Controlling Streaming Services With Voice?

[Asyein25]

I have a Wiim Pro Plus hooked to my Dac and then my headphones.

Either with the premium remote or via a home assistant is it possible to control the streaming services in Wiim via voice? I figured out how to set the Wiim as the default speaker for my Alexa device and it works, but it's the Echo device streaming to the Wiim as a Dac and it sounds noticeably worse than streaming Tidal via the WiimHome app.

Ideally, I'd be able to say something like "Play The Eagles on Streamer" and WiimHome would play it via an installed streaming service. Or even using the Premium Remote.

I get that this likely works via the remote with my local music files and I honestly may start collecting FLAC files just for that convenience, but ideally I'd be able to stay streaming.

Anyone have some advice?

 

[Wiimer]

I figured out how to set the Wiim as the default speaker for my Alexa device and it works, but it's the Echo device streaming to the Wiim as a Dac and it sounds noticeably worse than streaming Tidal via the WiimHome app.

Sorry, but what do you mean by "Echo device streaming to the Wiim as a Dac"?

If you set up the WiiM as the music speaker for the Echo device, it is the WiiM that plays the music. Therefore, the sound quality is the same whether it is via voice control (or Alexa Cast) or via the WiiM app.

 

[Asyein25]

Sorry, but what do you mean by "Echo device streaming to the Wiim as a Dac"?

If you set up the WiiM as the music speaker for the Echo device, it is the WiiM that plays the music. Therefore, the sound quality is the same whether it is via voice control (or Alexa Cast) or via the WiiM app.

Hmm...when I set the WiiM as a music speaker for the Echo device it plays using streaming services that I don't have signed in via WiiM home such as Amazon music. I assumed this meant that the Echo device was streaming the music then sending it to the WiiM. It also doesn't let me stream music for apps I don't have on Echo, such as Tidal.

For the Echo Device to simply be telling the WiiM to stream the music wouldn't that mean the WiiM is accessing my Amazon Music account itself without actually having the credentials or anything?

 

[Burnside]

I have a Wiim Pro Plus hooked to my Dac and then my headphones.

Either with the premium remote or via a home assistant is it possible to control the streaming services in Wiim via voice? I figured out how to set the Wiim as the default speaker for my Alexa device and it works, but it's the Echo device streaming to the Wiim as a Dac and it sounds noticeably worse than streaming Tidal via the WiimHome app.

If you use the remote (premium or otherwise) then you’d be using Alexa to play a streaming service it supports such as Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn and perhaps (depending on region) Tidal. While Alexa does support Apple Music, playback of that isn’t supported via Alexa on WiiM..

Ideally, I'd be able to say something like "Play The Eagles on Streamer" and WiimHome would play it via an installed streaming service. Or even using the Premium Remote.

If you ask an Echo or another Alexa enabled device, you can direct music to your WiiM. Similarly, you can use Google’s Home Assistant (but not the remote) to play to your Chromecast enabled WiiM.

I get that this likely works via the remote with my local music files and I honestly may start collecting FLAC files just for that convenience, but ideally I'd be able to stay streaming.

No, voice control can’t be used for local files as the cloud based voice assistants are unaware of and can’t access local files

 

[Burnside]

Hmm...when I set the WiiM as a music speaker for the Echo device it plays using streaming services that I don't have signed in via WiiM home such as Amazon music. I assumed this meant that the Echo device was streaming the music then sending it to the WiiM. It also doesn't let me stream music for apps I don't have on Echo, such as Tidal.

For the Echo Device to simply be telling the WiiM to stream the music wouldn't that mean the WiiM is accessing my Amazon Music account itself without actually having the credentials or anything?

If you have linked to Alexa with your Amazon account, it’ll have access to at least the free version of Amazon Music and any other service you have linked in the Alexa app to your account. You’d only need to sign in in the WiiM Home app to Amazon Music if you were wanting to access it from that app. Not quite sure what you’re saying about Tidal - Alexa support for that is only available in the USA and it might be supported via Alexa on WiiM if it’s not like Apple Music which isn’t.

 

[Wiimer]

Hmm...when I set the WiiM as a music speaker for the Echo device it plays using streaming services that I don't have signed in via WiiM home such as Amazon music. I assumed this meant that the Echo device was streaming the music then sending it to the WiiM. It also doesn't let me stream music for apps I don't have on Echo, such as Tidal.

For the Echo Device to simply be telling the WiiM to stream the music wouldn't that mean the WiiM is accessing my Amazon Music account itself without actually having the credentials or anything?

Only supported streaming services can be played via Echo. Also, on the WiiM app you can sign in to Alexa and Amazon music from the browse menu.

 

[Wiimer]

If you have linked to Alexa with your Amazon account, it’ll have access to at least the free version of Amazon Music and any other service you have linked in the Alexa app to your account. You’d only need to sign in in the WiiM Home app to Amazon Music if you were wanting to access it from that app. Not quite sure what you’re saying about Tidal - Alexa support for that is only available in the USA and it might be supported via Alexa on WiiM if it’s not like Apple Music which isn’t.

I should have waited for you to come.

 

[Burnside]

I should have waited for you to come.

A team effort is always better

 

[Pragmatist]

A team effort is always better

With all this magic Alexa stuff no one ever invites me

 

[Asyein25]

Thanks so much guys. I think what I'm getting here is that I can't control the WiiMHome app directly via voice, only through an intermediary such as Alexa or Chromecast.

Unrelated but not worthy of a new post: Is there no preamp value for EQ profiles in WiiM?

 

[Burnside]

Yeah, and even within those, there are limitations imposed by the cloud based voice assistants

 

[Asyein25]

Yeah, and even within those, there are limitations imposed by the cloud based voice assistants

I guess I just need to get used to using my phone. I swear I can hear a difference when I ask Alexa to play via Tidal vs running the same songs via Tidal in the WiiM home app. Maybe I'm crazy.

 

[Burnside]

I guess I just need to get used to using my phone. I swear I can hear a difference when I ask Alexa to play via Tidal vs running the same songs via Tidal in the WiiM home app. Maybe I'm crazy.

That’s a point I should have made - Amazon Music Unlimited is the only streaming service that Alexa will support up to 24/192 resolution on WiiM devices - in fact, my gut feeling is that 24/48 is all that actual echo devices will support for Amazon Music.

For Tidal, it’s been claimed that the best you can get is CD quality (16/44.1) via Alexa, but I haven’t seen any conclusive proof of that and suspect it might even be just lossy MP3. That might explain why you hear a difference since via the WiiM Home app (and Tidal Connect) you’ll get up to the full 24/192 as well.