WiiM Mini and WiiM Pro: Doorway Streamer

[JoeThePop]

$99

The Wiim Mini is the streamer you’ve been waiting for | Darko.Audio

Add Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Apple AirPlay 2 to any hifi system for one hundred bucks.

darko.audio

 

[Olson_jr]

I have to laugh, I clicked on that page, accepted the cookies and the first thing I see is the picture below.

I assumed that it was going to be a terrible review about how this Streamer should be used for a doorstop.

 

[Drugolf]

Hmm, looks good. Been in need of something like this that checks all the boxes for old consoles.

 

[Thermionics]

$99

The Wiim Mini is the streamer you’ve been waiting for | Darko.Audio

Add Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Apple AirPlay 2 to any hifi system for one hundred bucks.

darko.audio

Dammit - I came here to post this.

 

[JoeThePop]

Dammit - I came here to post this.

I'm gunning for your "Post Whore In Training" title.

 

[Fran604g]

That looks reeeaaallllyyyy interesting.

 

[JoeThePop]

And it just got better:

[UPDATED] The Wiim Mini is now bit-perfect and fully gapless | Darko.Audio

This €99 network streamer becomes an even bigger bargain.

darko.audio

 

[MikeyFresh]

And it just got better:

[UPDATED] The Wiim Mini is now bit-perfect and fully gapless | Darko.Audio

This €99 network streamer becomes an even bigger bargain.

darko.audio

Three very important upgrades there, I'd love to know if their app is really good, kinda good, or not so good, as everything else about this device (with the firmware update) looks great for doorway use.

 

[Mortsnets]

I got a Wiim Mini for by birthday and like the interface for Qobuz. And installation was so easy.

 

[MikeyFresh]

I got a Wiim Mini for by birthday and like the interface for Qobuz. And installation was so easy.
View attachment 47473

Is the WiiM transmission protocol for Qobuz only AirPlay (i.e. capped/resampled at 16/48), or is there some provision for UPnP too?

 

[Mortsnets]

Digital dunderhead, don't understand the question.

According to Darko:
all streams spun from the Mini’s TOSLINK socket are rendered bit-perfectly e.g. a 16bit/44.1kHz stream will be output at 16bit/44.1kHz and a 24bit/192kHz stream will be dispatched at 24bit/192kHz. That’s especially good news for Qobuz users delving into hi-res audio as Tidal is still capped at CD quality inside the Wiim app and with Tidal Connect. Of course, if you’re not fussed about hi-res, you won’t be fussed by this limitation.

[UPDATED] The Wiim Mini is now bit-perfect and fully gapless | Darko.Audio

This €99 network streamer becomes an even bigger bargain.

darko.audio

Review that mentions UPnP

WiiM Mini Hi Res Update Review

Dog loving, Big Green Egg worshiping, Tech enthusiast, residing in Memphis, TN. Home of the Tigers, Grizzlies, Elvis, Al Green, Stax, Hi Records, Ardent Studios, Beale Street, Peabody Ducks, etc.....

www.uofmtiger.com

WiiM forum:

Support

wiim.freshdesk.com

 

[MikeyFresh]

It's not clear to me how Qobuz is being streamed, other than from the WiiM app directly to the unit, but by what protocol? I guess it doesn't really matter if bitperfect/gapless.

Does your DAC have a sample rate indicator and if so does it display the correct sample rates for the various different album resolutions available on Qobuz (i.e. 96kHz, 192kHz)?

 

[MikeyFresh]

I see this excerpt in that Darko piece you linked to and conclude it is using UPnP for Qobuz:

"as well UPnP from Wiim’s Home smartphone app."

That's a good thing of course, much as some like to poke holes in DLNA/UPnP as being antiquated or half-baked, or too difficult to use yada yada (not my experience). I'm glad you like the WiiM!

 

[Mortsnets]

When I play a HiRes 96/24 stream the 96 indicator lights up.

 

[MikeyFresh]

I thought the WiiM mini's dedicated app interface as posted by @Mortsnets looked quite good. The software interface is typically the $64,000 question with regard to any particular offering actually being ready for prime time, or not, especially for anyone requiring more of an off-the-shelf type of solution. That person won't want to futz too hard with the software.

The WiiM mini carries a U.S. retail price of $129, but more recently and despite the global supply chain issues, seems to have adopted a U.S. street price of just $89, putting it squarely in Node-killer territory.

 

[MikeyFresh]

As mentioned above, I drew additional interest in the WiiM Mini once @Mortsnets posted screenshots of WiiM's dedicated control point app interface, as well as positive initial use impressions some weeks back in the Doorway Streamer thread.

In taking a look at the WiiM Mini as a Bluesound Node alternative, the first thing that grabs you is the price difference: $129 vs. $599 retail. So even if it ends up not exactly 100% capable of everything that the Node can do, one cannot overlook that massive price difference.

Toss in the fact it seems to have adopted a U.S. street price of $89 (currently under $85 on Amazon's U.S. marketplace) and this is surely a good looking option for those wanting to keep their streamer spend to an absolute minimum. This is probably ever more relevant in the current environment of runaway inflation, bargains seem few and far between these days, but they are almost giving this unit away despite positive coverage in the trade press, and chip shortages be damned.

My thought there is this unit is cheap enough and also easy enough from an off-the-shelf perspective, that even if it turned out to be a little suboptimal in a primary system use case there would still have been very little risked, and every opportunity to use it in a 2nd system or as previously mentioned, in a sort of roving around the house type of role, maybe on the deck or patio, the garage or workshop, or even on the road at a summer or vacation home. Being cheap, small, lightweight, and with flexible operating modes to suit various use cases makes it very attractive in that regard.

But then there's that $64,000 question again: is this thing easy to configure and use? Would taking it to a vacation home, or even outside on the patio prove more troublesome than it's worth? Am I describing a fool's errand destined to taint the start of vacation, or be the grounds for a spouse fight?

Inquiring minds want to know, so I ordered one a few days ago, and it landed here in 2 days via the wonders of Amazon Prime.

 

[MikeyFresh]

Back in late April @Mortsnets got a WiiM Mini for his birthday and posted in The Doorway Streamer thread that he liked the ease of setup and the app's user interface, the latter of which is that $64,000 question I've alluded to here. Often that is the make or break with these streaming devices, as the very best hardware in the world will still frustrate or disappoint if the software sucks.

In taking delivery of my own WiiM Mini last week, I have to agree with Mortsnets that the setup and use of the unit is both fast and easy. I thought I'd post some screenshots of the setup steps, and in use with various sources, to give members an idea of what that looks like.

I downloaded the dedicated WiiM Mini app for Android, and iOS too in order to compare them, and they are seemingly identical. The following screenshots are all using the Android version of the app except one, more on that when we get there...

Introduction:



The intro promises all your content in one app, which isn't entirely accurate in terms of the app itself, but is accurate in terms of the device capability as a whole. More on that when we get there...



The app promises multi-room audio, untested in the context of this device as I only have one of them, however very much tested and working in the context of the various streaming protocols supported, including UPnP, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect (untested/not a subscriber), and Apple AirPlay.



The app promises Alexa-based voice control, also untested here as I'm not an Alexa user and killed my Amazon Music HD subscription at the end of 2019, so that feature goes untested here.



Now onward to the device setup steps... introduction complete.

 

[MikeyFresh]

Setup and use (that $64,000 question):

The app's 4 page intro makes it all look just great, but is this unit easy to setup and use, or will it have me spewing curse words and starting fights with family members?



Connect the WiiM Mini to AC power and it appears in the app's Device Setup rather immediately. Nothing more to do there except hit the big green "Set up" button... unless of course you don't have Bluetooth enabled on your phone/tablet. Because you've yet to have this unit join your WiFi network, the initial conversation between app and device is over Bluetooth, until such time as the device has been successfully connected to your home network.



After just a bit the unit finds my WiFi network and password credentials are requested, it then shakes hands with my router and joins my home network.



Right away you are then prompted to add Alexa voice control, that setup "only takes a few minutes" but I declined, the Alexa integration goes untested here.



You are then prompted to choose the type of output, analog or SPDIF (Toslink only). I opt for Toslink so that I can confirm native sample rate playback later on through the LED display of a Topping D30 Pro DAC. In recognizing that not all Toslink implementations are created equal, the WiiM Mini wants to test your connection to determine if it is 24/192 worthy or not, which is a nice touch and takes away the guesswork and finger pointing/blame game. The WiiM is 24/192 compatible over Toslink, but are your connecting cable and DAC up to that task?



After picking the bit depth and sample rate you think your DAC and Toslink connecting cable are capable of supporting, you are asked to play a test track to see if there is glitch-free audio.



My combination of Lifatec Silflex glass fiber optic cable, and the Topping D30Pro DAC's Toslink input passes the test, I can stream 24/192 tracks with this setup (YMMV).

That concludes the basic setup, now onto music streaming...

 

[MikeyFresh]

A quick note on the above, the screenshots are rendered in such a way as to make them look large, and in so doing, it might give the optical illusion of a very long and drawn out process having been followed.

The reality is there were 4 "introductory" screens, and 7 setup screens including my dismissal of Alexa, so only 6 setup screens where I actually did anything. By far the largest amount of input required on my part was typing in my WiFi password. Everything else was a click or two and done. That entire setup process took about 3-4 minutes tops, don't let the amount of real estate used in the screenshot posts fool you.

 

[S0und Dragon]

Super thorough as always @MikeyFresh