
Google cans the Chromecast Audio - prostoalex
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/11/google-cans-the-chromecast-audio/
======
abootstrapper
Google is really developing a reputation for starting and canning projects.
I’d recommend not getting too invested in their products when possible.

~~~
notatoad
This is the HN bubble. They only have this reputation among nerds who are
still angry about losing Google Reader. Go ask any normal person if Google has
a reputation for discontinuing products, and they won't know what you're
talking about.

Also, i don't know who out there is heavily invested in a $35 audio dongle. I
love mine, but it still works just as well today as it did yesterday and not
being able to order more isn't causing me any anxiety.

~~~
derp_dee_derp
I might just be a "nerd" on hacker news but I'm also the guy who just made the
decision on which cloud service, email provider, and document sharing service
to use at my job.

Guess which company didn't get the contract.

~~~
prepend
This is exactly the risk that Google doesn’t seem to effectively mitigate.

Choosing GCP over Azure or AWS seems like such a dangerous move. Same with
migrating 5k users to gmail. Outlook and others may have weaknesses, but they
are predictable.

~~~
duality
The fear is that Google might turn Gmail down? Seems implausible, no?

~~~
ams6110
Gmail, Docs, Drive seem pretty safe bets. Would not put my money on anything
else though.

~~~
vnorilo
I'm pretty sure the ads will keep working :P

------
Roritharr
I love my Chromecast Audio Setup. It was amazing to create a very cheap multi
room setup for our Office Opening Party, literally orchestrating all the
speakers I could find into one large group was like magic. So cheap compared
to alternative solutions, i'll try to pick a few up if I can, as I expect them
to work for atleast a few more years.

~~~
semi-extrinsic
We have a few around the house, connected to various speakers. Never had any
trouble with them. I'll be buying a few more now before the price bumps, don't
wanna be stuck in the Logitech Squeezebox misery again.

My only complaint is that they can't be grouped with a regular Chromecast, but
AFAICT that's a hardware issue (regular Chromecast doesn't have the bits
necessary for synchronising with low enough latency).

~~~
thesandlord
Regular Chromecast (Gen 2 and above) can now be added to groups too!

[https://chromeunboxed.com/news/chromecast-video-and-smart-
di...](https://chromeunboxed.com/news/chromecast-video-and-smart-displays-can-
now-join-speaker-groups/)

~~~
semi-extrinsic
This just makes no sense. A feature the community has been shouting about for
years and years (literally hundreds of posts on Google product forums), and
then they actually launch it less than two months before discontinuing the
product line??

~~~
dragonwriter
The feature that Chromecast Audio had was added to Chromecast just before
Chromecast Audio (but not Chromecast) was discontinued.

Be funny if they soon release a new Chromecast that has HDMI and AUX outs; the
thing that always confused me about Chromecast Audio was why it needed to be a
separate thing, especially after they went to the hockey-puck with a tail
rather than stick format for the regular Chromecast.

~~~
pishpash
Well if regular Chromecast would have a 3.5mm port then fine, but I wouldn't
be holding my breath.

~~~
semi-extrinsic
Exactly. Although I do see that you can buy a female HDMI to VGA converter
with 3.5mm audio out for $4; hopefully that would work. I'm assuming the VGA
end isn't detecting whether something is connected or not.

Edit: meh, no, these things are Energy Star compliant so they shut down if no
VGA is connected. And they don't support HDCP.

~~~
Roritharr
In the olden days before the CC Audio I just crammed a wire between two pins
in the vga port if the adapter and put some glue on it.

There's guides for this, works flawlessly.

------
parched
I'm really disappointed that Google has decided to do this. I've been using
these all over my house for a couple of years now and, at least for Google
Play Music and Tune-In Radio, they work really well. When the price dropped
recently, and there was speculation they would be discontinued, I bought
another four of them for my own use and for gifts.

They're not really comparable to Bluetooth receivers. The killer feature is
synchronized multi-room audio without paying exorbitant prices for proprietary
speakers (Sonos I'm looking at you...). I have them hooked up to powered
speakers (PC 2.1 style) in the bedroom and bathroom, a mini-stereo on the
deck, a ghetto blaster in my workshop and my media room AV amplifier. For
parties it's fantastic to have seamless audio around the whole house.

I have to wonder why Google did this. It seems like a strategic move to push
people towards their "smart" speakers. Personally I really don't want
something with a microphone in it, just good quality sound at a good price.
Very sad.

By the way, it's easy to cast audio only from YouTube or any other app - just
go to the Google Home app and cast your phone's audio to the device or group.

~~~
willio58
As strategic as it seems, they probably just didn’t sell well enough to
justify continued effort.

Also purchasing a gift when it’s price is slashed due to it probably being
discontinued is.. risky to say the least.

~~~
puzzle
I agree. It's probably because sales were trending down.

That said, nothing stops another company from stepping in and taking a license
for a smart speaker without neither the microphone nor the speaker, in a tiny
form factor...

~~~
kllrnohj
> That said, nothing stops another company from stepping in and taking a
> license for a smart speaker without neither the microphone nor the speaker,
> in a tiny form factor

There's already a bunch of audio-only Cast-enabled products without a
microphone. There's no need to license google assistant just to get cast.
Speakers & receivers with cast built-in has been a thing for a few years now.
The dongle was just an upgrade path while the broader ecosystem built up.

~~~
puzzle
Sorry, I was being silly and I really meant Cast speaker, which is what a
stripped down smart speaker is. AFAIK you still need a license or at least
some help from Google to get that working, since the protocols are
proprietary.

------
Symbiote
I have one connected to my amplifier and speakers — it's the only thing
connected, I don't need any other audio source.

I run miniDLNA[1] which shares all my music, and BubbleUPnP[2] on my phone to
browse the music and cast it to the Chromecast Audio.

It's also possible with a Python library[3]; I used this for a while as an
alarm clock.

About every 2-3 months I have to reboot the Chromecast, but it's otherwise
fine. It doesn't do gapless playback, but I think that's partly because
miniDLNA is running on an ultra-low-power ARM board, i.e. is slow.

[1]
[https://sourceforge.net/projects/minidlna/](https://sourceforge.net/projects/minidlna/)

[2]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bubblesoft...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bubblesoft.android.bubbleupnp&hl=en)

[3]
[https://github.com/balloob/pychromecast](https://github.com/balloob/pychromecast)

~~~
mattlondon
Same miniDLNA (running off of a gen1 Raspberry Pi + NAS) and BubbleUPnP. Works
great - BubbleUPnP is the only app I've actually bought for my phone.

Recently had an xmas do with the music around the house casting simultaneously
via various Cast devices and it worked great.

------
fredley
Google really does have a habit of killing good products to make way for worse
ones. Reader killed for Plus. Inbox (to be) killed for Gmail (still dreading
this, I'm hanging on to Inbox till the end), and now Chromecast audio killed
for Home.

Yeah, the latter products serve Google better, but they serve me worse. I
think 2019 will be the year I start really trying to untangle my life from
Google to the extent I can delete my account.

~~~
yaseer
I'm also dreading the switch back to gmail.

Inbox is so clean, and gmail is so cluttered. When I first saw Inbox, I
thought "finally, Google gives gmail the UI refresh it needs". Now it's gone,
and we'll be back to the anxiety-inducing interface again.

~~~
fredley
It was great with Serif-Google, and the implicit approach of "let's make cool
stuff and worry if it makes money never" (since making money is not exactly a
problem). Now with Sans-serif-Google cool stuff that doesn't make money must
be culled to make way for stuff that does, or at least furthers strategic
goals.

Unfortunately that's just the way the game is played at that level, and the
CEOs at the top are all playing by the same rules.

I miss Serif-Google.

------
pidg
I went wild and bought four of these, to have a high-quality multi-room audio
setup on the cheap.

The trouble is, it almost never worked - I'd have two rooms working, or it
would fall over after one song, or after three songs, or not work at all.

I don't know whether the product was fatally flawed, or Google just didn't put
the investment into making it work, but it would have been great if it wasn't
so broken.

~~~
glennpratt
I've used a variety of Cast items for as long as they've been available, and
set them up in many homes with success. My experience is your router and/or
APs (if separate) are usually the culprit. Wish I knew exactly why though;
many TP-Link devices I've used struggled, particularly an Archer C1200.

~~~
pidg
Yes, I have a TP-Link router and a separate access point (so two different
SSIDs in my oddly-shaped home) - no doubt this doesn't help.

------
adrianmonk
Well, there are tons of third-party Chromecast target devices, including
several speakers. I suppose it's possible one of those companies may step in
and develop a similar product to fill the gap.

~~~
amanzi
That's my hope too. Love my Chromecast Audio.

------
kefabean
Totally gutted, these are amazing devices and great value. After ‘enjoying’
years of hackery with Squeezebox, I eventually plumped for Chromecast Audio as
the hassle-free way to get Spotify plus BBC iPlayer radio controlled via
native iOS apps. I can also verify they are capable of bit-perfect optical
audio out from appropriate flac source files etc, so perfect for the big
speakers. RIP.

------
xahrepap
Chromecast Audio frustrates me so much. I bought one and hooked it up to my
whole-house system combined with a few other fancy things so that people in
the house could theoretically cast music or whatever else to whatever room in
the house.

Basically, I can only use it with Google Music. I rarely can use it for other
things because it will only cast a subset of things that support casting. For
example, I can't cast YouTube to it, because it doesn't support video. But
what if want everyone in the room to hear what I'm playing and the video is
irrelevant?

I'm considering buying an HDMI->DVI/Audio adapter and just using a standard
Chrome Cast.

I feel like Google had the right idea here. But just missed the mark.

~~~
ucaetano
> For example, I can't cast YouTube to it, because it doesn't support video.
> But what if want everyone in the room to hear what I'm playing and the video
> is irrelevant?

I'd imagine that's for the same reason why you can't "listen" to a video on
mobile with the app in the background: it would qualify as a music stream, and
YT doesn't have the rights to stream music in an ad-based model.

~~~
tempestn
You actually can do that if you pay for YouTube Premium.

~~~
ucaetano
Exactly, they probably don't have a license for ad-based audio streaming, only
subscription-based.

~~~
tempestn
Could be, or they're just using it to differentiate the offerings.

------
sciurus
One advantage Amazon's Echo Dot has over Google's Home Mini is that the Echo
Dot has a 3.mm connector in addition to bluetooth, so you can easily connect
it to your existing speakers or receiver.

Right now the 3rd-gen Echo Dot is $30 and the 2nd-gen is $25.

~~~
amanzi
Can you stream to an Echo Dot from any/many music apps on your phone like the
Chromecast? Or do you have to control everything by voice?

~~~
evan_
I use Spotify, all of my Echo devices show up as different outputs in the
Spotify app, along with the groups I've set up ("Everywhere").

~~~
evan_
I just discovered that if you say “Alexa, Spotify connect” then anyone can
connect their phone as long as they’re on the same WiFi network as the device.

------
NicoJuicy
Don't really know why it's canned though. I thought it was a great iterative
product. Before this, didn't think they could do something like the Chromecast
again (hardware whise).

But the Chromecast Audio is just so simple and effective. I'm really curious
about the sales numbers, to understand why they canned it. Otherwhise, it
doesn't make business sense.

I have like 5 chromecast's laying around and dealing them to family/friends
for gifts. To some, even just because i think they will love it. Even after a
year, suddenly someone starts to use it (this was the normal Chromecast) and
they start to love it.

It's one of the reasons i can say a lot: "told you :p"

PS. If anyone of Google would read this, would love to have a license on the
Chromecast audio. I'm a small webshow owner that actually recommends quite a
lot of Google products as a Software Developer.

PS2. You can't get a yes, if you don't ask it :p

------
whyaduck
I've got 3 of these in my house already, and I was thinking of picking up a
couple more as back-ups, but they're already sold out on the Google store.
Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any other small, "cast-able" device that has a
digital output. Hopefully mine last for a while.

------
Walkman
I would not buy anything from Google at this point. Definitely will not use
anything else except Gmail.

~~~
prostoalex
I, too, prefer a company whose hardware is their core product, not an offshoot
developed to supplement other revenue. Learned my lesson the hard way with
Apple Airport line.

Even though I probably overpaid, I have a set of Eero routers vs Google WiFi
or Netgear competitor, a Roku Stick vs Chromecast or Amazon FireStick, and a
Ring security setup vs Dashcam/Nestcam (although my last example is kinda
diluted after Ring got acquired).

~~~
ProfessorLayton
Curious to know what lessons you learned. I've had an Airport Express since
they became available, and they've been about the only Apple product that I
can basically forget about since it always works.

My AE/ATV combo is connected to a 2.1 setup which allows streaming of anything
with or without the TV turned on. I'm bummed Apple dropped support for their
Airport line, but the one I currently have will be fine for a very long time —
Thanks in no small part for supporting a 3.5mm jack.

~~~
prostoalex
This is, of course, highly anecdotal, but my extended network setup with 1
Airport Extreme (wired) and 3 Airport Express (wireless) consistently broke
every few weeks or so with one Airport Express refusing to see the rest of the
network it was supposed to extend. And it was always a different Express, so
couldn't be pinned to a hardware issue or location in the house. Apple support
on this issue is relegated to an article on the Web site or some forum threads
[https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5763681](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5763681),
as debugging it in an Apple Store makes little sense, considering the network
setup would run smoothly for days.

One thing that was unclear to me is how long the Airport Utility app was going
to remain in the App Store and stay maintained to support the latest revisions
of iOS, Android, and respective app store policies. The upgrade path for
firmware in case of a security vulnerability is also unknown - something that
I'd be okay on some other devices, but not the main home router.

------
martian
Bummer. I own one and use it every day for listening to high quality audio on
an old stereo setup. The sound quality is so great!

I routinely buy these for friends/family who want better digital audio setups
and they tend to work great. I’ve never had any issues.

The best feature is “Ok, Google, play X.” When combined with Spotify’s amazing
music index (really good for rare recordings/composers/etc), this is a super
powerful mechanism to play any music at high quality. Best of all I can do it
without needing to look at my phone and fend off the distractions there.

~~~
1zee
Just to clarify, that "Ok, Google" feature requires a Google Assistant device
like a Home Mini (or your phone) as the Chromecast Audio has no microphone.

------
jgrowl
I was excited to set a bunch of these up around the house a couple of years
back. I set them up in every room in the house. Then I realized you could not
cast just the audio from youtube videos (without YouTube Red or whatever). I
could cast from youtube audio from my desktop computer to all of them through
an open source app. It never worked like how I had envisioned in my mind with
everything being seamless.

We also ran into the bug where having too many chromecast devices attached to
the same network would spam the router, preventing some devices from
connecting. It would happen randomly and it took a while to figure out that
this was the problem.

There were other reliability issues and other minor annoyances that just made
me give up on the idea.

Now I begrudgingly use an amazon firestick on the tv.

The idea was awesome, it's just that Google did not provide a reliable product
and pointlessly limited its own hardware's capabilities to sell their monthly
service.

~~~
goldenkey
Reposting again - earlier in the thread someone posted a solution:

"By the way, it's easy to cast audio only from YouTube or any other app - just
go to the Google Home app and cast your phone's audio to the device or group."

Edit: Would whoever is downvoting me for providing assistance, please explain
your reasoning?

------
jellicle
The Chromecast audio does one thing and does it (pretty) well. You can connect
it to any dumb thing you have lying around.

I am not going to buy an eavesdropping microphone setup for my house, so if
that's all Google will sell, I guess I'll find another path for music.

------
notatoad
Hopefully this means an updated Google Home Mini with a line-out jack is
around the corner.

------
veesahni
As an alternative: Google Home Mini can pair with bluetooth aux receivers (
[https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bluetooth+receiver+aux](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bluetooth+receiver+aux)
) which can be connected to dumb speakers. End result is similar to chromecast
audio (but not audiophile grade).

Maybe a future version of Google Home Mini will add an audio out.

------
squarefoot
Probably doomed to die anyway since there already was a better and much more
open competitor:

[https://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/11/audiocast-m5-is-a-
ch...](https://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/11/audiocast-m5-is-a-chromecast-
audio-alternative-with-local-audio-files-and-multi-room-support/)

~~~
pmx
That page says Chromecast doesn't do multiroom synchronized streaming but it
absolutely does.

~~~
jdietrich
It didn't do multiroom at the time of writing.

------
r2ut3u
may be now is the time we stop discussing about google canning different
projects

google has already developed a reputation for abruptly stopping services

google reader google plus allo google talk hangouts

here is a list of projects google abandoned
[https://gcemetery.co/](https://gcemetery.co/)

it's a shame they do build products half-heartedly

------
radus
Unfortunately, I didn't really know I wanted one for myself and also for
family until right now, especially at the $15 price point.

It seems like these are selling out in a lot of stores, but I wonder if it's
smart to buy one when they'll probably no longer receive updates.

~~~
dsr_
It's not that it won't receive updates. It's that when Google turns off some
support servers somewhere, they will all stop working.

~~~
bootloop
Chromecast Audio is the same as Chromecast built-in. There are tons of
devices, this ecosystem is not gonna die anytime soon. Doesn't matter if
Google ships their own hardware or not.

------
hashkb
This is a real shame. And shameless... I want to keep using Google smart
things but I don't want to give up my high quality analog gear.

Being able to Chromecast to a channel on my band's mixing board is super handy
for practice. I hope the handful I have don't die.

------
turdnagel
I would love an AirPlay 2 receiver equivalent of the Chromecast Audio. I know
the ancient Airport Express can do it, but it's wireless capabilities are
lacking (802.11n or g might be the best it can do.) Anyone know of one?

~~~
newman314
I use the Express in wired only mode and it’s the best solution that I have
found so far for an easy $25 (aggressive negotiation on Craigslist :)

------
rickcogley
Maybe it means that they are coming up with something else new? It's their
right to stop producing something or kill ("sunset") whatever product, but it
doesn't make it any less crappy.

------
snthd
I hope Google enables the possibility of third party firmware before
eventually bricking them.

Streaming (even locally) is impossible without Google blessing the connection
initialisation.

------
i386
I’ve just adopted Google Wifi (love it) but I’m afraid that they will get
bored and discontinue it.

------
justatdotin
sad: I had a really good thing going with these to a miniDigi/miniDSP/miniAmp
stack for power-efficient portable speakers.

was gonna build more using beocreate; not quite sure now which way to jump...
anyone know of a similar device that includes TOSlink out?

------
drtz
I had planned on building out a home audio system using Chromecast Audios w/
small amplifiers distributed around the house. I even did a test run with my
patio speakers and it worked out great. Now I'm going to have to rethink
things.

------
ericd
Dammit, just bought one of these with their holiday 75% off sale.

~~~
notatoad
Did the one you bought suddenly stop working?

~~~
amelius
Support did ...

~~~
notatoad
from the article: " Google says it’ll continue to support Chromecast Audio
users"...

~~~
amelius
Support for Google's current products like Android is already abysmal, so I
can't even imagine what support for a discontinued product looks like ...

------
bedros
if two adjacent rooms playing chromecast or dlna client, is there any
synchronization of played sound, so you don't hear delay of music between of
the two rooms

~~~
ladon86
Yes, I have 3 Chromecast audios and 2 Google Homes and they all play in sync
throughout the house.

~~~
mattlondon
Same sort of set up here. You can even adjust a delay (e.g. +/\- 10ms etc) if
the timing is slightly out as well as individual volumes for each speaker
individually from the home app.

The multiroom audio really is superb. Shame it is going away - hopefully it
will be replaced by something else decent.

------
dbcooper
A lot of amplifiers are integrating Chromecast these days.

------
geephroh
Bummer -- sold out already...

------
ratling
So I had one of these. I couldn't give it away when I was getting rid of
stuff.

The problem with chromecast audio is that pretty much nothing supported
chromecast audio. Anything you would potentially use with audio you'd be
better off running through a regular chromecast (including spotify which only
worked on audio with a premium account, free accounts work on regular
chromecast normally and you could always push the web player from chrome).

I don't understand who this was supposed to be marketed to. Chromecast users
probably already have a good sound setup on their TV. Audiophiles aren't going
to buy it since it only had a 3.5mm jack on it. Anyone else is just going to
use bluetooth whatever.

I get why they made it. I also get why it failed.

~~~
SyneRyder
_> Audiophiles aren't going to buy it since it only had a 3.5mm jack on it_

Apparently the Chromecast Audio supports optical digital output, but Google
never seemed very good at publicizing that feature. They had some instructions
hidden under "Compatible cables and plugs" here:

[https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/6280276](https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/6280276)

(That said, I just double-checked my studio monitors & they only have analog
XLR & 1/4" inputs anyway.)

~~~
ratling
I do vaguely remember seeing that in some documentation but yeah, if no one
knows it exists and all you see is a generic 3.5mm it essentially doesn't
exist.

------
luckydata
Good, that was the dumbest thing Google ever produced, and I'm writing this
comment from a Pixel 3.

------
laurynas-s
Google is getting worse and worse with each new news headline.

They have completely lost my trust of using their non-primary services.

However, the monopoly is so high that's it's difficult for other companies to
compete.

~~~
glennpratt
This is one product in a large line, not an entire service.

There are also tons of competitors in this space.

------
TheRealWatson
The only Chromecast Audio I've owned was a mistake. I thought I was buying a
real Chromecast at a very good price. I was so disappointed that I just
dropped it in the trash immediately.

------
jbob2000
This is disappointing. This device would have allowed millions of old stereo
systems to enter into the modern age. Now? They will be thrown out, can't
compete with the Google Home!

~~~
hammock
How of those old stereo systems still exist?

~~~
PeanutNore
My stereo is from 1979. For the last 30 years mainstream audio equipment has
been in a race to the bottom on BOM cost and build quality. A well made stereo
receiver from 1975-1985 will, when paired with the right speakers, greatly
outperform the majority of modern listening devices.

~~~
ghaff
A friend of mine is still using a ~1976 Pioneer receiver I "loaned" her ages
ago when I got a receiver I could use in a home theater setup. My supposedly
high-end Sony receiver died and then died again 30 days post-repair. And I'm
on my second receiver after that.

(She's also using speakers of mine of the same vintage that I didn't need
after I upgraded.)

