6 ms·

Sonos is dead. You can get a better sounding and cheaper multi-room setup with WiiM devices.

• kjkjadksj 2y ago
  Or just buy an old marantz or something similar and an old airport express and be done with it for life.
  • Ringz 2y ago
    Sold my great Onkyo and try to exactly revert it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42689139 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42689139
• WXLCKNO 2y ago
  I've been wondering for a while what the alternatives are. I've got a Denon amp which has Heos, had random Alexa/Google Home devices previously, random amps with just Bluetooth or line in whatever. Thought there must be a way to sync these things, think previously there was the Google Chrome audio? The WiiM devices seem nice but is that the price of entry to sync various unrelated audio ecosystems then? Edit: had only seen the price of the highest end ultra device, this is actually very reasonable..
  • deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  • notatoad 2y ago
    Yeah, the wiim mini is very reasonable. The other option for multi-room sync is AirPlay, on any device where that is possible (including wiim), so it’s pretty easy to solve multi-room audio these days. Chromecast Audio lost the ability to do multi-room sync in a patent dispute with sonos
    • mfkp 2y ago
      Unfortunately the wiim mini doesn't support the google cast ecosystem, only the more expensive devices. But the more expensive devices don't support airplay, which seems like an odd choice.
      • notatoad 2y ago
        >But the more expensive devices don't support airplay, which seems like an odd choice. i'm not sure what device you're looking at, but i've got a wiim pro plus and it definitely supports airplay - i was just using it yesterday.
        • mfkp 2y ago
          Check the feature matrix near the bottom of this page: https://www.wiimhome.com/wiimultra/overview https://www.wiimhome.com/wiimultra/overview It seems like the newest and most expensive devices (WiiM Amp Pro & WiiM Ultra) do not support Airplay.
          • notatoad 2y ago
            wow, yeah, that sucks. https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/wiim-ultra-not-getting-apple-airplay/ https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/wiim-ultra-not-ge... i had been considering an ultra to replace my tv soundbar, but no airplay is probably a dealbreaker for me.
          • turbojet1321 2y ago
            Conjecture on the wiim forums is that they ran into licensing issues so their two flagship products (Amp Pro and Ultra) don't have airplay, but weirdly all of their lower-end devices (Mini, Pro, Pro Plus) do.
  • omnimus 2y ago
    WiiM is great i have 2 minis and 1 pro plus (good DAC for main speakers). It somehow just works? Unreal. updates are bugfixes and new features… Most unreal thing. Their phone app didnt require me to create account? When was last time i saw that?! It just found speakers, setup network and Bye, enjoy.
  • fletchowns 2y ago
    > I've been wondering for a while what the alternatives are. Raspberry Pi + Snapcast + Any speaker with an AUX input I've got a few Pi's hooked up around the house now to extra speakers, home stereo, and even a .NET snapcast client running on my desktop PC. That setup plus Music Assistant has been awesome so far. No proprietary hardware or closed source software :)
    • mongol 2y ago
      Snapcast is really good. I use it too. And on a recent Ask HN thread, I saw that someone had implemented it for ESP32 chips, so now I will try that out too.