Does the usb-c interface of the Tone Board require a computer to be used properly, or would it be possible to stream music through the Tone Board via a chromecast with a HDMI to usb-c cable?
I would need some kind of splitter to get power to the Tone Board, but could this work in principle?
Thanks!
I’m trying to improve the audio on a little HIFI system I have set up that can be driven via spotify connect as well as a local plex server. Currently I’m running analogue from the dac in a chromecast audio to the amplifier. This set up sounds pretty decent playing simple music but can become muddled when there’s a lot going on in the music.
I’d like to use the TB since by all accounts it performs in a league well beyond its price point. I have a couple spare 1st gen chromecasts laying around and I thought I could repurpose them but I’m not seeing a viable way to go from hdmi audio to usb-c or spdif in a way that preserves bitperfect audio.
Another alternative would be to use optical from the chromecast audio. Are optical interfaces like the HiFi digi+ compatible with the ToneBoard?
Hi @jakeying,
We haven’t attempted what you’re proposing before, which is to push HDMI data over a USB-C cable to the XMOS chip on the Tone Board. However, I highly doubt it would work. The USB-C cable is the physical interface between the Operating System’s driver and the XMOS on the Tone Board.
Without a driver, the data format would be incorrect, hence incompatible.
What the Tone Board is meant to do, is hardware decoding of audio data, stored within .mp3, .flac, .dsd, .dsf, .dff, and other high-quality audio files, into an analog signal for your ears to hear.
If you’re using the analog output from your HiFi system, then the audio-data-stream is already decoded, and there will be no audio performance gains by stuffing a Tone Board there. The muddling that you hear is because the DAC that your HiFi system is currently using, is not decoding the sound files properly.
In other words, you’ll need to stick the Tone Board somewhere after the computing system of your HiFi system.
Computer (HiFi System) ------ OS Driver ------> Digital Signal ------> Tone Board ------ Analog Signal ------> Speakers ------> Ears
Hope this helps! 
See Also: How HDMI Works
I know that Spotify can be streamed to Chromecast with the help of the Spotify MP3 Downloader from AudFree. The sonsg of Spotify can be downloaded and played on different devices you ahve. It works well to keep original quality of the songs.
I get help from the Spotify and Chromecast. I usually use two ways to stream Spotify music and playlists via Chromecast. One is to connect Spotify to Chromecast from Android / iOS, the other is to use DRmare Spotify Converter to convert and transfer Spotify to Google Play Music and Chromecast Spotify music to other devices.
This is similar to how I cast Spotify to Chromecast now. The only difference is the tool I use. Mine is called AudKit Spotify Music Converter for Windows. Have you used it before? I am wondering which one is better.
Thanks everyone. Last time I got a Tunelf Spotify Music Converter from my friend then can easily import Spotify music to any devices,