Rege, it would be nice if you could post more impressions too, especially about CCA's DAC, especially since you have a really nice closed form r2r dac.
Yes, a serious review by you and Rege would be immensely helpful. I am planning to set up a whole home audio using the Chromecast Audio if things work out well. I am contemplating between the Chromecast Audio and the Fon Gramofon. I plan to have simple inexpensive amps in each room connected to reasonably good speakers such as the Aperion Audio or Andrew Jones.
Thanks
Btw, it would be nice to hear impressions on the internal DAC of the CCA as well. Is it any good?
Sharing about the internal DAC of the CCA, to give everyone a fair idea.
It hands down beats everything Bluetooth. If you are comparing to Bluetooth speakers with DAC or even an entry level Bluetooth DAC the CCA is a better performer.
I've quite a few BT speakers and all of them have benefited from using the CCA as DAC with the 3.5 mm stereo cable for analog output. This is the yellow cable that is included along with the Chromecast Audio.
Do note that BT is limited to 300kbps and FLAC rips are usally 800 to 1100kbps so when using CCA you are also overcoming the limitation of BT. My FLACs stutter when using BT, but no such issues with CCA and wireless. I use for 10-14 hours daily with no dropouts and stuttering.
Now to other equipment.
I have a Sony RDP-XF300iPN that also has only a 3.5 input (same yellow CCA cable in use) and no digital inputs other than iPad/iPhone lightning connector. It was in fact bought for use with iPad. The CCA again wins over the internal DAC of the Sony. Apples to oranges comparison of course as digital is limited to iPad and iPhone, and analog is open to external DACs. But I've been using this boombox for a few years now, so I'm extremely familiar with the sound and since adding the CCA and using the internal DAC of the CCA the SQ has improved. This is for all content from my local FLAC rips to Spotify and AT40. In every instance, the CCA and its internal DAC wins and that's quite a feat when you consider the CCA cost me $35, while the Sony dock cost me around $250.
My pet peeve Sonos.
I've a Sonos 5, a couple of Sonos 1s and obviously the Sonos Connect (wifi bridge plus DAC). I'm not a fan of Sonos, but it was bought back when nothing like CCA was available in the market and I wanted the convenience of wireless and portability as well as the functionality of a single unit that also streamed the likes of Spotify. I don't like the sound of Sonos, and the Sonos speakers have a big role to play here, but considering even a decent Sonos setup will cost over $1000, more near to $1500, I'd say the $35 CCA is a huge win when you can spend that money on better speakers, amp, and DAC.
Where it fails...
Pretty much any decent AVR or DAC will perform better than the CCA. I've a 6-year-old (or older) Onkyo AVR without HDMI or wireless. But its DAC is still way better than the DAC of the CCA. I use Toslink to connect to this AVR and the SQ is way better than when using 3.5 mm analog cable and the CCA DAC.
I've also tested with entry level HTIBs from both Onkyo and Yamaha and again the HTIBs actually have the better DAC. Of course they cost 30-35K but it shows how much DAC chips have improved as for 30K you can get a decent 5.1 setup with amp and a pretty good onboard DAC in the AVR. I use the Onkyo AVR to power a pair of JBL pro bookshelves and its a very musical setup for the price $35. I've repurposed old equipment and given it wireless functionality without spending on a new DAC or AVR.
Primarily though I use an external DAC (except in the case of the Sony dock and BT speakers) with a mini Toslink to Toslink cable. But the internal DAC of the $35 CCA is nothing to be ashamed of especially if you are looking at a low budget setup or a 2nd or 3rd setup for other rooms in the house.
If you guys need more specific info let me know. No need to do AB testing between my more expensive DACs and the CCA, we all know how that will go.
In ending I will say the $35 CCA will really shine with the addition of another $35 device, the Raspberry Pi. Put something like moOde, Rune, or MinimServer and the 2 $35 devices will actually make a huge difference. Trust me on this. They will hands down beat any PC, and especially a Windows PC.