WiiM Mini Review (Streamer)

[formula 977]

There is however good news if you use the App and output over Toslink:

Can anyone tell me what is being measured here?

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

FWIW, it’s possible to “Roonify” this device by running the same software that LMS uses, but standalone, on your Roon server or anywhere else in your network. Until, that is, WiiM adds Roon support (or Roon adds this bridge - Roon’s lack of UPnP support is baffling to me).

HowTo: Roonify non-Roon streamers (lms-to-uPnP)

There are a lot of posts on how to get this up and running so rather than traipse through 100s of posts to piece it all together I’ll pull together here. It took a while to nut out some of the finer points so I hope this helps. There are appear to be two differing methods of using Roon with...

community.naimaudio.com

 

[Brown Sound]

Wow, that was a HUGE read for a simple review!! The minute I saw Amir's conclusion, I knew there was going to be trouble and y'all didn't disappoint. I won't be buying a WiiM and BTW I do have Roon. I already have four CCA's boxed and unused. I currently use a RPi4 (RoPieeeXL) with a DAC hat as a DLNA renderer and a Roon endpoint. Thank you @amirm for your reviews.

 

[JSmith]

Can anyone tell me what is being measured here?

A 1kHz sine is being streamed to the Wiim via it's app and the optical output is being measured by the AP... all in the digital domain still, no DAC.


JSmith

 

[TheBatsEar]

Can anyone tell me what is being measured here?

Input seems to be a high bitrate digital signal, output is digital signal via toslink, then DAC conversion by the measurement instrument.
It shows that a high bitrate signal is not reencoded to a low bitrate signal, which is good. This seems to measure more of the measurement instrument than the WiiM, which, again, is good.

 

[TheBatsEar]

I already have four CCA's boxed and unused.

Sell them on, make 4 people happy.

 

[Atanasi]

• Google account
• Amazon account
• Cloud storage accounts

A proper implementation would make a restricted token to access music services only, without transmitting passwords to the device. Some services would always be controlled by an external device, usually a mobile app in the way of the original Chromecast. In these cases the streamer would get a time-limited token for that session only.
This device doesn't support Youtube Music, does it? Which service would need a Google account.

 

[Brantome]

A proper implementation would make a restricted token to access music services only, without transmitting passwords to the device. Some services would always be controlled by an external device, usually a mobile app in the way of the original Chromecast. In these cases the streamer would get a time-limited token for that session only.
This device doesn't support Youtube Music, does it? Which service would need a Google account.

As I’ve only recently posted on the other long WiiM mini thread, it looks like the device does store an authentication token since I loaded the AudioCast app for a similar/clone device and it found my WiiM mini and its music service connections.

https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/wiim-mini-streamer.31182/post-1159798

 

[TheBatsEar]

This device doesn't support Youtube Music, does it? Which service would need a Google account.

Not sure about Google Music.
Where do you get the app for your phone? The app could use a vulnerability to get your phone number. Send and receive texts. Write and read files and databases in your phone.

I could give 100 further things that need to be checked/changed before one could say "this device is secure", and even then someone else could come up with another 100 things. The manufacturers do what they can to hide all the complexity, but it is there.

 

[Klonatans]

What is the main difference compared to Chromecast Audio? I see it's both lossless.

The main difference is that Chromecast Audio is unstable and glitchy.

 

[Jmudrick]

A proper implementation would make a restricted token to access music services only, without transmitting passwords to the device. Some services would always be controlled by an external device, usually a mobile app in the way of the original Chromecast. In these cases the streamer would get a time-limited token for that session only.
This device doesn't support Youtube Music, does it? Which service would need a Google account.

No YouTube Music does not recognize the WiiM. . Google password not required on any service I'maware of.

 

[Tangband]

The main difference is that Chromecast Audio is unstable and glitchy.

+1…and a jitter monster if not using ROON as a source.

 

[Jmudrick]

+1…and a jitter monster if not using ROON as a source.

If one doesn't care about gapless playback CCA optical output is certainly acceptable . And there are apps that recognize the CCA which don't see the WiiM (eg, YouTube Music, Apple Music via Android).

 

[Tangband]

If one doesn't care about gapless playback CCA optical output is certainly acceptable . And there are apps that recognize the CCA which don't see the WiiM (eg, YouTube Music, Apple Music via Android).

Do you think this looks acceptable ?
I think it looks terrible .
The trouble goes away with ROON . Its still an unstable and glitchy unit. There are better options today ( Rpi4 and WiiM ) in this low pricerange .

 

[morillon]

I do not understand well.
this wiim has 100dollars, for the general public, seems correct in analog.
seems very well exploitable in toslink followed by a little dac etc.
Personally seems to me more stable in wifi than the little "obsolete" chromecast...
the "oem" software in "becoming", we can hope that it will improve, but can also easily be used with other dlna software.
roon can be to come .... but good does not seem to me related to these little products at low cost and general public

(personally in a more concrete way allows me to finally use deezer in flac by their application, even if simplified.. while eternal problems with the chromecast etc...!!!)

I hope that you will continue the efforts to improve the firmware and software of course...

already a nice news that is not disappointing on the measurements side!
;-)

ps
it seems that you just have to not use the google software ... and that the options like bbubble hificast etc make the chromecast work very well ... as shown in a second temp amir
;-)
end for me ;-)
ps
it may be the confrontation with another newcomer, certainly from the same factory, same software etc ... audiocast pro m50 which will be interesting, ethernet more...
the fight is likely to be important in the future in this price range
efforts on the hardware side? ;-)

 

[Jmudrick]

Do you think this looks acceptable ?
I think it looks terrible .
The trouble goes away with ROON . Its still an unstable and glitchy unit. There are better options today ( Rpi4 and WiiM ) in this low pricerange .
View attachment 201164

That's using the Chrome browser cast function (which there is no reason to use). Other apps, not just Roon are fine.

I've spent a lot of time here arguing in favor of the WiiM but there are use cases where the CCA is a better option (YouTube Music, Apple Music on Android). Glitchwise, I've had no issues using the CCA in my bedroom and guest room systems. I'll probably replace them with WiiM but no hurry.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

The trouble goes away with ROON .

… or any other proper implementation of the Chromecast protocol, including the Chromecast bridge in LMS, or pretty much any of the music services’ apps…. Nothing special about Roon here.

 

[BDWoody]

The main difference is that Chromecast Audio is unstable and glitchy.

That's not been my experience at all. I've had 7 set up for years with there very rarely being an issue. I bought a bunch at the $15 closeout price, so I'd never run out, and they are perfect for what I use them for.

It has limitations that are irrelevant to me as a roon user.

 

[Smitty2k1]

I have found my Chromecast Audio to be more stable and less glitchy than the Wiim Mini. The software isn't great for browsing my DLNA music server.

 

[Jmudrick]

I have found my Chromecast Audio to be more stable and less glitchy than the Wiim Mini. The software isn't great for browsing my DLNA music server.

Yeah at this point being able to enqueue only one album at a time via the network server (using the WiiM app) is my biggest beef with the app. Hopefully they'll get to it