Article: A Tale Of Two Streamers

[bobfa]

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[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks for the article @bobfa and to @DuckToller for leading the charge on the WiiM Mini for quite a while. 

 

Such cool stuff, and for peanut$!

[bobfa]

This one has been a lot of fun.  I am going to teach my family how to use the WiiM app so it is easy for them to play music around the house.  

[DuckToller]

Thank you @bobfa for this lovely article which invites us into your personal audiophile hobby experience. Love it!!!

[DuckToller]

15 minutes ago, bobfa said:

This one has been a lot of fun.  I am going to teach my family how to use the WiiM app so it is easy for them to play music around the house.  

I've understood that the WIIM now streams in 16/48 quality in multiroom mode.

[firedog]

Most audiophiles would be shocked if they did a blind comparison of some of these inexpensive streamers to more expensive units.

Not putting more expensive stuff down (I have an upscale streamer), but some of these low end solutions are the equal, or near equal, of some units costing many times more. 

[audiobomber]

@bobfa, try BubbleUpNP with your WiiM. It should provide the features you are lacking.

The WiiM Pro looks far more interesting than the Mini, for only $50 more.  

[DuckToller]

21 minutes ago, audiobomber said:

@bobfa, try BubbleUpNP with your WiiM. It should provide the features you are lacking.

The WiiM Pro looks far more interesting than the Mini, for only $50 more.  

@audiobomberClearly biased by the chromcast feature ... 😉

[ted_b]

Thanks for this happy memory, Bob.  I had the first prototype (and then actual production version) of Dan's modded Transporter back then, and was referenced in Srajan's review (yellow sidebar box on page two).  Ah, those were the days.  We'd go back and forth on tube ideas, rectifier sizes, etc.   It had a special place on the top of my rack, and visitors would oggle.  I called it my Flash Gordon machine!  Wow, fifteen years ago!!  Neal then swapped me out the production version.  Happy thoughts.  :)

[bobfa]

51 minutes ago, audiobomber said:

@bobfa, try BubbleUpNP with your WiiM. It should provide the features you are lacking.

The WiiM Pro looks far more interesting than the Mini, for only $50 more.  

I really want the folks at Linkplay to round out their offering!  

 

UPNP might be interesting.  I will pay with Audirvanna and Jriver because their mobile apps are a bit "better" on IOS.  But I will keep reporting bugs and feature requests to WiiM.  

 

The WiiM pro is basically the same, faster processor and more memory I think.  The extra interfaces are nice for some of us. I like Ethernet for some use cases.  COAX is interesting.  I am sure someone around here will grab one and start playing with it.

 

 

 

[bobfa]

25 minutes ago, ted_b said:

Thanks for this happy memory, Bob.  I had the first prototype (and then actual production version) of Dan's modded Transporter back then, and was referenced in Srajan's review (yellow sidebar box on page two).  Ah, those were the days.  We'd go back and forth on tube ideas, rectifier sizes, etc.   It had a special place on the top of my rack, and visitors would oggle.  I called it my Flash Gordon machine!  Wow, fifteen years ago!!  Neal then swapped me out the production version.  Happy thoughts.  :)

Neat!  What is the box on top of the transporter

[Kelly]

A Squeezebox Touch was my 2nd stop in streaming audio (after the Roku M1001.) It still makes me sad they couldn’t make a longer running business. Why did they fail? Were they just ahead of their time?

[ted_b]

37 minutes ago, bobfa said:

Neat!  What is the box on top of the transporter

That is a Shakti Stone, an older audiophile accessory that sold itself as an electromagnetic stabilizer (EMI absorber).  I put it over the Transporter's power supply.  Later I had it cover my subpanel (attached to subpanel door) and swear it lowered the noise floor and calmed the soundstage down overall.  Who knows.  :)

[Cebolla]

2 hours ago, audiobomber said:

@bobfa, try BubbleUpNP with your WiiM. It should provide the features you are lacking.

The WiiM Pro looks far more interesting than the Mini, for only $50 more.  

 

May be not so lacking in the future - WiiM support have recently mentioned the possibility of providing native LMS support via Squeezelite in a software update:

https://wiim.community.forum/threads/lms-squeezelite-support-mini.26/#post-192

  

[audiobomber]

4 hours ago, bobfa said:

I really want the folks at Linkplay to round out their offering!  

 

UPNP might be interesting.  I will pay with Audirvanna and Jriver because their mobile apps are a bit "better" on IOS.  But I will keep reporting bugs and feature requests to WiiM.  

 

The WiiM pro is basically the same, faster processor and more memory I think.  The extra interfaces are nice for some of us. I like Ethernet for some use cases.  COAX is interesting.  I am sure someone around here will grab one and start playing with it.

Lots of extra features on the Pro:

https://wiim.community.forum/threads/wiim-pro-preview.9/

 

[bobfa]

1 hour ago, audiobomber said:

Lots of extra features on the Pro:

https://wiim.community.forum/threads/wiim-pro-preview.9/

 

Read their new web site that shows the differences between the Mini and the pro.  They are not so far apart.

 

https://wiimhome.com/WiiMMini/Overview

 

I am very sure they have the same DAC chip.  Until we have them in hand we will not really know it all.  

 

1.  The folks at Linkplay are updating software on a regular basis

2. About one year later from the Mini launch they are releasing more feature rich hardware

3.  They seem to be open about their roadmap.

4.  Pricing / Value ratio is very high

5  It looks like availability is pretty good.

 

 

 

 It is more proof that Schiit Audio has been on the right track.  (My opinion). Think about how easy it would be to add this to an older stereo or the like.    In some ways they are out-doing both Sonos and Bluesound.    They are a killer front end for a basic headphone DAC/amp.  Which reminds me I need to find a tube headphone amp for my Modwright transporter.  Talk about KILLER!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DuckToller]

The real add ons are (imho)

- Ethernet (function to be tested)

- analog RCA inputs (I.e. for phono preamp)

- Digital /Toslink in (I.E. for CD/DVD player)

And for the users who like it, chromecast compatibility.

 

Which makes the Pro a kind of Pre with digital & analog inputs, which allows you to receive the input signal via multiroom elsewhere in your house.

 

And you are right, the DAC chip is unchanged. But I would see the device rather as streamer / transport than an endpoint device.

 

Edit: they - Linkplay -  use the more powerful A98 module with the Pro, compared to the A97 with the Mini.

 

[skyline]

BT Electronic Opus is such a great album. 

 

I had forgotten about it, and just listened to it again.

[jcbenten]

I have owned a Touch since their introduction...if WiiM Pro adds Squeezelite I am in...Nothing  ever came around that would entice me to change.  Thanks for the article.  Very cool. 

 

Ebay has a brand new Transporter listed, sans ModWright of course.

[Cebolla]

Indeed - a WiiM Squeezebox would be most appreciated.

[feelingears]

Just to clarify the obvious since I don't know – LMS has to be supported by the endpoint hardware, mostly likely running Squeezelite or similar, correct?

 

(I'm just cribbing from the Sonore Rendu output modes because that was the last time I used LMS. Seems like it would be great to have another LMS capable device like this!)

[bobfa]

I do not know if Linkplay would consider putting LMS (the server) on the WiiM devices.  I think that would be too much.  The endpoint portion AKA Squeeze Lite software would be really cool.

 

 

I worry that they are over burdening the system I hope that the additional complexity does nothing “bad”

[scintilla]

The Transporter was a really good design in its day and I thoroughly enjoyed mine while I had it. However, it was limited to 24/96 by it's receiver chip.  The SBT, once the digital out mode was enabled allowed 24/192 and sounded just as good as the Transporter functioning as just a transport into a good outboard DAC. I used one of my many SBT's this way into an NAD M51 for many years until the advent of Roon, the USBridge and better DACs.  Since Roon supports squeezeboxen as endpoints and is a much better interface than LMS, I moved on.  I haven't looked back.  There was much to praise about the Transporter, in it's day.  That day has passed.  It isn't a classic set of Tannoys or a Marantz 10b.  It is fine to enjoy clasic hardware, but good to keep perspective.  I would much rather have an Allo bridge or an SBT connected to a Topping D90 or another roll your own DAC than a Transporter these days if I was setting up a system in that budget bracket. Although I do enjoy the colorations that a tube voltage stage can deliver, that added output stage really negated what the Transporter did best: an ultra-low noise floor better than almost everything else on the market in 2007.  So to me, that just makes zero sense...

[taipan254]

Very cool / innovative headphone setup with the WiiM Mini! Thanks for the inspiration Bob! 

[AudioDoctor]

I have always been intrigued by the ModWright Sonic Transporter, then and now. What a neat device and I am glad they're still making music and making people happy.