WiiM Pro Plus - Review & Measurements (Streamer)

[Haskil]

From the thumbnail, CheapAudioMan certainly looks like a serious objective unbiased observer.

This professional influencer on Youtube has an incredible imagination. She makes him hear incredible things which he recounts with incredible chatter.

It will be believed by audiophiles who like him have an incredible talent for hearing incredible things. The world of audiophilia is a perfect world.

For my part, I have the incredible luck of being an ordinary listener, very trained in listening however, since listening to music is my profession and a passion, but yet despite an analytical ear and an ability to listen. the whole" at the same time as "the detail", Each time, I try : I hear no difference between DACs having all their performances at such a level that their "defects" are inaudible. So the sound of the Wiim pro + will undoubtedly be impossible to identify to my ears compared to another DAC of any price as long as their measured performances will all be apart from the audible defects... I don't listen all the Dac of the market but after my be 30 ou 40...

I will undoubtedly buy myself a Wim Pro Plus which will facilitate the use of Roon in my second hifi installation...

 

[Brantome]

I will undoubtedly buy myself a Wim Pro Plus which will facilitate the use of Roon in my second hifi installation..

Once it is certified, which should be soon

 

[oldsweatyman]

Got mine. Works great, sounds great. It's the only piece I know that cleanly connects my TV to my speakers and has an extra RCA input for my phono preamp and turntable, and has good measurements.

I will say though, if you want to consolidate your remote controls, this isn't what you want. The remote works via bluetooth and not infrared, so my Apple TV is unable to learn it as a remote. So that's annoying but yeah.

 

[Tangband]

This professional influencer on Youtube has an incredible imagination. She makes him hear incredible things which he recounts with incredible chatter.

It will be believed by audiophiles who like him have an incredible talent for hearing incredible things. The world of audiophilia is a perfect world.

For my part, I have the incredible luck of being an ordinary listener, very trained in listening however, since listening to music is my profession and a passion, but yet despite an analytical ear and an ability to listen. the whole" at the same time as "the detail", Each time, I try : I hear no difference between DACs having all their performances at such a level that their "defects" are inaudible. So the sound of the Wiim pro + will undoubtedly be impossible to identify to my ears compared to another DAC of any price as long as their measured performances will all be apart from the audible defects... I don't listen all the Dac of the market but after my be 30 ou 40...

I will undoubtedly buy myself a Wim Pro Plus which will facilitate the use of Roon in my second hifi installation...

Ok, one can ofcourse buy without listening. I did that with my Yamaha wxc50 , but later listening tests has shown that there are better sounding options . Something that can not entirely be explained by the measurements available.

LTS ( swedish soundtechnician society ) reviewed the Yamaha wxc50 with both measurements and double blind listening and concluded that the Yamaha used as a dac did pass the ”before and after” listening tests, and was the cheapest of all dac tested that was this good - on par with Benchmark Dac 2.

Despite that, I can clearly hear the better sound coming from my Rega R dac when listening to music, the difference are clearly audible, to me. The Rega is less boomy in the bass, with clearer bass pitch and the sound has more depth than the yamaha . The sound is more natural and less ”digital” , free of harshness in the treble. Maybe a coloration but its something that makes me wanna listening to more music.

I also bought a ”toptested” IEM earphone recommended here ( not tested by Amirm but by another guy ), the Moondrop LAN that was really terrible sounding, so I dont trust the measurements to 100 % of how it sounds.
Measurements are valuable but must be complemented with listening.

If you call me a subjectivist then thats ok.

 

[Joffy1780]

Can you write a little how it compares with Cambridge CXN V2 , soundvice ? Is it better ? Its VERY quiet from all the main youtube reviewers about the + version , except cheapaudioman that didnt think the bass was quite as good as the cheaper WiiM pro with SMSL su1 as dac.

If you're using an external DAC they will sound identical.

 

[GGroch]

If you call me a subjectivist then that's ok.

Hearing differences that are not explained by measurement does not make you a subjectivist, it just means you are a human.

Insisting that the differences you hear in sighted tests are caused by actual sound differences that cannot be measured makes you a subjectivist.

Many subjectivists think objectivists do not believe they really hear significant differences in sighted tests.
Not true. As an objectivist, I think subjectivists do not believe cognitive bias** is real. The differences subjectivists hear are so obvious that it could not be caused by "imagination." The CheapAudioMan clip is a good example of that.

Perhaps look at this another way. If you hear "clearly better sound" coming from one of two DACs that measure identically; that alone should warn you that something else is going on.

If the difference you hear is caused by subtle differences we cannot measure; then the difference you hear should also be very subtle, not obvious.

** I dislike the term cognitive bias because bias is something other people have that impairs their judgement. In actuality it is central to all of our judgements. Is there a better term that describes how humans hear that would be more readily accepted?

 

[Tangband]

Hearing differences that are not explained by measurement does not make you a subjectivist, it just means you are a human.

Insisting that the differences you hear in sighted tests are caused by actual sound differences that cannot be measured makes you a subjectivist.

Many subjectivists think objectivists do not believe they really hear significant differences in sighted tests.
Not true. As an objectivist, I think subjectivists do not believe cognitive bias is real. The differences subjectivists hear are so obvious that it could not be caused by "imagination." The CheapAudioMan clip is a good example of that.

Perhaps look at this another way. If you hear "clearly better sound" coming from one of two DACs that measure identically; that alone should warn you that something else is going on.

If the difference you hear is caused by subtle differences we cannot measure; then the difference you hear should also be very subtle, not obvious.

Im aware of cognitive bias that is very real, and I dont care if my Rega Dac would measure worse than my Yamaha if it sounds better on all music material.

Nocebo bias is also very real , and many objectivists are not aware of that. ”I can not and will not hear any difference because the measurements are so good ” . ” All dacs and amplifiers sound the same ”.

The only solution to judge the soundquality for real is long therm listening, because its the way you will use your gear. And its all about enjoyment.

Im sure the WiiM pro plus is a fantastic musicplayer but I´ll wait for the listening reviews to complement the measurements.

 

[GGroch]

Nocebo bias is also very real , and many objectivists are not aware of that. ”I can not and will not hear any difference because the measurements are so good ” . ” All dacs and amplifiers sound the same ”.

It is absolutely real. Which is why you should not look to VintageFlanker (or me) as the best source for subjective listening judgements in sighted DAC tests.

There is a perhaps apocryphal story on another thread about a mass listening test where the listeners were told they would be comparing the sound of two different power cables.
In truth, they were listening to the speakers being connected in and out of phase. A real and obvious difference.

The "Objectivists" who did not believe power cords effected sound were much less likely to hear it. No one is immune.

I am not suggesting that you should dump your Rega Dac. I assume your normal listening is sighted. If it sounds better to you sighted then it would be foolish for you to dump it.

 

[Veri]

The only solution to judge the soundquality for real is long therm listening, because its the way you will use your gear. And its all about enjoyment.

Sounds a lot like make belief...

I'm sure the manufacturer will agree. Lots of "burn in" + long term listening goes a long way against buyer's remorse

 

[Joffy1780]

Im sure the WiiM pro plus is a fantastic musicplayer but I´ll wait for the listening reviews to complement the measurements.

Yes, quite, or else how will we know if it is musical enough?

 

[Tangband]

Yes, quite, or else how will we know if it is musical enough?

We will know if people with very expensive streamers compare and then sell their gear and buy this player instead. Time will tell.

If the sound is as good as the measurements, then this is a landmark player, breaking new grounds performance wise.

 

[morillon]

if the measurements are so important to you "in sinad" "ASR" mode:

the dythirambs are really excessive and not really coherent..

for the moment*, the behavior in sinad under 1khz goes as far as -98db and more -112db put forward at 1k...and we are in an obviously sensitive and important area.....

(* waiting for new measures on non-beta "modified".."wait an see")

we start from a coherent solution at a low price with an internal dac approaching dac solutions around 100 dollars...to read you arrive at an ultimate "hdg" solution...

 

[Tangband]

I am not suggesting that you should dump your Rega Dac. I assume your normal listening is sighted. If it sounds better to you sighted then it would be foolish for you to dump it.

I might buy a WiiM pro + as digital preamp and I would ditch my Rega dac without regrets if the sound is perceived as better from analog out.

 

[Overseas]

We will know if people with very expensive streamers compare and then sell their gear and buy this player instead. Time will tell.

If the sound is as good as the measurements, then this is a landmark player, breaking new grounds performance wise.

I understand streaming on digital output is hard to mess, so majority of digital outputs for streamers measure ok. So rich people can relax.

 

[Joffy1780]

We will know if people with very expensive streamers compare and then sell their gear and buy this player instead. Time will tell.

If the sound is as good as the measurements, then this is a landmark player, breaking new grounds performance wise.

Well it is certainly not breaking any new ground performance wise.
Why do we need people with very expensive streamers to sell their gear?

 

[Overseas]

Why do we need people with very expensive streamers to sell their gear?

So we can buy it at 20%, of course.

 

[Joffy1780]

So we can buy it at 20%, of course.

Hey if someone wanted to sell me their Matrix Audio streamer for the price of a pro plus I'd be all ears!

 

[Tangband]

I understand streaming on digital output is hard to mess, so majority of digital outputs for streamers measure ok. So rich people can relax.

I dont agree.

 

[morillon]

with the small Chromecastaudio ...just need de buuble or hificast etc..solve this problem
,-)

 

[Tangband]

Well it is certainly not breaking any new ground performance wise.
Why do we need people with very expensive streamers to sell their gear?

It is breaking new grounds because :

1. It offers a true 24 bit digital volumecontrol from spdif. This is not very common .
2. It offers measured performance equal to gear costing 700 dollars, ie better than former classleader Bluesound node.
3. I think the design is gorgeous, matches perfect beside an Apple tv5.