WiiM Mini AirPlay 2 Wireless Audio Streamer, Multiroom Stereo, Preamplifier, Works with Alexa and Siri Voice Assistants, Stream Hi-Res Audio from Spotify, Amazon Music and More

If you use SPDIF instead of internal Dac, this little device would let you forget about the expensive BlueSound Node, the troublesome and unstable raspberry pi runs on any OS. This is simply the easiest and best solution by far. The downside would be that it uses it's own app to log into all the music services. You won't be able to browse through the native APP UI from spotify, tidal, qobuz or even amazon music.I haven't tried gapless so I can't put down "it just works" stamp yet! However, hi-res does work as expected. There are some glitches and bugs from Amazon Music though. When comparing to Qobuz, it simply just works as bit perfect. On the Amazon Music HD/UHD I believed it's probably Amazon's fault here. There will be constrain on bitrate and sampling rate if you output from TV because it's running mostly Android OS (ye! I am looking at you Amazon FireTV 4k Stick). You will only get 48k. However, on the Wiim mini is another story. It's better to show 24bit, but sometimes it's not bit perfect. it doesn't always shows properly up to 192k.Due to the inconsistency of Amazon music. Depends on your Dac, your streamer box (a computer, an iphone, tv, or wiim mini) they all behave differently. I can't grasp which one is the "best" solution or claim to be bit perfect here. But Amazon music seems to output hi-res music for sure. Amazon still need to work on their device compatibility issues though.For qobuz, it works like a breeze. Always accurate, and always works! I've had raspberry pi ran through LMS, volumio, audirvana, and roon before. If you want me to choose what's the best solution for sound quality and simplicity, I would choose wiim mini.Although you don't have a roon or audirvana as centralized server. You can't "stream" music to every devices from a home server. You will lose "screen display" feature on your computer or tv. However, you will not bump into audirvana can't switch playback devices or roon constantly having server down issues you need to restart the server. Best of all, you don't need to deal with LMS or volumio just another update that something "doesn't work" again.For the sound quality, I compare to Qobuz, it is indeed a close match. To be easy to use and bit perfect, Qobuz is obviously the best choice. Amazon music comes in second with this wiim mini.Best of all was the Alexa integration. It's now possible to tell Alexa to play music, and on wiim mini side, it starts to play bit perfect hi-res music. That's simply the missing piece from the echo eco system that Amazon did not have on their own products unless you've gone for Echo Studio. Amazon really need to do some catch up.It will sound better than you use Amazon FireTV 4k Sticks plug into the AVR before TV. Due to "compatibility" issues, versions of FireTV OS, and FireTV hardware. Not all FireTV works right out of box. In addition, not all AVR works with FireTV stick either. So I am grateful that Wiim Mini simply skips that whole route all together.The weak link would be spotify connect (not very sure if spotify connect is ever going to support bit perfect when spotify finally release hi res audio). Tidal works okay but obviously your DAC needs to decode MQA because wiim mini can't do that from internal DAC. Best experiences comes from Qobuz and Amazon Music HD/UHD. Bluetooth was alright. When you can stream through WIFI, why bother with Bluetooth?However, the streaming service is very limited. It won't support even something like Pandora just yet! You really need to use Airplay2 to playback those type of music services.

I really liked the idea of the Chromecast Audio but was always frustrated with its lack of support for Hi-Res Amazon Music playback and what I felt was relatively poor sound quality via the Toslink output. Looking to replace it, I struggled to find something suitable. I wanted a device with digital audio output(s) for use with my external DAC, Amazon Music HD/UHD compatibility at full resolution, and the ability to play local files stored on my NAS. Amazon's Echo Link came close but lacked high-res audio support over its Toslink output making it a no-go. The Bluesound node had everything I wanted but came with a price tag that made me pause to scour for any other possible alternatives. I then remembered a device that I had seen advertised by a value oriented Hi-Fi Youtuber: The Wiim Mini.After taking a look at the Wiim, I found out that it checked most of my boxes and though it definitely worth a listen given the affordable cost. I also noticed that it ran on 5V DC power, thus allowing me to power it with an extra iFi iPower 2 power supply I had laying around. I also had a spare Pangea Premier SE Toslink cable to connect it to my DAC (a Denafrips Ares II). I was immediately struck by the audio quality of the combination on my system.I find the Wiim Home app reasonably easy to use, the settings fairly intuitive, and the pace of updates makes quite clear that Wiim is listening to and addressing its customers' issues. I've encountered a couple of bugs with pausing tracks, but those have largely been addressed. I really like that after the app updates, I'm greeted with a brief description of changes / fixes applied. That along with the pace of updates inspires a pretty high degree of confidence in Wiim's support. I also love the ability to manually connect to an online stream and save it as a preset. I use this feature to listen to the BBC World Service's higher bitrate AAC stream. Playback of high-res files from my NAS is also a snap.All in all, I really love the Wiim Mini's awesome functionality, great sound quality, via Toslink, and the idea that even with the upgraded power supply and Toslink cable, it still came in under half the price of the Bluesound Node. I rarely take the time to write a review, but this thing is absolutely worth it to do so along with its great price. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a great sounding & inexpensive streamer.Pros:* Sounds wonderful via the Toslink output and an external DAC* Full-size Toslink fully supports 24 bit / 192 kHz output.* Most affordable streamer to support Amazon Music HD/UHD.* Utilizes 5V DC power making it compatible with iFi iPower & linear power supplies for a great upgrade* Supports a wealth of playback & streaming service options* Looks to be adding support for casting Amazon HD/UHD audio from the Amazon Music app (yea!)Cons:* A few minor bugs in the Wiim Home app (pause/play mainly).* Have found myself looking for and not finding a simple stop playback (square) option.