Linkplay evanescence

[Maurizio]

Now i can explain to myself why at Linkplay, since the release of the Pro, they have become evanescent. Or rather, they said it themselves between the lines.
I couldn't explain why they had gone from a constant presence to the most complete absence.
Well, I think the answer is simple. They are engaged in the release of not one new device, but even two.
I don't know the size of Linkplay, but if as I think they are a small company, maybe they should calibrate the step to the length of the leg.
Too much meat on the fire risks burning. This is not meant to be a criticism, with the WiiMs they have done an incredible job for me.
I think they are the most complete streamers at a more than affordable price, but i simply regret when they were always ready to give you support.
Ditto for FW updates; software (WHA).
We've gone from bi-weekly updates, which also included new features, to random updates that are just a bunch of fixes.
Perhaps it would be better to be sure before releasing an update rather than resorting to endless fixes afterwards.
This is my thought.

 

[MrSoul4470]

True. We got updates twice a week and it was horrible. We unwillingly became beta-testers. I am absolutely happy with how they do it now. Before everything was way too fast, too hectic with all the errors such a behaviour brings.

 

[Mr Ee]

Maybe you've just got spoiled with frequent updates.
I wonder how often other streamer products / apps are updated?
I doubt it's because those other products are just so good that no updates are required...

 

[Maurizio]

True. We got updates twice a week and it was horrible. We unwillingly became beta-testers. I am absolutely happy with how they do it now. Before everything was way too fast, too hectic with all the errors such a behaviour brings.

It seems to me that even now there are tons of errors. So fix after fix. Latest FW updates are focused to correct a bunch of errors

 

[Smartplug]

I remember when wiim mini was released it was frequent updates with new features now just bug fix after the other with no exciting features. It just updates that it fix something while breaking others so the next updates correct the issue then break another so it just cat chasing mouse.

 

[Maurizio]

@Smartplug
I completely agree with Smartplug. Has become an eternal chase for fixes, and always as Smartplug says, fixes fix one thing and break another.
Really a never ending story. It's about time when a FW update is released that it is error free. Thoroughly tested before.
I can't take any more of this continuous fix/break/fix.........and so on.
I wanted to check with regards to the Mini, but for the Pro it is the same thing, and this is the situation :

4.6.517454 (Latest)​

9 fixes

4.6.515159​

6 fixes

4.6.514253​

5 fixws

4.6.507043​

8 fixes
This is the situation. I could go on, but I'll stop so as not to bore the community. However, it seems to me, a situation bordering on the ridiculous.
Always checking, I saw that when there was only the Mini the situation was quite different.
FW updates were focused on New Features or Improvements. Not on the run-up to fixes and, it seems to me, that the Mini worked as it should.
Never had big problems and, if there was some problem, it was solved without creating another one.
Yes, a fix every now and then, but thank God... every now and then.
Something, I don't know what, broke after the Pro came out.
Now the company is also grappling with 2 new products. I dare not think about the future.

 

[MrSoul4470]

It is like that with any software of any company. You fix something, you break something. That's nothing special with Wiim (just think of Microsoft). Don't expect software to be 100% error free. It will never be.

 

[Brantome]

@Smartplug , @Maurizio Would you rather they didn’t fix bugs? You may recall from some months ago there was a feeling that in WiiM’s headlong rush to please everyone and add evermore new features that fixing bugs was being ignored or at least overshadowed. The general consensus was that reversing that and taking some time to fix bugs and stabilise the platform was a sensible step to take. Who knows, and I’m entirely postulating here, perhaps the delay in Roon certification is in part down to bugs in WiiM’s firmware that they need to fix before Roon will rubber stamp their implementation.

 

[happywiimer]

Everything is working so well for me

I'm not rushing to look at release notes "fixes" like i was at the beginning (early WiiM Mini days)

Everything is smoooth

 

[Maurizio]

It is like that with any software of any company. You fix something, you break something. That's nothing special with Wiim (just think of Microsoft). Don't expect software to be 100% error free. It will never be.

It is like that with any software of any company. You fix something, you break something. That's nothing special with Wiim (just think of Microsoft). Don't expect software to be 100% error free. It will never be.

OK, but something like "in medio stat virtus?"

 

[Maurizio]

@Smartplug , @Maurizio Would you rather they didn’t fix bugs? You may recall from some months ago there was a feeling that in WiiM’s headlong rush to please everyone and add evermore new features that fixing bugs was being ignored or at least overshadowed. The general consensus was that reversing that and taking some time to fix bugs and stabilise the platform was a sensible step to take. Who knows, and I’m entirely postulating here, perhaps the delay in Roon certification is in part down to bugs in WiiM’s firmware that they need to fix before Roon will rubber stamp their implementation.

@Brantome
Yes, but they've been fixing bugs all the year long. Will there ever be an end?

 

[Brantome]

@Brantome
Yes, but they've been fixing bugs all the year long. Will there ever be an end?

Would you really want there to be an end to fixing bugs?

I do concede, as you say above, that somewhere in the middle might be the way forward - some balance between one or two new features every few months or so, leaving room to fix existing and new bugs.

 

[Maurizio]

Would you really want there to be an end to fixing bugs?

I do concede, as you say above, that somewhere in the middle might be the way forward - some balance between one or two new features every few months or so, leaving room to fix existing and new bugs.

@Brantome
No, i don't want that they stop fixing bugs. But, perhaps, a
little more checking before a release?
Wouldn't that be better?

 

[Smartplug]

Bug fixing will never end as I stated before like other streamer they fix something and break others so the next release will fix what was broken along the line it also break something.

 

[MrSoul4470]

Would you really want there to be an end to fixing bugs?

Simple answer: No. And you will not get any product that is without bugs. I've had network players from Denon and Pioneer. Way more expensive than what Wiim offers. Believe me, compared to them my Wiim Pro works like a charm.

 

[Brantome]

There’s really nothing new under the sun - I recall an entry from The Devil’s DP Dictionary from over forty five years ago when I started in IT which defined engineering planned preventative maintenance as “the exchange of one set of error states for another”. ‘Twas always thus and I expect ‘twill always be

(edited to change IT to DP - forgot in the dim and distant past Computing was Data Processing (how quaint) and not Information Technology…)

 

[Mr Ee]

If debugging is the art of removing bugs from code, then programming must be the art of creating them.

 

[adias]

They are doing too much and there lies the problem. Their stupid policy of auto installing firmware updates must end. The last Pro firmware introduced bugs I did not have before.

 

[WiiM Support]

They are doing too much and there lies the problem. Their stupid policy of auto installing firmware updates must end. The last Pro firmware introduced bugs I did not have before.

Hi Adias,

Please send us feedback so we can look at your problems as soon as possible. Thank you!

 

[WiiM Support]

Hi Team,

I want to jump in and give an explanation on why we need the regular updates -
1. We collect feedback from various users so we need to address their problems with the new firmware. Just so you know, your use case may be a small subset of the features provided by the product.
2. The devices report the exceptions/crashes to our device cloud so we address these exceptions and crashes based on the reports.
3. Our users are physically spread around the globe and we can't reproduce many issues in our lab (i.e., music service issues in certain regions). Sometimes, we rely on feedback from users from particular regions.
4. Streamer is only one component of your entire audio system. Many times, when you observe the problem, it may be caused by your other system component. Taking the pop noise as an example, some DACs can't handle properly the sample rate/bit-depth change between tracks with their optical and coaxial inputs that cause the pop/click noise. We have reproduced this with other streamers that perform the bit-perfect decoding and the problem is gone when using the fixed sample rate/bit-depth output (however, it degrades the audio quality with resampling).
5. Our streaming platform consists of many streaming protocols and music service integration. The SDK and API from our partners are frequently evolving as they'll also continue to fix bugs or provide new improvements. As an example, with the latest Spotify update, you can listen to Spotify podcasts on the WiiM devices now while you can't do that previously.

I hope it helps to clarify our standing on the firmware and App update. I'm looking forward to working with you all to improve these products further. So please feel free to let us know if you have any suggestions or comments. Thank you all very much!