Hi Dave, Appreciate the review. I ordered one to pair with my loxjie also. I was using iPad - Dongle - USB but dongle is acting up and must have a short from plugging it in so many times. Either way I refuse to buy another apple dongle so this will hopefully free me from cable nirvana. I use Amazon music and dlna from personal collection on a Synology so this will hopefully be perfect for my use cases. Thanks.
Also if you have a receiver with an optical out, you will get the best audio quality streaming Amazon music through your firestick plugged straight into the receiver. As that way the stream comes directly through the firestick and your phone just acts as a remote.
I don't have a smart phone but my wife does. I'm only interested in Amz Music HD. Could I initially set up the Wiim on her smart phone but then control the Wiim from the Amz Music app on a Fire tablet?
I don't know for sure. However, I'm willing to bet that the Wiim will show up as a connected device in the Amazon Music HD app on your tablet. You can also set the Wiim up as a connected device in your Alexa app and tell Alexa to play things on Amazon Music through the Wiim. I may make a video about that.
Hi Dave, I probably not the only person who does have constant access to a smart phone. Is the Wiim app needed for day to day control? I'd prefer to set the Wiim up initially and from then on cede control to the Fire tablet (it has Alexa). This scenario should be easy enough to test?
@@trevorbartram5473 I think you'd be alright. You can access the Wiim via the Amazon Music app, Spotify Connect, and Tisal Connect. Alexa control is not hard to set up. The Wiim Home app is not necessary for day to day use.
At .33 the WiiM page shows that Pandora works with this streamer, yet when using the WiiM Home app and looking under Browse, Music services it is not listed. Also, when using the Pandora app, I see no option to cast like you can in Spotify. What am I missing?
I just looked and the web page says, “…through its companion app and AVS…” and shows the Pandora icon along with several others. Pandora is not in the app as you’ve noted. I can only assume that AVS is Alexa Voice Services or something like that. My guess is that you have to use the Wiim Mini’s Alexa integration to Play Pandora. If you have an IOS device, you should be able to Airplay your Pandora to the Wiim Mini. Let us Know and thanks for watching.
To be honest, I haven't tried. The experience of selecting music is very similar in the Wiim Home app. The only thing I miss using their app is lyrics. I can use my iPad if I'm wanting that while using the Wiim Mini. This is something that may work itself out eventually with an OS, app, and/or firmware update. Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised the next time I try. Thanks for watching.
Do you know which services stream through the mobile app? I would expect that spotify connect and tidal connect are streamed directly by the wiim, and would like to know whether that works for other services like tunein, too (i.e. I would be able to kill the app or listen to something else on my phone). Thanks!
The app lists these services: Tunein, iHeartRadio, Spotify, QQMusic, Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer, Napster, Qobuz, and vTuner. Spotify Connect works without a hitch (as shone.) I've read that Tidal Connect doesn't work but your mileage may vary. Amazon Music works through their app and I got it to work the Amazon app on my iPad. I just tested and I was able to play Amazon Music through the Wiim Home app on my Android phone and simultaneously play a UA-cam video (with sound on my phone.) I also achieved the same thing with Spotify Connect. That is the Wiim Mini Streamer will continue to take "commands" from the phone but do the actual streaming while us use the phone to produce other sound. Thanks for watching!
@@alexhofmann5844 Keep in mind that "casting" from the Amazon Music app only works if you have Alexa connected with the WiiM app. It doesn't actually cast, it just tells your Amazon account/Alexa what to play on the device you selected (WiiM Mini in this case). Unfortunately I cannot verify that it does lossless, the Amazon Music app just says "streaming quality is not available while casting" (translated from German). It definitely doesn't do gapless, I can tell you that much.
@@alexhofmann5844 It does but only in HiFi - not in Master which its a shame as the Wiim can do 24 / 192. I bought the device but cannot get 24 / 192 vis streaming on Amazon or Tidal so a a bit disappointed.
My Loxjie DAC/amp is really the only way I have to check. I've seen other online reviews that say the same thing (i.e. the Mini resamples to 48K.) This would be consistent with Arylic devices which also use 4Stream. I can't say for sure though.
@@davesmusicchannel7050 I believe that only (don't quote me on this) applies if you output through optical toslink. The internal DAC does 24bit/192KHz, though I cannot confirm this through their App because it gives no information on sample rate/bit-depth
@@gomikuzu8408 Great point. This is probably the case. It allows them to say it does high res. Of course all reports are that it's internal DAC doesn't sound very good. For $84, I'd rather send 48K to the DAC of my choice than put high res through a mediocre DAC.
This is terrible for streaming Amazon music as it down samples everything via the optical output. Also casting from your phone will also down sample amazon music. Something that is above CD quality is going to sound worse than CD quality once it has been downsampled to CD quality. Once something has been downsampled or upsampled, its not really lossless any more as information will be lost in the process. Also Pretty sure if you enable alexa this will also let you stream via the amazon app directly.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say terrible. This is definitely NOT audiophile equipment because of the resampling. Let’s hope the talk of a firmware update fixing this comes true. I won’t hold my breath. Even the Amazon Link resamples to 48K.
It looks similar but there are differences. The Wiim Mini supports Airplay 2 and Audiocast M5 does not. That matters to some. The M5 only has a 3.5 mm analog output so you have to rely on its internal DAC. The Wiim Mini has an optical out that let's you send the digital stream to an external DAC. That matters a lot to me. Based on some of the reviews of the M5 I just read, I'm glad I paid $84 for the Wiim Mini. Thanks for watching.
@@davesmusicchannel7050 I built a 5-zone multi-room system on the M5 and have been using it for 4 years now, every day the online radio automatically turns on as an alarm clock. Airplay is in M5 but probably the first version. The software is being updated, the latest firmware came in the fall, and this means that the product is still being developed. Perfectly suits my purposes.
@@PedroFromOkrugna I think that’s fantastic. I’m glad you have something that has the features you want and works for you. I’m simply pointing out that there is a justification for the price difference. Airplay 2 vs. Airplay matters to some people. Digital out vs. only analog out matters to some people. That’s the beauty of all this, everyone gets to decide what matters to them and what they’re willing to pay for it. I wouldn’t call the Wiim Mini an audiophile streamer because of the resampling to 48K via optical output. However, it’s good enough for me. For those who need bit perfect high res music, this isn’t for them and the $500 Bluesound may be. Rock on!
Really informative video. Could you do one more on how to play internet radio through the mini? Thank you
Work with You Tube Music?
Hi Dave, Appreciate the review. I ordered one to pair with my loxjie also. I was using iPad - Dongle - USB but dongle is acting up and must have a short from plugging it in so many times. Either way I refuse to buy another apple dongle so this will hopefully free me from cable nirvana. I use Amazon music and dlna from personal collection on a Synology so this will hopefully be perfect for my use cases. Thanks.
Also if you have a receiver with an optical out, you will get the best audio quality streaming Amazon music through your firestick plugged straight into the receiver. As that way the stream comes directly through the firestick and your phone just acts as a remote.
5:06 - Alexa languages include Canada. Canada is not a language.
Just now ordered on Amazon
I don't have a smart phone but my wife does. I'm only interested in Amz Music HD. Could I initially set up the Wiim on her smart phone but then control the Wiim from the Amz Music app on a Fire tablet?
I don't know for sure. However, I'm willing to bet that the Wiim will show up as a connected device in the Amazon Music HD app on your tablet. You can also set the Wiim up as a connected device in your Alexa app and tell Alexa to play things on Amazon Music through the Wiim. I may make a video about that.
Hi Dave, I probably not the only person who does have constant access to a smart phone. Is the Wiim app needed for day to day control? I'd prefer to set the Wiim up initially and from then on cede control to the Fire tablet (it has Alexa). This scenario should be easy enough to test?
@@trevorbartram5473 I think you'd be alright. You can access the Wiim via the Amazon Music app, Spotify Connect, and Tisal Connect. Alexa control is not hard to set up. The Wiim Home app is not necessary for day to day use.
At .33 the WiiM page shows that Pandora works with this streamer, yet when using the WiiM Home app and looking under Browse, Music services it is not listed. Also, when using the Pandora app, I see no option to cast like you can in Spotify. What am I missing?
I just looked and the web page says, “…through its companion app and AVS…” and shows the Pandora icon along with several others. Pandora is not in the app as you’ve noted. I can only assume that AVS is Alexa Voice Services or something like that. My guess is that you have to use the Wiim Mini’s Alexa integration to Play Pandora. If you have an IOS device, you should be able to Airplay your Pandora to the Wiim Mini. Let us Know and thanks for watching.
Curious if you solved the issue with the android phone and casting through Amazon hds official app?
To be honest, I haven't tried. The experience of selecting music is very similar in the Wiim Home app. The only thing I miss using their app is lyrics. I can use my iPad if I'm wanting that while using the Wiim Mini. This is something that may work itself out eventually with an OS, app, and/or firmware update. Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised the next time I try. Thanks for watching.
Do you know which services stream through the mobile app? I would expect that spotify connect and tidal connect are streamed directly by the wiim, and would like to know whether that works for other services like tunein, too (i.e. I would be able to kill the app or listen to something else on my phone). Thanks!
The app lists these services: Tunein, iHeartRadio, Spotify, QQMusic, Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer, Napster, Qobuz, and vTuner. Spotify Connect works without a hitch (as shone.) I've read that Tidal Connect doesn't work but your mileage may vary. Amazon Music works through their app and I got it to work the Amazon app on my iPad. I just tested and I was able to play Amazon Music through the Wiim Home app on my Android phone and simultaneously play a UA-cam video (with sound on my phone.) I also achieved the same thing with Spotify Connect. That is the Wiim Mini Streamer will continue to take "commands" from the phone but do the actual streaming while us use the phone to produce other sound. Thanks for watching!
Tidal Connect works beautifully. It was added via software update.
@@alexhofmann5844 Keep in mind that "casting" from the Amazon Music app only works if you have Alexa connected with the WiiM app. It doesn't actually cast, it just tells your Amazon account/Alexa what to play on the device you selected (WiiM Mini in this case). Unfortunately I cannot verify that it does lossless, the Amazon Music app just says "streaming quality is not available while casting" (translated from German). It definitely doesn't do gapless, I can tell you that much.
@@alexhofmann5844 It does but only in HiFi - not in Master which its a shame as the Wiim can do 24 / 192. I bought the device but cannot get 24 / 192 vis streaming on Amazon or Tidal so a a bit disappointed.
Hello, the wiim mini have Mqa? Thanks
No MQA with the Wiim.
Again, no Chromecast support also on this device :(
can you check if this streemer really streem Hi Res audio?
My Loxjie DAC/amp is really the only way I have to check. I've seen other online reviews that say the same thing (i.e. the Mini resamples to 48K.) This would be consistent with Arylic devices which also use 4Stream. I can't say for sure though.
@@davesmusicchannel7050 I believe that only (don't quote me on this) applies if you output through optical toslink. The internal DAC does 24bit/192KHz, though I cannot confirm this through their App because it gives no information on sample rate/bit-depth
@@gomikuzu8408 Great point. This is probably the case. It allows them to say it does high res. Of course all reports are that it's internal DAC doesn't sound very good. For $84, I'd rather send 48K to the DAC of my choice than put high res through a mediocre DAC.
Pity that you blurred the screen when entering the password… I am your neighbour
These are about $100 on amazon right now! 😐
This is terrible for streaming Amazon music as it down samples everything via the optical output. Also casting from your phone will also down sample amazon music. Something that is above CD quality is going to sound worse than CD quality once it has been downsampled to CD quality. Once something has been downsampled or upsampled, its not really lossless any more as information will be lost in the process. Also Pretty sure if you enable alexa this will also let you stream via the amazon app directly.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say terrible. This is definitely NOT audiophile equipment because of the resampling. Let’s hope the talk of a firmware update fixing this comes true. I won’t hold my breath. Even the Amazon Link resamples to 48K.
looks like a audiocast m5, but 2x expensive
It looks similar but there are differences. The Wiim Mini supports Airplay 2 and Audiocast M5 does not. That matters to some. The M5 only has a 3.5 mm analog output so you have to rely on its internal DAC. The Wiim Mini has an optical out that let's you send the digital stream to an external DAC. That matters a lot to me. Based on some of the reviews of the M5 I just read, I'm glad I paid $84 for the Wiim Mini. Thanks for watching.
@@davesmusicchannel7050 I built a 5-zone multi-room system on the M5 and have been using it for 4 years now, every day the online radio automatically turns on as an alarm clock. Airplay is in M5 but probably the first version. The software is being updated, the latest firmware came in the fall, and this means that the product is still being developed. Perfectly suits my purposes.
@@PedroFromOkrugna I think that’s fantastic. I’m glad you have something that has the features you want and works for you. I’m simply pointing out that there is a justification for the price difference. Airplay 2 vs. Airplay matters to some people. Digital out vs. only analog out matters to some people. That’s the beauty of all this, everyone gets to decide what matters to them and what they’re willing to pay for it. I wouldn’t call the Wiim Mini an audiophile streamer because of the resampling to 48K via optical output. However, it’s good enough for me. For those who need bit perfect high res music, this isn’t for them and the $500 Bluesound may be. Rock on!
It downsamples. I mean for the money it’s good.