Curious if you might be considering support for the WiiM Ultra? WiiM has been around for a while, but the Ultra was only released a couple months ago. It has gained a lot of popularity. I recently bought one.
Quick searching found they have a limited API intended to control their WiiM Mini, but the commands do work on the Ultra when I tested from Postman. Additional searching also indicates the device has good UPnP support, but I am unfamiliar with that stack.
Had to Google it. It has a lot of holes on the back. Not otherwise familiar. I assume it’s basically a Sonos system clone? I would suggest working up a custom codeset for it and then if you end up needing some kind of code change, request it via a support ticket by sending the API and working (to the extent possible) codeset.
I think their overall product line is trying to be a lower cost alternative to Sonos, yes.
This particular device, the WiiM Ultra, to me seems a like a jack-of-all-trades that is: streamer, pre-amp, DAC, and headphone amp. The DAC and headphone amp are decent. It has a built-in PEQ and supports Bluetooth as both an input and an output. And it is Roon Tested.
All of the equipment for my theater is in a closet that is about 25 feet away from the theater. The only problem this has ever posed is I never solved for headphone listening in the theater, so when listening to headphones I have just been temporarily laying out a 1/4" cable that plugs into my Denon AVR in the closet and is laid through the hall to the theater. Not pretty. I bought the WiiM to solve that problem.
I now have the WiiM Ultra in my theater. Optical out from the TV feeds the WiiM. I could use ARC, but my TV only has a single ARC port and I want to keep it connected back to the AVR. I can now listen to all sources, including high resolution streaming, on my headphones through the WiiM. I can connect my headphones directly to the WiiM 3.5mm jack or connect my portable DAC to the WiiM via Bluetooth. But, I have some hard-to-drive headphones. So I connected a separate balanced headphone amp to the WiiM via the WiiM’s USB output and plug into that.
I also have a big investment in HEOS, but its UI has certainly never been great. I keep hoping for official Roon support for HEOS but despite some HEOS devices now being labelled as “Roon Ready” (vs. Roon Tested), I can’t get Roon to discover my HEOS devices. The WiiM may ultimately serve as a bridge between Roon and HEOS.
It’s a device that has potential in my view - and, as I mentioned, is gaining popularity in the community - so for $329 I made the investment.