Chromecast Bitrate

[log63]

What bitrate does the Chromecast Audio stream at?

There have been other threads addressing this problem, but they all seem to give contradictory answers.

This thread says that the Chromecast automatically streams at 320 kbps:

• Bitrate on Chromecast?

This thread says that the audio quality is determined by the streaming source (i.e., the Spotify app):

• Extreme quality with Chromecast Audio

This thread leaves both answers open as options:

• Chromecast & iPhone: Changing audio quality ?

Finally, this thread says that the option to change the sound quality of the Chromecast has been implemented within the Spotify app settings, which doesn't seem to be correct:

• [Android][Other] Extreme Quality on Chromecast Audio Device *** Issue Solved***

Can someone with definitive knowledge of Spotify's integration with Chromecast Audio (i.e., a Spotify employee) give an answer?

[BjornRoth]

The music data is streamed from Spotify directly to the Chromecast. All Spotify Connect devices work like this (even if Chromecast is a bit different in some regards).

This is easily verified by starting playback on a Chromecast, and then shutting down all your Spotify clients.

[user-removed]

I have the same setup and my sound quality is great. However, I connected
my Chromecast with an optical cable to my HT receiver which gives
automatically high dynamic range. I can't hear any difference between
playing CD's or streaming Spotify via Cromecast.

[Az_]

Is this with a ChromeCast Audio? 

I don't think you can do this with a normal ChromeCast as it's an HDMI out (which is digital anyway right?)

[user-removed]

No, you can't do this with a normal Chromecast

[Mmmakka]

I had the same question and tested extensively (Spotify, Tidal, Deezer) over 2 months...and switched to Deezer. 

Spotify sounds really terrible on a half decent amplifier / sound system. I do not even want to know the exact kbps, because it is totally irrelevant. Even with HDR selected for chromecast it sounds very very compressed. Why bother about kbps if sound quality is just not ok. 

Tidal and Deezer sound way better, but also more or less the same, hence the ‘cheap’ Deezer option is perfect for me.

Deezer’s app is not the best however, but hey, I want above all enjoy great sounding music on my stereo. So...not Spotify but Deezer. 

[Groppe]

Thanks for the insight, I will try Deezer as well when I have decided on a serious system, in the process of choosing and eventually buy som hifi speakers and amplifier.

[user-removed]

I connected my Chromecast with an optical cable to an optical input of my
Denon HT receiver. I use Infinity Beta 50 speakers. The sound is just great.

[boojit]

No different whatsoever than plugging a regular chromecast into hdmi. Both are digital interfaces.

[d_le_nen]

I started playing via spotify web player on my laptop and tried out

1. close the spotify tab

2. kill the browser process via task manager

3. switch off the wifi of my laptop

All three actions caused an immediate stop of the music.

So I can't help to conclude, that there is no direct connection between my google chromecast audio and the spotify music server. 

[jensrichter]

Any solution to this? I'm experiencing the exact same problem.  When turning on fulf dynamic range I get horrible clipping unless I turned down the volume on the chromecast audio to <50%. I'm using analog connections to a NAD amplifier. The clipping occurs regardless of the amp volume. After turning down the volume of the chromecast I then compared the sound with CD, through my bowers and wilkins speakers.

Like previous writer, sounded like  compression or low bitrate . Difference was not acceptable. 

[wimpje]

Same issue here sounds almost like 64kbps or something... I'm pretty sure it was better a while ago, not sure when it changed to this bad quality...