WiiM Amp "Essential Edition" -- unexpectedly limited

[LessPaul]

I bought a WiiM Amp, and liked it so much I decided to get a second for another room. I saw a vendor on Ebay with a "WiiM Amp Essential Edition" listed as being a WiiM Amp without AirPlay support, which is fine by me since I don't use Apple music. I did a few internet searches and everything I found, including these forums, said that the difference was simply the lack of Airplay support. So I bought one and discovered that compared to the standard WiiM Amp it is:

-- Missing AirPlay (expected)
-- Missing Squeezelite Streaming
-- Supports WiFi presets only. No "three dot menu" preset option when input is Bluetooth, TV, Line-in, or Optical
-- Is running firmware version 5.0.639034, dated 12/18/2024, six updates behind WiiM Amp .

(And yes, I've updated, and WiiM Home reports "Up to Date: No Updates Available." )

The Essential Edition is therefore missing many, many improvements, including these which have already impacted my use:
5.0.714744 - Smarter HDMI ARC
5.0.703847 - Remote Volume Step Customization
5.0.708757 - Preset Enhancements
5.0.711031 - Smart Presets, Spotify Loudness Normalization

Strangely, Essential Edition is also missing "Auto Timing Alignment" (automatic subwoofer / speaker delay measurement) which was included in an update prior to the installed 5.0.639034.

This leaves me to believe that Essential Edition has been abandoned, lacks sufficient memory to implement fixes and improvements, or both.

 

[Wiimer]

I bought a WiiM Amp, and liked it so much I decided to get a second for another room. I saw a vendor on Ebay with a "WiiM Amp Essentials Edition" listed as being a WiiM Amp without AirPlay support, which is fine by me since I don't use Apple music. I did a few internet searches and everything I found, including these forums, said that the difference was simply the lack of Airplay support. So I bought one and discovered that compared to the standard WiiM Amp it is:

-- Missing AirPlay (expected)
-- Missing Squeezelite Streaming
-- Supports WiFi presets only. No "three dot menu" preset option when input is Bluetooth, TV, Line-in, or Optical
-- Is running firmware version 5.0.639034, dated 12/18/2024, six updates behind WiiM Amp .

(And yes, I've updated, and WiiM Home reports "Up to Date: No Updates Available." )

The Essentials Edition is therefore missing many, many improvements, including these which have already impacted my use:
5.0.714744 - Smarter HDMI ARC
5.0.703847 - Remote Volume Step Customization
5.0.708757 - Preset Enhancements
5.0.711031 - Smart Presets, Spotify Loudness Normalization

Strangely, Essentials Edition is also missing "Auto Timing Alignment" (automatic subwoofer / speaker delay measurement) which was included in an update prior to the installed 5.0.639034.

This leaves me to believe that Essentials Edition has been abandoned, lacks sufficient memory to implement fixes and improvements, or both.

Please submit a ticket through the feedback section of the WiiM app to discuss getting an available update.

 

[jfbuk]

-- Is running firmware version 5.0.639034, dated 12/18/2024, six updates behind WiiM Amp .

Have you tried updating the firmware ?

 

[Burnside]

I’m surprised any of these were actually sold as they seemed to disappear from sale just as surreptitiously they appeared, with WiiM steadfastly declining to comment about them.

 

[harkpabst]

Please submit a ticket through the feedback section of the WiiM app to discuss getting an available update.

I strongly second this.

Occasionally, WiiM devices made it to customers where due to whatever error their MAC addresses were on some blacklist, preventing firmware updates from happening.

As @Burnside pointed out, the Essentials Edition was an apparently short-lived and somewhat semi-official offering, that had at.no point been mentioned on WiiM's website.

 

[LessPaul]

Occasionally, WiiM devices made it to customers where due to whatever error their MAC addresses were on some blacklist, preventing firmware updates from happening.

I was able to update, but the update installed is the 6-month old 5.0.639034.

 

[LessPaul]

Have you tried updating the firmware ?

I updated, which gave me version 5.0.639034 (Dec 2024) WiiM app now reports "Up to Date: No Updates Available."

 

[LessPaul]

Please submit a ticket through the feedback section of the WiiM app to discuss getting an available update.

Done. Thank you.