Google home integration

Moderators please feel free to relocate this thread ... I had suggested we have an Integration forum ... the existing PC / MAC / BLGW don’t quite fit this scenario !

I have received a pre-Christmas present of:

- a google Home mini

- a google ChromeCast audio

- a google ChromeCast video

All have been installed and I am trying to find the optimal configuration for my setup. Whilst learning about the google ecosystem [:\'(]

The ChromeCast video was easy - it is hdmi into the BV8 .... bye-bye MacMini integrations with the BV, the mini is now purely a DLNA server.

The Home mini is interesting ... it wants to know all about my life ... so I might give it to my wife

Seriously if it had a mini-jack out life might be easier ... as it is the Australian geofence seems to only have google play or Spotify as streaming options.

I may have use it as a Bluetooth relay for my out of date spare iPhone ... more later.

However my biggest question is where to inject the ChromeCast audio ...

- BeoSound auxin (currently being tested)

- BLC nl/ml auxin

- Essence auxin

- Core auxin

Suggestions welcome !

If I had my old beosound 8 I’d plug it in to that.

What about your BS3 ?

I have a google home, a mini in the front room and a mini in my bedroom.

You can say hey google play chilltrax on beosound 1 (which I have now named 1) and it works.

Deezer doesn’t work for us aussies yet

I also have lighting scenes as well.

Don’t do an alarm because it’s sooo loud. I can’t work out how to make it softer.

I say hey google it’s movie time and it does a movie lighting scene.

It’s pretty nifty.

Aussie Michael:

If I had my old beosound 8 I’d plug it in to that.

What about your BS3 ?

It’s a BS4 and yes that is what I am testing. I am trying to get a flawless operation for starting and connecting.

Currently I ChromeCast from Spotify to the BS4 and then select A.AUX to have it on the BV and BLC and then +join the Essence and the Core.

Getting the volumes right is a challenge.

I was wondering if making the BLC the input source for the ChromeCast make it easier.

Aussie Michael:

I have a google home, a mini in the front room and a mini in my bedroom.

You can say hey google play chilltrax on beosound 1 (which I have now named 1) and it works.

To do that means you are setting the mini to use Bluetooth to talk to the B&O.

I could target the Essence or the Core.

But then I am moving away from Deezer HiFi which I only just got working!

Decisions Decisions

elephant:

I could target the Essence or the Core.

But then I am moving away from Deezer HiFi which I only just got working!

And loosing the benefit of the optical cabling I just put in.

And having a chain of iPhone or BL20 or Core’s DAC.

elephant:

I am trying to get a flawless operation for starting and connecting.

I’ve been using a Chromecast audio with Spotify for maybe a year now. It normally works pretty well, but it is far from flawless. It disappears from my list of devices. It stops playing for no apparent reason. It’s a bit “fiddlely”. I still recommend it (it is cheap and useful), but, in my experience, requires some patience.

Thanks Stan

Stan:

It’s a bit “fiddlely”.

"fiddlely" I don't mind but it does my family's head in

even the son who gave me the gifts walked away in disgust at how hard the integration was proving to be

( I left out that I had to relocate a WAP in the process, and an attempt to wire that part of the house caused all the WAPs to bounce and reset for half an hour; to see nothing of the BLC that need a reconfigure and its own reboot )

Stan:

I still recommend it (it is cheap and useful), but, in my experience, requires some patience.

It has that going for it :)

And I am sure in pure google ecosystem it would be easier than my setup

Current setup:—

... got Spotify linked to google (can’t tell if the premium is working)

... got ChromeCast audio into BeoSound 4 with A.AUX defined across ML and NL networks

... however easier operation for the family to use a google speaker group that points to the A.AUX and at the same time at the BeoLab 20s (via the BeoSound Core)

Result:—

... with can use voice commands to google mini

... and music starts on the BL20s

... and if she press A.AUX on the Beo4 in the other room the BV8 starts playing the same notes

Ed,

Perhaps try A.TAPE on the Beo4, does the Chromecast Audio work then in link rooms? For us it just saves a list command on the Beo4 as the button is on our Remote.

I would also add either Unifi or Amplifi Wifi products to cover blanket single SSID coverage.

Give me a call if need be...

Beoaus

Well. Just got a Google Home for Christmas from my kids, and despite living in Sydney, we still open presents on the 24th as we do in Denmark :-)

Our setup is still simple. Google Home to Chromecast Audio connected to a.aux on our BS5.

Works well, and it’s funny to play with. Well. More funny ud the kids would stop constantly yelling “ok google”

Interesting, or perhaps concerning where this new kind of technology will bring us. Try to look 5 years ahead.

/Leo

PS: I just finished reading Dan Browns “Origin”, interesting perspective on AI in the book and the potential ramifications using it. Is google home a step in that direction?

Thanks BeoAus ... I’ll try the a.tape

My 3 time capsules sort of provide blanket coverage and use the same ID but didn’t quite work as documented.

I spent several hours on the phone with the country expert who admitted defeat and reported a bug... but since then Apple have walked away from their routers

beolion:

Well. Just got a Google Home for Christmas from my kids, and despite living in Sydney, we still open presents on the 24th as we do in Denmark :-)

Our setup is still simple. Google Home to Chromecast Audio connected to a.aux on our BS5.

Works well, and it’s funny to play with. Well. More funny ud the kids would stop constantly yelling “ok google”

Interesting, or perhaps concerning where this new kind of technology will bring us. Try to look 5 years ahead.

/Leo

PS: I just finished reading Dan Browns “Origin”, interesting perspective on AI in the book and the potential ramifications using it. Is google home a step in that direction?

Congrats !

I am not sure if the constant monitoring for “ok google” is starting to chew up my bandwidth ! Especially since while I was out getting takeaways the “kids” moved it from the entry hall to opposite the family room’s BV !

One limitation. Google Home does not support external Bluetooth speakers like Amazon Alexa, so I cannot connect my beloved A1.

Yet at least, hope it will come. GH only supports BT from a phone, ie receive BT signals, not sending BT audio.