WiiM Ultra Streamer Preamp Review

[rccarguy]

For my use case it is almost perfect.
Digital outs to my active speakers. Sub out. Room correction. Phono input. HDMI input. The only thing it’s missing for me is AirPlay.

The eversolo a6 is more than twice the cost. No sub out. No HDMI in. No phono. No room correction iirc.

The a8 is 5 times the price. No bass management when using the analogue outs connected to a sub.

Eversolo does have PEQ? Just not automatic measuring etc, so have to use UMIK/REW yourself an

I still find confusing enough to understand if it can read and play FLAC files stored, with album cover art, on a SSD external drive. As a streamer, not being a server, probably not. For those like me who have transferred over 90thousand music files from their decades old CD collection it is of paramount importance. My experience so far has been excellent with the expensive Weiss MAN-301, so-so with the Cambridge and the Topping servers. The archive system and the user’s interface are also of paramount importance: most excellent on Weiss, horrible on the other two mentioned.

It can scan music from USB drive, but it doesn't seem as good as a proper music server.

I'd say for my use, Pro is good enough, I don't need the extra features of the plus, ultra, and the extras aren't that great. I do need a headphone stage but the ultra isn't great, a screen is nice but 3.5" is just too small so paying £250 more for something that is so-so

 

[Pritaudio]

Is there a thread or posts that compare the ‘room correction’ to the 10 band eq.
Or how about the sub integration filter roll off functionality in comparison to a manual low pass cut off.

 

[harkpabst]

Is there a thread or posts that compare the ‘room correction’ to the 10 band eq.

It's one and the same thing. Room Correction creates a set of 10 PEQ filters. You can use them as they are, you can manually modify them, you can make your own. There's nothing secret inside WiiM RC.

Or how about the sub integration filter roll off functionality in comparison to a manual low pass cut off.

Not sure what you mean. Sub integration is always manual in that you have to select a crossover frequency (low pass to sub and high pass to mains by default), subwoofer level and delay in ms (for either mains or - more likely - the sub).

The filters (high and low pass) are 4th order Linkwitz-Riley. There's a new option to bypass either the low pass filter or the high pass filter or both.

Automatic RC doesn't do anything specific to the subwoofer output. It just corrects within the defined frequency range (default: 40 Hz to 4 kHz).

 

[JaccoW]

I have an android phone - not an Iphone, so AirPlay and stuff like that is no option to me.
Is it possible to stream the audio of youtube or an internal android app to the Wiim but without using bluetooth?

Yes, Chromecast or Google Cast works well.

 

[JaccoW]

I understand your disappointment but "High end device" and bluetooth sound bad in the same sentence.

The Topping D70 with LDAC is a high-end device as well.
Support for up to 990 kbps over Bluetooth means most lossless FLAC files will work perfectly fine.

It's just a very convenient protocol with a very wide support.

Or are you the only one that can play back music on your system? Having friends enjoy it through their device with their own playlists is a pleasure of mine.

 

[RoA]

Jack of all trades, master of none? Even so, amazing what they've packed into it.

I hope others will follow soon.

 

[Petrushka]

Jack of all trades, master of none? Even so, amazing what they've packed into it.

I hope others will follow soon.

You don’t have to be better than transparent.

I’m curious if the Ultra could run Dirac.that would be interesting.

 

[pewe]

Features and price are great on the Ultra. But, ultimately I want better build quality, XLR out and a "proper" room correction, like Dirac. I would gladly pay double to get that. The upcoming Bluesound Node Icon looks promising but at a much higher price.

 

[Brian Hall]

and what would you connect to the already existing line input?

Analog out from a CD player. Analog out from my 24 track digital recorder. Analog out from a DAP. Analog out from another DAC since the Ultra didn't provide coax or USB C inputs.

Lots of possibilities.

 

[Romario]

Maybe it doesn't measure better than a Pro + or a Pro with external DAC, but it sure does look better than those flimsy little plastic boxes.

Thanks for the review!

 

[TonyJZX]

the behavior of the rj45 and wifi is the same as consoles

you can run either but not both - - remeber these things are designed for bulk numpties like consoles and there will not be a normal situation where you need BOTH

also i think i read on their forums that they are using a qca3000 level bt chipset so sbc and aac is all you get but they implied that they know its an issue for some people and they will accomodate that in the next model

my feelings about analog device input ins that i can see how some people might like to add eq to an analog signal however i'm probably of the opinion more people would love to add peq to a SOTA digital source

but this company is very receptive to customer input and will release updates at a whim and for a mere $329 tis is not even question in this industry where they will ghost you if you spend several thousand

 

[Left]

An easily overlooked feature for those who are looking for FIR or convolution filters: the Ultra has per input equalization filters. Each input remembers the last profile it used. As both Roon and LMS provide FIR filters, for those that stream primarily from these sources, they are 50% of the way there. Changing streams would require changing the equalization preset but first world problems. It does neatly address those that use the Ultra with their TV. The HDMI input would have its own, low latency equalization.

 

[ryanmh1]

Reality check though; comprehensive inputs (including HDMI arc), room correction, PEQ (so manual adjustments to the RC), sub management (crossover, with timing management quite likely in a firmware update), transparent DAC and with a headphone amp and phono stage thrown in ... all for £350. How much would it cost to get the same functionality and quality with alternatives?

I wanted this to be better, in reality though it's probably more than good enough

If you want a screen in this form factor, I don't think you can do better for less or even similar price. True, the analog section could be better, but if you're all digital, this is already great, particularly if the room correction actually works. Hook this to a Hypex and you're kinda at end game setup. Which is annoying. Because it's boring and takes all the fun of playing with gear out. This sort of stuff is really for people who like listening to music and not playing with stereo equipment.

EDIT: I don't see that the line out max voltage was tested. I assumed it would push 3V since the headphone output will. If it will not do that and will only meet spec sheet of 2.1V, there's an issue with using a Hypex on line out since most of them cannot be driven to full output with 2V. So there's a minor question mark, but I suppose you could always use the headphone output. [Spec sheet of this (which is not unreasonable at 2.1V) is a prime example of why I made a big stink about the ridiculous gain structure of the Hypex default implementations, and other "low gain" amplifiers. Who the @#$% wants to buy something that doesn't work with vast numbers of line outs as they are specified from the factory?! Instead, you're left with hope and faith that line outs exceed spec, or wait for someone to test it]

All that said, a line out measurement would probably be useful for people with Hypex or Topping low gain amps.

 

[shuppatsu]

Lack of LDAC or any high end bluetooth is a deal breaker for me on a high end device that wants to do everything.

I understand your disappointment but "High end device" and bluetooth sound bad in the same sentence.

I'll come from the opposite direction. AAC is high end bluetooth in that it provides just as high quality as LDAC.

As you can see, both the iPhone 11 (2019) and iPhone 14 Pro (2022) performed really well on the tests. THD+N scored better than -70dB and TD+N better than -65dB. These numbers are similar to the best that LDAC 909kbps achieved in Android. But the great thing is that Bluetooth transmission using AAC is only at 256kbps with the iPhones which means improved reliability (no dropouts) and range.

The caveat is that Android phones muck it up, so you need an iPhone. But that's not the receiver's fault.

 

[JustCoolin‘]

Not happy at all how they handled the (lack of) Airplay situation. They may have lied, and they definitely informed their official distributors too late, so I had to cancel my preorder.

Worst of all, they locked every thread that so much as mentioned the evil word AirPlay, even those with helpful workarounds (like Chromecast). An email I‘ve sent got no response whatsoever.

All deeply unprofessional and a bit silly, really. I own a Pro Plus and a Mini, but they‘ve lost me as a customer for now.

 

[BrooklynNick]

In this case the DAC is excellent so I don't see a need for digital out.

Given that the headphone output is not good and that a lot of us already own DAC/headphone amp combos that measure a lot better than the Ultra, I think it makes a lot of sense to use the digital outs rather than the analog outs. One less cable and better performance (although probably an inaudible difference).

 

[mlsstl]

Not happy at all how they handled the (lack of) Airplay situation. They may have lied, and they definitely informed their official distributors too late, so I had to cancel my preorder.

Worst of all, they locked every thread that so much as mentioned the evil word AirPlay, even those with helpful workarounds (like Chromecast). An email I‘ve sent got no response whatsoever.

All deeply unprofessional and a bit silly, really. I own a Pro Plus and a Mini, but they‘ve lost me as a customer for now.

In the absence of additional info, I'm unwilling to place 100% of the blame on WiiM for the Airplay situation. After 40+ years of dealing with many big corporations in a variety of circumstances, I strongly suspect that Apple also played a negative role in how things developed. And I also believe that, for legalistic and/or business reasons, neither entity is interested in providing any further details as to what happened and how, especially if there is a possibility of the situation still developing further.

In the meantime, one of the other things I've noticed over the years is that when a company won't tell you what's going on, people will make up their own story to explain what happened, and that story in inevitably darker and worse than reality.

That said, it doesn't surprise me that many Apple fans are ticked about where things stand right now.

 

[D700]

Yeah, I was all set to buy 3 of these for all our listening through the house, really wanted ability to see/select what was playing without being chained to a screen. I actually was first post suggesting the Ultra name and asking for the feature set over on Wiim....but dang:

1) Lack of airplay 2 is killer...I was really hoping for a switch to force Airplay 1 lossless codec but now they've gone backwards
2) Screen is toooooooo small
3) No balanced out
4) No coax out

I was really expecting all of above for around $500. Without at least Airplay and a larger screen, no reason to upgrade from the Pro. I applaud that they're focused on <$400 devices, I guess I need to move up to the $800 range Eversolo.

 

[BrooklynNick]

Yeah, I was all set to buy 3 of these for all our listening through the house, really wanted ability to see/select what was playing without being chained to a screen. I actually was first post suggesting the Ultra name and asking for the feature set over on Wiim....but dang:

1) Lack of airplay 2 is killer...I was really hoping for a switch to force Airplay 1 lossless codec but now they've gone backwards
2) Screen is toooooooo small
3) No balanced out
4) No coax out

I was really expecting all of above for around $500. Without at least Airplay and a larger screen, no reason to upgrade from the Pro. I applaud that they're focused on <$400 devices, I guess I need to move up to the $800 range Eversolo.

It has coax out. To the right of the phono out.

 

[TraverS]

I'll come from the opposite direction. AAC is high end bluetooth in that it provides just as high quality as LDAC.


The caveat is that Android phones muck it up, so you need an iPhone. But that's not the receiver's fault.

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From the test here, LDAC is better. And I remember reading about AAC having dynamic low frequency noise some where here, that is probably more noticeable than any distortion.