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Simple streamer to replace Chromecast Audio?

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ssashton

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Sep 22, 2022
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Hi,

I'm not up to date on all the streamers out there. I've been happy using a Chromecast Audio (the old one without any video function) spitting an spdif signal to my DAC. Controlled from either Spotify or more recently Tidal on my Galaxy phone.

However, recently Tidal seems buggy streaming to the Chromecast Audio, displaying the wrong track name which is not actually playing. In the past there was also a long period when Spotify would disconnect from the Chromecast randomly. Given the age I think it will probably become redundant soon and fixing bugs is not likely to happen.

What is a simple affordable alternative today? Maybe $200 budget, but happy to spend less.

What I would like:
Spdif output.
Stream natively from Tidal app on my phone.
A screen to display artwork would be nice, but not essential.

Things I do not need:
Video output (at least I should not need to use HDMI or the TV to make it function).
Local storage.
Special apps.
Amp, EQ or other functions.

Thanks!
 
Wiim Mini looks about right. I like the screen on the Ultra, but I don't need the DAC, phono input, pre-amp or anything else.
 
You'll need at least the PRO if you want Google/Chrome-Cast or Room Correction. Another cheaper alternative, although more limited, but still perhaps worth considering, is the Arylic S10+.
 
I think Tidal Connect is what I need, so it can be natively controlled from Tidal in the same way the Chromcast currently is.
 
zeropoint said:
You'll need at least the PRO if you want Google/Chrome-Cast or Room Correction. Another cheaper alternative, although more limited, but still perhaps worth considering, is the Arylic S10+.
Click to expand...
Room correction is coming to the mini too, incredible though that may seem
 
You could build your own streamer with a Raspberry Pi. It will output USB, but you could get a so-called HAT which will give you spdif output all from the same box. I am not a computer programmer or hardware expert but with minimal effort I was able to build four of these for streaming across the house. I've even built one with a integrated 7" display similar to this one. I use Ropieee, but Moode would work for your purposes and doesn't cost anything. The benefit to me over something like Wiim is the hardware isn't a brick if the company folds and the satisfaction of building it myself. It's also generally less expensive than other options; the Pi with 7" display total cost was <$200.
 
JeremyFife said:
Room correction is coming to the mini too, incredible though that may seem
Click to expand...
You're right, it's here now in the latest firmware release. Remarkable.

WiiM Mini Firmware v4.6.708757 Update - Feb 25, 2025

Please review the WiiM Mini update release notes below. If you encounter any issues, feel free to reach out to us. This firmware update is being rolled out in stages, with devices updating sequentially over the next few days. 4.6.708757 (In Progress) Release date: 2 / 25 / 2025 What's...
forum.wiimhome.com forum.wiimhome.com
 
Yep, I sure did choose the right time to replace my Chromecast Audio! Since yesterday there is a huge outage where many people, including me, can not connect to their device.

Wiim Mini arrives today, lol.

9to5google.com

Chromecast (2nd gen) and Audio cannot Cast in 'Untrusted' outage

Over the past few hours, owners of the Chromecast (2nd gen) and Chromecast Audio haven’t been able to Cast any audio or video content.
9to5google.com 9to5google.com
 
I've been using WiiM mini as a Chromecast Audio replacement in my desktop system for the last 3 months or so, and so far I like it much more than Chromecast.
Works faster and more reliably for me, has much more features (I especially love having 10-band PEQ for each channel), and WiiM support has been really responsive for most questions I had.

The only slight issue I have with it is that the analogue Aux output produces faint pops/click when starting playback or switching tracks.
This unfortunately cannot be fixed with the "Fade-In & Fade-Out Effects" function under "Audio Settings", and the only suggestion I got from WiiM support on this was to use the optical output instead (which has a bit more options to combat this issue). :confused: It is not a big deal as these are not very loud, but they are definitely noticeable when sitting close to the speakers.
 
I got it running.

I notice the room correction feature seems to use the mic inside the Wiim, which seems odd since it needs to be at the listening position. Why don't they use the phones mic?

I haven't actually run the room correction feature as I don't need it, but it looked that way from the intro.
 
ssashton said:
I got it running.

I notice the room correction feature seems to use the mic inside the Wiim, which seems odd since it needs to be at the listening position. Why don't they use the phones mic?

I haven't actually run the room correction feature as I don't need it, but it looked that way from the intro.
Click to expand...
Room correction uses the mic in your phone/tablet device (i.e. the device where you run the WiiM Home App), and you should indeed use it to measure at your listening position. The mic on the WiiM Mini is only used for multi-room sync, as far as I know, and it is definitely not used for room correction.

However, phones can have pretty terrible and unpredictable mic responses - e.g. my Samsung S23+ has a really strange peaking response around 8kHz (see the thread on WiiM forums for some examples). You'll get more predictable results if you can use an external calibrated measurement mic connected to your phone - e.g. the UMIK-1.
 
Oh yes I tried it, it does use the phone mic and works quite well, except that it tries to EQ as high as 3khz. I disabled eq above 500hz and +/- 6dB then it seems well balanced.
 
I'm wondering how it handles overall gain to avoid clipping with positive EQ? I might be wrong but I didn't notice it getting quieter to account for the positive EQ.
 
I notice several people here using Widow Mini as a Chromecast Audio replacement, but I’m not seeing Google Cast listed as an available protocol. Does it work that way or are you all using a different protocol?

What is the cheapest Google Cast enabled streamer with optical (digital) out?
 
ssashton said:
I'm wondering how it handles overall gain to avoid clipping with positive EQ? I might be wrong but I didn't notice it getting quieter to account for the positive EQ.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately it doesn't automatically handle this at all at the moment - it is something that has been previously requested by several users, but I'm not sure whether it is on the roadmap. Most people seem to use the "Volume Limit" feature to ensure digital clipping is never observed with positive PEQ gain (here's a link showing how to do that).

However, note that in practice this would only be a problem if you run the volume close to maximum, while having positive gain PEQs, and playing content close to 0dBFS.
As an example, if your volume is set to e.g. 80% you have about 12dB headroom to 0dBFS so e.g. a boost of +6dB shouldn't result in clipping even with content having 0dBFS peaks.

ajd578 said:
I notice several people here using Widow Mini as a Chromecast Audio replacement, but I’m not seeing Google Cast listed as an available protocol. Does it work that way or are you all using a different protocol?
Click to expand...
It doesn't work, no - I just use the WiiM Home App with my Mini instead.

My other WiiM device (Amp Pro) has Google Cast support and that works fine, but generally I prefer to use the WiiM Home App whenever possible, as IME it works faster and more reliably than Chromecast ever did (for me at least).

ajd578 said:
What is the cheapest Google Cast enabled streamer with optical (digital) out?
Click to expand...
WiiM Pro seems to be the cheapest WiiM streamer that supports Google Cast.
Perhaps other manufacturers have cheaper devices that can do the same but I have no experience with any others, sorry!
 
dominikz said:
It doesn't work, no - I just use the WiiM Home App with my Mini instead.

My other WiiM device (Amp Pro) has Google Cast support and that works fine, but generally I prefer to use the WiiM Home App whenever possible, as IME it works faster and more reliably than Chromecast ever did (for me at least).
Click to expand...
Thanks!

I subscribe to YouTube Music (don’t judge!), any chance this works with the WiiM Home App? Or do I *need* a device with Cast to stream from YouTube Music?
 
zeropoint said:
You're right, it's here now in the latest firmware release. Remarkable.

WiiM Mini Firmware v4.6.708757 Update - Feb 25, 2025

Please review the WiiM Mini update release notes below. If you encounter any issues, feel free to reach out to us. This firmware update is being rolled out in stages, with devices updating sequentially over the next few days. 4.6.708757 (In Progress) Release date: 2 / 25 / 2025 What's...
forum.wiimhome.com forum.wiimhome.com
Click to expand...
Does the Wiim Mini work in Roon? I have 7 CC Audios and half of them have been nuked bu whatever went down with them... If Google comes to the rescue I guess I'll soldier on, but if not, not looking forward to shelling out for 7 Wiim Pros...It might also be a good time to abandon Google Home, though, which one needs to use to get the CCAs going before adding them in Roon... :)

Edit: I guess it doesn't matter if it works in Roon...unlike CCA it seems to only work on Wifi...not having 7 Wifi Roon endpoints!
 
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