WiiM Amp Pro Streaming Stereo Amplifier Review

[kyuu]

There's a good black friday deal on the Amp Pro, which I'm interested into. However, I use a DDRC-24 as DAC for DIRAC, so I won't use any of the digital input of the Wiim Amp Pro. Is it still a good purchase, or should I look into something else that's in the same price range?

Still a good purchase.

 

[louwii]

I actually went for the Vibelink, since I don't need a DAC, it made more sense to me. Saves me a bit of cash too.

 

[gwing]

I actually went for the Vibelink, since I don't need a DAC, it made more sense to me. Saves me a bit of cash too.

Strange. As you will be presumably be using it after the DIRAC in your audio chain you won't then be using its pre-amp features and neither will you use its DAC?

Would a simple audio amp (or two) have done equally well, and don't you want 4 amplification channels for that DDRC-24?

 

[Miker 1102]

which is interesting and which fundamentally, we cannot consider as "hifi" this behavior they say "erratic" in f-r of these little chips, case by case, despite the effort of the pffb really helps to erase this problem...the loads are complex, see, and it surprises me that not enough is said, often very higher than 8ohm on the tweeters (what does 2k-20k measurements give under 16 see 32ohm?)...and as we can see affect quite low the fr in areas that are already sensitive, see at crossings that are already often complicated...not only very high (doesn't concern me)...
but this pffb really clearly helps for this """mk2"""...good news


Thread 'Complex impedance load amp FR influence - WiiM Amp review by Erin' https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...p-fr-influence-wiim-amp-review-by-erin.52301/
(It should come as no surprise that many of these little amplifiers based on these chips, until the recent arrival of the pffb, ended up (at least around me) after a passage of "for the price it's still astonishing!'.. .at the bottom of the cupboards, see just for troubleshooting, " too stiff or tiring", among those who had hindsight on the use of small class ab amps etc in the same circumstances... the pffb will clearly level out this problem a little ;-))

He has tested thw 100 watt and it has shown almost no load issues with this tech. I believe it has solved thr problem quote well and the pro ultra amp is incredible for thr 400 I paid.

 

[metaltitude]

Happy new year eaveryone !
I took advantage of a black friday deal late November to get this device from Amazon.

It replaces a Cambridge Audio Minx XI (streaming integrated class AB amp) which weighs much more, takes twice as much space, has a nicer remote (objectively) and looks better (subjectively).
Power specs are similar, I never found detailed measurements of the Cambridge but enjoyed it for years, using CD, FM radio, RCA input or bluetooth aptx from a smartphone. It still works very well but software is no longer updated and high-fi streaming is painful. A 3rd party app was required for Tidal, it made the amp buggy, playlists above 20-25 songs would make the amp crash.

My room and speakers (Dali Zensor 3 on stands) are not optimal for critical comparison.
The Cambridge seemed more at ease driving the Dali loud (6ohm nominal, and I believe 86db sensitive) but both amps deliver clean high spL.
I liked listening to the Cambridge and like listening to Wiim. (I moved to a new place a few weeks before getting the Wiim, making ocmparison even less relevant)

2 improvements are major and make me very happy:
- real estate (the Wiim fits inside a small cabinet wheras the Minx was too deep and had to be on top.
- ease of use. As another member noted earlier, my phone is all I need ot enjoy Tidal. the TV is plugged in ARC hdmi and turns the amp on/off without my intervention. Wiim home app is really well made, stable, enjoyable for my usage.
It was the first audio gear I bought new since a Sony minidisk 25 years ago (which I plugged into the Wiim's RCA last week, for fun, it still works perfectly) and I am very satisfied. It has been running 10+ hours a day for over a month, not a single issue. Fingers crossed that it will work fine for many years !

 

[dguillor]

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.

I agree, except that whether or not you have a subwoofer makes a difference, ie if you have one you need less power for the mains.

 

[gasolin75]

I agree, except that whether or not you have a subwoofer makes a difference, ie if you have one you need less power for the mains.

NO

Sometimes you add a subwoofer to add bass the main speakers can't play and in this instance it's not a big difference when cutting bass under 40-50 hz that a sub plays

Besides that, when do you play so loud that the amp don't have enough power, if you need to play so loud your amp don't have the power, you either buy a bigger amp or different speakers or both

 

[BlueTunes]

Is the streaming bit of this amp (kernel?) open source or is it proprietary?

 

[dguillor]

NO

Sometimes you add a subwoofer to add bass the main speakers can't play and in this instance it's not a big difference when cutting bass under 40-50 hz that a sub plays

Besides that, when do you play so loud that the amp don't have enough power, if you need to play so loud your amp don't have the power, you either buy a bigger amp or different speakers or both

I use the Wiim default sub crossover which is a steep filter at 80Hz.

 

[mrehorst]

I use the Wiim default sub crossover which is a steep filter at 80Hz.

It's a 4th order Linkwitz-Riley filter.

 

[somebodyelse]

Is the streaming bit of this amp (kernel?) open source or is it proprietary?

Firmware is proprietary. The kernel is almost certainly linux, so in theory they should provide the kernel source on request. The same would go for any other GPL bits in the firmware. Even then it's a long way between that and building your own working firmware image. It's a similar situation to Android phones, or most consumer routers - there's a fair bit of reverse engineering that goes into making a LineageOS or OpenWRT firmware for a new device.

 

[Burnside]

Firmware is proprietary. The kernel is almost certainly linux, so in theory they should provide the kernel source on request. The same would go for any other GPL bits in the firmware. Even then it's a long way between that and building your own working firmware image. It's a similar situation to Android phones, or most consumer routers - there's a fair bit of reverse engineering that goes into making a LineageOS or OpenWRT firmware for a new device.

It's based on Tina Linux afaicr

 

[somebodyelse]

It's based on Tina Linux afaicr

If correct I guess Linkplay started with an Allwinner processor, since that's their house system based on OpenWRT. They've used a variety of other manufacturers since then, so would have needed to import some other kernel sources.

Digging a little further, since I've got an Ultra and wonder what might be possible if/when Wiim drop support... From the FCC internal pics the Ultra is using a Linkplay A98D which according to linkplay uses an Amlogic A113X. The good news is it's largely supported by open code that's heading upstream or already there. The bad news is it's got a fairly effective secure boot, so if Linkplay have used it like Sonos have then we won't be running homebrew firmware until someone finds a way to jailbreak it. It'll probably be easier to replace the Linkplay board with something more open than to replace the firmware with a homebrew version.