WiiM Amp Pro Streaming Stereo Amplifier Review

[D700]

ah...wait a minute...I thought their products had AirPlay, but looking at their pages it seems NOT?!? While my kid does have a Spotify account I could use, I have iPhone and MacBook and use Apple Music because I can upload my own stuff.

So WiiM are a nonstarter for me? Or how could I use Apple Music? (I had a bunch of old AirPort Express but none of them would sync to my laptops, so I'm not super keen to go down that rabbit hole again).

Wait...https://faq.wiimhome.com/en/support/solutions/folders/72000563301
says they all support AirPlay 2 except the Amp Pro and Ultra (an extremely peculiar design and marketing choice!). That's echoed in this chart
https://www.wiimhome.com/wiimamp/overview
But then here on their product pages I do not see any AirPlay logo, making me paranoid/skeptical.

I guess the WiiM Amp is the logical choice for me...or Amp Pro fed from a Mini via optic, seems a bit odd.

???

BONUS QUESTION: are there any streamers that are configurable as AirPlay (original) thus truly running lossless?

I went down this path. Here you go:

Better than Airplay

If you have given up on Airplay with Wiim (curse you Apple) or your device doesn't have it, here's best option I've found: For those seeking: Wiim/Apple Music Ecosystem integration Apple Music navigation: view, select, play, pause from any Mac, iPhone, iPad, Watch Lossless music up to 24/48...

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[donahana]

Just got one on Grabr for ~$500 to replace my Aiyima A07 Max + Topping DX1 setup, mostly desktop/PC nearfield usage but I'm also finally gonna be able to plug my speakers to the TV (Samsung S90C), very happy to get rid of some cable clutter with this all-in-one solution too

Small 3x3.2m room using Dali Oberon 1 + KEF Kube 12b, power will definitely be more than enough in my case and the room-correction, PEQ per input, HPF and whatever else it has are gonna be a really nice addition. Should arrive here on march 13th, pretty excited!

 

[Head_Unit]

I went down this path. Here you go:

Better than Airplay

If you have given up on Airplay with Wiim (curse you Apple) or your device doesn't have it, here's best option I've found: For those seeking: Wiim/Apple Music Ecosystem integration Apple Music navigation: view, select, play, pause from any Mac, iPhone, iPad, Watch Lossless music up to 24/48...

forum.wiimhome.com

Hmmm interesting. Somewhat more expensive, but seems I would get lossless all the time??? Which is NOT how AirPlay 2 runs.

OR it seems I could just buy the WiiM Amp, which is no slouch...

 

[D700]

Hmmm interesting. Somewhat more expensive, but seems I would get lossless all the time??? Which is NOT how AirPlay 2 runs.

OR it seems I could just buy the WiiM Amp, which is no slouch...

Lossless 24 bit anything is game changer, you can hear it versus compressed Airplay 2

 

[donahana]

Just got one on Grabr for ~$500 to replace my Aiyima A07 Max + Topping DX1 setup, mostly desktop/PC nearfield usage but I'm also finally gonna be able to plug my speakers to the TV (Samsung S90C), very happy to get rid of some cable clutter with this all-in-one solution too

Small 3x3.2m room using Dali Oberon 1 + KEF Kube 12b, power will definitely be more than enough in my case and the room-correction, PEQ per input, HPF and whatever else it has are gonna be a really nice addition. Should arrive here on march 13th, pretty excited!

Actually, one thing that crossed my mind is: can I use the high-pass filter even without a sub (or with the sub turned off)? Say I'm just watching videos on YT (100% dialogue) at night and would like to get rid of as much boominess as possible, would that be possible? Some channels I don't have a problem with and voices are crystal clear with perfect audio quality in every possible way, but on some others there's a very noticeable boominess that I suspect getting rid of <200hz frequencies could at least help some

 

[staticV3]

can I use the high-pass filter even without a sub (or with the sub turned off)?

Sure can!

Say I'm just watching videos on YT (100% dialogue) at night and would like to get rid of as much boominess as possible, would that be possible?

Yes.

 

[mrick39]

Actually, one thing that crossed my mind is: can I use the high-pass filter even without a sub (or with the sub turned off)? Say I'm just watching videos on YT (100% dialogue) at night and would like to get rid of as much boominess as possible, would that be possible? Some channels I don't have a problem with and voices are crystal clear with perfect audio quality in every possible way, but on some others there's a very noticeable boominess that I suspect getting rid of <200hz frequencies could at least help some

You could also create a “YT” EQ preset and leave sub settings as they are but use PEQ settings to kill 80-100 Hz signals and below.

 

[staticV3]

You could also create a “YT” EQ preset and leave sub settings as they are but use PEQ settings to kill 80-100 Hz signals and below.

killing 80-100 Hz signals and below is the job of a high-pass filter, which AFAIK is not available in the EQ settings but only in form of the WiiM's subwoofer crossover control.

 

[El Cheapo]

killing 80-100 Hz signals and below is the job of a high-pass filter, which AFAIK is not available in the EQ settings but only in form of the WiiM's subwoofer crossover control.

Wiim PEQ has LS/HS Shelf options?

 

[staticV3]

Wiim PEQ has LS/HS Shelf options?

Sure does, but no LP/HP Pass options which is what you'd use to cut bass.

HP is only available in the form of Sub crossover control.

 

[El Cheapo]

Sure does, but no LP/HP Pass options which is what you'd use to cut bass.

HP is only available in the form of Sub crossover control.

I think I tried it and it worked but I could be mistaken.

Here's what google AI says:

To cut bass using a parametric equalizer shelf filter on a WiiM amp, open the WiiM Home app, navigate to the device settings, select "Parametric EQ," then adjust the "Frequency" slider to the low bass range (around 50-80Hz), set the "Gain" to a negative value to cut the bass, and choose a suitable "Q" value to control the filter's bandwidth, with a higher Q value providing a more precise cut. [1, 2, 3]
Key steps: [1, 2, 3]

• Access EQ settings: Open the WiiM Home app, go to the device tab, and select the gear icon to access device settings, then choose "EQ." [1, 2, 3]
• Select Parametric EQ: Within the EQ settings, choose "Parametric EQ" to access the parametric equalizer controls. [1, 2, 3]
• Set Frequency: Adjust the "Frequency" slider to the desired bass range you want to cut (typically between 50-80Hz). [1, 2, 3]
• Cut the bass: Set the "Gain" value to a negative number to reduce the bass level in that frequency range. [1, 2, 4]
• Adjust Q value: Modify the "Q" value to control how narrow or wide the frequency cut is. A higher Q will provide a more precise cut, while a lower Q will affect a broader frequency range. [2, 4, 5]

Generative AI is experimental.
[1] https://www.blog.wiimhome.com/post/how-to-use-parametric-eq-a-comprehensive-guide
[2] https://faq.wiimhome.com/en/support...ow-to-use-parametric-eq-a-comprehensive-guide
[3] https://www.armadamusic.com/university/music-production-articles/eq-explained-the-basics
[4] https://www.mixinglessons.com/parametric-eq/
[5] https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/parametric-eq.html

 

[staticV3]

 

[mrick39]

killing 80-100 Hz signals and below is the job of a high-pass filter, which AFAIK is not available in the EQ settings but only in form of the WiiM's subwoofer crossover control.

Just do it manually with a custom PEQ saved for YT

 

[mrick39]

You do realize that @donahana is only watching YT videos with just dialog?

 

[El Cheapo]

You do realize that @donahana is only watching YT videos with just dialog?

I had named my PEQ setting NoBass for late night listening in an apartment...it worked but I had issues with too much latency through Wiim Pro Plus causing noticeable lip-sync issue. I didn't find a way to fix that since I had a Bluesound Node N130 upstream over toslink into Wiim, and no way to delay the video component on TV youtube app.

Adding more info: Each shelf can do -12 dB, one can use multiple shelves to attenuate (bass) more.

[In case you are wondering the sub control doesn't work for digital out from bluesound node and I needed a balanced out to my amp, so I didn't use the DAC on the Wiim pro plus either, it was used just in digital domain for PEQ]

 

[donahana]

Just updating, grabbed the Amp a few hours ago and just finished setting up

Had some issue with the subwoofer at first (KEF Kube 12b) using the same 3.5mm to 2 RCA cable I was using the Aiyima A07 Max, subwoofer wasn't working and kept sort of rumbling, swapping to a single-ended RCA and connecting only to the LFE port of the subwoofer solved the issue, so far so good.

Currently reading WiiM's FAQ/forum and playing with the app but I'm wondering how does the subwoofer's crossover/LFE dial interact with the WiiM Home's app settings exactly, I was just testing with a tone generator and both the sub's dial as well as the app affect the sub's response so I'm guessing the amp applies only a high-pass filter and the subwoofer still manages the low-pass? That is when playing in the 40-140hz range on the sub's knob. I'm guessing just leave the sub at LFE (I guess that's the highest frequency like WiiM suggests as it's just past the 140hz on the knob?) and adjust sub's volume as needed with the app's level setting (+- 15db) for convenience.

Other than that I'm pretty happy with it so far, way less gear/cable clutter around here and the extra connectivity is great. Crossover set at 80hz with the Dali Oberon 1, HPF seems to improve speaker clarity a little bit playing music

As to getting rid of boominess in dialogue, I played with 100-120hz crossover and that helped a ton, needed to turn off the sub as well for that to work though, maybe I'll just use PEQ as well to reduce <100-120hz as much as possible as it's more convenient than turning the sub on/off, even if it only attenuates by 12db as said instead of removing those lower frequencies completely, it should be enough to make dialogue more intelligible

EDIT: Ah yeah, just gonna add that it's connected via optical cable to the PC, volume is currently at 40/100 and it's definitely too high for daily usage (appartment ) if I set Foobar to 100% volume as well, most I'll use is 50/100 every now and then but yeah, volume is plenty for my usage. Gonna test later on the TV (S90C) via HDMI.

 

[staticV3]

I'm wondering how does the subwoofer's crossover/LFE dial interact with the WiiM Home's app settings exactly, I was just testing with a tone generator and both the sub's dial as well as the app affect the sub's response so I'm guessing the amp applies only a high-pass filter and the subwoofer still manages the low-pass?

The WiiM App Crossover setting applies a low-pass filter to the Sub output and a corresponding high-pass filter to the Speaker output.


I would set the KEF to LFE and let the WiiM handle Crossover duties.

 

[DazST]

Just updating, grabbed the Amp a few hours ago and just finished setting up

View attachment 435718

Had some issue with the subwoofer at first (KEF Kube 12b) using the same 3.5mm to 2 RCA cable I was using the Aiyima A07 Max, subwoofer wasn't working and kept sort of rumbling, swapping to a single-ended RCA and connecting only to the LFE port of the subwoofer solved the issue, so far so good.

Currently reading WiiM's FAQ/forum and playing with the app but I'm wondering how does the subwoofer's crossover/LFE dial interact with the WiiM Home's app settings exactly, I was just testing with a tone generator and both the sub's dial as well as the app affect the sub's response so I'm guessing the amp applies only a high-pass filter and the subwoofer still manages the low-pass? That is when playing in the 40-140hz range on the sub's knob. I'm guessing just leave the sub at LFE (I guess that's the highest frequency like WiiM suggests as it's just past the 140hz on the knob?) and adjust sub's volume as needed with the app's level setting (+- 15db) for convenience.

Other than that I'm pretty happy with it so far, way less gear/cable clutter around here and the extra connectivity is great. Crossover set at 80hz with the Dali Oberon 1, HPF seems to improve speaker clarity a little bit playing music

As to getting rid of boominess in dialogue, I played with 100-120hz crossover and that helped a ton, needed to turn off the sub as well for that to work though, maybe I'll just use PEQ as well to reduce <100-120hz as much as possible as it's more convenient than turning the sub on/off, even if it only attenuates by 12db as said instead of removing those lower frequencies completely, it should be enough to make dialogue more intelligible

EDIT: Ah yeah, just gonna add that it's connected via optical cable to the PC, volume is currently at 40/100 and it's definitely too high for daily usage (appartment ) if I set Foobar to 100% volume as well, most I'll use is 50/100 every now and then but yeah, volume is plenty for my usage. Gonna test later on the TV (S90C) via HDMI.

You can switch the sub off/on via the app. See about half way down in the image

 

[donahana]

You can switch the sub off/on via the app. See about half way down in the image

Turning subwoofer ON to OFF there disables everything under the subwoofer menu. I'm looking to use the high-pass filter (Crossover frequency with subwoofer ON) and leaving subwoofer OFF there seems to disable the crossover frequency/HPF as well as the other options (level, main speaker output bass etc), meanwhile if I physically turn the subwoofer off I can still leave the subwoofer ON on the app and adjust crossover frequency/HPF to effectively kill lower frequencies for more intelligibility in dialogue when I'm using only as 2.0 instead of 2.1

 

[DazST]

Ah, sorry mate I misunderstood