Has anyone found a way to play BBC Sounds over dCS Rossini? I was trying to use catchup on the live King’s College, Cambridge Christmas Eve broadcast. BubblePNP works for many things such as YT and Bandcamp but just can’t find a way to play BBC Sounds. It renders in Mosaic but sadly no sound emanates. Be very grateful if anyone has discovered a workaround?
Rossini is, like most ( all?) dCS DACs compatible with Apple Airplay. So download BBC Sounds from App Store to i-phone or pad. Open Airplay ( swipe down from top right hand corner on the device) , select Rossini from the drop down menu to pair the device and your Rossini and away you go. I assume that you are in the UK?
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Sorry should have said not an Apple user. Only Android and not particularly keen to buy an Apple device especially for this! Yes UK based.
Apple is the easiest and cheapest way of doing it ( so long as you already have an Apple device of course). There are other ways of doing it using a similar architecture though.
Instead of an Apple device which works on the same wi-fi LAN as the Rossini you need a hardwired solution. It is feasible using an Android device and the BBC Sounds app can be obtained via the Play Store. However you need to get a digital signal out of the phone ( don’t use a headphone outlet unless you are keen on poor sound). Some Android phones are set up to do this, others won’t let the USB output pass the signal unless you go into Developer Options and change the default USB settings. You then need to find a way of linking the mini USB outlet to the Rossini’s USB “B” input. It can be done but I don’t want to lengthen this message by going into details if it’s not yet necessary. Ask me or PM me if the need arises.
It is easier using a computer ( easiest with a laptop) . Download the BBC Sounds app. Connect a USB “A” to USB “B” interconnect from the computer to the USB “B” input on the Rossini. I am thinking here of a Windows machine as it avoids Apple’s proprietary connectors which might add another barrier.
Note , AFAIK it cannot be done without that third party BBC Sounds application running on a phone, tablet or other computer.
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Hi,
It’s a shame that the Chromecast Audio is no longer produced - I use one to cast the output from a lot of Android apps over to my audio system - and that might have allowed you to do what you were looking for.
Would a wired connection from your tablet to your Rossini be possible? I haven’t tried it myself using either of my android tablets but it might be possible to use the Rossini as an external USB audio device … I can check if a wired solution would be one that would be workable for you?
Phil
It theoretically should be as before the days of Vivaldi and Mosaic I used to have BBC Sounds installed on my Dell windows aptop and use a USB connection to my Paganini. However using Android is more difficult as the USB output port may not allow the sound data. In many cases this can be fixed in Developers Options in Settings but the cabling is hampered by the fact it needs an OTG USB cable ( my experience was using Samsung devices) many of which may be too short for this type of home application.
Incidentally for general readers outside of the UK I would explain that BBC Sounds app itself does not emanate any streamed sound .It is more of a portal. So it is not in itself an internet radio station similar to those provided via airable .
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I confirm that I can connect my Motorola Android phone directly to Debussy and it works though the sampling frequency is something other than 44.1 and 48k.
Thanks for response Phil. I use my Samsung Galaxy mobile phone and I have no idea if a wired connection would work as I don’t think I have a suitable cable anyhow. I assume it must be a quirk of the BBC sounds app because BubbleUPNP sees it and can connect to Rossini such that Mosaic picks up the stream from BBC Sounds, but it’s in “MPEG-DASH 320kbps 48KHz” protocol and doesn’t appear to play on Rossini. Plays fine on my Naim Qb over UPNP frustratingly! I can use BubbleUPNP to play from YT on Rossini with no problems. For example, previous BBC broadcasts uploaded to YT play just fine! I understand I could go out and buy an iPad/iPhone, but I am not an Apple fan tbh and would rather find an Android workaround if one exists.
You need something like this and a normal USB cable, Dave. If you can post the model number of your phone, I can suggest the actual items that you may need to make it work.
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Many thanks for the USB connection advice. I was hoping to stream but it seems BBC Sounds doesn’t support DLNA but only Chromecast for Android which dCS doesn’t of course. Can’t help think there must be a streaming workaround somewhere e.g. app to convert Chromecast stream into Airplay stream, etc. Will keep looking as being able to stream from BBC Sounds on Android would be nice.
Unfortunately there isn’t a way to convert a ChromeCast stream to an AirPlay stream or vice versa - two competing standards from two different manufacturers.
There are a few Chromecast Audio’s, even some new ones, on eBay but the prices are eye-wateringly expensive given that they were about £35 new. The Chromecast Audio had a combo-3.5mm jack on it that could do both analogue audio an TOSLink digital audio (using a mini-TOSLink to TOSLink cable).
That’s the only simple solution that I can think of I’m afraid. Unfortunately there is very little real-world call for Chromecast.
You could always use a Bluetooth Audio receiver?
Phil