What HiFi review of WiiM doesn't mention PEQ or room correction

[JeremyFife]

Puzzled, a bit frustrated...

What HiFi has just published a review and comparison of the WiiM Pro Plus and the Bluesound Nano.

Fair enough, I'm not going to comment on that as it's a subjective waste of time.

What surprised me was that there was no mention at all of the WiiMs room correction features or PEQ - nothing, not even a wee sidebar.

I don't expect much from the subjective press, but what's going on here? Deliberate suppression of information, ignorance, blinkers... Just weird.

 

[ahofer]

Puzzled, a bit frustrated...

What HiFi has just published a review and comparison of the WiiM Pro Plus and the Bluesound Nano.

Fair enough, I'm not going to comment on that as it's a subjective waste of time.

What surprised me was that there was no mention at all of the WiiMs room correction features or PEQ - nothing, not even a wee sidebar.

I don't expect much from the subjective press, but what's going on here? Deliberate suppression of information, ignorance, blinkers... Just weird.

The hifi press is hostile to EQ. It’s too inexpensive. It was OK when Levinson did it at Cello and overpriced it.

 

[kyuu]

I think the audience for What HiFi is the sort that thinks EQ and room correction is a "corruption" of the "purity of the signal" or some such garbage. Something to be eschewed. The corruption of the signal should be happening in their overpriced tubes and speakers, not in the eeeevil digital domain.

 

[kemmler3D]

Definitely odd, it's like reviewing a car and not mentioning the steering.

What motivation might they have for such an oversight? Could it be mere incompetence? We'll never know.

We can come up with any kind of villain story we want for this based on speculation.

The facts at least establish their editorial process is inadequate and their reviews are somewhat unreliable. Unfortunately I can't say they're the only ones.

 

[Petrushka]

I think the audience for What HiFi is the sort that thinks EQ and room correction is a "corruption" of the "purity of the signal" or some such garbage. Something to be eschewed. The corruption of the signal should be happening in their overpriced tubes and speakers, not in the eeeevil digital domain.

I think anything that makes an easily heard improvement for very little money is anathema.

 

[kemmler3D]

I think anything that makes an easily heard improvement for very little money is anathema.

Anything that improves sound cheaply and easily undermines the whole industry!

If people can just EQ their bass flat, will they still go out and buy 4 REL subs in a half-futile attempt to try to fix the bass without EQ?

 

[Petrushka]

Anything that improves sound cheaply and easily undermines the whole industry!

If people can just EQ their bass flat, will they still go out and buy 4 REL subs in a half-futile attempt to try to fix the bass without EQ?

I have a KEF 105.3 that can go down to 20 Hz with eq, but not loud.

I find its uncorrected bass to be nearly perfect.

 

[kemmler3D]

I have a KEF 105.3 that can go down to 20 Hz with eq, but not loud.

I find its uncorrected bass to be nearly perfect.

Sounds like a lucky room, too. Meanwhile my office has 20dB swings all over the place below 100hz.

 

[oceansize]

Puzzled, a bit frustrated...

What HiFi has just published a review and comparison of the WiiM Pro Plus and the Bluesound Nano.

Fair enough, I'm not going to comment on that as it's a subjective waste of time.

What surprised me was that there was no mention at all of the WiiMs room correction features or PEQ - nothing, not even a wee sidebar.

I don't expect much from the subjective press, but what's going on here? Deliberate suppression of information, ignorance, blinkers... Just weird.

I'm sure they'd say that it's a comparison of budget streamers and the review focuses on the devices as streamers.

They do have their own forum, where raising your point might have been more productive.

Having said that, the first comment in their forum for the article reads

Plus with the WiiM you get room correction. Once you apply that it will blow the Bluesound clean out of the water.

 

[Petrushka]

Sounds like a lucky room, too. Meanwhile my office has 20dB swings all over the place below 100hz.

I probably have swings too, but taking 10 samples from various locations give a nice flat curve.

Someone needs to explain why bass that measures as very sensitive to listening location doesn’t sound that way.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Puzzled, a bit frustrated...

What HiFi has just published a review and comparison of the WiiM Pro Plus and the Bluesound Nano.

Fair enough, I'm not going to comment on that as it's a subjective waste of time.

What surprised me was that there was no mention at all of the WiiMs room correction features or PEQ - nothing, not even a wee sidebar.

I don't expect much from the subjective press, but what's going on here? Deliberate suppression of information, ignorance, blinkers... Just weird.

I haven’t checked out the review yet but I’d like to predict that the Node Icon received a higher star rating for offering a more natural, fluid, organic, rhythmic and musical sound.

 

[JeremyFife]

I haven’t checked out the review yet but I’d like to predict that the Node Icon received a higher star rating for offering a more natural, fluid, organic, rhythmic and musical sound.

Lol - it didn't actually, they came out for the WiiM, but the flowery language and useless review is spot on!

 

[ivayvr]

Most of the time, their reviews are based on whatever they feel like saying.
One similar example was when some Cambridge Audio streamer, don't remember which one exactly, dethroned a Bluesound streamer. They did not mention a number of features of the Bluesound that the Cambridge is missing, and they did not mention some of the weaknesses they found in the original Cambridge Audio review.
They are almost as reliable source of information as The National Enquirer!

 

[Ropeburn]

Anything that improves sound cheaply and easily undermines the whole industry!

If people can just EQ their bass flat, will they still go out and buy 4 REL subs in a half-futile attempt to try to fix the bass without EQ?

If you want fatter bass, you're supposed to buy these fine air-suspended bare 100% cryo-treated active silver cables with unobtanium coated plugs, only this month on special offer for 6969 moneys the meter.

 

[Palladium]

Something salary, something depends, something on not understanding something

 

[usersky]

I don't think What Hi-fi even sees the reviewed devices so the oversight (!) of PEQ in easily explained by their testing methodology.

 

[holbob]

Ed "if it costs more, I'll love it more" Selley did the same thing with his wiim pro review on Av Forums. I gave him a harsh critique of his review, and he produced a far better and more comprehensive review of the Ultra. I'm not saying it was down to me, but I hope he took the criticism on board. The AV Forums hi-fi reviews from Selley are particularly galling, as their TV reviews are excellent and totally science based.

 

[unpluggged]

Puzzled, a bit frustrated...

What HiFi has just published a review and comparison of the WiiM Pro Plus and the Bluesound Nano.

Fair enough, I'm not going to comment on that as it's a subjective waste of time.

What surprised me was that there was no mention at all of the WiiMs room correction features or PEQ - nothing, not even a wee sidebar.

I don't expect much from the subjective press, but what's going on here? Deliberate suppression of information, ignorance, blinkers... Just weird.

There are many possible reasons.

1) What TF is not a credible review publication at all. They don't sell reviews, they sell ads, and they review products not to test their features and performance, but only to attract traffic.
2) They just didn't care/were too lazy.
3) The reviewer could be ignorant of this feature or lack the necessary understanding/skills/instruments/facilities/experience etc. to test it.
4) The PEQ feature was added to the WiiM devices well after their initial release, so it could be the review unit did not have this feature at all.

 

[Mean & Green]

The problem with your question is that it is in relation to What HiFi. It is a bogus publication based upon sponsorship and poetry, never read anything there expecting anything meaningful.

It’s thanks to publications like them that the whole audiophile world is full of the fiction and myths that still prevail 40 years after they should have long since been put to bed.

 

[Bernard23]

What hifi is the epitome of flat earth mentality. You could not find a less objective / scientific publication on anything, let alone AV equipment. It's a world where differences in ethernet cables are clearly night and day audibly different. Tbf the forums are not as bad, there are some genuinely technically minded folk in there but generally it's a room full of 5g flake confetti.