Airplay 2 : Wiim Pro Plus vs Wiim Amp

[DrOct]

I have to admit, as a new Wiim user (I just purchased three WiiM products recently), this is pretty disappointing. I had hoped to get the Amp Pro for my dining room where I don't already have a receiver/amp to complete my home audio setup. But not being able to airplay to it is a pretty major limitation for one of my main use cases (having the same music playing from Apple Music playlists throughout the house during parties etc.). Do we think there is any chance there might be a software update in the future to allow for Airplay?

Not that I would buy something right now based on a possible future update, but if it seemed like there was a chance the update might come in the next few months I might go ahead and wait, and if it came buy the Amp Pro instead of the Amp.

I hope this issue can be resolved soon, ideally with an update to these newer products, and that future products from WiiM aren't all going to be subject to this limitation. Up until I discovered this I was very enthusiastic about WiiM as a solution to my current and future whole house audio needs!

 

[adias]

Use Bluetooth instead...

 

[Burnside]

I have to admit, as a new Wiim user (I just purchased three WiiM products recently), this is pretty disappointing. I had hoped to get the Amp Pro for my dining room where I don't already have a receiver/amp to complete my home audio setup. But not being able to airplay to it is a pretty major limitation for one of my main use cases (having the same music playing from Apple Music playlists throughout the house during parties etc.). Do we think there is any chance there might be a software update in the future to allow for Airplay?

Not that I would buy something right now based on a possible future update, but if it seemed like there was a chance the update might come in the next few months I might go ahead and wait, and if it came buy the Amp Pro instead of the Amp.

I hope this issue can be resolved soon, ideally with an update to these newer products, and that future products from WiiM aren't all going to be subject to this limitation. Up until I discovered this I was very enthusiastic about WiiM as a solution to my current and future whole house audio needs!

If your prime use is playing the same music throughout the house at parties, there’s nothing stopping you using another airplay enabled WiiM device as the main device in a Linkplay group (I.e. grouped in the WiiM app) playing that same stream to other WiiM devices.

 

[DrOct]

If your prime use is playing the same music throughout the house at parties, there’s nothing stopping you using another airplay enabled WiiM device as the main device in a Linkplay group (I.e. grouped in the WiiM app) playing that same stream to other WiiM devices.

Sorry misread your reply initially. That's interesting, I assumed when I linked the devices in the app it was just Airplaying to them all, hadn't realized I could Airplay to one and then have it send to the rest. Interesting.

That's not my only use, and I can forsee situations where I might want to airplay to just the one device, but that does resolve a lot of my concerns. Thanks!

Still it would be preferable to not have to find workarounds, and instead just have everything work the way you'd expect it to. Hopefully whatever issue WiiM and Apple are having can be resolved soon, so we can go back to having everything just support this fairly standard (these days) feature out of the box.

 

[DrOct]

Use Bluetooth instead...

That doesn't really work when trying to said to the entire house, and frankly I generally try not to rely on Bluetooth for stable connections that I plan to run for hours on end.

 

[Burnside]

Sorry misread your reply initially. That's interesting, I assumed when I linked the devices in the app it was just Airplaying to them all, hadn't realized I could Airplay to one and then have it send to the rest. Interesting.

That's not my only use, and I can forsee situations where I might want to airplay to just the one device, but that does resolve a lot of my concerns. Thanks!

Still it would be preferable to not have to find workarounds, and instead just have everything work the way you'd expect it to. Hopefully whatever issue WiiM and Apple are having can be resolved soon, so we can go back to having everything just support this fairly standard (these days) feature out of the box.

Yeah, using a WiiM mini as an airplay proxy or helper directly connected to an ultra or amp pro has also been mooted, but grouping does work as I’ve just confirmed with my mini, ultra and amp pro.

 

[DrOct]

Yeah, using a WiiM mini as an airplay proxy or helper directly connected to an ultra or amp pro has also been mooted, but grouping does work as I’ve just confirmed with my mini, ultra and amp pro.

It actually occurs to me, now that you've mentioned this, that I have an old Belkin Soundform Connect sitting around. The one I actually replaced a few months back when I first got into the WiiM ecosystem with a Pro Plus in order to get better analog output to my living room receiver (which is from the 70's and has not even heard of digital inputs!). I suppose I could hook that up to the optical input on the Amp Pro just to be an Airplay Target (a little janky to do it that way, but I imagine it should work).

What I had really liked about the WiiM ecosystem was that I could use them to Airplay when I wanted that (I actually only need this in a few parts of the house as I have other Airplay 2 capable receivers in other parts of the house) but also do fun tricks like streaming the output of my turntable around the house if I wanted to (I actually bought a couple of Minis to hook up to newer receivers via optical just to have this option), and it all works together pretty flawlessly, all without paying the incredibly high prices of a certain other company that start with S.

While its disappointing that these newer higher end products have lost Airplay functionality, and I do hope that WiiM and Apple can work out their issues so this can be resolved, it does sound like I do have a few workarounds I can consider. (Or I can just get the regular amp and decide I'm ok with the slightly lower quality of the amp, which admittedly I don't know for certain I'd be able to hear in that particular room with the speakers I'd likely hook up to it).

 

[AndyB]

For me, no airplay in amp pro, and ultra, is a deal breaker. By not having airplay, wiim has, in my opinion, shot itself in the foot.

 

[es6rd6z]

By not having airplay, wiim has, in my opinion, shot itself in the foot.

It's Apple's fault, not WiiM's.

 

[BEE]

For me, no airplay in amp pro, and ultra, is a deal breaker. By not having airplay, wiim has, in my opinion, shot itself in the foot.

In our house everyone expect me uses Apple Music so without Airplay I cannot think about hardware without Airplay which is a shame.

Apple Music integration in the WiiM app would be most welcome!

 

[DRC]

It's Apple's fault, not WiiM's.

Why? You have inside information unavailable to anyone else? Airplay is available on virtually all streamers

 

[Burnside]

I remember @Burnside sharing a video from the British Audiophile, who had some at least interesting thoughts about the whole conspiracy theory

To be honest, it was a new conspiracy theory for me to add to all the others…

 

[jxrxme]

Apple Music integration in the WiiM app would be most welcome!

I totally agree, but I don’t think that this will ever happen (because of Apple).
No AirPlay is a deal breaker here, too. Without AirPlay support I wouldn’t have bought the Amp (Non-Pro) and the Pro Plus.