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Guide to using a Chromecast Audio in your Pioneer Laserjuke
This is a short guide on how to hook up a Chromecast Audio to a Pioneer Laserjuke CJ-V55. This may work on other Laserjuke models, but has only been tested on the CJ-V55, as that is the only one I own. Also note that you will need the Chromecast Audio, not the normal Chromecast.
Stuff you need:
You can buy the Chromecast at most big box stores, including WalMart, or you can order directly from Google here:
https://store.google.com/us/product/chromecast_audio?hl=en-US
You will also need a 1/8" to RCA cable, which again, you can buy at WalMart, or most big box stores. Something like this is fine:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R4R5B8/ref=psdc_3236443011_t2_B01D5H8JW0
Basic installation:
Turn the juke off!!
Plug the RCA ends of the cord into the CD player line in...either player 1,2 or 3, and plug the 1/8 end into the Chromecast. Plug the included power adapter into the Chromecast, as well as one of the three CD player outlets. In my case, I used the player 1 line in jacks, as you can see in the attached picture. Once everything is plugged in, turn the juke back on. Go ahead and download the Google Home app to setup the Chromecast, and make sure you are on your home wifi network. During the setup, it will ask you where the Chromecast is located, bedroom, living room, etc. You can make a custom name, like "Laserjuke", if you wish. At the end of the setup, it will ask you if you hear the test sound. If you do not hear it, make sure your volume is up a bit on the juke, AND make sure the door of the juke is open...more on this in a bit. If you hear the sound, you are all setup. If the door is open, volume is up, and you still don't hear the sound, check the door latch button.
About that damn door latch button:
On my juke, the operator/previous owner, had rigged the door latch button to be closed even when the door is open. The reason this was done, is so that it doesn't initialize all the CDs every time you open and shut the door. It seems this was a common thing on these jukes, so check your switch. Mine had a rubber tube that held the switch plunger in, but you may have cut wires, or some other creative thing going on. For whatever reason, when the door is closed, the amp is muted until a CD is playing. When the door is open, the amp is unmuted. It took me way too long to figure this out, but that leads to another problem. You don't want to have the door open all the time while you are streaming, so what I did was snip the blue wire on the switch. This makes the juke think the door is open, so the amp stays on. It will also display "OPEN" on the keypad.
How to use the Chromecast:
So now that you have everything setup, open Spotify, YouTube, or whatever music/podcast app you like. You will see a little cast icon, or in the case of Spotify, at the bottom of the screen it will say "Devices Available". Click that, and you should see "Laserjuke" or whatever you named your Chromecast. Click that, and you are all set. Note that you have to be on the same wifi network as the Chromecast, and anyone on your wifi can stream to the juke...no pairing needed. The phone volume buttons will control the volume as well.
Issues:
You may have caught this already, but the major issue here is that if the jukebox thinks the door is open, you cannot play CDs. If your CD players are dead, then no worries. If, however, they still work, I think I have a workaround...maybe. Since the amp gets muted until a CD is playing a song, I burned an audio CD with a 60 minute long audio track of silence. I put that in the juke and made a "Spotify Logo" card for the pages. Anyone that wants to stream can pick the Spotify CD, play track one, and get an hours worth of streaming...or so I thought. Turns out that if the Spotify CD is in, say player 1, and you have the Chromecast hooked into the player 2 inputs, it will not work. Seems the juke only allows the line ins of the player playing the CD, to be active. The other two are muted. In my case, everything was muted except for the player 1 line in....which I couldn't use for the Chromecast, as the player was hooked into it. I think I have a solution though, and that is to use an RCA splitter to double up the inputs. This way I should be able to plug both the Chromecast, and the CD player, into the same line in jacks. I ordered a couple splitters, and will report back once they arrive and I test them. These are the ones I got:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076WXMB37/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B076WXMB37
Other bits:
Note that you can use the Chromecast in other jukes if they have line in jacks. I had a Regatta Soundwave wall mount juke that the Chromecast worked great in. It had "background music" inputs, and you could stream to it easily with the added bonus that if someone played a CD while you were streaming, the stream would fade out, and the CD fade in. Once the CD track was done, the stream would fade back in. Very slick! YMMV however!
I hope this guide was useful, and somewhat easy to understand. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
This is a short guide on how to hook up a Chromecast Audio to a Pioneer Laserjuke CJ-V55. This may work on other Laserjuke models, but has only been tested on the CJ-V55, as that is the only one I own. Also note that you will need the Chromecast Audio, not the normal Chromecast.
Stuff you need:
You can buy the Chromecast at most big box stores, including WalMart, or you can order directly from Google here:
https://store.google.com/us/product/chromecast_audio?hl=en-US
You will also need a 1/8" to RCA cable, which again, you can buy at WalMart, or most big box stores. Something like this is fine:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R4R5B8/ref=psdc_3236443011_t2_B01D5H8JW0
Basic installation:
Turn the juke off!!
Plug the RCA ends of the cord into the CD player line in...either player 1,2 or 3, and plug the 1/8 end into the Chromecast. Plug the included power adapter into the Chromecast, as well as one of the three CD player outlets. In my case, I used the player 1 line in jacks, as you can see in the attached picture. Once everything is plugged in, turn the juke back on. Go ahead and download the Google Home app to setup the Chromecast, and make sure you are on your home wifi network. During the setup, it will ask you where the Chromecast is located, bedroom, living room, etc. You can make a custom name, like "Laserjuke", if you wish. At the end of the setup, it will ask you if you hear the test sound. If you do not hear it, make sure your volume is up a bit on the juke, AND make sure the door of the juke is open...more on this in a bit. If you hear the sound, you are all setup. If the door is open, volume is up, and you still don't hear the sound, check the door latch button.
About that damn door latch button:
On my juke, the operator/previous owner, had rigged the door latch button to be closed even when the door is open. The reason this was done, is so that it doesn't initialize all the CDs every time you open and shut the door. It seems this was a common thing on these jukes, so check your switch. Mine had a rubber tube that held the switch plunger in, but you may have cut wires, or some other creative thing going on. For whatever reason, when the door is closed, the amp is muted until a CD is playing. When the door is open, the amp is unmuted. It took me way too long to figure this out, but that leads to another problem. You don't want to have the door open all the time while you are streaming, so what I did was snip the blue wire on the switch. This makes the juke think the door is open, so the amp stays on. It will also display "OPEN" on the keypad.
How to use the Chromecast:
So now that you have everything setup, open Spotify, YouTube, or whatever music/podcast app you like. You will see a little cast icon, or in the case of Spotify, at the bottom of the screen it will say "Devices Available". Click that, and you should see "Laserjuke" or whatever you named your Chromecast. Click that, and you are all set. Note that you have to be on the same wifi network as the Chromecast, and anyone on your wifi can stream to the juke...no pairing needed. The phone volume buttons will control the volume as well.
Issues:
You may have caught this already, but the major issue here is that if the jukebox thinks the door is open, you cannot play CDs. If your CD players are dead, then no worries. If, however, they still work, I think I have a workaround...maybe. Since the amp gets muted until a CD is playing a song, I burned an audio CD with a 60 minute long audio track of silence. I put that in the juke and made a "Spotify Logo" card for the pages. Anyone that wants to stream can pick the Spotify CD, play track one, and get an hours worth of streaming...or so I thought. Turns out that if the Spotify CD is in, say player 1, and you have the Chromecast hooked into the player 2 inputs, it will not work. Seems the juke only allows the line ins of the player playing the CD, to be active. The other two are muted. In my case, everything was muted except for the player 1 line in....which I couldn't use for the Chromecast, as the player was hooked into it. I think I have a solution though, and that is to use an RCA splitter to double up the inputs. This way I should be able to plug both the Chromecast, and the CD player, into the same line in jacks. I ordered a couple splitters, and will report back once they arrive and I test them. These are the ones I got:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076WXMB37/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B076WXMB37
Other bits:
Note that you can use the Chromecast in other jukes if they have line in jacks. I had a Regatta Soundwave wall mount juke that the Chromecast worked great in. It had "background music" inputs, and you could stream to it easily with the added bonus that if someone played a CD while you were streaming, the stream would fade out, and the CD fade in. Once the CD track was done, the stream would fade back in. Very slick! YMMV however!
I hope this guide was useful, and somewhat easy to understand. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.