WiiM Amp Pro Streaming Stereo Amplifier Review

[Old_School_Brad]

Strange that virtually every streamer supports Airplay?

Why?

 

[morillon]

the disappearance of airplay on the latest wiim products is really the subject that gets people talking (surprising that for some they were sold as realizing it) and upsets a lot of people... especially since for these very general public products everyone understands that It is in the first place the functions of this type which prevail

 

[DRC]

Why?

Read the post to which I was replying that said that it was difficult to get a license from Apple.

 

[Haskil]

WiiM Ultra and No AirPlay

Hi WiiM Community, We always strive to be transparent with this forum, sharing early product announcements, specifications, and addressing your concerns and questions. We realize the lack of availability of AirPlay in the WiiM Ultra has caused confusion and we apologize for that. The WiiM Ultra...

forum.wiimhome.com

""Hi WiiM Community,

We always strive to be transparent with this forum, sharing early product announcements, specifications, and addressing your concerns and questions. We realize the lack of availability of AirPlay in the WiiM Ultra has caused confusion and we apologize for that. The WiiM Ultra does not support AirPlay and does not function as an AirPlay receiver. It will not be able to have AirPlay due to a hardware limitation. At the original launch, we believed we would be able to support AirPlay, which is why many of you saw it in the initial press release. However, we were unable to include it and decided not to delay the launch further, maintaining the additional features of the streamer that provide a high-quality listening experience.

We understand this may be disappointing for our users who primarily use AirPlay, and for those users we'd suggest choosing a different WiiM solution for now. Or alternatively, we suggest connecting your Apple device to the WiiM Ultra via Bluetooth, which offers the same sound quality as AirPlay using the 256kbps AAC codec. If any users have purchased the Ultra primarily for AirPlay and are unsatisfied with their purchase, the retailers will honor the return based on their policies.

The WiiM Ultra continues to provide exceptional audio, high performance, and value, supporting a rich variety of options such as Chromecast Audio, Alexa Casting, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Qobuz, Amazon Music, Deezer, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and more.

We apologize for any confusion and dissatisfaction this may have caused, and we appreciate your understanding.

Thank you,
WiiM Team"""

 

[DRC]

due to a hardware limitation

Who designed and produced the hardware?

 

[Laagman]

Read the post to which I was replying that said that it was difficult to get a license from Apple.

Because people expect it to. For the company I worked for it had to do with Apple Pay though, but some representative of an audio company confirmed to me that it was the same with AirPlay. You still have to support it though, because your customers expect it. Especially in the US Market.

 

[d_k]

I watch movies from my intel NUC connected to the TV via HDMI and since the Wiim Amp does not have a USB DAC... Is it possible to send the audio of the movie through the HDMI ARC of the TV connected to the Wiim Amp and this one to the speakers?

 

[Burnside]

I watch movies from my intel NUC connected to the TV via HDMI and since the Wiim Amp does not have a USB DAC... Is it possible to send the audio of the movie through the HDMI ARC of the TV connected to the Wiim Amp and this one to the speakers?

As I understand it, the point of HDMI ARC on the TV is to send all audio over it irrespective of source, so yes audio from your NUC connected to the tv should be sent to the WiiM Amp.

 

[staticV3]

I watch movies from my intel NUC connected to the TV via HDMI and since the Wiim Amp does not have a USB DAC... Is it possible to send the audio of the movie through the HDMI ARC of the TV connected to the Wiim Amp and this one to the speakers?

Yes. NUC->HDMI->TV->HDMI(ARC)->WiiM.

That is the intended purpose of the WiiM's ARC input.

 

[Brian Hall]

If I had a large room and a pair of Salon 2s, the WiiM amp would be pitifully under specified.

Why not use more sensitive speakers? Those are rated at 86db.

 

[CedarX]

It will not be able to have AirPlay due to a hardware limitation.

My two cents: with the other connectivity/streaming options available on the Ultra, I doubt the lack of AirPlay support is due to a HW limitation… What is possible is that WiiM is now mainstream enough that they would, or were forced to, only support AirPlay the “correct way”: with the correct (licensed) chip, a proper license & certification from Apple and the associated $$$ royalties… That instead of relying on a “hacked” Shairport-derived library like many, many, others. In that case yes, it can be stated as a “hardware limitation”.

 

[HighFutility]

Does it still have 10 bands of PEQ or more?

 

[Burnside]

Does it still have 10 bands of PEQ or more?

Still ten, but per channel now.

 

[NTK]

Who designed and produced the hardware?

The hardware required for AirPlay is from Apple.

 

[JeremyFife]

Why not use more sensitive speakers? Those are rated at 86db.

I was simply illustrating a point - not very clearly, obviously

 

[Sokel]

Why not use more sensitive speakers? Those are rated at 86db.

Room volume (and not just two sizes) is not a matter of opinions as long as we have the very experts to guide us:

(chart is at ft³ and m³)

(link)

Big volume and listening distance - big speakers.
And as we go down the chart we're talking kW of amplification.

 

[morillon]

It makes sense to measure all amplifiers in the same way so that they can be compared. It makes sense to add new measurements (FTC) over time. Obviously, those new measurements can't be applied retrospectively.

It doesn't make sense to blindly rate all amplifiers based on those measurements without taking context into account.

If I had a large room and a pair of Salon 2s, the WiiM amp would be pitifully under specified.
If have a smaller room, a TV as the main source and a family as the main audience (and let's say Kef Q350s) then the WiiM is pretty bloody perfect.
A 'proper' amplifier would be woefully wasted in that second scenario, and would need several more boxes around it.

Based on measurements, the WiiM is good except for the edge cases. Based on features and price it's feckin amazing.

I do agree that we need a brutally objective assessment where all amps are compared strictly. Happy to consider the WiiM Amp Pro as 'fine' in that case.
We then need to temper that assessment based on context and our considered membership view. We all need to accept the measurements, noone needs to accept my opinion.

AMPLI DE PUISSANCE ACCUPHASE A80 - espace cinema

Remplaçant de l'ampli A75, l'amplificateur Accuphase A80 pure classe A est développé comme une version stéréo des fameux blocs mono A300 crées pour le 50 ème anniversaire de la marque. Plus puissant, plus de courant, relief et présence encore améliorés, bruit de fonds diminué de 7%, facteur...

www.hificine.com

only 65w.... :-(( ..small room ..small loudspeaker etc... :-(
like this wiim amp pro... :-(

while fosi mono (and their little extra fan)...and zouuuuuu

 

[staticV3]

If I had a large room and a pair of Salon 2s, the WiiM amp would be pitifully under specified.

You'd think so, and yet:

I connected the A07 Max, don't laugh, to my $23,000 Revel Salon 2 speakers as requested by a member. I must say, I was not remotely prepared for what I heard. This little amp with its 36 volt/6amp power supply had no trouble driving the Revels to incredible dynamics! Resolution and detail was superb. Deep, sub-bass was produced with no sign of amp straining or wanting to turn off. I am still listening to it as I type this and can't believe what I am hearing. The binding posts on the speakers probably weigh as much as this amp!

 

[Brian Hall]

The hardware required for AirPlay is from Apple.

View attachment 395207

Another good reason to not use any Apple products. That is just as bad as the MQA garbage/tax.

 

[Haskil]

My two cents: with the other connectivity/streaming options available on the Ultra, I doubt the lack of AirPlay support is due to a HW limitation… What is possible is that WiiM is now mainstream enough that they would, or were forced to, only support AirPlay the “correct way”: with the correct (licensed) chip, a proper license & certification from Apple and the associated $$$ royalties… That instead of relying on a “hacked” Shairport-derived library like many, many, others. In that case yes, it can be stated as a “hardware limitation”.

It is indeed possible and even entirely possible! I don't know anything about it.
I just note that if Apple requires this from Wiim for its new models, why doesn't the same Apple require that a firmware update remove active Airplay and Airplay2 on old models that are regularly updated?

Well, another thing since Airplay was "copied" why did no one - at least to my knowledge - go further to release 24/96? French forum users did this a few years ago and even lifted the transcoding on the fly in Alac to broadcast in full bitrate AIFF... But this was not followed. A French reseller who sold "improved" Airport terminals at crazy prices also did this, then he moved on to the equally ruinous Macmini "improvement".

But it is certain that the absence of Airplay is a bad point for the news Wiim, despite the presence of the others. Because this Apple protocol is widely used for its robustness and its presence in all Macs, iPhones and iPads...