@joshelston
No connection between the harmony remote and the chromecast audio. It was just an example of another inexpensive device to improve functionality of a system. The chromecast would have to be controlled via your phone or tablet or whatever other device you can use to access online streaming services, but for the price ($25-35) they are fantastic...and save you a lot of money to spend elsewhere vs an audiophile streamer. No offense to Taylor Swift or your daughters, but you’re probably not caring about perfecting the sound quality quite as much for those dance parties. The Chromecast is easy to use, inexpensive, and surprisingly effective for making a system more family friendly by allowing access to those streaming services. The Bluesound Node 2i that’s been mentioned is definitely “better”, but it also costs a lot more so it depends how much you value sound quality for streaming...no hi-res with chromecast but it’s not like a crappy old mp3 file either.
If if the goal is to add streaming and make the whole rig easy for the rest of the family to use then a harmony remote plus a chromecast audio can probably do both and all be controlled from a phone or tablet for less than $200. If you can use a remote without the app then you still make things way easier than juggling 3 remotes for like $70.
That at doesn’t add HDMI or room correction or eliminate any extra boxes from your system so I’m not saying it’s definitely how you should go...just one idea to make things a bit simpler without getting into major changes or major cost.
No connection between the harmony remote and the chromecast audio. It was just an example of another inexpensive device to improve functionality of a system. The chromecast would have to be controlled via your phone or tablet or whatever other device you can use to access online streaming services, but for the price ($25-35) they are fantastic...and save you a lot of money to spend elsewhere vs an audiophile streamer. No offense to Taylor Swift or your daughters, but you’re probably not caring about perfecting the sound quality quite as much for those dance parties. The Chromecast is easy to use, inexpensive, and surprisingly effective for making a system more family friendly by allowing access to those streaming services. The Bluesound Node 2i that’s been mentioned is definitely “better”, but it also costs a lot more so it depends how much you value sound quality for streaming...no hi-res with chromecast but it’s not like a crappy old mp3 file either.
If if the goal is to add streaming and make the whole rig easy for the rest of the family to use then a harmony remote plus a chromecast audio can probably do both and all be controlled from a phone or tablet for less than $200. If you can use a remote without the app then you still make things way easier than juggling 3 remotes for like $70.
That at doesn’t add HDMI or room correction or eliminate any extra boxes from your system so I’m not saying it’s definitely how you should go...just one idea to make things a bit simpler without getting into major changes or major cost.