WiiM Pro Plus Audio Streamer

OK, yes, technically, Slim Devices was first out of the gate with a proper audio streamer – the Squeezebox launched back in 2001 – and Apple’s Airport Express/iTunes combo joined the party just a few years later. But I’ll freely admit, I didn’t warm to the concept of wireless audio streaming until I fell into the Sonos eco-system… up until then it all felt a bit dweeby.

Remarkably, it’s now been two decades since I caved in and first bought a ZP80 (later dubbed the Connect), the brand’s first streamer without built-in amplification. Today, in a world where subscription-based services now dominate the way we consume music, the choice of streaming options has become way more plentiful. I still have a functional Sonos Connect, so was intrigued to try a more contemporary equivalent. Which is where the WiiM Pro Plus enters the story.

Launched in 2023, the Pro Plus is a £249 multi-room streamer and pre-amp, created under the auspices of the WiiM brand by LinkPlay, an Chinese enterprise that’s been responsible for developing wireless audio ecosystems used by a myriad of other brands over the years. It sits in a four-model streamer line-up that starts with the puck-shaped WiiM Mini at £99 and tops out at £369 for the touchscreen-equipped WiiM Ultra.

While outwardly identical to the ‘standard’ £169 ‘Pro’ model, I’m told this step-up version uses a better AKM 4493SEQ Velvet Sound DAC chip, allied to an improved clocking circuit, power supply, plus a different Texas Instruments op-amp.

Design

Clearly fans of the Aldi/Lidl school of product marketing, WiiM’s design brief for the Pro Plus appears to have been fairly straightforward; just make it a dead ringer for a Sonos Port (the latest iteration of the Sonos Connect).

Nothing wrong with that, of course, why reinvent the wheel? But there’s no denying that the end result is an anonymous looking, more lightly constructed effort than Sonos’ design, albeit one that’s definitely aimed at the same sort of customer. Only it’s considerably cheaper. Like waaay cheaper. At £399, the Sonos Port costs hefty £150 more than the Pro Plus.

Another significant difference is that you actually get a physical zapper with the WiiM, as well as front-mounted capacitive touch buttons for play/pause, volume up/down and even a customisable preset button; the Sonos Port is operated entirely via its app.

Connectivity

Open the box and you’ll find that zapper, an analogue interconnect, optical digital cable plus a 5v/2 amp/10w USB-C power supply. Everything you need to get going, in other words.

As for the unit’s wider connectivity, well, putting it bluntly, it would be impressive at twice the price. The provision matches that of the Sonos Port, with analogue line-in/line outs and a digital coaxial output, but then goes on to better it by also including an optical digital input and output. So, while neither streamer has an HDMI input, the WiiM, at least, can take a digital optical output from a TV.

One thing you will have to take account of is the absurdly tight spacing around the RCA inputs/outputs. Interconnects with thick plugs simply won’t fit, a reality acknowledged by WiiM’s inclusion of a basic phono interconnect that does, er, fit. Oh, and you’ll need keen eyesight, too, because the lettering on the rear panel is an unnecessarily minuscule font.

Next to the USB-C power in, there’s a pinhole with a built-in microphone behind it. This is used by the RoomFit automatic room correction feature, available via the app, which adjusts the audio output to suit your room’s acoustics. I found it useful for taming the low-end boom in my small-ish office, but it’s also possible to hook up an external mic for even more precise adjustment.

App-wise, I honestly don’t think I’ve come across a more stable, or versatile effort than WiiM’s; it’s an absolute joy to use and makes the improved, but still erratic Sonos app look underwhelming.

As somebody who often wastes literally days trying out different, often disturbingly weird combinations of amplification and speakers, I love the fact that you can alter the line-out level (200mVrms to 2 Vrms), as well as the pre-gain for the input level of each source. While I mostly listened to the internal DAC for the purposes of testing, it was also impressive to see that one could adjust the bit depth/sample rate of the optical and coaxial outputs.

When acting as a pre-amp, the only feature that I did find myself wishing for was a way to preset the volume level at start-up. The Pro Plus defaults to the last volume level used, which isn’t always useful. Especially if you were partying last night and have just switched on the streamer at 9.30am, when the rest of the household is still sleeping.

I invariably prefer to hear my music as pure and unadulterated as possible, but it would be remiss not to note the WiiM’s unusually generous EQ adjustment provision. As well as a ten-band equaliser, you also get a Parametric EQ that can be set for each individual source (Wi-fi/Bluetooth/Line in and Optical in). Can’t be bothered to tweak? Pick from one of the 23 EQ presets that are also provided…

Airplay 2 and Chromecast are both present, with direct app-to-device streaming for Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Amazon Music (Alexa Cast), Qobuz, and Deezer. Internet radio services include TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Napster, Pandora, and Radio Paradise. Comprehensive doesn’t begin to cover it

While streaming content from a NAS is no longer the popular pastime it once was, DLNA is present to help you do that, as is the option of Roon-readiness (should you be absurdly flush). Amazon Alexa is also supported, as well as (more usefully, in my view) Chromecast.

Aping Sonos, a brand I imagine features rather prominently in WiiM’s product development strategy meetings, the challenger also now sells a wireless speaker, subwoofer and soundbar. Which, as well as offering the potential for proper multiroom audio, also means there’s the option of streaming audio from your analogue turntable around the house, via the Pro Plus.

Sound quality

Truthfully, there’s little in the way of direct competition for the Pro Plus. I’ve noticed a few screen-equipped, low-end streamers pop up in retailers recently, priced at a couple of hundred pounds, but that’s it. There’s not much that’s really comparable until you move up to something like the aforementioned Sonos Port, a Bluesound NODE Nano, or a Cambridge Audio MXN10; streamers that cost around £100-150 more.

All of which makes what the Pro Plus achieves an even more remarkable feat.
Via its analogue outputs, this unassuming little streamer delivers a well-balanced sound that’s essentially neutral, fractionally cool in character, but entirely free of any particular noticeable tonal quirks. There’s a pleasing amount of transparency, too, with a nice height to the soundstage it generates, plus decent width.

The abiding impression one gets is of the Pro Plus standing back and letting the music do the talking. During testing I hooked it up to a variety of amplifier/speaker combos and in every instance, it reflected the traits that THOSE combinations imposed on music making, without injecting any audible ones of its own.

And it’s a fun listen, too. OK, you don’t get the same insight levels and sonic density as the very best streamers, and to my ears, my aged Sonos Connect offers a slightly better fleshed out, more visceral midrange, but there’s not a great deal in it. The Pro Plus is a genuinely dynamic sounding device that properly knows how to convey a tune.

VERDICT

It’s not much to behold in the flesh (or, should I say plastic) but, for the money being asked, the WiiM Pro Plus audio streamer does an utterly stand-up job. If you want a one-box solution to help drag your legacy hi-fi system kicking and streaming (see what I did there?) into the modern audio age, this is a great way of doing it.

Note: WiiM’s UK distributor also supplied a sample of its £99 Mini, puck-shaped streamer when it sent along the Pro Plus. This tiny thing uses the same WiiM Home app, but with a completely different DAC/op-amp arrangement, as well as – obviously – lacking the physical connectivity options of the larger model.

Sonically, however, it’s a distinct step-down when experienced via the analogue outputs, sounding indistinct and messy by comparison with the Pro Plus. 

But, on the upside, there was little if any difference between the two when feeding their respective digital outputs into my Jolida Glass FXIII tubed DAC.

So, if that’s your likely use case, you’ll be able to save yourself 150 notes by going for the cheaper option.