Ongoing Beta Beta Test: DLNA Cast

[happywiimer]

Initial responses from WiiM Support re submitted tickets:

• DLNA Cast only supports 24/48
• DLNA cast protocol does not support synchronization

Very disappointing to read this - please @WiiM Support @WiiM Team support PCM 24bit /192kHz sample rate , bit perfectly

 

[Brantome]

Just requested access to this beta

Will it support playback to UPnP renderers?

Yeah, I’m playing to my Linn amp which shows its “UPnP av” input accepting the stream, as well as two other WiiM devices, all being fed from my Pro Plus which is playing back a radio stream from LMS

 

[gabat]

I got access for the the 2 devices I asked for. How does one adjust dlna to use formats other than mp3?

 

[onlyoneme]

Not possible yet.

 

[gabat]

Not possible yet.

OK. i misunderstood.

 

[simbun]

OK. i misunderstood.

WiiM did state that you can change it in the app, but I think they got ahead of themselves.

For the beta it's important they get device coverage and stability, after that - if there's enough demand - I'm sure they'll provide quality/functional improvements.

 

[Brantome]

See comment #57 which I updated when I got a reply to my ticket querying that

 

[QuarryHunslet]

With this second beta release, I can finally get music through my speakers, but it isn't to an acceptable standard to listen to.

I'm not quite sure how to describe what I am hearing, but it is a bit like listening to a DAB radio broadcast with extreme fringe reception, with the sound being blocky and distorted. Whilst this is going on, I am also getting sounds similar to that heard when there is another Radio station trying to break through the background.

This has been experienced on my WiiM Pro's, WiiM Pro Plus, and WiiM Amp, and through four different RIVA speakers.

I was really hoping that this DLNA Casting would be at least up to the standard of the previous Casting software, this worked faultlessly for me every time, and also sounded very good.

My trial music is a 320 kbps, 16 bits, 44.1 KHz stream via vTuner, so a fairly undemanding stream.

Hopefully things will improve with the next release.

 

[Brantome]

With this second beta release, I can finally get music through my speakers, but it isn't to an acceptable standard to listen to.

I'm not quite sure how to describe what I am hearing, but it is a bit like listening to a DAB radio broadcast with extreme fringe reception, with the sound being blocky and distorted. Whilst this is going on, I am also getting sounds similar to that heard when there is another Radio station trying to break through the background.

This has been experienced on my WiiM Pro's, WiiM Pro Plus, and WiiM Amp, and through four different RIVA speakers.

I was really hoping that this DLNA Casting would be at least up to the standard of the previous Casting software, this worked faultlessly for me every time, and also sounded very good.

My trial music is a 320 kbps, 16 bits, 44.1 KHz stream via vTuner, so a fairly undemanding stream.

Hopefully things will improve with the next release.

Yeah, I had the sound break up on my tv, but the WiiM devices being cast to were fine. I submitted a ticket straightaway- you should do so as well if you haven’t already

 

[simbun]

I'm not quite sure how to describe what I am hearing, but it is a bit like listening to a DAB radio broadcast with extreme fringe reception, with the sound being blocky and distorted.

It sounds like what I get whilst casting to GMediaRenderer.
As far as I can tell WiiM aren't sending any format metadata with the stream, which may explain the distortion and some of the other issues I'm having.

My trial music is a 320 kbps, 16 bits, 44.1 KHz stream via vTuner, so a fairly undemanding stream.

Everything is being converted no matter the input.

 

[QuarryHunslet]

Yeah, I had the sound break up on my tv, but the WiiM devices being cast to were fine. I submitted a ticket straightaway- you should do so as well if you haven’t already

Ticket No 506208 submitted whilst "playing" music, so there may be some useful info in the device logs.

It would be useful to know the approximate working times of the support staff, as I have been communicating with them previously at times between 2:00 am and 11:00 am UK time, and whether there would be any likelihood of receiving support at other times.

 

[Brantome]

Ticket No 506208 submitted whilst "playing" music, so there may be some useful info in the device logs.

It would be useful to know the approximate working times of the support staff, as I have been communicating with them previously at times between 2:00 am and 11:00 am UK time, and whether there would be any likelihood of receiving support at other times.

They’re based in California, so I guess you’re getting support during their working hours. I wouldn’t expect 24hr support

 

[jfbuk]

I've had Sonos Play:1s work and the local renderer in BubbleUPnP, but no luck (no audio) with RoPieee or Chromecast proxied renderers.

Make sure you use the app to send feedback after a failed attempt. What RPI renderers are you using?

Hi Simbun,

to answer your RPi question, I am using LMS with the "UPnP/DLNA Media Interface (v1.0) plugin".

My LMS RPi Picoreplayer instance shows up in HiFi Cast as a player on my Android devices.

 

[Brantome]

Hi Simbun,

to answer your RPi question, I am using LMS with the "UPnP/DLNA Media Interface (v1.0) plugin".

My LMS RPi Picoreplayer instance shows up in HiFi Cast as a player on my Android devices.

Isn't that a very old and unsupported plugin?

 

[jfbuk]

Isn't that a very old and unsupported plugin?

It may well be but why then does Hifi Cast see it and the Wiim app not ?
It is also visible as UPnP /DLNA player to both MediaMonkey and Foobar2000 running on a Windows PC.

 

[simbun]

to answer your RPi question, I am using LMS with the "UPnP/DLNA Media Interface (v1.0) plugin".

My LMS RPi Picoreplayer instance shows up in HiFi Cast as a player on my Android devices.

After enabling the plugin I can see it in both BubbleUPnP and Hi-Fi Cast but not in WiiM. I'd send feedback if you haven't already

If you're using this Pi as a player you're probably better off using something like RoPieee and enabling both the UPnP and Squeezelite interfaces. Whilst it's not currently working with the DLNA cast feature (although it is discovered) it's a much better UPnP endpoint.

 

[jfbuk]

If you're using this Pi as a player you're probably better off using something like RoPieee and enabling both the UPnP and Squeezelite interfaces. Whilst it's not currently working with the DLNA cast feature (although it is discovered) it's a much better UPnP endpoint.

Thanks. I will investigate

 

[jfbuk]

I just tried the following

Spotify(free account) app running on Windows 11 PC ---Spotify connect ---> Wiim Pro --- DLNA Out ---> RPi running Volumio as DLNA endpoint

It seems to work . No album art but track text info

Spotify on windows screenshot



Volumio screenshot

 

[BowsAndArrows]

i've tested this with a couple software UPnP renderers on windows 11.

getting garbled audio and really distorted loud sounds when using audiophile renderer.

working ok with JRiver media center UPnP renderer on windows, although I've noticed some odd behaviour... when listening to any kind of track from qobuz- the WHA shows the track quality as CD - 16bit/44.1kHz although with slightly different kbps numbers ranging from 800kbps-1100kbps (regardless of the actual bitrate of the source tracks - even 24/96 tracks show up the same). However in the JRiver MC - they all show up as 320kps. when playing. is this for compatibility reasons?? sorry just seen the compatibility note from WiiM team. how are all the tracks all showing up as CD quality in the WHA but with different bitrates that don't match the source quality??

play/pause button in WHA is not always working when using JRiver as renderer and when it does there is a delay. although volume control is fully functional and changes my windows system volume from the WHA when playing via UPnP?? didn't even know this was possible... how is the UPnP controller able to take control of my windows systems main audio volume so easily??

 

[BowsAndArrows]

I'm not quite sure how to describe what I am hearing, but it is a bit like listening to a DAB radio broadcast with extreme fringe reception, with the sound being blocky and distorted. Whilst this is going on, I am also getting sounds similar to that heard when there is another Radio station trying to break through the background.

this is exactly what i hear when trying to play via audiophile UPnP renderer... maybe the cause of the issue is similar?

some more reports on testing:

all sources tested seem to work fine with JRiver UPnP renderer. e.g. chromecast, WHA, UPnP from LMS/audirvana. haven't tested airplay yet.

also noticed that the software renderers sometimes do not appear in WHA when you click on pair for DLNA out... this tends to happen during playback and especially when switching sources - e.g. from playing audirvana via UPnP to wiim then switching to qobuz within the WHA. this persists despite restarting the software renderer apps on my windows PC. even a reboot of the WiiM pro does not seem to resolve the issue. i can't seem to reliably demonstrate what causes it, and the only fix is rebooting the windows PC, it seems.

when the DLNA out gets disconnected - this causes music to start playing from the previous output selected. which probably shouldn't be the default behaviour. it should revert to the previously used source - but imo it should pause by default - not continue playing...