With that said, this looks pretty limited and would be a huge step back.actually downright pared to the awesomeness that I've built for only a slightly higher cost with a combo of Raspberry Pis, HiFiBerry DAC clones, Logitech Media Server, SqueezePlay, Airfoil Speakers, Nicecast, and iPeng. Hoffsta":26g5ilwa]I'm always glad to see this market segment grow with new options and new players. If they open-sourced it they'd have an incredible device at a great price.
Sonos is probably the closest but it's still inferior and 10x the $$$! This Chromecast Audio has potential to get better, but like Apple, it's closed ecosystem will be it's Achilles Heel. In my opinion nothing on the market can touch it. This system has been a work in progress for several years and I've tried out all the options. I have RPis embedded in old boomboxes and wired to in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. I could use any old unloved Android phone too.
My zones are a combination of Raspberry Pi with external DAC, OS X Desktops with attached speakers, and an old iPod Touch. I can stream to any device running Linux, OS X, Windows, iOS, or Android. Each zone can be added to or removed from a group, source changed, and have volume adjusted independently or as a group. All this is controlled instantly from my phone. I can change any of these combinations at any time.
At the same time I can be playing some of my reggae playlists into the garage for the tokers, and some sizzling grooves into my bedroom and hot tub zone for sexy time. For example, if there's a party happening I can stream the latest dance hits from Apple Music, in sync, to my living room, kitchen, and patio. I can stream multiple sources to multiple zones. I can stream any audio files I have stored locally, anything that can be Airplayed, including Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, etc, any local or international FM station, any internet radio stream, basically anything, to any of my "zones" one at a time or into any group I choose. Yeah it sounds complicated, and to a certain extent it is, but it's worth it because it sounds better, is more flexible, is less buggy, and is much more feature rich. I'm always glad to see this market segment grow with new options and new players.
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