iPhone and Chromecast Audio

[ClemsonDV]

So I have a new house that has speakers built in the ceiling (yay). I also have a 10 year old receiver that I am planning on hooking up to all those speakers because it doesn't support HDMI which is less fun when watching movies.

So my plan is to control my old receiver wirelessly via Bluetooth or Wifi. At first I thought about my AppleTV, but there would be issues with audio from TV and audio my iPhone stream. I also thought Bluetooth adapter, but my house is long and I have a few solid walls that may be in the way. Wifi would be the best, but I currently don't have anything besides the 1 appletv.

The google Chromecast Audio looks interesting because Wifi, but it appears to not work with iTunes thus all the songs on my phone and computer wouldn't stream. But I could do Pandora and such.

Anyone have a similar problem or a solution (relatively cheap I hope).

 

[MasterRyu2011]

switch to Google Music and stream that via Chromecast?

 

[David-fr]

If your music is with itunes, then your best bet is to use air port expresses. $100 each and work over wifi.

 

[jdag]

You have several options...in my personal order of preference...

1) Sonos - Add a Sonos Connect to your receiver, which will create a "zone". You can build multiple zones as you wish. You can then play music via the Sonos app from your phone, computer, or streaming services to any/all zones. You control each zone independently (what is playing, volume). Beware that you must use the Sonos app (or Google Play app). That bothers some people, but is irrelevant to me. I thoroughly enjoy the Sonos app and it is incredibly stable and simple to use. Sonos is by far my favorite tech purchase in at least 5 years, and even my wife loves it (she normally couldn't care less about tech toys).

2) Chromecast Audio - In full disclosure, I have yet to use this myself but I have investigated heavily. Simply put, this may be a competitor to the Sonos Connect, but does not at this time support zones as Sonos does (Google has indicated that zone support is coming soon). How it will function and its stability compared to Sonos is TBD. That being said, it is much less costly, and is more open than Sonos (i.e. - don't need to use Sonos app). Note that I do not consider Chomecast Audio a direct competitor to Sonos overall, just to the Sonos Connect and Sonos Connect:Amp. Sonos also offers very well reviewed speakers to round out their offering, CCA is "only" the connection device.

3) AirPlay - If you are an Apple-only household, AirPlay might be an option. In my opinion, the whole-home capabilities are limited compared to Sonos, and presumably CCA (most notably you must use iTunes to be able to distribute music to multiple zones). Further, in my experience, Sonos is more stable/consistent than AirPlay, although AirPlay has generally not been problematic for me (other than disappearing a couple of times, forcing a reboot of my AppleTV). If all you care about is a single zone, this could be a good answer for you. Even so, I personally would pick up a $35 CCA before relying on AirPlay.

4) Bluetooth - Get an adapter and pair your phone. However, as you mentioned, connectivity would be limited in terms of range, and you almost certainly will experience drops/instability as your source device is moved around, and of course out of, the house.

Have fun...setting up this type of whole-home-audio system is an enjoyable project, and the results will please you and your family.