Low Volume on Chromecast

[APeX3181]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Galaxy S9+, Chromecast Gen 3

Operating System

Android Pie

My Question or Issue

Noticed today that volume when casting to Chromecast is significantly lower than normal. I've reinstalled the Spotify app and did a factory reset on the Chromecast itself, but that didn't resolve the problem.  Volume is like normal on all other apps I can cast with and there doesn't seem to be a problem with my system.

Is anyone else having this problem?

[Toomuchgood]

As many have already reported, the volume is low when Spotify is connected to Chromecast... while there is no problem with other apps like Tidal.

This really needs to be fixed by Spotify as the dynamic of the music suffers from it, so does the signal to noise ratio.

[Zenkurt]

Hey guys! Some news about it?

[nitramo]

This doesn't seem to be getting any attention. Is there any other way to report a bug?
I have just 2  options for streaming to my amp
1. Spotify connect on my samsung tv with optical out to the amp. This sounds good but stutters every couple of minutes so isnt viable.
2. Chromecast which is now low volume and sounds compressed or somehow lower quality than it used to be. 

Having paid spotify many hundreds of dollars over the years I now need to consider alternatives. Recently tried Prime music and didnt like it.  Google music is hard to like too. Maybe apple has become a viable alternative but they sure dont deserve my money.

I would prefer to stick with spotify but its just not suitable for using at home anymore. 

[LUDOSIC]

Problem solved for me by buying a hybrid tuner Hama DIT2005M (165 €) compatible with Spotify Connect, the volume is fine (spotify premium required)

[wowsaab]

Have we determined where the problem is? Spotify or Google? It’s an easy test to see that other apps are much louder. I’ll contact google support before ditching one of the products. There just isn’t much compared to chromecast so I’d prob have go to Apple Music. But I’d rather not. I’ll post if I hear anything from Google. 

[wowsaab]

Google support says its a known issue and that its for sure on Spotify's end. But that they are also working on it and that it will get resolved..? not sure if that means they are in contact with them or what.  

[moshano]

This is 99.999% an app issue. As long as I start the cast directly from my Google Home Mini, the volume is high. Then I can control, change songs, etc. from the app and all continue ok. The problem is when I start the cast from the app, the volume is always low.

Please fix this! I've never seen worse CS than Spotify's!

[nitramo]

I dont think it is just the app. I was also seeing low volume(and quality) when starting spotify on chromecast via google home. On some rare occasions, sound quality and volume were normal but it was randomly occurring and I couldn't replicate it.   I have signed up for youtube music now and it sounds great but would switch back to spotify if they bother to fix this.

[fajabird]

I'm migrating from Google play music to Spotify. After some time I noticed some reduced quality when streaming to Google home mini. I did very comprehensive tests and spotted that volume drops occasionally on all, home mini and chromecast, later beeing more notable. I contacted support directly and it seems issue is known and they are working on it they say. Occasionally volume gets back to normal and in my cases every "ok Google, stop" will trigger the volume issue again. Maybe someone here can confirm this?

Btw. In my case it's totally unrelated to any mobile app since this also happens if I use a Google home mini speaker to stream to my Chromecast stock via "hey Google, play X on Chromecast" voice command. As I have still a play music subscription I can tell 100% that this issue only happens if I stream from Spotify. All volume levels are set to 100%, either via home app or voice command. 

[fajabird]

I also found this spotify thread that identified low quality from Spotify connect which is used e.g. by Chromecast already back in 2016:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/iOS-iPhone-iPad/Spotify-Connect-Stream-Rate/td-p/636728

[fajabird]

Also this user argues that Spotify connect sounds inferior to other methods on Chromecast:

https://www.xaprb.com/blog/spotify-audio-quality/

Although I think his conclusions are wrong, he spotted a quality loss in first place. 

[nickalus21]

I am so glad to find this issue, but only after I bought a new HDMI to Optical splitter because I thought the issue was with my TV reducing the audio when casting from Spotify. 

This thread made me try other sources (Chrome, Youtube, and VLC) all of which are at the volume level I expect.

The issue is clearly with casting from Spotify causes lowered audio.

Why????? Please fix????

[fajabird]

Do you experience lower volume always when casting from Spotify? In my case sometimes the volume is back to normal, so not always.

[nickalus21]

If I play around with casting other apps, and then go back to Spotify, I have been able to get Spotify to cast at the full volume,  but I have not found a 100% pattern to what I have to do to make the volume work as expected from Spotify.

Normally the volume is much lower when casting from Spotify.

I advised Spotify and Google support that I will send them a video today showing the issue. I'll put the link in here when it's done. 

[fajabird]

Hi, this exactly what I experience. I was able to find a way how to break volume, just say "hey google stop" while casting from spotif, after that volume will be low even it was ok before. But as you I have not found a reliable way to fix volume. But casting from different sources like TuneIn radio or Google play music will sometimes fix it.

[supercheench]

It used to be sporadic, but for months I've only had low volume

[nickalus21]

Here is a video that highlights the issue - https://youtu.be/_4PnBkgbmXg

Watch the entire thing for a full explanation

Skip to 3:53 for the best comparison between the different sources

Spotify and Youtube are much quieter compared to VLC when casted.

[nickalus21]

Here is a video that highlights the issue -  https://youtu.be/_4PnBkgbmXg

Watch the entire thing for a full explanation

Skip to 3:53 for the best comparison between the different sources

Spotify and Youtube are much quieter compared to VLC when casted.

[fajabird]

You have to consider that you are using different sources that might have differnt volumes intentionally. You could try to play same source different paths, e.g. play YouTube on PC cabled to your gear, than cast via Chromecast etc. Ideally those should be equally consistent, which is not the case with Spotify right now in most cases. 

[moshano]

In my case (Chomecast Audio), as I explained weeks ago, if I start casting from my Home Mini ('Ok Google, play XXXX in Chromecast Audio') the volume is high. Then I can control via the app, play another songs, etc. and the volume stays high. But, If I disconnect that cast and then reconnect via the app, the volume is low. And if I disconnect again that cast and connect via the Home Mini, the volume is low, as strange as it sounds. I don't know what happens, but after some time/some actions still I don't know, the casting from the Home Mini works with high volume again. But the casting from the app is ALWAYS low volume.