WiiM Pro Plus Streamer Review

[bobster]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but if any Pro Plus owners are running the WiiM Home app on a tablet (preferably iPad), I'd love to see screen shots of Playlist View and Album View in landscape mode. If "list view" or "thumbnail view" are options, please select list view.

I'm close to getting a Pro Plus. I've failed to find these screenshots online or in the app's documentation. I've asked WiiM support for them, but haven't heard back yet.

I need an app GUI I can live with - and to my eyes, most of them are bad. I like the overall look of Synology's DS Audio - it provides more of the info I want in a straightforward way - but it's lacking several features that WiiM Home has.

Thanks!

 

[HAPPY1]

Looking at pulling the trigger on a pro plus.

Quick question, has anyone got one hooked up to a mac mini? if so how does that work and does the Wiim see the music files stored on your mac?

 

[antcollinet]

Looking at pulling the trigger on a pro plus.

Quick question, has anyone got one hooked up to a mac mini? if so how does that work and does the Wiim see the music files stored on your mac?

It is primarily a streaming device. It expects to find files on a server and output those to a DAC or Amp, though it does have toslink and analogue inputs for music from other sources.

So if you store your music on a Mac Mini, then you have two ways to play to your Wiim. If you want the Wiim to be able to "pull" the music from the mac (so you can control the playback from the wiim) you'll need to run a DLNA compatible server on your mac such as Plex, or XBMC.

Or you can use airplay to and use the Wiim as an airplay receiver.

Alternatively copy the music to a USB drive, and plug that directly into the wiim for it to play back as wanted.

 

[HAPPY1]

It is primarily a streaming device. It expects to find files on a server and output those to a DAC or Amp, though it does have toslink and analogue inputs for music from other sources.

So if you store your music on a Mac Mini, then you have two ways to play to your Wiim. If you want the Wiim to be able to "pull" the music from the mac (so you can control the playback from the wiim) you'll need to run a DLNA compatible server on your mac such as Plex, or XBMC.

Or you can use airplay to and use the Wiim as an airplay receiver.

Alternatively copy the music to a USB drive, and plug that directly into the wiim for it to play back as wanted.

Thanks any, I do run Plex on the Mac mini too so will the Wiim see the Plex server during setup?

also I didn’t think the Wiim had usb in So how would you connect a usb drive?

 

[antcollinet]

Thanks any, I do run Plex on the Mac mini too so will the Wiim see the Plex server during setup?

I don't' know if Plex serves by DLNA by default - you may need to enable that in plex settings. If it is serving via DLNA, the Wiim should see it.

DLNA

Your Plex Media Server can function as a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) server in addition to its normal Plex...

support.plex.tv

 

[antcollinet]

also I didn’t think the Wiim had usb in So how would you connect a usb drive?

I believe it has a USB port ONLY for local storage.

Edit: That may be the Wiim Amp

 

[oal]

It appears that the December 21 release 4.8.539349 is now Roon Ready.

 

[Mulder]

Today my Wiim Pro Plus was updated and now it is officially ROON certified

 

[HAPPY1]

I don't' know if Plex serves by DLNA by default - you may need to enable that in plex settings. If it is serving via DLNA, the Wiim should see it.

DLNA

Your Plex Media Server can function as a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) server in addition to its normal Plex...

support.plex.tv

One more question, hopefully this should be the last one :-(

I assume there would be an option to link the mac to the WiiM via ethernet cable? I'm a bit unsure of how to connect the two as i am probably still old school and think that a physical connection between devices is better that Wi-Fi network (but I have been out of the audio space for a long time)

So....

Would i be better to go:

Mac to WiiM via DLNA network (wireless)
Mac to WiiM via optical (would the WiiM see this as a physical connection?)
Mac to WiiM via ethernet (would the WiiM see this as a physical connection in the app?)

I know im going to be opening a can of worms but i would like to get the sound quality as high as possible.

Hope the question makes sense and apologies if i am missing anything or it's a complete Newby question!)

 

[bobster]

One more question, hopefully this should be the last one :-(

I assume there would be an option to link the mac to the WiiM via ethernet cable? I'm a bit unsure of how to connect the two as i am probably still old school and think that a physical connection between devices is better that Wi-Fi network (but I have been out of the audio space for a long time)

So....

Would i be better to go:

Mac to WiiM via DLNA network (wireless)
Mac to WiiM via optical (would the WiiM see this as a physical connection?)
Mac to WiiM via ethernet (would the WiiM see this as a physical connection in the app?)

I know im going to be opening a can of worms but i would like to get the sound quality as high as possible.

Hope the question makes sense and apologies if i am missing anything or it's a complete Newby question!)

I don't think the WiiM is designed to be connected directly to a computer, but check with them - their forum is very active with people eager to help!

I'm guessing that the way to do wired streaming is to connect the WiiM and the Mac to an Ethernet switch that's in turn connected to your router.

For the WiiM to recognize the Mac's music library via the WiiM app, I think you'll need to run a DLNA/UPnP media server application on the Mac.

Mac to WiiM via optical would work if you want to access your music library via an app on the Mac.

As for sound quality, IMO, nobody on the planet except maybe a handful of golden-eared engineers would notice anything better than CD quality in a blind test, and 24 bits is a waste of money, disk space, and bandwidth (there's a thread on here about that).

Hope this helps!

 

[HAPPY1]

sounds like a server would be the easiest option as I don't have an app on the mac that controls playback.

 

[bobster]

an app on the mac that controls playback.

I was referring to Apple's Music app (formerly iTunes), VLC, or any of many other paid and free music players.

 

[Tre2023]

sounds like a server would be the easiest option as I don't have an app on the mac that controls playback.

How is your mac mini connected to your system?

 

[antcollinet]

Mac to WiiM via DLNA network (wireless)

Mac to Wiim via DLNA network - wireless or wired. Both devices are connected to your home network. It doesn't matter if that connection is wired or wireless. Audio is such low bandwidth you'll not have a problem either way. In this way, the playback is controlled from the Wiim or wiim app - just as if you were using an external streaming service such as Tidal etc.

Mac to WiiM via ethernet (would the WiiM see this as a physical connection in the app?)

Connecting both devices together by Ethernet won't work - that is not how ethernet is supposed to be used.
(It can be made to work - you have to somehow convince both devices they are on a network of two devices. To do that you'd have to run a bunch of network services on the mac (such as DHCP server to give out an IP address, and DNS server to translate domain names) and is not worth the trouble.

Mac to WiiM via optical (would the WiiM see this as a physical connection?)

This would be like using the Wiim as a DAC for your macbook - the wiim would not see it, and you would control playback from your mac, not the wiim App.

Same for sending music from your mac to the WIIM via Airplay - the Wiim would just be an airplay receiver with playback from the mac.

 

[HAPPY1]

Thanks team, currently i have to screen share to the mac from my laptop and play the music via itunes which is a mission.

From what you are saying it sounds like i can DLNA from the mac to the wiim and be able to control my library on the mac via the home app all without a loss of sound quality?

Supplementary question, would i need to install the app on the mac or is that just confusing matters?

 

[antcollinet]

Thanks team, currently i have to screen share to the mac from my laptop and play the music via itunes which is a mission.

From what you are saying it sounds like i can DLNA from the mac to the wiim and be able to control my library on the mac via the home app all without a loss of sound quality?

Supplementary question, would i need to install the app on the mac or is that just confusing matters?

Which app? What do you mean by "control my library"


If you use DLNA, you run that service on your mac. That service makes the music stored on your mac "visible" to the Wiim. The Wiim can then access that music over the network. You control the playback of that using the wiim controls (not easy cos there aint no screen) or the wiim app - which you will normally run on a phone or tablet.

If you want to control the music playback on your mac, then it probably makes more sense to just use the WIim as an output device, by playing over Toslink or Airplay - that way you can use the music app on your make that you are already familiar with.

 

[HAPPY1]

i a hoping to use the wiim app on my phone or ipad to control the music using it almost like a remote control.

My issue currently is the only way i can play music from the mac is to screen share from another device and use itunes on the mac mini which is painful.

So just checking ive got this right. install DNLA on the mac, install home app on the phone/tablet -> open the app on the phone/tablet -> wiim sees the much on the mac as a source and pulls the file via DLNA.

 

[antcollinet]

install DNLA on the mac, install home app on the phone/tablet -> open the app on the phone/tablet -> wiim sees the much on the mac as a source and pulls the file via DLNA.

Yes, that is it.

 

[Doublej]

The WiiM forum contains lots of great information and very knowledge folks. The manual available online contain basic information aobut the use of the WiiM.

WiiM recently added some sort of LMS functionality which may be of interest to you and WiiM is working on an Ultra version which they are targeting for a Q2 2024 release. I don't think they have announced the specifications or target price for it yet.

WiiM

Community platform by XenForo®

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

The WiiM forum contains lots of great information and very knowledge folks.

…and some folks who are swapping out power supplies and op amps, and finding great “soundstage” in mono recordings, lol.