I'm done with Google speaker groups. What's next?

[IdahoJim]

I have been using Google speaker groups for whole home audio for years. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't, it's incredibly frustrating. I'm done with fighting it. I want something that just works and is reliable and consistent.

So, my question is, what should my new solution for whole home audio be? My requirements are not very complex when it comes to whole home audio.

• I want to be able to play the same source of music in multiple areas in the house in sync. The primary sources of music will be Pandora, Spotify and Radio Paradise. Being able to play FLAC rips of my CDs would be nice as well.
• I want to be able to easily and consistently add and remove areas in the house to music I am currently playing somewhere else.
• I need to support the following areas in the house:
  • Great room: I have an Integra DRX 5.2 AV receiver running my 5.1 home theater system. I am currently using a Chromecast gen 2 or 3 (I don't remember exactly what it is) with it.
  • Office: I have a pair of Kali LP-UNF speakers and an RSL Speedwoofer 10e subwoofer. I am currently using a Chromecast Audio here.
  • Garage: I have an old Denon AV receiver (no HDMI inputs) powering a pair of old PSB Alpha speakers. I am currently using a Chromecast Audio here.
  • Patio: I am currently using a JBL portable speaker with built-in Chromecast capability. I am open to adding outdoor speakers here, but don't want to route cables from inside the house to the patio if possible.
  • Bedroom: A Google Nest Audio speaker
  • Bonus room: A Google Home Max speaker. It's not critical that this room is part of the whole home audio system. The Google Home Max is overkill here.

My Integra receiver supports Chromecast, Sonos and a bunch of streaming services. Unfortunately, the built-in Chromecast support never worked well. I eventually bought a Google Chromecast with Google TV instead. It also caused issues with whole home audio, which appeared to be a common issue after some research. I eventually bought an older gen 2 or 3 Chromecast which worked better for whole home audio.

I've been an Android guy since the original Android Developer Phone 1 (ADP1), so an Apple solution would have to be very compelling.

The most interesting options I've seen are:

• Sonos.
  • This seems like a solid reliable solution
  • I've heard the speakers in many places, and they sound good.
  • The Sonos Port seems very expensive for where I would want to use them.
  • The fact that they didn't support integrating older generations of expensive equipment with their new equipment bothers me.
• WiiM
  • These seem really interesting.
  • Are they more reliable for whole-home/multi-room audio than Google?
  • Can I get a portable speaker that supports WiiM to use on my patio?
• Am I missing other good options?

I am a computer programmer and former sound engineer. Audio quality is important, but this is primarily for background music. As a software engineer, I can figure out pretty much any system, but I just want to keep it simple and reliable. I have better things to do with my time than trying to make my whole home audio system work.

So, what are your thoughts?

 

[ShadowBoxer]

WiiM

 

[obsessive9119]

I’ve found WiiM to be really reliable for multi-room. I don’t think there’s a portable speaker option though.

 

[elvis_skywalker]

Does multi room on WiiM have to be initiated from the WiiM app? I only have one WiiM device so I can't test. For example, if I created a group of WiiM devices, does it show up under the cast menu within Tidal (or whatever), or do I have to browse my library from the WiiM app when I pick something to play?

I suppose its not the end of the world if I have to use the WiiM app - it is a lot nicer to browse than most 3rd party apps (cough LMS cough).

 

[obsessive9119]

Does multi room on WiiM have to be initiated from the WiiM app? I only have one WiiM device so I can't test. For example, if I created a group of WiiM devices, does it show up under the cast menu within Tidal (or whatever), or do I have to browse my library from the WiiM app when I pick something to play?

I suppose it’s not the end of the world if I have to use the WiiM app - it is a lot nicer to browse than most 3rd party apps (cough LMS cough).

I only use the WiiM app, but I believe from past experiments that you have a main device and link others to it. Then if you cast to the main device it’ll play to the group.

 

[Doublej]

There are WiiM compatible wireless speakers (Audio Pro A10 and C10 WiiM edition, Edifier speakers with the Linkplay module) but I don't know if any are battery powered.

Simple is a bunch of Amazon Echo speakers but playback of local files can be an issue.

 

[somebodyelse]

LMS (formerly LogitechMediaServer, now Lyrion Music Server) can probably stream to and group your existing hardware, as well as play from your proposed sources. It can run on a wide range of hardware, so you may already have something to run it on. If so it's free to try to see if it meets your needs. Sync is usually good enough for multi-room, so long as the players have similar latency. I've only tried it with squeezebox/squeezelite and UPnP though, not chromecast.