External optical drive

[nonloso]

There is a feature that I like a lot from Eversolo and Hifi Rose devices (I only read about this feature, I did not have the opportunity of testing).
This is the possibility of connecting an external USB optical drive, and controlling it like a CD player, while the main unit grabs from internet all song and album metadata and displays it on the screen. In the WiiM Amp case it could display on the app, or on a separate screen using the nice display app by @cc_rider

 

[nonloso]

Up, as suggested by @RyanWithWiim
BTW, In the meantime I discovered that also the Ruark R610 has a similar functionality, they even sell a dedicated separated CD drive

 

[castalla]

There is a feature that I like a lot from Eversolo and Hifi Rose devices (I only read about this feature, I did not have the opportunity of testing).
This is the possibility of connecting an external USB optical drive, and controlling it like a CD player, while the main unit grabs from internet all song and album metadata and displays it on the screen. In the WiiM Amp case it could display on the app, or on a separate screen using the nice display app by @cc_rider

This can be done in Lyrion (LMS) - I use a Hitachi cdrom with a mini PC - Plays to any LMS player, eg Wiim pro, etc.

 

[nonloso]

Indeed. The problem in my case is that my LMS runs on a NAS, hidden in the basement...

 

[A64]

+1, need this having A LOT of CD-s and buying a Wiim Amp Pro for my parents won't teach them how to rip all these into FLAC files etc.

So overall it would be amazing to be able to attach a USB optical drive and play ANY content from it (from playing Audio CD to playing from BluRay discs containing music files).

But first, playing Audio CD-s would already be a great step forward. Possibly - if we can wish so - with the lowest speed a drive can support so that it doesn't spin like crazy at 52x speed while playing.

 

[d6jg]

Have a look at the FiiO DM13 - intended as a portable or desktop CD player. Has USB out for use with PC and also Analogue, Optical and Coax. Has a very small footprint. Not yet tried one myself but considering it.

 

[CliffyBC]

Bought one a couple of months back, the Bluetooth edition in black. Decently made and sounds OK, nice weight to it and does all the APTX codecs. Small and unobtrusive which is why I purchased it, it replaces a much larger Marantz receiver with CD player.
No remote and pretty barebones playback, great if you just want to play a CD but not too good if you want to program different tracks as it's a bit of a faff. Updating the firmware is typical old school Chinese, read that a few people had bricked theirs doing firmware update so I didn't bother.
Verdict... Small, reasonable sound, APTX codecs, decent for £139, can run on built in battery for 10 hours, has good anti skip technology. Much better than the many no name players on Amazon so I think at the price it's worth a punt.