Plex Integration (In-App and as Plexamp Player)

[jxrxme]

I really love the WiiM Amp so far. Most music I listen with the Amp is using Plexamp + Chromecast to WiiM Amp.

A native Plex Integration would be highly appreciated. Integrated in the WiiM Home App and additionally as Plexamp compatible player in the network since listening to music with Plexamp is way more fun.

I would absolutely beta test this feature.

 

[Stessull]

I should also mention that another plus to this integration is Music Assistant's ability to add many streaming providers including Apple music, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz etc. Some are easier to implement than others but it's well worth the effort for a truly global music library.

 

[pieterv1]

Yes I hope @RyanWithWiiM @WiiM Support @WiiM Team can take notice!

 

[huw]

I also started looking into this yesterday.

- UPnP/DLNA Player provider (to make the WiiM Device accessible to Music Assistant)

WiiM have a "native" Home Assistant integration so I think you should be able to use this and then make the WiiM Home Assistant player available in Music Assistant?

Integrating WiiM Devices with Home Assistant

TABLE OF CONTENTS How to Add WiiM Devices to Home Assistant Playback Control Group and Un-Group WiiM Devices WiiM Device Configuration Tips for Smooth Integration Home Assistant is an open-source home automation platform that helps you c...

faq.wiimhome.com

However looking at this documentation from Music Assistant it appears this is less capable than UPnP/DLNA and Squeezelite? So do you actually need Home Assistant at all (i.e. can you just run Music Assistant in a docker container?).

 

[pieterv1]

so I think you should be able to use this and then make the WiiM Home Assistant player available in Music Assistant?

That would be interesting! I have 0 experience with HA so I would need to take a look into that

So do you actually need Home Assistant at all (i.e. can you just run Music Assistant in a docker container?).

Running Music Assistant barebones in docker should be possible, but the installation was a bit technical for my taste on last night's late tinkering session. I chose the easy route to install it within Home Assistant, which I'd like to explore a bit more as well.

 

[huw]

That would be interesting! I have 0 experience with HA so I would need to take a look into that


Running Music Assistant barebones in docker should be possible, but the installation was a bit technical for my taste on last night's late tinkering session. I chose the easy route to install it within Home Assistant, which I'd like to explore a bit more as well.

I got this working via running HAOS in a VM too. For some reason the Squeezelite player wouldn't play all sample rates by default but after I added all sample rates/bit depths in the "Advanced settings" section (and disabled volume normalization which was on by default) all the RME bit test files I have on my Plex server pass the bit tests up to 24-bit/192 kHz when streamed from Plexamp to the WiiM Pro.

This is a really neat solution to adding a WiiM device as a player in Plexamp! Thanks @Stessull and @pieterv1

 

[pieterv1]

I got this working via running HAOS in a VM too. For some reason the Squeezelite player wouldn't play all sample rates by default but after I added all sample rates/bit depths in the "Advanced settings" section (and disabled volume normalization which was on by default) all the RME bit test files I have on my Plex server pass the bit tests up to 24-bit/192 kHz when streamed from Plexamp to the WiiM Pro.

This is a really neat solution to adding a WiiM device as a player in Plexamp! Thanks @Stessull and @pieterv1

I had to go in player settings and add high resolution formats (24/48Khz and up) to the supported list. I also disabled everything from DPS, normalisation, limiting etc.

However, it seems like the audio is still being transcoded in my case: when playing a 16/44Khz file, the playback screen in Music Assistant reports a 24/44Khz output stream going to the Squeezelite client (the WiiM Ultra).

I also noticed that volume control with Squeezelite target works in only one way (instead of not working at all):
- changing the volume in WiiM Home app or on the WiiM device with the hardware knob will also change the volume slider in my Plexamp app
- changing the volume in the Plexamp app will change the actual output volume (as heard), but the change is not shown on the WiiM's display or in the WH app.

 

[huw]

However, it seems like the audio is still being transcoded in my case: when playing a 16/44Khz file, the playback screen in Music Assistant reports a 24/44Khz output stream going to the Squeezelite client (the WiiM Ultra).

Interesting - that's not what I see:

EDIT ignore that. I see that for 16-bit/44.1 kHz but not other bit depth/sample rates. That will still pass a 16-bit test on the RME DAC.

Can't help with the volume control issue as I have the WiiM Pro set to fixed volume output.

 

[huw]

EDIT ignore that. I see that for 16-bit/44.1 kHz but not other bit depth/sample rates. That will still pass a 16-bit test on the RME DAC.

hmm I just disabled support for 24-bit/44.1 kHz and the playback screen in Music Assistant still reports 24-bit/44.1 kHz - maybe this is a display bug.

 

[pieterv1]

hmm I just disabled support for 24-bit/44.1 kHz and the playback screen in Music Assistant still reports 24-bit/44.1 kHz - maybe this is a display bug.

Nice! It would help if the WiiM Ultra's display or the WH app would be able to report the incoming bitrate, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

I also changed the output stream format from flac to WAV. Using Squeezelite, this generated white noise (with some hints of the original audio). Using UPnP, this sounds ok, but doesn't change the reported quality being incorrect.

All very exciting still, considering this has merely been in beta for one month

 

[huw]

It is a display bug:



But the DAC is getting 16-bit/44.1 kHz:

 

[huw]

All very exciting still, considering this has merely been in beta for one month

Testing it has made me realise why there's been so much demand for WiiM to introduce Plexamp endpoint support!

 

[simbun]

Testing it has made me realise why there's been so much demand for WiiM to introduce Plexamp endpoint support!

I'm not a Plex user, but does this option give you all the PlexAmp endpoint benefits e.g. sweet fades (I think that's what they're called) etc?

 

[huw]

I'm not sure - I've never used that feature. What I've tried so far is that I can send music to the WiiM Pro from the Plexamp app which is a nicer UI than using the Plex integration in WHA and that this is bit-perfect. For me as long as there's no transcoding and gapless playback works it's a great solution as I currently use Plexamp on my phone/laptop.

 

[pieterv1]

I'm not a Plex user, but does this option give you all the PlexAmp endpoint benefits e.g. sweet fades (I think that's what they're called) etc?

Probably not, but I don't really care about the fades and the other dsp stuff and enhancements... I leave them off by default.

I really like the app (which is cross-platform), the overall user experience and I already paid for a lifetime Plexpass, so best to get the most use out of it