Chromecast built-in - Audio

[Dane Trethowan]

Hi!
For those who would rather the convenience of Chromecast built-in to a 
speaker system then follow the link below.
advantages? No need to buy a separate Google Chromecast Audio unit, just 
use the Google Home App to Setup your Chromecast Speakers and sstream 
music etc to them by selecting the Speakers from the available 
Chromecast devices in your App from your Phone  or have Google Home 
stream to that speaker etc.

https://www.google.com/chromecast/built-in/audio/

Re: My obsession

[The Wolf]

does any one have both?


On 3/7/2017 3:22 AM, Dane Trethowan wrote:
Yep I do believe I have one, talking to Amazon Echo devices, my 
Samsung Galaxy S6 with Google Now Launcher and - as of today - the new 
Google Home.


For those living outside the US the Google Home provides more 
localised information than Amazon Echo at htis time, Google Home uses 
your Google account and the settings therein to get the information it 
needs wheras Amazon Echo is set to recognise either the US or the UK.


Setup of the Google home can be done from the App of the same name 
though be aware that during the setup process you'll need to change 
the language of your Phone - not the region - to English US, once the 
setup is complete you can revert to the original language.


The setup procedure is straight forward and easy to follow, I 
experienced no problem whatever in connecting the Google Home to my 
Wi-Fi network.


So all that done I started chatting with Google Home and found myself 
getting quite a bit of smart thinking out of the device but perhaps 
that's more because of my familiarity with the Google Now Launcher I 
have installed on my Samsung S6.


Google Now certainly told me where the nearest Pizza shop was and gave 
me the phone number, that's more than Amazon Echo is doing right now 
but that will change for those outside the US and the UK later on this 
year.


The most exciting thing I've found with Google Home from an Audio 
perspective is just how easily I can set things up to have music 
played on one of my Chromecast devices, I have a Chromecast in the 
lounge and a Chromecast Audio in the den named "Lounge" and "Den" 
rspectively.


So suppose I wanted to hear Elton John in my Lounge I would say 
something like "Okay Google", "Play Elton John on Lounge", amazing!


I know there are quite a few people on list who use Amazon Echo so I'm 
dead sure there are a few Google Home users out there too.

My obsession

[Dane Trethowan]

Yep I do believe I have one, talking to Amazon Echo devices, my Samsung 
Galaxy S6 with Google Now Launcher and - as of today - the new Google Home.


For those living outside the US the Google Home provides more localised 
information than Amazon Echo at htis time, Google Home uses your Google 
account and the settings therein to get the information it needs wheras 
Amazon Echo is set to recognise either the US or the UK.


Setup of the Google home can be done from the App of the same name 
though be aware that during the setup process you'll need to change the 
language of your Phone - not the region - to English US, once the setup 
is complete you can revert to the original language.


The setup procedure is straight forward and easy to follow, I 
experienced no problem whatever in connecting the Google Home to my 
Wi-Fi network.


So all that done I started chatting with Google Home and found myself 
getting quite a bit of smart thinking out of the device but perhaps 
that's more because of my familiarity with the Google Now Launcher I 
have installed on my Samsung S6.


Google Now certainly told me where the nearest Pizza shop was and gave 
me the phone number, that's more than Amazon Echo is doing right now but 
that will change for those outside the US and the UK later on this year.


The most exciting thing I've found with Google Home from an Audio 
perspective is just how easily I can set things up to have music played 
on one of my Chromecast devices, I have a Chromecast in the lounge and a 
Chromecast Audio in the den named "Lounge" and "Den" rspectively.


So suppose I wanted to hear Elton John in my Lounge I would say 
something like "Okay Google", "Play Elton John on Lounge", amazing!


I know there are quite a few people on list who use Amazon Echo so I'm 
dead sure there are a few Google Home users out there too.

Re: DTS Play-Fi: Wireless audio streaming for Android | Wren Sound Systems Wren Sound Systems, LLC

[Dane Trethowan]

Not all is lost with IOS yet, I will be getting some sighted assistance 
in the next couple of days.


I think I know what the problem is, when I launch the IOS App I go 
straight into the tutorial and I can't find the button to get out or 
"Skip" so once this hurdle is overcome then i'm pretty sure I'll be right.


As far as the tuner goes its a very nice piece of equipment indeed with 
very few menu systems to get around, only two as a matter of fact and 
they're to do with the FM and DAB bands.


The FM menu one probably wouldn't worry too much about as it mainly has 
to do with controling the sensitivity of the scanning.


The DAB menu only has one option that we need concern ourselves with and 
that's the "Full Scan" option which can be easily found.


I've found presets easy enough to set though the method is slightly 
different to other tuners.


There are two different ways of setting presets, you can either preset 
them from the remote or from the buttons on the front panel so as I 
don't know what the layout of the remote is at this time I chose to try 
my luck with the buttons on the front panel.


The tuner has a complete number pad on the front with a memory button to 
the right, hold down the memory button and type in the two digit preset 
number you wish to store the currently tuned station in and that's done!


I'll be bringing you more on this excellent piece of equipment in the 
coming weeks as I find out more about it myself.


If quality is what you're after then the T14 looks it, feels it and 
certainly sounds it.




On 7/03/2017 7:56 PM, John Gurd wrote:

I'll look forward to the review of the Rotel T14. Pity about the accessibility 
of the app on IOS. I need something that can do streaming of HD Audio.

John


-Original Message-
From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Dane 
Trethowan
Sent: 03 March 2017 14:37
To: PC Audio Discussion List 
Subject: DTS Play-Fi: Wireless audio streaming for Android | Wren Sound Systems 
Wren Sound Systems, LLC

Hi!
today I started the upgrade of the Hi-Fi system in the Den and the first 
component arrived that being the Rotel T14 DAB/FM/Network Player.
I'll be writing a review shortly for the list though it won't be for a while as 
the T14 is a piece of comprehensive music kit.
What I would like to mention is the standard that the T14 uses when streaming 
over a network.
Up until now - when using my Sangean WFT3 DAB/FM/Network Player tuner which in 
many ways can be compared to the Rotel - I was used to using devices with all 
the network streaming capabilities built-in and thus using an iPhone or Android 
Device as a remote.
The Rotel T14 Tuner reverse the whole equation 
http://wrensound.com/hi-fi-over-wi-fi-a-new-era-of-old-school-sound-by
having the streaming component as part of the Tuner but relying on an App to 
actually do all the streaming work, retreive the file or stream and then stream 
that content via the Wi-Fi network to the player.
The App recommended for the Rotel T14 is the excellent Play-Fi App 
http://www.play-fi.com Setup of the App for connection to the tuner was fast 
though I note with interest that the Android version is 100% more accessible 
than the IOS version though its early days so perhaps I'm missing something.
So Play-Fi is yet another emerging Wi-Fi standard which prides itself on 
streaming losslessly from a Smart Device to a pair of compatible Wi-Fi Speakers 
or - in the case of the Rotel T14 - a dedicated Network player.
Unlike Airplay, Play-Fi doesn't have any "Drag Time", your source is in 
complete sync with the speakers.
Unlike AirPlay Play-Fi can stream with effortless ease high bit-rate files such 
as HD FLAC though this capability isn't turned on by default as this sort of 
streaming requires quite a lot of band width that some Wireless router systems 
may not be capable of providing.
Anyway the link below takes you to an article which discusses using Play-fi on 
Android devices streaming to compatible equipment.
for-android/

RE: DTS Play-Fi: Wireless audio streaming for Android | Wren Sound Systems Wren Sound Systems, LLC

[John Gurd]

I'll look forward to the review of the Rotel T14. Pity about the accessibility 
of the app on IOS. I need something that can do streaming of HD Audio.

John


-Original Message-
From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Dane 
Trethowan
Sent: 03 March 2017 14:37
To: PC Audio Discussion List 
Subject: DTS Play-Fi: Wireless audio streaming for Android | Wren Sound Systems 
Wren Sound Systems, LLC

Hi!
today I started the upgrade of the Hi-Fi system in the Den and the first 
component arrived that being the Rotel T14 DAB/FM/Network Player.
I'll be writing a review shortly for the list though it won't be for a while as 
the T14 is a piece of comprehensive music kit.
What I would like to mention is the standard that the T14 uses when streaming 
over a network.
Up until now - when using my Sangean WFT3 DAB/FM/Network Player tuner which in 
many ways can be compared to the Rotel - I was used to using devices with all 
the network streaming capabilities built-in and thus using an iPhone or Android 
Device as a remote.
The Rotel T14 Tuner reverse the whole equation 
http://wrensound.com/hi-fi-over-wi-fi-a-new-era-of-old-school-sound-by
having the streaming component as part of the Tuner but relying on an App to 
actually do all the streaming work, retreive the file or stream and then stream 
that content via the Wi-Fi network to the player.
The App recommended for the Rotel T14 is the excellent Play-Fi App 
http://www.play-fi.com Setup of the App for connection to the tuner was fast 
though I note with interest that the Android version is 100% more accessible 
than the IOS version though its early days so perhaps I'm missing something.
So Play-Fi is yet another emerging Wi-Fi standard which prides itself on 
streaming losslessly from a Smart Device to a pair of compatible Wi-Fi Speakers 
or - in the case of the Rotel T14 - a dedicated Network player.
Unlike Airplay, Play-Fi doesn't have any "Drag Time", your source is in 
complete sync with the speakers.
Unlike AirPlay Play-Fi can stream with effortless ease high bit-rate files such 
as HD FLAC though this capability isn't turned on by default as this sort of 
streaming requires quite a lot of band width that some Wireless router systems 
may not be capable of providing.
Anyway the link below takes you to an article which discusses using Play-fi on 
Android devices streaming to compatible equipment.
for-android/