Sonos Port vs WiiM Pro (Plus)

If you are streaming to Sonos via a 3rd party platform then you are using AirPlay. Once you stream to one speaker you can group in others or use multiple AirPlay streams if your network can stand the strain. AirPlay is not the same as Sonos native whole home audio.

Also a DLNA server is no different than placing a NAS on your network and creating a path for Sonos to access it via a library.

As far as price point vs a Port that’s up to you to decide how you want to spend your money. The Port is a fully integrated component in a Sonos setup. There are other plus’ but I‘m not inclined to try and convince you. Just do your research.

I did my research. I just can't find any plus of the Port over the WiiM. Audio wise. WiiM is also expanding their offering on speakers heavily. So soon that will disappear as well. And there is a common consensus Sonos Port is way too expensive anyway. 

I am generally looking for a reason to buy the Port. But I don't even need that to stream a record player to my Sonos system, as I can just use DLNA.

Well, that’s how competition works. Newcomer wants a piece of the market, undercuts established company. Is the product competitive? Is the company? You get to decide.

I think the Port primarily makes sense for those who are either invested in Sonos, or decided to do a Sonos whole home solution.  I don’t think the Port makes a lot of sense if you just want a stand alone streaming box.    I would say something similar to someone who had a WiiM system setup and was looking to get a Port.  Probably not the best idea.

I see the Port more for pulling audio out of a Sonos system than feeding it into one.

For audio in the line-in option Is almost always a better choice.

I personally find comparison posts by brand new posters whose post history is also peppered with rather harsh criticism to be suspect at best, and in general, worthy of ignoring.

Nothing suspect about it. I own my share of Sonos products as I mentioned. And I like Sonos for a part. But not everything. Which I want to express, so Sonos can see it. I also mailed them and made posts in other places I hope they catch.

Having a new account because I just found out about this place, does not make the statements less substantiated. Also, I am comparing because I am looking for a solution to a problem I am having, and I notice Sonos’s pricing is way off in a part of their offering (Port at least). Funny thing is that the general consensus amongst other fora seems to be the Port is indeed way overpriced as I found out these last few days. 
 

I would hate it if this becomes an echo chamber which is only just acknowledging itself all the time. It’s not good for Sonos future imo.

As a way of feeding other speakers outside of the system with the same signal? 
 

Is there a difference between the linein and the input on the Port?

This will probably be an “echo” chamber as you put it. This is a community to help others solve issues with their Sonos.  The community has nothing to do with pricing nor what products Sonos will release and/or continue to support over the long hall. I doubt seriously the Play 5 (gen1) will be supported 20 years from now.

I digress, I’m sure the Sonos “bean counters” know what products are price point prohibitive and when to place them on inventory depletion status (IDS). In most cases IDS lowers the price point or the product is discontinued or simply replaced with one that justifies the price ( the latter two may be one in the same).

Bottom-line … complaining about cost in this community is not going anywhere. For that matter writing to a corporate about price point has little effect if the margins show otherwise.

Simple economics say… manufacturers of any product will price them according to what the market will sustain. Product sales promotions are a tool to ease consumer rejection that cause a temporary sales uptick. In fact “sale” pricing is typically built into the sales model so as not to trigger a substantial drop in revenue.

So continue on…but in here regarding Sonos pricing it is an Echo Chamber.

Aside from a Play 5 gen 1 or the similar aged ZP and slightly newer Connect devices the Port is the only Sonos offering a line-out connection.

I haven't seen the specifications on the various line-in connections (never really looked) but it makes little sense for Sonos to use different encodings for them. In any case you can be sure Sonos has picked an encoding that produces high quality sound.

Because this is a Sonos funded and managed community, I think there are a few things you can expect to be different than some 3rd party place like reddit.  First, Sonos doesn’t really have a benefit from users openly sending other users to competitors products.  I actually a bit surprised that moderators haven’t made any comment or attempt to shut this down or steer the conversation to a close.  Secondly,  you aren’t going to get a ton of opinions about non-Sonos products here because we are all Sonos users.  There may be some that have mixed Wiim and Sonos households, but most people are going to build their home audio system sticking with one brand or the other.  Thirdly, if you look around a bit, I think you would see that not everyone is all rosy about Sonos, nor concurs with the decisions Sonos makes. Negative comments (sans profanity) are not removed.

My personal opinion is that Port is priced intentionally high because Sonos does not want their to be a particularly cheap way of getting audio out of the Sonos system.  They want you buying Sonos gear for your home, not 4 or 5 ‘ cheap’ ports while spending the bulk of your budget on other brand amps and passive speakers.   If you have already invested in sound system you don’t want to lose though, then a port is a good way to integrate it into your home audio system.  And I think that’s been the case since the Port existed as a ZP80 then Connect.

I think Wiim is trying to be a bit different.  They do not have the history and marketshare  that Sonos has/had and need to leverage themselves as a low cost alternative to Sonos.  That said, it looks like the price of their streaming boxes relative to their amps are pretty similar to what Sonos  has as well.

The WiiM handles higher sample rates.  The Port is limited to 24/48.  The Port works better with IOS Shortcuts.  The WiiM groups with Echo speakers.  The Port does not.

You have other Sonos devices.  Sounds like you would be better off with the Port.  Sonos does UPnP/DLNA.  I can use several UPnP apps to play to Sonos.  Not gapless though.  I don’t do that UPnP thing much as my library indexes just fine.

I pretty much discard all the bit rate/depth specs past CD quality as at best meaningless and often a drawback. On an analog input it is even less useful considering the resolution/noise/frequency capabilities of vinyl or tape.

Why clog up your network and/or storage with huge data files that do not contribute to the actual sound you'll hear?

Having been burned by other brands on backwards compatibility and post-warranty support I am cautious on investing in anything without a good track record, doubly so on computerized gear.

As to price as a factor, a used S2 compatible Connect is dirt cheap if you need to feed sound to a legacy audio system.