It is an interesting video because it attempts to answer the question most of us will likely have asked ourselves at some point, namely, if a streamer’s digital output is bit-perfect and fed into an external DAC, from a purely sound quality perspective is there any point in considering an expensive streamer over a cheaper one? All the streamer comparison articles I can recall have only concentrated on line-out SQ, so one that just compares the digital domains is to be welcomed.
However, like others here, I am surprised by Passion for Sound’s conclusion but that in itself is probably no reason to just dismiss his claims. The question is a really important one, both from a general (almost philosophical) perspective and from the specific viewpoint of the WiiM family.
As a long-standing Mini user who is happy with its digital output, I am not in a position to compare with other WiiM digital outputs and so cannot comment myself. Nonetheless, dispassionately confirming or refuting Passion for Sound’s conclusion is something of a priority for everyone who enjoys streaming.
If the Mini can output at the maximum bit rate of the service you are using, then there will be no difference in sound quality between it and even a £2,000+ device if you are just using it as a streamer. If the processor struggled to keep up, then that would manifest itself in glitchy playback with drop-outs and pauses, not a generalised reduction in sound quality.
I bought the Pro rather than the mini mainly because it has Chromecast which enables me to cast from the classical music service Idagio at its maximum 24/44.1 resolution.
I have it feeding a Chord Qutest / M Scaler combination. Yep, a £150 streamer feeding a £4,700 DAC! And it sounds magnificent. I could afford a more expensive streamer if I wanted, but none offered anything more than I get with the WiiM.
The important things that a streamer must have for me are:
1. All the streaming services I want. In my case that is Amazon Music Unlimited, Radio Paradise and Idagio (via Chromecast). The fact that it has Squeezeplay as well means I can continue to use my Raspberry Pi LMS server for its brilliant BBC Sounds implementation (better than the BBC's own app!) and LMS streaming from my NAS, which is better than DLNA. The WiiM ticks all the boxes for me on that front.
2. The ability to support lossless music at the highest bitrates offered by the streaming services. It does that fine, coping with FLAC from Amazon at 24/192.
3. A choice of digital outputs (coax / toslink)
4. Good support and updates. WiiM is better at that than any other streamer I have looked at.
5. A decent control app
A bonus for me is the Toslink input, which I use to pass the TV signal through to the M Scaler, which only has two Toslink inputs. I need three (CD player, WiiM Pro and TV). Rob Watts, designer of the M Scaler, recommends Toslink optical for all inputs as they cannot transmit any electrical noise.
I looked very closely at the Bluesound Node which is more substantial from a hardware point of view. On the plus side it has native support for Idagio, but it lacks the Squeezeplay integration which, for me, was a major plus for the WiiM. It is also x2.5 the price, and there is no point in spending money if you don't have to.
I briefly had a Sonos Connect which had all the music services, including Idagio, but no high-res support - everything is down-sampled to 16/44.1. What is the point of that? Wasting processor resources to make the resolution less good than it was in the first place - daft.
All in all very happy with the WiiM so far - certainly no issues with sound quality. The limit on that front will be the DAC you use it with.