Chromecast Audio, music distorted when browser minimized...

[Captn01]

I have a brand new Surface Laptop 4 that is superior in every way to my previous computer. However I have a very strange issue now when I am casing music to my Chromecast Audio device through a browser. The audio player perfectly unless I minimize the browser. After a few moments it becomes very distorted, somewhat like it is skipping but also sounds like it's sped up too.

This happens regardless of what music service I use and if I bring the browser back up then after about 10 seconds the music starts playing fine again.

So far I have tried updating all wireless drivers, rolling back the drivers, reinstalling Chrome, factory reset on the Chromecast, I've tried raising the priority of the Chromes processes, and just about anything else I could think of... Really at a loss here!

[BarryT]

[mghia]

Sorry, not in my version and not in Canary. 

[BarryT]

maybe you should update your chrome?
i did this and since then i didnt have any weird sounds anymore, for now...
i really hope this was/is the fix!

[mghia]

Canary is updated daily

And my official chrome is up to date

"Chrome is up to date

Version 110.0.5481.104 (Official Build) (64-bit)"

[BarryT]

Same version as  mine.. 🙂
try this:
chrome://settings/performance

[mghia]

Unfortunately that only brings me to  the settings page.   What is your OS and what country are you in?

[BarryT]

Windows 11, x64 from the Netherlands.

[BarryT]

Maybe try to uninstall chrome and do a clean install again?

[BarryT]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/googlechromecast.com/enable-google-chromes-high-efficiency-mode-and-bat... 

[mghia]

Can anyone else , preferably in the USA  see  the  barryT  performance section?

Bvarry T are you on any particular developer program with Google that might have some other sort of experimental program?

I have Canary and regular chrome and Canary is updated daily so  I am not sure why either have  a performance feature.   I only installed Canary a few days ago. 

the only other thought was these tests are on my Lenovo Laptop.  Maybe it is system specific feature?

[tommyleew]

Yes I see it - try to copy/past this (without quotes) into chromes address bar (not search bar) "chrome://settings/performance"

I'm also on a Lenovo but with windows 11 but i don't think theres a diff in chrome btw 10 and 11.

My chrome had memory saver ON while canary had it OFF, for what its worth.

[mghia]

 do you see it on Win 10  on your laptop?

I will try again but when I copy and pasted that all it did was go back to the settings page without the performance selection and they don't know why I wouldn't see it if you have the same version number and are in the USA.  

Are you confirming that setting it fixes the issue?

And setting it "on" fixes the issue?

[tommyleew]

That is stange but in any case, setting memory saver to on or off does NOT fix the issue for me.

I am still having success with using Canary as a stand alone steaming tab (as long as it is not minimized and whether its on top or not).

[mghia]

Can you explain Step By step what your setup is with Canary as I tried it as the casting appbit if it was just n the background, even using regular chrome the issue persists .

If you are able to work in other apps in the front, not chrome , let me know. 

[tommyleew]

i didnt do any special set up with canary but I am using an attached disply/monitor. That one is my "main" screen, my laptop display is screen 2 off to the side where I have canary always up. Oh but wait, even if i drag something over and on top of canary there is still no issue with casting. only if I minimize canary.

however when i installed canary it brough over all of my chrome information (settings, bookmarks, etc.) so it seems like it wants to run seamlessly like chrome.  maybe there is something brought over causing your problem, (that is, the problem that you cannot get the work around to work, not the problem that we're all having that Google won't fix). If you log out of canary you might get different results casting? Or maybe back up a little bit - uninstall canary (but keep the downloader), log out of chrome, the re-install canary (if it will let you install without a sign in (or if it wont create a new account to login with)) and see what happens???? 

[mghia]

ahh, I got was able to turn on performance .   I had to set a flag for High efficiency for it to show up.

https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/193714424/chrome-settings-performance-missing?hl=enlk

Unfortunately, I can concur  it does not work even when I added a site to the keep this site active list.  

[BarryT]

Sorry to tell, i have still the same strange streaming issues going on.
It was worked after turning the memory / performance off, but after restart it was back when the browser went to the background.
So, unfortunately it did not help.
We still all waiting for a fix then....
@Google, please fix!

[BarryT]

Sorry to tell, i have still the same strange streaming issues going on.
It was worked after turning the memory / performance off, but after restart it was back when the browser went to the background.
So, unfortunately it did not help.
We still all waiting for a fix then....
@Google, please fix!

[Anonymous]

Hey, there!

I just I wanted to let you know, that I have the same issue after I upgraded to Windows 11. I'd really appreciate any help to resolve the issue

Update: Well, I was inpatient so I restored my OS back to Windows 10 via Update Center and I can 100% say that the issue has been resolved! I hope this helps!

(P.S. I uploaded a video showing the bug https://youtu.be/2DWCkyig37w )

[mghia]

That is odd since this was happening for me in Windows 10 before I upgraded my laptop which had Windows 11.  It happened for me in W10 with Chromecast ultra and Chromecast with Google TV.    I wonder if it is GPU related  as both units used amd Radeon.

[JulianRP]

ethans, I'm glad you chimed in on this issue with Chromecast audio and Windows 11.

I have installed Windows 11 several times over the last year only to have to uninstall because of this audio issue.

Chromecast has become an important tool for my family to project computer screen images, videos, etc. to our TV. I am surprised that Google has not been more proactive in solving this problem after being aware of the issue for such a long time.

[ericafsmith]

Hi,

I'm having a similar issue.  I have a Google home device that I'm casting my phone to to play an audio book from Libby.  It starts out crystal clear and then after a few minutes gets really growly and distorted.  It doesn't seem to matter whether I have the app open, screen active or locked.  It starts fine and then turns awful.  If I stop it and ask Google the weather, the voice is perfect.  Then if I restart my book, it's fine but gets distorted again shortly after.  Any way to fix this?

[bich_d]

so this is a windows issue.. it is somehow deprioritizing the casting when it is not the focused application.  Maybe someone can find the windows setting that might be able to be disabled?  something very similar to the chrome performance one mentioned?

[bich_d]

similar work around as mentioned - be sure the casting window is NOT minimized, and no other window is Maximized.   So I leave the casting window up, and can cover it with another window that isn't 'maximized', but I size it to basically cover the whole screen anyway.  

[mghia]

Wow Thanks, it does seem to work .   With one test it did seem to work wither way.  Chrome resized (not minimized) and the app I want to work with (photoshop) Minimized but resized to be almost full screen.   

I would rather the chromecast player button to work but for some reason the one site I use  the players after 2021 seem to not work.  It can turn on the TV, the bar on the tv starts to load but then I get a blue cast icon on a black background that appears.  So the only way I can use the site with Chromecast is to cast the tab but then I was forced not to be able to work on the apps I wanted. I loose the remote control with the google TV but it was at least something . 

[Stanzoheetik]

I am experiencing the exact same problem. When the chrome tab is on the foreground the stream works perfectly fine. But as soon as I minimize the tab the audio stutters a lot.

[AlizeeFR]

Did you ever find a solution to this? I'm still having the same problem!

[JA81]

same issue with me since i upgraded to windows 11. i have 2 surfaces one with Win10 and one with Win11, also 2 laptops one with Win11 one with Win10. The Win10 devices work perfectly fine on Chromecast with tv and Chromecast ultra, the Win11 devices instantly stutter and distort the sound once i minimize the browser, it's been so painful and i reported the issue several times to Google without any response.

[John068]

My problem is fixed by checking various sound formats.

[mghia]

How does just checking a sound format? Do anything? What do you mean by checking?

[gfy]

this is truly outrageous that this is still an issue months after being reported. my Chrome audio is distorted whenever focus is on any other window than the window being streamed. how can Google allow this issue to exist for so long? do they not care about their customers? 

[AlizeeFR]

Having the same issue 😞 Did you ever find a solution? I'm trying to figure out how to spoof having the window open

[AlizeeFR]

having this issue too. Trying to boost this because nothing has helped so far. Really need help

[BarryT]

I downgraded back to Windows 10 with latest Chrome and everything works perfectly again.
I think this is an issue in Windows 11 and maybe changes in memory or graphic card usage?
Good luck everyone!

[AlizeeFR]

I would hope Google could figure it out 😕 I'm not sure how to report this to the Windows team or Google. All I can find are community help posts like this I'm not sure how to reach the dev team to tell either company this has been an ongoing problem for months for many people. Do you know by any chance? Because downgrading to Windows 10 is not an option for many of us, unfortunately, and it seems neither company's dev teams are aware of the problem

[johnjrubadub]

Not that it helps all that much, but I'll throw my hat in the ring with the same issue whilst streaming video. I have two chromecast devices. One is a recent model with Google TV and the other is an older model. Both have the same issue.

Problem first arose when I got a new Win11 laptop. One thing that I've seen is that Win 11 has "efficiency mode" which cannot be permanently disabled. However, it doesn't explain why video is smooth but the audio is choppy/stuttering.

Seems to me that this should be something that Google need to fix (not Windows) as it is their plugin/hardware that is the issue (efficiency mode or no).

If they can't fix it I would consider an alternative option. Maybe NVIDIA Shield?

[shodude]

This might help someone as I've found a way to fix this on some websites. 

what I did was add the main webpage to the always keep these sites active list under the performance tab in chrome. 

This didn't work previously ( I noticed this issue when upgrading to a W11 pc about 5 months ago)but worked for me on google podcast and youtube music as of 7/7/23. still doesn't seem to work for some video feeds. youtube seems to work with or without it added to the list (screen cast and tab cast).  Give it a try and hopefully this is a decent work around. 

I'm guessing, as others have presumed, its something to do the efficiency mode with w11. Wish they would fix this, its extremely annoying. 

[gepettoelph]

What an amazingly outrageous thread y'all - I'm here to do what others before me have done - I'm rippin big ones off satan's little helper otherwise known as windows 11 and cannot cast without Skinshape or Big Star sounding like they had a 3 am meeting with some Elvis and a few Simple Simon in the shady creek behind the local Denny's. Not for a year have I and today I finally got the nerve to read through this thread which I have to admit amounts to full-on absolute TRASH-NOTHING unless you view it as what it actually is which is pure fully adulterated comic relief. At this point in time I'm confident that none of us living can expect to ever be actually conversing with another LIVE HUMAN BEING in bogus formats/forums such as these. This is window dressing, lipstick on a pig, plastic shutters Tapcon-fastened to hideous brick or, worse, Hardi-plank siding. Lord, have mercy please. Blue is an ugly color in general but especially when used to highlight human hair or, as it were, to color code masonry screws. The performance/ memory saver being on or off does not matter. Whether or not I minimize the browser with the streaming on, it does not matter. Whether or not I am running other memory intensive programs such as full-fledged versions of Revit 2023/2024, flying a Japanese kite, or picking my nose out in the parking lot.......I am here to let everyone know that it literally DOES>>>>>NOT>>>>>>MA>>>TTER. Therefore I think it is safe to say after many, many months of torturing ourselves over this.....that the problem we all share in this casting business.....is intended to persist unabated by those individuals who can fix it and are unwilling to do so. I would think that by now (wait for it...) SOME ALIVE HUMAN WITH ACTUAL BLOOD IN THIER VEINS at googler would have picked up a phone and (hold please for the next available representative...) called SOME ALIVE HUMAN WITH ACTUAL BLOOD IN THEIR VEINS at Micro$#@!soft and said "heeeeey maaaaaan....uh......you know I know this like....uh....like this super cool spot behind this like.......you know......place I know called uh........Denny's? and maybe we could, you know, like hang it all out and talk some code writing or whatever. I could like......cast some Garcia or maybe some RatDog off my laptop to really get into the mood you know?" After having witnessed firsthand the ridiculousness of the past nearly 4 years, I'm not at all surprised.

[torvista]

Same issue. Keeping Chrome open does not work for me, a few seconds after changing fullscreen focus to another application, sound goes bad as originally described..

[mghia]

Shrink/resize main window casting  with chrome if in the way. Open app you want to work with but shrink window just a little from full size .  If you were trying to maximize the app in front that's not the one chromecasting it will not work.