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.
-- 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.
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