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

Forget the built-in DAC on this device. The star of the show is competent, no-fuss streaming with or without the company's app at a good enough resolution for anyone for under $100. Use the included TOSLINK optical cable to feed that steamed digital data to a DAC or an amp/preamp/receiver with a built-in DAC, and voila, your streaming service music or music stored on a local network device has full access to your sound system. And if you really dig the freedom that comes with this kind of setup, ditch your proprietary streaming service apps too and use DLNA/UPnP (via apps like BubbleUPnP) to feed your system its digital audio. Whatever you do, do NOT convince yourself that you need a more expensive streamer. You don't. This is all you'll ever need to get streaming service music to your sound system. Also, do not convince yourself you need a more expensive TOSLINK cable than the one included with this device. Gold plating and electronic shielding aren't going to help with a fiber optic signal! My personal system? WiiM Mini -> desktop DAC -> electrostatic headphone amplifier -> electrostatic headphones. It's wonderful. One nice touch is that because the Mini requires so little power, I can save an outlet and just plug it into the USB accessory port on my DAC (Cambridge Audio DACmagic Plus) and it turns on and off with the DAC. No real problems setting up the device, or maintaining a Wi-Fi connection to my consumer mesh home Wi-Fi system. Wi-Fi connects almost instantaneously. The WiiM Mini supports parametric EQ! I use a PEQ profile for my headphones from AutoEQ (which is a free website). It sounds great. The WiiM Mini Highly recommended!

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.

Here's what I said in my first review.... (look below to see why I bought a second, or just get one already). It does what it says, it does it well, and at a reasonable price. Now for the audio nerds out there... So, I can stream directly to my receiver using its built-in AirPlay2. It sounds fine, And I know that it's better to get lossless data directly into my external DAC, which sounds way better than the DACs built-in to my receiver. But for convenience, nothing beats AirPlay streaming to the WiiM Mini, which connects to my external DAC via Optical. Does it sound as good as a direct connection to the DAC (no AirPlay AAC shenanigans involved)? No, it does not. But it definitely sounds WAY better than streaming AirPlay to my receiver's DACs, and so much more convenient than direct-connecting to the DAC. When I want to do attentive listening, I use an iPad connected via USB-C to the USB input of the Denafrips. When I just want to hear the Denafrips as part of my whole-house sound, the WiiM mini is my first choice. Looks like the internal DACs on my receiver are now relegated to Home Theater. The Mini is super easy to set up, it inhabits my AirPlay whole-house sound system beautifully, and the app even has some nice music discovery features of its own. This morning my "alarm clock" automation went off. It played SomaFM in my bedroom, and in the Home Theater through the Mini and into my external DAC. I made coffee, and spent a little time in from of the home theater/Denafrips system and thought... "yep, that sounds nice". That's all I was after, and that's exactly what I got. Nice job WiiM. I may get a couple more Minis before they introduce a new model that doesn't have AirPlay2 (I know, they're only rumors). == UPDATE == So yes, I just bought my second WiiM Mini, and this time it's to run a second zone in my house as part of an AirPlay setup. My AVR has two zones, and I was using the AVR for that, but it's nowhere near as convenient as having another AirPlay device. However, I want better sound than I can get from a HomePod, and I have in-wall speakers that I want to use. In-wall speakers sound better than a HomePod? Well, if they're decent and driven by a decent zone amp (I'm looking at you Parasound ZAmp), and you use the WiiM Room Correction feature, then YES, it's not even close. The Room Correction feature worked so well in my setup that my in-wall speakers in the dining room actually sound very good now. Like not just good, but very good (not mindblowing either, but I'll take very good for this application). So yeah, the Mini has shown itself to be a great little swiss army knife and that's just using the AirPlay capability. WiiM Mini with Room Correction is killer.

surprisingly small and light device. setup is easy and straight forward i had it hooked up to an old marantz receiver powering wharfedale diamond 12.1. it streams perfectly fine and the sound quality is there but there wasn’t quite enough power so i had to turn my avr quite high. almost near max. i don’t want to get an amp just to stream so this is a return for me. there is only one other thing i would complain about and that is when u select another song it cuts off the first half or full second of the song. it’s not a big deal but it bothers me since it doesn’t feel as seamless.

This player really impressed me. I have been using an echo dot for a Spotify cast device for a few years now and really wanted to have Airplay as an option since I have my own music too. Finally broke down and picked this up, should have years ago. Sound is excellent and Spotify saw it immediately. Airplay works perfect as expected. Right now just using wifi, and no issues at all. Nice also to have a wired ethernet option as well as a digital audio output. App is easy to use and really so far only needed for setting up.

Here’s why this is a better deal than all the other wiim streamers IF, you have an amplifier with an internal DAC, which is decent and you enjoy its sound characteristics. For example, I have a Denon 600 amp which I prefer the warm smooth sound of its DAC over all of Wiim product DACs, which in my view sound too detailed and bright. If this applies to you then here’s the reasoning, why you should get the mini and none of the other ones: - At an unbearable price, you’ll get a streamer that supports Airplay 2 and online streaming through native apps like Tiday, Qobuz, etc. Now remember the flagship Wiim ultra doesn’t support airplay, so if you love your Apple Music library, then the ultra is already out. - Airplay support allows you to stick with your Apple Music library without having to pay additional subscription fees for Tidal, Qobuz, etc. - Yes streaming via Airplay has some compression, so it’s not true lossless, but realistically you’re still getting pretty close to CD quality and you don’t have to discard your entire Apple Music library. PRO TIP: You can still get true lossless audio even via Airplay, if you play it through your Apple TV 4K music app and send it to your Wiim Mini. - Even if you don’t want to use Mini’s Airplay, you can still use the Wiim’s native streaming apps like Tidal and not sacrifice that little bit of compression that occurs with Airplay. So by choosing the mini, you’re not depriving yourself of those native apps. - Wiim’s native streaming apps advertise hifi streaming. Well, in case of tidal for example, unless you’re willing to dish out $20/mo for the Hifi Plus tier, you’re not getting any resolution higher than 16-bit/44.1 kHz regardless of which wiim product you use. And even if you are willing to pay for the more expensive subscription, not all songs in their library have that higher resolution (24-bit/192kHz). So, realistically, regardless of your wiim product, most of the times your best resoltion is that of CD quality (I.e. 16-bit/44.1 kHz). So, why not stick with the mini and save some money. - Pro plus and ultra variants have progressively better internal DAC’s but if you’re going to use your amp’s DAC you’ll be bypassing the wiim DAC anyways, so their quality won’t matter. If that’s the case, then why not get the mini and save some money? - The ultra looks much nicer and has much higher build quality but you have to give up Airplay since it won’t support it and the real question is are you willing to spend 3x the cost of the mini just for looks, few additional inputs, and a touch screen that accordingly to most reviews isn’t even that impressive? If that’s you, then by all means spend that extra $$$, but if you just want a solid streamer at unbeatable price, I’d still get the mini.

I recently bought a Denon CEOL all in one receiver with HEOS built in. So I needed to decide which streaming service (WIIM vs HEOS) I was going to use. Denon had had problematic software control, which was significantly upgraded in January 2024. It seems to work fairly well, now. WIIM seems to receive almost (not quite, but close) universal praise for its control software. Why I went with WIIM: * Greater chance of fewer problems with software. * More flexible in that I could use inexpensive speakers, and my existing legacy gear with it. * As one who uses hearing aids, I am unlikely to get to the point where HEOS's promised higher fidelity (and higher subsequent costs) will make a significant difference to me. * WIIM supports one of my favorite 2nd tier streaming services, Calm Radio), and HEOS does not. WHAT I LIKE ABOUT the WIIM mini: * VERY tiny! it sits on top of my elderly Technics SA GX190 with the vent holes on top in the area with no vent holes with room to spare in the spot with NO vent holes. * It came with all the cables I needed to connect my device to my Technics, and even included stuff I couldn't use. * It connected to the aux in RCA ports of my Technics reliever quite well. And the legacy Technics can control bass, treble, & volume quite readily. * Setup was EASY an straight forward. I believe literally ANYONE can do it. * Sound is VERY good, With or without my Hearing aids. My wife who doesn't uses HAs also thinks the streaming sound is very good. Maybe not as good as the new Denon HEOS streaming, but that could be the quality of speakers on the Denon as opposed to the Technics. * The WIIM software is easy to use after set up. I like using my Android device as a remote control for the mini. WHAT I DON'T Like about the WIIM Mini: * Only one thing really. The cord that connected the miniplug out of the mini to the RCA connectors, was all black (both RCA pins), so I couldn't tell which cord was 'left' and which was "Right'. I must have guessed correctly because it worked OK. I upgraded to a third party cable. IN CONCLUSION: I am pleased with my purchase. It seems well made, and the performance is better than I expected. The sound is quite good, particularly for a casual listener, even those who aren't hearing impaired. Could you do better? Yes, but I doubt you could do better for less than $100 US. Connectivity is good, Set up is easy, and the software is easy to use. I will likely expand my whole house audio system with WIIM products, even one for my Denon CEOL receiver.

Caution! The WiiM Mini is a gateway to owning additional WiiM products. WiiM Mini (the internal DAC provides very decent audio. The WiiM Mini is great for music streaming, i.e. Spotify Connect. The WiiM Bluetooth (BT) remote control can be purchased separately and also as a bundle with the WiiM Mini.) [Update 7/3/24: Some of the WiiM music streaming products, i.e. The WiiM Amplifier, WiiM Pro Plus and the soon to be released WiiM Ultra Preamplifier now support WiiM's room correction. Note: The WiiM Mini does not support WiiM room correction at this time. I do not know if the WiiM Pro (non-Plus) music streaming device supports the WiiM room correction. I only own WiiM Amplifier(s), WiiM Pro Plus and WiiM Mini music streaming devices that I purchased on Amazon. The WiiM room correction works with the WiiM Home app and the microphone in your iOS iPhone (not sure about Android phones.) In less than a minute the WiiM Home app and supported WiiM streaming device will analyze the in-room frequency response of your speakers. The WiiM room correction creates a custom 10 band parametric equalizer response curve that you can name and save or just use the default name "Auto". I also used the WiiM room correction with a subwoofer in a 2 channel system with the WiiM Amplifier with bass management and achieved good results. The results of using the WiiM room correction with my system(s) have been impressive. Room correction resulted in cleaner bass, better bass and drum definition, and improved midrange. LPT: You can temporarily connect a WiiM Pro Plus to any 2 channel or 2.1 channel audio system where you normally have a WiiM Mini. Then perform the WiiM room correction and save the room EQ settings. You can later write down or screenshot the WiiM room correction EQ values and manually apply the room correction EQ settings to the WiiM Mini at a later time. Unless you rearrange your room, change the speakers or your preferred listening position you should not need to re-run the room correction.] The WiiM Mini has led me to purchase the WiiM Pro Plus (features a better DAC than the WiiM Mini, a BT remote control and support for Chromecast (I don't use this feature) and the WiiM Amp. I could have saved a bunch of $ if I had started with the WiiM Amp, skipped purchasing separate integrated amplifiers and the WiiM Mini and WiiM Pro Plus. Although this is my review of the excellent WiiM Mini, do yourself a favor and consider getting the WiiM Amp instead. *) The WiiM Home phone app to Spotify Connect integration is very good, easy to use. The sound quality when using the WiiM Mini (and other WiiM music devices) when streaming Spotify Connect is very good. (The WiiM Mini's sound quality when streaming Spotify is currently Ogg Vorbis format compressed audio (320kbps, 16 bits, 44.1kHz) **. The sound is so close to uncompressed CD quality (at least to my ears) that I no longer bother playing my CDs. I have disconnected my CD player and have hauled my remaining CDs to the basement because it is just too easy to call up playlists, artists, albums and songs at will using the WiiM Home app. * Note: As an integrated Class D amplifier/music streaming device the WiiM Amp has some limitations. The WiiM Amp does not have a built-in phono stage or a built in headphone jack (you can however pair BT earbuds or headphones with the WiiM Amp). The WiiM Amp only has a single RCA stereo line input connection (in addition to one optical digital input.) The WiiM Amp supports USB playback. The WiiM Amp provides connections for one pair of wired passive stereo speakers (4 Ohm or greater.) There is also an RCA subwoofer output with bass management via the WiiM Home app.) ** Note: The WiiM Mini and other WiiM music streamers are capable of streaming higher quality (uncompressed, lossless) audio including Amazon HD Music, Tidal and Deezer. (I do not currently use these music services.) [Update 6/3/24] I purchased another WiiM Mini to solve an issue I was having with the WiiM Amplifier. The WiiM Amp is a brilliant product in almost every respect. One notable exception is Wi-Fi connectivity. In my home the WiiM Amp only has acceptable Wi-Fi connectivity when the WiiM Amp is placed close, i.e. within the same room as my wireless router. To solve this issue, I use the WiiM Mini as a Wi-Fi music streamer. I connect the WiiM Mini to the WiiM Amp via the optical cable and this gets around my WiiM Amp Wi-Fi performance issues. (The optical connection is 24 bit, 192 kbps.) I stream Spotify Premium exclusively, I can't hear any difference when using the WiiM Amp with Wi-FI (placed close to the W-Fi router) or when using the WiiM Mini and the optical output from the WiiM Mini to the optical input of the WiiM Amp. Now I can locate WiiM Amps in different rooms in my home and not have Wi-Fi connectivity issues. This works for me. Maybe this solution will work for you if you are having WiiM Amp Wi-Fi issues.