Magnifi Mini Chromecast audio quality

shootinglight

Overall really pleased with the Mini. Great bit of kit.

My only concern is the quality of audio when streamed via the built in Chromecast. It's got that nasty high pitched digital 'ring' you used to get in the early days of MP3 when the bitrate was really low.

Things of note:
Have tried streaming from various phones (apple & android) and various services (Spotify, Soundcloud, BBC iPlayer etc)

In the Chromecast app for other ones I have around the house, you can switch on 'Full Dynamic Range' for AVR's and HiFi Systems. That option doesn't seem to appear in Google Home for the mini.

I'm connected via Ethernet.

Firmware on the mini is - 1.21.75965
System firmware: 33

Does anything need updating / tweaking?

Thanks for any help.

erniejade

How is the chromecast hooked up? Optical using the built in dac on the chromecast?

I have used a chromecast audio optical out to a dac with great results for a 30$ streamer.

shootinglight

Hi, not quite sure what you mean. The Mini has Chromecast built in so I just connect phone for example to it and play Spotify etc.

Interesting development is that if I play music via Bluetooth, the audio is faultless.

Really wanting to know if the Chromecast's firmware in the speaker can be updated?

erniejade

I did not realize it was built in. I have a chromecast audio ( external unit) that has optical out. On the external unit, using the optical out to a dac sounds better vs using the 1/8" stereo out / built in dac. Your situation is different.

Have your tried a different program like bubbleUpnp on your phone?

shnorkiller

I am having the exact same problem trying to cast music to my Polk Mini via built in Chromecast. The audio quality is absolutely terrible.

I have contacted Polk support about the issue but they seem unwilling to assist.

I have tried different streaming apps, I've tried over WiFi and over Lan network. I have tried with different routers.

I cant isolate what is causing the issue, but the sound quality is intermittently poor when casting.

When playing the exact same Audio from exact same apps over Bluetooth instead of cast, the audio is flawless.

It seems there is not a large user base trying to use the casting feature, but this is the reason I bought the unit.

Very frustrated.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
I'll forward this to a friend at Polk for comments.

shnorkiller

KennethSwauger wrote: »

Hello,
I'll forward this to a friend at Polk for comments.

Amazing! thank you

[Deleted User]

Hello,
His response:
"Can we confirm that they have the latest firmware (v112)?

The bar may be receiving low quality mp3 via the streaming services for some reason or another. For Spotify, I know you can go into settings and force “high” or “very high” streaming quality. You may be able to do this for other streaming services as well, but I’d have to look into it to say for sure."

shnorkiller

Hi, I can confirm that I am running latest version of firmware. It is definitely not a low bit rate. I have set spotify to highest bitrate. I have also tested with the same songs over bluetooth and aux and can confirm it's only when streaming over cast.

I'd be happy to provide any other info, really want to get this fixed.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the information, I'll send this along.

shnorkiller

Thanks

shnorkiller

shnorkiller wrote: »

Thanks

Did your friend provide any feedback?

shnorkiller

I am still getting nowhere with this issue. It's now been almost 3 months.

joshik3

Hey, did anyone solve this problem? Very irritating, that it sounds so bad as google cast device.