Wiim Smart Speaker

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ihearurdog

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Oct 26, 2023
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I'm hoping to see a Wiim "smart" speaker sometime soon. Really, just a standalone speaker with Wiim smarts inside would do it for most of my needs. In other words, put a Wiim Pro inside of a powered speaker. It would be nice if two of them could be setup in a stereo pair. Some locations around the house just don't really fit a Wiim + full sized stereo speakers.

I'm surprised to not really see many requests for this sort of device around the forums (this is all I've found), so I'm curious what standalone speakers people are using with their Wiim setups. I've seen talk of the "Linkplay" protocol that Wiim is apparently based on, but there don't really seem to be any viable speakers available based on this tech and it's not clear how well these would integrate anyway (could it group with my existing Wiims when I'm sending audio to a Wiim using Tidal Connect or Roon?). I can use any other speakers that incorporate Airplay and make that work okay, but then these speakers lack some of the nice functionality of the Wiim. I've looked around for some small powered speakers in the "can shape" similar to many smart speakers that I could combine with a Wiim device, but these don't really seem to exist.
 
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Okay, good to see that I’m not the ONLY one. Though you and I are interested in different form factors. I’m really after something like the Sonos One. Yes, mono speakers don’t sound as good, but I’ve already got Wiim streamers anywhere that sound quality is the top requirement.

That aside, that thread seems most interested in yet another Wiim box with even more IO. While I’d love lots of the features suggested in there, the biggest hole in my system is that I have to rely on Airplay for lots of my rooms (talk about a first world problem 😁).

Anyway, thanks for sharing!
 
I think WiiM and Kali Audio should partner to incorporate the WiiM software into a Kali Audio MM-6 style (2 way, 6 inch woofer, studio monitor) speaker. The speaker has RCA, coaxial, and optical in. IMHO all the setup needs is to have a subwoofer output and the LinkPlay software and it would make a killer setup.

As a reference for pricing, the current price of an MM-6 plus a WiiM Mini, is $520. There are parts overlap (ADC, DAC, power supply, software might be able to replace the boundary dip switches) between the two, so it might be feasible for less.
 
Or use the optical out from a WiiM Mini into an Echo Studio as some have done...
 
What I find intriguing is that My Media for Amazon Alexa has figured out a way to stream media stored on a computer without resorting to cloud storage of the media.

It should be straightforward, but not necessarily easy, to replace media stored on a computer with a stream from an Line Input, Optical Input, or Coaxial Input if (BIG IF) WiiM could run a tiny media server on your computer (in our case on the WIiiM) that integrates with the ease and power of Amazon Alexa which is how My Media software describes what they do.
 
Doublej said:
What I find intriguing is that My Media for Amazon Alexa has figured out a way to stream media stored on a computer without resorting to cloud storage of the media.

It should be straightforward, but not necessarily easy, to replace media stored on a computer with a stream from an Line Input, Optical Input, or Coaxial Input if (BIG IF) WiiM could run a tiny media server on your computer (in our case on the WIiiM) that integrates with the ease and power of Amazon Alexa which is how My Media software describes what they do.
Click to expand...
My Media has achieved that yes by not resorting to cloud storage of the tracks but it does use cloud storage for its index hence the charge for the service. It also uses a workaround for multi room playback, so whatever it’s doing to send audio to an echo doesn’t seem to rely on standard Amazon MRM streaming protocols. I admit I’ve been intrigued as to how it achieves that since it came out - maybe it’s passing a secure link to your local file to its skill in the same manner as you’d get a skill to play media stored in AWS.
 
Going back to original feature request for a smart speaker - I think it would be pretty logical step in evolution of wiim product line and a very welcomed one.
I've been looking for a solution that's not too hacky to get linkplay multiroom on a smart speaker with google assistant but it seems no such product exists.
I cast my vote and so should you. Press the voting button! :)
 
I agree having a smart speaker like the Sonos one etc would then allow this eco system to be fully formed. I have a number of JBL speakers where having multiple devices isn’t practical and I have a portable one. I can use all these with Roon as they all support Chromecast so this allows me to have all house audio from one eco system without spending the silly money Sonos or Bluesound charge and I can get audio in my garden without Bluetooth or Airplay draining my battery. I am sure they could make a good quality equivalent at a very reasonable cost to the current alternatives. Then could use the Wiim app for everything.
 
Hmmm... I can't see that happening, as that would put Wiim in direct competition with their own customers who license the Linkplay technology.
 
CrystalGipsy said:
I agree having a smart speaker like the Sonos one etc would then allow this eco system to be fully formed. I have a number of JBL speakers where having multiple devices isn’t practical and I have a portable one. I can use all these with Roon as they all support Chromecast so this allows me to have all house audio from one eco system without spending the silly money Sonos or Bluesound charge and I can get audio in my garden without Bluetooth or Airplay draining my battery. I am sure they could make a good quality equivalent at a very reasonable cost to the current alternatives. Then could use the Wiim app for everything.
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You could also play to your JBL speakers using LMS without spending the silly money Roon charges 😀
 
This has massive market potential, though probably not the same margins.

I only have one Pro but would happily replace 3 Sonos 1's and a handful of other smart speakers in an instant. The vast majority of consumers don't want a 2 box solution.
 
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ccristal said:
Hmmm... I can't see that happening, as that would put Wiim in direct competition with their own customers who license the Linkplay technology.
Click to expand...
Isn’t that already the case with Wiim and Arylic streamers?
 
slartibartfast said:
You could also play to your JBL speakers using LMS without spending the silly money Roon charges 😀
Click to expand...
I am not paying at the moment as I got a 60 day trial after I quit using it as they wanted me to help test the fixes for the issues I stopped subbing for. I have used them with LMS but I just prefer Roons management of my library and playback, its DSP functionality is far better and easier to implement and it runs on my DAP where LMS is a hack to do so bitperfect. LMS has many quirks that annoy me in regards to managing my library but it’s a good fallback. I might fallback again when this free period ends.
 
Achim1811 said:
I never understood such Roon bashing, often from people who never tried it. What you call "silly money" I call "reasonable" for a brilliant product. Worth every Cent. Works from the very first moment. For Roon cheap hardware is available that you also need for LMS. The most expensive subscription tier is 14 € per month in Germany. Is that silly? Works out of the box without all this plugin hassles and is in my world the answer for nearly every audio question.
Of course, if one likes coding, command lines and try and error one could save a few Euros.
My preferences are different.
Click to expand...
LMS is installed in pretty much the same way as Roon but it also runs on a Raspberry Pi. No coding by the user required. I believe Roon doesn't have Deezer or Spotify either. Maybe Roon has some advantages but I listen to radio and local music and can't imagine Roon would improve the way I do that.
 
Achim1811 said:
Agreed, your way and your use case. But what is your motivation to bash another way? 15 € p/month? This is my point. The bashing seems to be also one-directional. (By the way, Roon's handling of local stored music is the best I've ever experienced.)
Click to expand...
It is simply the cost. It adds up. You can double that cost if you subscribe to Tidal or Qobuz as well. I'm just tight 😀
 
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