Connecting Wiim Streaming Device to Sonos Speakers from Android

[dmcdonut]

Hi All,

In my dining room I have a turntable setup that is connected to a Sony STR-DH190 receiver which connects to my passive speakers. I also have a Sonos Arc for my TV/Living Room, and a Sonos Era 100 speaker for my kitchen.

The STR-DH190 has bluetooth so I can stream music to my dining room, but I'm trying to figure out how/if I can make it so that my receiver connects to my two Sonos speakers so I can stream to all the rooms simultaneously. The Sonos Port seems way too expensive just to do that, so I'm curious if it is possible using either the Wiim Mini or Wiim Pro connected to my receiver.

I've seen some posts saying you can do it via Airplay, but I use an Android phone so that isn't an option. I know WiiM can connect directly through Spotify, so is it possible to play to all the speakers at once through the Spotify App?

I would love to also have my records be able to play out to my other speakers but honestly I would be happy to just stream spotify to all the rooms simultaneously.

 

[jfbuk]

You might want look at a Brennan VB1 which will cast line level input to a Sonos system , analogous to the Sonos Port

Brennan VB1

The Brennan VB1 is a totally unique device that lets you play vinyl and other music sources wirelessly to Sonos speakers and Brennan music players. Simply connect your music source to the phono connectors on the back of the Brennan VB1 then press the button on the top to start and stop...

thebrennan.com

So you could connect the RCA output on your Sony to feed the VB1 and send what ever is playing on your Sony to the Sonos speakers.

 

[Brantome]

Having an Android phone isn’t a barrier to your WiiM Pro/Plus/Amp receiving or transmitting an airplay stream, it’s not the phone that’s using airplay when transmitting but the WiiM device.

If your receiver can simultaneously drive its speakers and output audio say via a digital or analog socket into the WiiM Pro, it in turn should be able to Airplay the stream to the Sonos kit if they accept Airplay input.

Spotify Connect to all three destinations may be a little more difficult - you might need a WiiM Mini plugged in to the receiver (I’m assuming it doesn’t support Airplay) to act as a third airplay target from the Pro.

 

[dmcdonut]

Hi Brantome,

Thanks for your help, that airplay clarification is helpful. I'm pretty sure I understand but want to clarify on one point.

Would I connect my WiiM Pro via an output analog connection to my receiver? So then I would I send music to my receiver via Bluetooth (or from my turntable via the phono), which would drive the speakers, and from there I could then cast it to my other speakers via the output into WiiM Pro?

Or, would I run an input line from the WiiM Pro into the receiver, and play music through the WiiM app that sends it simultaneously to my receiver (and then my passive speakers) and casts it to my wireless speakers?

Or, would I run both an input an output from the receiver into the WiiM depending on if I'm streaming music or playing via my turntable?

Lastly, assuming one of these scenarios worked, would I expect there to be any gap in audio between the music from my passive speakers and music cast to my sonos speakers?

 

[Brantome]

WiiM devices can only use one output at a time so you couldn't send audio out over its digital or analog outputs and be airplaying to other devices at the same time.

As I said above, if your receiver can simultaneously play your turntable to your speakers and at the same time take audio out from it to the audio input of the WiiM Pro, it in turn could airplay to the Sonos speakers. I'm not sure though that you'd get perfect sync doing that which would only matter if there are places where you can hear more than one speaker at any one time.

That scenario wouldn't work for Spotify though since the WiiM couldn't send that to your receiver while also airplaying to the Sonos speakers.

That's why I suggested another WiiM, even a Mini, to act as an airplay device connected to your receiver. You could then plug your turntable into the WiiM Pro and send audio to the Mini/receiver and the two Sonos speakers over airplay. You should then also be able to play Spotify to the WiiM and get it to send that out to the three destinations

 

[spacegrass]

@dmcdonut that plan won’t work because of two limitations of your Sony receiver – it has no output to connect a Wiim to the receiver, and its Bluetooth is only an input (from what I read – I don’t own one). (The Sony STR-DH190 receiver seems an odd duck – a recently produced and still-sold budget amp, which has the same limited connectivity as 50 year old receivers, except with a bluetooth input slapped on.) You can’t use the headphone output to the Wiim either, as I think that would automatically silence the speakers connected to the Sony. You might be able to do it with a convoluted 2 Wiim set-up, but if you were going to buy 2 Wiims, 1 Wiim Amp would not be much more cost, (and replace the Sony) and would solve all your issues and add much more functionality and flexibility than you have now, plus a smaller form factor.

 

[acorn16]

@spacegrass, it seems that the STR-DH190 does have a line level output - it's labeled as "Audio Input 4 - Out". The output RCA jacks are next to the other line level inputs on the back of the receiver. So a Wiim could receive a line level output from the receiver. In the manual Sony suggests using the Input 4 outputs as useful for connection to a tape recorder or mini-disk unit.

As is suggested, this would allow playback of say, phono source, on the receiver while sending the line level signal to the Wiim. There will likely be multi-room synchronization issues, which may or may not be an issue for the user depending on their use case.

The front panel speaker selector could be used to turn off the receiver speaker outputs if only remote playback via Wiim was desired. This would obviate any synchronization issues.

 

[spacegrass]

Good catch - i had looked at the photo of the back of it and saw only 4 boxes labelled "inputs" + phono input - but now that you point it out, the "out" under "input 4" is obvious and even set off by a checked background! So hopefully that gives dmcdonut what he needs.

 

[Brantome]

Still doesn’t address Spotify on all devices though

 

[dtc]

"input 4" allows the turntable to be connected to a Wiim which could then be linked to a Wiim in the room with the Era 100. The sync timing in the Wiim should be able to sync the outputs."

However, this setup does not allow the Sony to take advantage of the streaming options of the Wiim. To do that, a Wiim would have to be before the Sony. However, to connect to the Wiim the turntable would have to have a line level output, not the typical low level turntable output. If it is a low-level output then a phono preamp would have to inserted between the turntable and the Sony, since the Wiim requires a line level analog input.

In that case, I would say the turntable connected to a phono preamp connected to a Wiim which is connected to the Sony via analog outs and the WIim is linked to another Wiim that feeds the line level input of the Sonos Era 100. The Era and the Arc would have to be grouped with Sonos.

In any case, if the Wiim is feed from a line level analog source and is then linked to another Wiim, there is an A to D to A conversion being done, which means the type of Wiim might be important.

I think that would work. The sync timings would just have to managed.

If a phone preamp is needed, Pro-ject makes some relatively inexpensive ones.