SPDIF In/Out. Coax Out. LAN connection. The hardware of WiiM Pro will be different from Mini. It'll have a quadcore CPU instead of dual core and 512MB DRAM/flash instead of 128MB DRAM/flash compared to the Mini. The application software will be same except for the support of Chromecast audio and additional interfaces. It’ll share the same code base and WiiM Home app as the Mini. It’ll have WiFi/Ethernet/BT, Optical in, line-in, 12v trigger; BT, line , optical, headphone and Coax output, but no USB audio nor USB storage. WiiM will also offer a BLE remote control with preset buttons that will work with both the WiiM Mini and the WiiM Pro around Oct
Yeah I think that really is a competitive price for a device that will be a lot more appealing to most traditional stereo owners than their puck. The truth is these steaming devices are very simple and it’s about time someone came and undercut the arbitrary price point Lenbrook has been pushing for this category. Of course I still think the price is somewhat of a joke with top 4K HDR video streaming boxes like the Apple TV and NVIDA shield costing only a couple bucks more but packing a hell of a lot more under the hood. Best thing to do for this category imo would be to release a version that does digital out only — no one is using these for their DACs, might as well pass the savings along.
More likely to be November - I think they’re still chasing MQA and probably Chromecast approval/certification. I’d pencil it in as a Xmas gift to self
I’ve noticed a trend where chromecast is promised and then never arrives (see zen stream). Unfortunately, that’s the perfect setup for me because it allows me to use Spotify and google speaker voice commands (family’s preferred mode of listening) and roon (my preferred) via the same streamer. Still using chromecast pucks in a few of my setups because nothing better has come along. Fingers crossed for the wiim pro.
While true that the hardware can be inexpensive but another massive factor in streaming product costs is the massive support and software development and continued issues of firmware, that is a money drain. You'll notice many other streaming products are not getting updates. With the ever evolving world in music streaming, it has become very expensive paying for the man hours to keep a streamer updated and relevant. Wiim has seemed to be one of the few that is providing huge amounts of resources fixing and updating the OS software. Remember, companies like Apple generate lots of income after the users buy an Apple TV making it much easier for Apple to issues updates and provide good hardware for cheap, this is not the case for audio streamers, they don't make any real money after selling the streamer. I agree about the built in dac and L&R analog in for the Pro, most serious users will use a separate DAC but that will not include the casual Spotify type user (very large potential of buyers $$) that don't remotely even know what a DAC is so I can see why there including it. I wish it has I2S out and no internal Analog and no internal DAC, just clean 1's & 0's out but you can't have everything and constant updates for only $150 a pop; you can't have it all. I'm sure Bluesound is not excited at all about this coming out.
Yeah I meant “these” cross-category. Most users with traditional stereos just use them as a transport. I agree with comments above though — casual audience with powered speakers needs a DAC, and people with vintage setups may not own a DAC either, two huge markets so I get the inclusion. Just wouldn’t mind a purist option with no extra circuitry.
Nope. Meant it would fit in the chromecast ecosystem but work as a (gapless) Roon endpoint. My wife and kids use google voice commands + Spotify to control music and zones so I need something that can do both and hopefully improves on the quality of the cc puck. Am assuming the wiim pro would if it delivers as promised.
I absolutely love my Wiim Mini. It sounds incredible via the Toslink output into my Arcam DAC. I’m really looking g forward to getting a Wiim Pro on its release.
Me too! I am streaming Amazon HD into the internal dac of my Yamaha A-S801 and am blown away by the sound I am getting. I have also set up a Raspberry Pi streamer using Volumio for my hi rez files, so for under $200 I have exactly what I want for streaming music. To think I had almost dropped $600 for the Bluesound Node, which was the only "cheap" option for streaming bit perfect audio from Amazon HD.
I use the Wiim Mini with a DacMagic Plus dac on my desktop PC. There's a beta version PC app available from Wiim which still needs improvement, but the preset function operates quite nicely. I also have the Bluesound Node and the Wiim (with a good dac) is a real competitor! Here's a screenshot of the Wiim PC desktop app:
I downloaded the WiiM Windows beta home app but not getting anything of substance. Certainly not seeing what you are on your screen shot. I have the WiiM app on my iPhone but other than favorites for Qobuz do not have any way to categorize the albums and artists. I'm unable to put the Qobuz app on my iPhone due to it being out of date and unable to load the correct IOS. Need a new phone bad!
I had to delete and re-install the app three times before I could get any kind of functionality. From my experience with the Windows app, it's probably premature for beta, but after the third attempt I could at least use the preset playlist feature which works quite nicely. I just select one of my Qobuz presets, choose random selection and it works very satisfactorily. I'm looking forward to full functionality as I'd rather control the Wiim from my desktop while I'm listening to music at my computer. The Wiim app for my android tablet works great and is miles ahead of the pc app. Here's a screenshot of the preset selection page from the Wiim PC app. When you click on the now playing art at the bottom left, it will take you to the page that I posted in the prior screenshot.