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When are Spotify stopping supporting Pioneer Receivers which support Spotify Connect?

When are Spotify stopping supporting Pioneer Receivers which support Spotify Connect?

Hi,

I received an email yesterday to say Spotify are stopping support for my Pioneer Speaker soon.

 

- When is soon?

 

- Does stopping support mean Spotify just won't support it or it will stop working?
Stopping support means a company won't address issues but I believe Spotify are going to actually stop the feature from working.

 

- Why? There's no reason given why this is necessary.

 

The email rather bizzaely says:

"We want to make playing Spotify on your speaker and other devices better and easier"

How is stopping support better or easier? Why not just stop supporting it? So if it breaks too bad.

 

I only bought my receiver 2 years ago specifically as it supported Spotifty Connect. Spotify is in part more popular over rivals as Spotify works on so many devices, or did.

 

I guess like everyone else I'll need to buy a Chromecast Audio 😕

Reply
383 Replies

Which type of chromecast do u use?

Chromecast Audio or would be the normal hdmi the best one?

I use the regular Chromecast Audio with an output which doubles as a analog out and optical out. The sound quality of the CA as a streamer and bypassing the onboard, DAC, should be,  as has been proved by a number of technical tests and measurements on a certain website, comparable to most consumer oriented, much more expensive, streamers.

Cheers

BTW, the Chromecast Audio can also be wired direct by ethernet cable to your router using a dongle you can buy. 

I send an e-mail to spotify support, and their explanation was:

"With the new wireless streaming possibilities, now it is easyer to connect simply Spotify to different devices, instead of using an app on each.That is why we think the changes make listening to music easyer and  confortable"

Seriously?? I wont be able to connect it so it wont be easyer, and I don´t even understand the explanation, because that was the way Spotify Connect worked in my opinion... When I reply them back saying that I loose the compatibility and wont e able to listen to my music using my pio, they suggest using and RCA-mini-jack cable... this has to be a joke, they start speaking about wireless and then the suggest a cable...

I´ve a chromecast at home but can´t use it with my main computer because it´s a Mac, so I have to use AirPlay, that sucks..

 

It's very clear that Spotify customer service reps do not understand our fundamental issue. They assume that we can still connect using Spotify Connect. The issue they all need to understand is that yes the internal app on our devices has been taken away, however Spotify connect has also been taken away from us as well.

Hi Hikoki,

After Spotify/Pioneer decided to end the integration of Spotify Connect on
my receiver (a VSX-923) I was indeed very annoyed, putting it mildly.

Pragmatically though, I decided to buy a Chromecast Audio unit with optical
output. The unit and good optical cable set me back around €50,-.

The experience is identical to previously: audio quality is fine, because
as you say the Pioneer DAC does the work (and I'm not under the impression
there is any signal loss on the signal that the Chromecast Audio unit
outputs, compared to the integrated Spotify Connect software previously).

Regards control: I can either use my Spotify app to adjust volume of the
Chromecast device (works just fine) or I can use the Pioneer app to adjust
volume on the receiver.

The only drawbacks:
1. Previously the receiver would show the track playing on it's display
2. Previously when you adjusted the volume in the Spotify app, that
effectively adjusted the receiver volume (and you could see the volume
setting change on the receiver display)

So all in all:
- As a consumer I find the behaviour of Spotify + Pioneer the opposite of
customer centric and I don't hesitate to spread the word on that
- The solution to this problem exists, it sets you back about €50,-
- The solution to this problem gives a slightly inferior user experience in
terms of control, but an identical user experience (to my ears) in terms of
sound quality.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Hi Daniel, 

Thanks for your input. The big question for me now is: it it worth for me to get the Pioneer to basically use it as a DAC, albeit for half its original price? Is the quality of its onboard DAC high enough to justify the expense? 

Hi Hikoki,

Yeah, good question but one I cannot really give you good advise on. Of
course the Pioneer (or most other high end receiver) DACs are excellent,
but you may see if you could test something less pricey at an electronics
store to compare the quality.

On the other hand if you find a good second hand one for about $150,- that
seems a good option.

Cheers,
Daniel


@Danpp74 wrote:
Hi Hikoki,

After Spotify/Pioneer decided to end the integration of Spotify Connect on
my receiver (a VSX-923) I was indeed very annoyed, putting it mildly.

Pragmatically though, I decided to buy a Chromecast Audio unit with optical
output. The unit and good optical cable set me back around €50,-.

The experience is identical to previously: audio quality is fine, because
as you say the Pioneer DAC does the work (and I'm not under the impression
there is any signal loss on the signal that the Chromecast Audio unit
outputs, compared to the integrated Spotify Connect software previously).

Regards control: I can either use my Spotify app to adjust volume of the
Chromecast device (works just fine) or I can use the Pioneer app to adjust
volume on the receiver.

The only drawbacks:
1. Previously the receiver would show the track playing on it's display
2. Previously when you adjusted the volume in the Spotify app, that
effectively adjusted the receiver volume (and you could see the volume
setting change on the receiver display)

So all in all:
- As a consumer I find the behaviour of Spotify + Pioneer the opposite of
customer centric and I don't hesitate to spread the word on that
- The solution to this problem exists, it sets you back about €50,-
- The solution to this problem gives a slightly inferior user experience in
terms of control, but an identical user experience (to my ears) in terms of
sound quality.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Daniel,

 

One question to you. If you start playing Spotify and streaming to your Chromecast Audio, does the Pioneer automatically switch to that source, or do you need to manually set it?

 

What I liked about the old way is that it really was one touch on the phone. The app would make the connection, start streaming and the receiver would switch to that source.

 

What optical cable did you buy? Does the Chromecast have to be in an HDMI port as well?

I'm now using a Chromecast audio with an audioquest optical cable (https://www.audioquest.com/cables/digital-cables/optical-toslink/forest).

The ChromeCast Audio does not have an HDMI port, only a 3.5 mm analog audio output that doubles as an optical output. So it is not possible to have analog audio and optical audio at the same time. It is important to decide which to use, as the VSX-924 will not send audio to zone 2 or HDzone, when the optical input is used. So if you want to hear audio from the Chromecast in zone 2, you have to use the analog output of the ChromeCast.

Hi,

To answer your questions:

- The switch to Chromecast Audio isn't automatic. You need to select the
input source on the receiver (or using the receiver) app

- The cable I bought was a reasonably standard Toslink - mini jack cable:
https://www.allekabels.nl/optische-kabel/5/1043044/
optische-kabel-toslink-mini-jack.html

- The Chromecast Audio is not plugged into the HDMI port, as it doesn't
have one. Note *there is a difference between Chromecast (intended for
video playback) and Chromecast Audio (intended only for audio playback):*
https://allaboutchromecast.com/chromecast-audio-guides/chromecast-vs-chromecast-audio-which-one-is-f...
What IS important to know, is that the Chromecast Audio unit requires a USB
power supply. You can either hook it up to a spare, powered USB port on
your receiver, or use a dedicated power supply off a wall socket. Pros and
cons discussed here:
https://support.google.com/chromecast/forum/AAAAt7PFQG403RTv14lbOI/?hl=en

Hope all of this helps!

Cheers,
Daniel

Yes, good point! I've got mine setup for 1 zone using four speakers and
'extended stereo' setting. But indeed, zoning won't work off an optical
signal. (I also tested sound quality off a regular analogue cable, cannot
really say there's a tremendous difference compared to optical. So the
Chromecast Audio DAC does an ok job).

Thanks a lot Paul and Daniel!

This is badddd.we all have to be refund and doing something by legal way. This thing is sooooo strange

Hi Folks,

 

I get the function fully back through a small trick.

 

You need:

1- Valid Spotify premium account (it remains legal)

2- NAS Synology (may be valid for others)

I have one to store my dematerialized music.  I usually use AudioStation, but there I start LMS (Logitec Squeezebox server) and activates plug-in Spotty + airplay (third party list).

App Spotify shows my N50-A in the device list: it appears like N50-A connect both on iphone/ipad and Android devices.  You choose it and you play it on the N50-A. It appears as Airplay but the Airplay it sent from the NAS: you may switch off iphone or Android device as before: music goes on and doesn't stop.

 

Free trick

 

Fred

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using Chromecast or Chromecast audio to stream Spotify is rubbish. Many reasons have been stated already. No automatic switching of AV source when activating stream, No AV volume adjust from the spotify app and no song title info on the AV receiver.

However the biggest drawback is that chromecast dont manage gapless audio. This  means listening to albums or mixes with multiple tracks is extremely irritating and frustrating because there will be a silent gap when there shouldnt be one. Also Chromecast Audio has to be the worse solution of all because of the digital output limitation to any zone other than Main. For this very reason I aquired a separate streaming device that both does gapless and outputs both toslink and analog simultaneously.

Other than that, the interresting thing is that all pioneer receivers released late 2015 are still working with spotify connect even without any firmware update. The question is how this can be. From my understanding the receivers released late 2014 should be the same software wize with regards to spotify connect as the models released 2015, so what exactly is the difference? My bet is that support is cept for these receivers because of warranty that is still in effect with these receivers so cutting support for these devies whould result in alot of returned receivers.

 

I do hope none of you have given up on this issue and you still have the
energy to contact Spotify frequently. What kind of responses have you guys
received?

To be honest, I gave up. Learned my lesson not to trust spotify in the future and I won't be buying pioneer anymore.


@Musicuriousity wrote:
I do hope none of you have given up on this issue and you still have the
energy to contact Spotify frequently. What kind of responses have you guys
received?

I cancelled my Spotify subscription and I won't buy Pioneer products anymore. I'm tired of running after these pieces of s**t.

I pushed hard and got 2 months free subscription (not that useful) and
allegedly the issue pushed to the software team, let's try to get over 100
votes on this new idea, after which apparently it gets considered -
Currently 95 votes:
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/All-Platforms-Connect-Spotify-Connect-on-Pioneer-devices...

You can also vote for similar ideas with the same root cause e.g. B&O who
have 174 votes
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Connect-Keep-Spotify-Connect-available-for-B-amp-O-devic...

I now believe the solution lies with Pioneer, rather than Spotify. After all, Yamaha, Sony, Marantz and Denon have all agreed to issue firmware updates so that their customers can still use Spotify on their equipment. Why haven't Pioneer?

I asked this question of Pioneer's customer service team recently and received the reply that, for now, all they can do is to record my comments as a complaint and pass it on up the line. They did say, however, that the more complaints they get,  the more chance there is of something being done.

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