Point to Point Audio

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ElectroChris

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Joined
Nov 8, 2023
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Hi! I am from a different audio world (commercial) and seeking a solution. I need input audio here, and play it there. There is a standard TCP/IP network between them. Can I use one Wiim pro as an input, and another as an output? I would like this setup to be set and then forgotten - with no interaction with the devices to make them work. Dante is the pro version of this, but uses a different comm protocol and will not work over a network with a WIFI link.
What do you think? Or do you have another solution? Perfect world - would be a copper run. But it is 1000' outdoors between 3 buildings.
 
Could you perhaps expand upon "input audio here, and play it there"? What's the source of that audio, what format is it in and what's it to play on at the far end? Two WiiM devices wouldn't normally communicate unless they were grouped
 
The short answer is "yes." Things get more complicated when we consider "how."

At the most basic, the WiiM Pro and Pro Plus can send audio input on any of their two input interfaces (RCA line-in to an ADC or an optical digital S/PDIF input) to another WiiM (or AirPlay target) on the same network.

Edit: I think the WiiM Mini can do the same -- it has a 1/8" line-in port that goes into an Analog to Digital Converter.
 
The answer is undoubtedly Yes but what is the source you wish to broadcast?

Edit
As an example.
I am able to take the output of my turntable and send it via VPN to a player (or players) at a remote location. This doesn’t involve a WiiM but it could.
 
Brantome said:
Could you perhaps expand upon "input audio here, and play it there"? What's the source of that audio, what format is it in and what's it to play on at the far end? Two WiiM devices wouldn't normally communicate unless they were grouped
Click to expand...
Sure. Line level audio (xlr out to RCA) here, into my transmitter, over the network including a wireless link, rca out from the receiver into an AV receiver over there. We may have live music in the main building, but want to distribute it to the other two buildings. Analog copper signal is best, but not available at the moment.
 
Are all your buildings on a common network/VLAN? If so, it should be feasible to distribute the content using grouped WiiM devices, although it may not be perfectly synched, and device groups can't be saved for easy reuse. However, I'm making some assumptions, since I've only ever used WiiM groups within a single building, and always feeding digital content to the master, not analog.

You could also create a permanent Chromecast group from WiiM devices if your audio source supports that protocol using digital content. There's also a notion of Airplay groups, but that's outside my sphere of knowledge.
 
Last edited:
yes, we have a common network. Synced audio is not critical. Through air it takes a second to travel that far.

My audio source is pro gear. XLR line level out. It supports two protocol - analog and Dante, which does not work over wifi, unfortunately.

I sure appreciate the help!
 
With AirPlay, you'd initiate sharing the audio by clicking the link icon on the device card in the WiiM app on your phone, then clicking the checkbox by each recipient device in the list that appears (whether those are other WiiMs or AirPort Expresses or AppleTVs or some other type). I'm not sure about WiiM to WiiM, but I don't think you have to group devices, though making a group probably makes it easier to send audio to all the devices at once. (edited for clarity).
 
I’m not sure you will get upnp to discover across subnets tbh.

I’ll explain how I can do it.
I take the audio from a HiFi - this can be any input - and I send it via a USB Audio Interface (Behringer UCA202) to a Pi.
The Pi runs Liquidsoap and Icecast2 which presents the audio as an Internet Radio stream. In my case FLAC.
Anything on the network that can play an Internet Radio stream can play this.
This will work across subnets and VPN as it’s entirely TCP on 80.
 
+1 to an Icecast based solution. It should work extremely reliably and the entire broadcast chain is all FOSS. Numerous client options as well with nothing proprietary.

I'll add that you can go from Dante to USB with a relatively inexpensive dongle if you have no other digital I/O options.
 
elmoe said:
+1 to an Icecast based solution. It should work extremely reliably and the entire broadcast chain is all FOSS. Numerous client options as well with nothing proprietary.
Click to expand...
The Pi that runs this for me just works. I’ve had it set up and running for 2-3 years untouched. It survives power cuts etc with seemingly no issue.
I’ve started to use it more frequently recently as I’ve put a Pro into my new kitchen setup that syncs (via LMS) with another Pi in my Living Room.
I can put an LP onto my turntable and play it on anything on my LMS network which includes a player (or players) down a VPN anywhere.
 
d6jg said:
The Pi that runs this for me just works. I’ve had it set up and running for 2-3 years untouched. It survives power cuts etc with seemingly no issue.
I’ve started to use it more frequently recently as I’ve put a Pro into my new kitchen setup that syncs (via LMS) with another Pi in my Living Room.
I can put an LP onto my turntable and play it on anything on my LMS network which includes a player (or players) down a VPN anywhere.
Click to expand...

Yeah Icecast is an extremely mature project at this point, think it's been around at least 20 or so years now. Great too if he ever wants to broadcast over the WAN if this is a club doing live shows etc.
 
elmoe said:
Yeah Icecast is an extremely mature project at this point, think it's been around at least 20 or so years now. Great too if he ever wants to broadcast over the WAN if this is a club doing live shows etc.
Click to expand...
If I was doing this for public consumption (I did for a short period) then I’d use Rocketbroadcaster Server that is a drop in replacement for Icecast2 that scales better.
 
d6jg said:
If I was doing this for public consumption (I did for a short period) then I’d use Rocketbroadcaster Server that is a drop in replacement for Icecast2 that scales better.
Click to expand...

Totally fair but I wouldn't spend the money unless he actually is going to hit a scaling limit. Icecast can get you very far in my experience. I'm somehow doubting his audience is vast enough but that would be a great problem to have!
 
There is one major problem when using the WiiM for commercial purposes. It's an update that happens occasionally and can't be refused. It is possible that all operations may suddenly stop during use.
 
I am considering all of these wonderful options and am about to conclude - if I were available to fix/restart something, a streaming device would be great. But I want to never get a service call on this. I will advise they need to install a copper wire (shielded cat 6 or two) and a fiber. I can send balanced audio down a pair in a cat all day long for years with no problems - and no service calls. Or a fiber that Dante can travel on, but I am an old fashioned copper guy.
Now my house... you have opened my eyes to some new tech I will try!

Thank you all for your time on this!
 
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