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WiiM Mini Streamer
- Thread starter Globuli
- Start date
Where's the evidence that this has changed with Airplay 2?
How did you test it? Which gear involved?
Airplay 2 means wireless from iPhone/iPad/Mac - not wired.
Yes. But that doesn’t address your question of whether the Apple Music stream from your iPhone to the WiiM via AirPlay 2 is lossless or aac 256. That is the core question for me.
Witterings
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@amirm ..... If there's any chance you could drop a quick post in here when you've done the review as I and I'm sure a number of other's are following this thread and would be interested to see your findings.
I've actually bought 2, mainly as Google seems to be losing interest in offering support for Chromecast Audio and with the updates due will theoretically take it to the next level.
Thing's I'd really like to see is for the app to rotate so you can see landscape as well as portrait, I'd use their app a lot more for music selection rather than Amazon's App as virtually all covers for a tablet allow it to sit upright in landscape mode.
I'd also really like an App for Windows Desktop ... that's probably just because I'm older, find it easier to type on a full keyboard and always have a Laptop on where I play most of my music and means I wouldn't have to find a phone / tablet and switch it on to use their app.
Just thing's I'd like although they kind of pale into insignificance in comparison to things like music sound / quality.
I've actually bought 2, mainly as Google seems to be losing interest in offering support for Chromecast Audio and with the updates due will theoretically take it to the next level.
Thing's I'd really like to see is for the app to rotate so you can see landscape as well as portrait, I'd use their app a lot more for music selection rather than Amazon's App as virtually all covers for a tablet allow it to sit upright in landscape mode.
I'd also really like an App for Windows Desktop ... that's probably just because I'm older, find it easier to type on a full keyboard and always have a Laptop on where I play most of my music and means I wouldn't have to find a phone / tablet and switch it on to use their app.
Just thing's I'd like although they kind of pale into insignificance in comparison to things like music sound / quality.
I have noticed it's not perfect gapless. I hear a slight blip of silence between tracks, very very minute. Darko noticed this as well. But still, so far a great streamer for Amazon HD. Will be testing Airplay with Apple Music tonight.
Do you have an example where you hear this blip? Perhaps it's a matter of settings but with Tidal Connect -- WiiM my system passes the Dark Side of the Moon/Kottke Live/Madama Butterfly tests with flying colors.
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Gotcha.
imral3
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Hoping this changes in future updates. I prefer the AMHD app vs the Wiim Home app.
This device definitely has the potential to be a killer for a lot of rpi Volumio/Moode users, and streamer users in general. I wish they would just straight up put them right into dac/amp combos these days.
For digi out is it only 48khz? No 44.1khz native? That would be a big problem
Send to me for safe disposal
Problem is streaming tech is moving at fast pace, things getting obsolote / not-updatable quickly
So in some ways, better to keep seperate
Airplay2 needed special hardware (like Chromecast).
Imagine you buy a DAC for Airplay2 then 6 months later Airplay3 comes with new features that needs new hardware.
This was the case for Airplay1 to Airplay2 btw.
I like the concept of a versatile, decently powerful embedded system like rpi or similar in devices (for example like in the okto dac8 stereo), where there could be a potential for using the software of your choosing like moode/volumio/etc or even upgrading the SoC in the future if it was a similar form factor. The manufacturer could write their own proprietary software to use on said systems, or users could use their own. Even if there were missing chipsets to handle a certain streaming standard, its possible one could "update" to that new standard simply by buying some USB dongle that would plug right into the back of their dac that contained an existing device like an rpi. There are lots of ways it could be better, but companies obviously want to lock down and monopolise these standards.
Yeh this would be nice but things are not trending in that direction at all.
Chromecast needs special hardware (WiiM said they are working on another product with it - can't come to WiiM Mini).
Airplay2 needs special hardware.
A special USB dongle to plug into DAC is not something you'll see from Google, Apple, Spotify, Amazon
For now, seperate little cheap streamers are good compromise.
Helps keep your DAC/active speakers from going obsolete soon
There actually aren't that many good choices out there (at least not ones that support Airplay) at $100 or less. That's one reason why this WiiM has gotten so much attention. There's also the Belkin Soundform Connect which has much less functionality. Of course Raspberry Pi but some of us don't want that solution.
I don't use music streaming services much and currently not even subscribed to any- so I'm assuming none of them support dlna/upnp natively at all? Are there legal limitations to integrate streaming service compatibility in an app with opensource or even proprietary software renderer/receiver? I'm considering buying this for an elderly family member that is not very tech savvy but they have an iphone. So I want to get them set up using a streaming service, so this device looks appropriate to use with airplay. I was also considering one to use myself mostly via upnp, but supporting all the major services would be nice too.
I know on android there are a few workarounds to streaming- uapp/bubble will work for limited streaming services to bypass the normal audio capture limitations of android and also convenient for playback of local/networked files. If one has a rooted device they can use something like the AirMusic app which will capture the datastream systemwide and it supports a number of hardware and software receivers, so it can be used with practically every device at this time.
That may be an option. Although the plan was for them just to piggyback off a family Qobuz account since it would not be any additional cost, and also have the ability to use a remote network store where I have I large digital collection. I would prefer using Qobuz (or Spotify Hifi if its ever released). At least when I tried it, found Amazon library to be a bit lacking. There are also utilities to rip tracks from these other services, which I don't think exists at all for Apple Music (and even if it did, annoying to transcode ALAC to FLAC for my own personal use).
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This device definitely has the potential to be a killer for a lot of rpi Volumio/Moode users, and streamer users in general. I wish they would just straight up put them right into dac/amp combos these days.
For digi out is it only 48khz? No 44.1khz native? That would be a big problem
Send to me for safe disposal
44.1K out via optical for Amazon and Spotify currently
Raspberry Pi Pros and Cons:
Configurable with DAC hats and Digi outs. Software choice. Attached hard drives. Cons: harder to set up, no Amazon support, Airplay 1.
Wiim: Amazon support. Better streaming interfaces. Can access local network files but Pi is better. Cheap and just works
Configurable with DAC hats and Digi outs. Software choice. Attached hard drives. Cons: harder to set up, no Amazon support, Airplay 1.
Wiim: Amazon support. Better streaming interfaces. Can access local network files but Pi is better. Cheap and just works
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