2 app in the top right corner.
I completely missed the circular zone control on the bottom left of the JRemote2 pop-up menu.
The 21 BubbleUpNP DLNA receivers do show up there.
--- Quote ---It is still very mysterious why some Android apps can cast successfully to the CCAs, and others can't.
--- End quote ---
Spent quite a few more hours today taking my network apart. Can't tell you the number of Ethernet cables I unplugged, or pfSense config changes and resets. Anyway, I ended up in a state in which Chromecast audio casting works in all apps on my phone, including JRemote2 and MO4 Media, but I'm really not at all sure what change did it.
The problem seems to be quite intermittent, so I expect it to come back, unfortunately.
I have been unhappy with the lack of gapless support in the CCAs for a long time. So, I ordered a Wiim Pro Plus a couple days ago. I received it today. I have been playing with it. After struggling a little bit, I got it to play my gapless albums with MC31 for Windows. I then got the JRemote2, BubbleUPNP and MO 4Media apps working with this as well.
The only thing I haven't gotten to work is native DSD, which the Wiim device is supposed to support up to DSD512. I'm just trying to play DSD64/SACD ISOs. So far I had to enable transcoding to stereo PCM 24/192 kHz because I otherwise just got playback errors. I haven't tested the grouping feature since I only have one Wiim, but that will probably change soon.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version