WiiM Amp Streaming Amplifier Review

[Matt_Holland]

I want to repeat it. It's a non-issue. Any response deviations can be corrected in the digital domain without loss of quality.

Not only that, but the majority of customers won’t notice or care even if they were told about it.

In the context of ASR I think Amir’s rating is fair. In the context of wider consumer audio/hi-fi, the Wiim amp knocks it out of the park. Golfing Panther hole in-one.

 

[hearone]

I guess I fall into the camp for its features vs price, it is impressive and clearly most looking for a lower-end system or a soundbar type setup would think it is great. And it would be for the price point. However, I would assume at lot on this forum want more and likely are willing to spend more to get a linear amp. At lest for me this "amp" rates poor.

However, I do use a WIIM PRO digital out (bypass the built-in dac) to a RME ADI-2 FS dac. I looked into the Eversolo DMP-A6 and just was amazed how good the WiiM Pro is with its streaming app. I see no need to spend anymore money for a steamer. But just not willing to save some money and accept a freq/load depend amp- at least not yet.

Maybe we will see soon the WiiM Pro Ultra Extreme amp- no freq/load issues. LOL.

 

[JSmith]

Members could possibly keep in mind this is WiiM's first amp and the only reported physical issue so far has been coil whine in a handful of first batch products. Considering some other companies had a number of amps released falling into the fail category, so far WiiM is doing quite well IMO. I'll be very interested in their future amplifier products, in particular once they implement PFFB in their designs.


JSmith

 

[dominikz]

Voted "Great" because I don't know of any other products with an equivalent feature set at such a low price.
A reasonably well-measuring all-in-one stereo integrated amp with streaming capability, HDMI ARC, sub out (with bass management) and DSP/PEQ can probably satisfy all requirements of a lot of people!

Personally I have just a few complaints:

1. Only 4-band PEQ -> though there are whispers of more bands coming in future SW updates
2. Lacks a display -> this is too bad; I really like having a clear numerical indication of volume level and selected input
3. Significant load-dependence due to lack of PFFB (high output impedance / low damping factor) -> not a huge issue and can be fixed by EQ, if you're able to measure the response at the binding posts; but ideally we shouldn't have to fix it.

If the above 3 were solved (e.g. in some future iteration), IMHO this would be a total no-brainer recommendation for domestic stereo playback in reasonably-sized rooms!

 

[amirm]

They are just technologically inferior vs. SOTA especially as it also might be audible under certain load conditions as opposed devices with more consistent FR but slightly less SINAD.

Your speaker is not going to have ruler flat response. Except some corner cases, what you hear is going to be within the scope of inaccuracy of the speaker, production chain and target curve you are using. In my listening test with the last class D amp so situated, it sounded wonderful driving my Revel Salon 2 speakers.

 

[VintageFlanker]

@amirm you beat me on this (not hard, considering how late I am), I was about to finish my review.

Here is my data anyway:

(This has been corrected with an updated PCB since)

 

[Mnyb]

If i read the other treads correctly you migth need good quality output coils for good PFFB implementation .

To correct this with the inbuilt peq ? not practilly possible as you need the speakers impedance plot and and the complex impedance value of the filter to simulate the whole circuit . Thats more than a handfull for me .

You can make an acoustic measurement in room , but its the speakers/amp response you want not the room as the brain can make out dirent and indirekt sound ?

The result is truly random and unknowable ? It could actually also sound better with some speakers

Hence the solution is known and documented why not use it ?

But the amp is truly a great value and the sub filter alone is gold and the peq.

This is a good product but maybe not my product

 

[JeremyFife]

Thanks for the review, I've been looking forward to this.

Good performance (not great) but a great feature set. Great value.

 

[Funnyjelo]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the WiiM Amp streaming amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $299.
View attachment 350879
I was pleasantly surprised by the good bit of weight this small box has. It will help it not slide with the weight of the speaker wires and such. Back panel shows the differentiation from a regular amplifier:
View attachment 350880
With included streaming, you have a one box solution to play your content over the network. You can use the included Bluetooth remote or the application. The latter was rock solid which is more than I can say about some other (major) streaming amplifiers. It instantly found the device, upgraded its firmware and allowed reliable control of all function. I can't do justice to all of its capabilities in this performance related review but suffice it to say, it is very capable.

HDMI ARC allows a smart TV to feed the amplifier signal for content you play internally to your TV. A nice quality HDMI cable was provided (in addition to Toslink and even RCA) which was appreciated.

The only complaint I have is with similar looking subwoofer out. Looking from above, I thought that was the other input channel and spent good bit of time trying to figure out why I was only getting sound out of one channel. Having it be located elsewhere would help as opposed to being lined up with the left audio input channel.

Another nit is the rotary volume control not always acting on the volume. You would have to go two notches for example to change volume.

This review has taken a while to get out. The first sample I received performed well in most of the tests but showed quite an increase in distortion at lower frequencies. This manifested in Multitone test and power vs frequency sweeps. I ran the results by the company and they said this was an early production problem that was fixed. They sent me a new one which almost remedied that problem.

WiiM Amp Amplifier Review
With access to AP's APx516 analyzer, I was able to test the HDMI ARC on WiiM Amp:
View attachment 350882
This puts the amplifier comfortable above our average of all amplifiers tested:
View attachment 350883
View attachment 350884
For streaming, I wanted to use Roon but seems that is not there yet. Fortunately Chromecast is there which provides similar high performance streaming:
View attachment 350885
So no difference with respect to which digital input you use. Analog streaming in the first sample I tested was a bit worse with SINAD of 85 dB. The new sample degraded some with low frequency noise down to 80 dB (not shown). I assume this is not material to most users where analog input is only used for LP and such.

Cycling through inputs, here is dynamic range using Toslink:
View attachment 350887

Frequency response unfortunately shows the typical load dependency in lower cost class D amplifiers:
View attachment 350889

Here is the sub out:
View attachment 350892

As noted, multitone shows good performance now:
View attachment 350888

19 and 20 kHz intermodulation test shows the increased distortion there:
View attachment 350890

Crosstalk wasn't that great with analog input (inset) but very nice with digital:
View attachment 350891

Normally I sweep power with analog input but since digital is much better, I used that: [edit: "8 ohm" label is wrong in the first graph, should say 4 ohm).
View attachment 350893
View attachment 350894

Unless you use analog input, the gain settings is designed such that you never clip. This means that the "peak" power is the same as what I have measured above. Spec is 120 watts at 4 ohm and we are achieving that so no issue there. Same with 60 watt specified for 8 ohm.

Here is power sweep at different frequencies:
View attachment 350895
The graphs are well behaved for a class D amplifier. 20 Hz distortion though, rises good bit (dashed yellow).

Finally, the amplifier is stable on power up:
View attachment 350896

Conclusions
The WiiM Amp is a very well executed streaming, multi-room amplifier. It easily plays against big boys of streaming despite lacking their name recognition. Objective performance is very good for the class. The only wish is post output filter feedback to eliminate low dependency of the frequency response.

I am going to put the WiiM Amp amplifier on my recommended list.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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I have one of these. Roon works perfectly. Found instantly and connects without effort.

Just confirmation to what I've been reading generally....great value with good feature set (would have loved to see some analysis of the eq but...). If only I needed one (or could think of even a weak excuse), I'd have already ordered it.

There is an eq in their app. Works well. Also has functions about sub cross over.

 

[morillon]

reminder...
the same streaming functions and peq 4 bands" are necessarily available in their pro, pro plus..
;-)

 

[Funnyjelo]

So...when is Wiim going to release more than 4-band PEQ again?

Current in app.

 

[Jeromeof]

If i read the other treads correctly you migth need good quality output coils for good PFFB implementation .

To correct this with the inbuilt peq ? not practilly possible as you need the speakers impedance plot and and the complex impedance value of the filter to simulate the whole circuit . Thats more than a handfull for me .

You can make an acoustic measurement in room , but its the speakers/amp response you want not the room as the brain can make out dirent and indirekt sound ?

The result is truly random and unknowable ? It could actually also sound better with some speakers

Hence the solution is known and documented why not use it ?

But the amp is truly a great value and the sub filter alone is gold and the peq.

This is a good product but maybe not my product

I believe WiiM are about to add some room correction to their software as an enhancement to the PEQ capabilities and working with their mobile app.
That would help solve any load dependence in frequency response and obviously help with room modes so should be a great additional feature for this device

 

[amirm]

I have one of these. Roon works perfectly. Found instantly and connects without effort.

You sure you did not use Airplay with Roon?

 

[amirm]

Current in app.

That's graphic EQ, not parametric. Graphic EQ is not very useful.

 

[Mnyb]

Current in app.

That's the graphic EQ select PEQ mode ?

 

[Mnyb]

I believe WiiM are about to add some room correction to their software as an enhancement to the PEQ capabilities and working with their mobile app.
That would help solve any load dependence in frequency response and obviously help with room modes so should be a great additional feature for this device

hmm load dependency is in the higher frequencies above >1khz room correction should be utilized in the bass below the transition frequency of the room ?

But its very good progress that this feature is coming more products like this !

 

[Jimster480]

Thanks for the review Amir.

I understood the reviews to be based purely on technical function and not on value for money?

Lots of the time the reviews are on both.

 

[Lunafag]

The killer feature of this amp is it has high-pass filter for the speakers if the sub out is utilized. This makes for a very streamlined 2.1 setup.

 

[Golf]

Dummy question regarding that load dependency issue here: Will its nature and amount (if any) be depending directly on the connected speaker set? In a way, that this issue could change/vanish with connecting a different speaker set?

 

[Talisman]

Dummy question regarding that load dependency issue here: Will its nature and amount (if any) be depending directly on the connected speaker set? In a way, that this issue could change/vanish with connecting a different speaker set?

Yes