WiiM Ultra Streamer Preamp Review

[Saponetto]

I read that several happy users enjoy themselves by playing music files coming from thumb drives, or hard drives, plugged to the usb socket of the Ultra.

Am I wrong or this device could actually work as a standalone music player also?
I can't get a clear answer on this point...

 

[harkpabst]

I read that several happy users enjoy themselves by playing music files coming from thumb drives, or hard drives, plugged to the usb socket of the Ultra.

Am I wrong or this device could actually work as a standalone music player also?
I can't get a clear answer on this point...

That depends on your definition of "stand alone". As of now it is not possible to navigate the entire contents of an external USB storage from the touchscreen. You can only assign assign e.g. playlists to presets and then play those playlists.

The hardware remote doesn't change that. In the end you need an app (not necessarily the WiiM Home App, but this is a natural fit, of course) to play your music from USB. And for that you need a network connection.

The filesystem of the USB storage is not exposed directly. The WiiM Ultra runs an instance of MiniDLNA instead, so your library can be accessed by artist, by album, by genre etc. There's also a "folder view" in case you prefer that but generally the display depends on well managed ID3 tags.

As I mentioned before, even other network players can access the music library of the Ultra through UPnP/DLNA.

 

[Saponetto]

Thanks for the prompt answer, all questions are cleared!

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

I’ve been using mine with a USB stick for a week or two. It’s a shame you can’t use the screen to navigate it, but I’d probably mainly be using my phone anyway.

That aside it works well, and any other similar player you’d be using your phone anyway, I suppose.

And, of course, there’s a digital in. If you have any other player with a digital out, this will beat any DAC at the price (or anywhere even close) with its PEQ, sub out and bass management.

 

[Justkidding]

Yes, Chromecast or Google Cast works well.

Thanks a lot. I thought chromecast always also streams the video that's why I was confused.
As far as I understand the Wiim Pro supports chromecast whereas the ultra has Google Chromecast Audio (CastLite).
So is there a difference between those when you only consider the possibility to stream from an audio device?

 

[Grovkalle]

I wish they just released an upgraded version of Wiim Pro with a USB output but I guess for you guys that do not live in a country
where you can buy the Ultra for $330 it is ok. In Sweden I the cost of an Ultra is around $450-460 and then the price is getting into Bluesound territory.
The new Node Nano is actually cheaper here than the Wiim Ultra.

 

[Brian Hall]

Interesting. I know little about Linux, maybe use an open source DLNA server? I have used both Jriver and Plex and works well for local playback.

a bit confusing.. so you are still using the line-out on the Ultra, using it's DAC?

I am using the line out on the Ultra. I have a Plex server running on a Linux pc that also shares all of my ripped CD collection.

 

[Raxumit]

I have two Ultras. Mostly I'm very pleased with them. I've been an LMS user for 20+ years, so the LMS support is critical to me, but the Spotify/Tidal/etc. support is great for my spouse as well. Thanks to Amir for doing the numbers, its nice to know the audio quality is good.

I was early to report a series of LMS bugs, and Wiim has been very good about fixing these quickly, and repairing things when a release broke LMS display briefly. Multi-room grouping and syncing works great, at least for me. The sub-out and room EQ represents a huge value, although I haven't played with either much. I think the price extremely good for what you get.

Still, I rated this just "fine" because, at the moment, the UI is just adequate. The volume knob needs acceleration, the now-playing display should be more customizable. At the price point, I give them a pass on things that cost serious hardware money, like the display being small/not OLED and the volume knob not feeling smooth and awesome - I get it. But there are software improvements that could be made that would maximize the potential of the hardware. This unfufilled potential keeps me from calling it excellent, at least just yet.

The good news is Wiim shows no signs of stopping development. The way they added room EQ to most of their existing devices, and then iteratively improved it, was really impressive. The display for inputs has improved, I'm hopeful the rest will as well.

A Wiim Ultra Pro Plus might have balanced outs, a better screen, and a nice-feeling volume knob.

My vote for a Wiim Amp Ultra would be an Ultra combined with a Hypex NC252MP. That one probably won't happen though.

 

[Descartes]

No AirPlay makes it useless to me.

Do you live on the Cote D’azur

 

[Descartes]

I am 9 pages in to the review and no one has mentioned one of the greatest aspects of the WiiM family of products. All of the WiiMs as long as they are on the same network can be linked together to create multiple music room environments all controlled by your phone app.
We are building a new home and I have already identified 6 zones where I want music: family room, bedroom, den, outdoor room, by the pool, workout room. Each of these rooms will be a "zone" with it's own WiiM located in my electronics closet. I will be able to choose music for each zone, the volume etc. They can have the same music or different music.
Yes, this is available in commercial systems for big money on complex set ups or using SONOS for 3x the WiiM price. But with these little and relatively inexpensive WiiMs, I can set up many zones and manage them all with an app or have a cheap tablet in each room for control. I can use the higher quality WiiMs where sound matters and the cheaper ones where I just need some background music and they all work together.

I see this as a breakthrough for whole home sound systems.

How do you do that? Especially since Apple Airplay is no longer supported

 

[Burnside]

How do you do that? Especially since Apple Airplay is no longer supported

You can group WiiM/Linkplay devices in the WiiM Home app and play music across them, nothing to do with Airplay. Plus Airplay is only not supported on the Ultra and Amp Pro - the other WiiM units still act as Airplay receivers. Are you perhaps confusing it with the withdrawn Airplay cast feature?

 

[Romario]

If the USB is 5V on the ultra to power a tablet and control the Wiim unit from the phone then there's the bigger screen.

 

[harkpabst]

Partitions think they are physical disks, and the operating system sees them as such. The file system is what governs organization within the partition. To the average user the distinction is pretty immaterial, they'll simply see (or not, some partitions can be hidden to users) physical disks managed by the file system.

You're right, but the discussion was about what to do when a USB storage device doesn't show up. It's not a matter of if or how the user should be able to understand the difference between a partition scheme and a file system. It's a question of how well the Ultra's Linux based operating system (not Android based) deals with it.

Experience shows that choosing the right file system and partition scheme at least increases the chances of the USB input working with different physical devices. If the OS has trouble recognising the partition scheme it doesn't matter if it could handle the file system used for a given partition or not.

 

[artishard116]

I am 9 pages in to the review and no one has mentioned one of the greatest aspects of the WiiM family of products. All of the WiiMs as long as they are on the same network can be linked together to create multiple music room environments all controlled by your phone app.
We are building a new home and I have already identified 6 zones where I want music: family room, bedroom, den, outdoor room, by the pool, workout room. Each of these rooms will be a "zone" with it's own WiiM located in my electronics closet. I will be able to choose music for each zone, the volume etc. They can have the same music or different music.
Yes, this is available in commercial systems for big money on complex set ups or using SONOS for 3x the WiiM price. But with these little and relatively inexpensive WiiMs, I can set up many zones and manage them all with an app or have a cheap tablet in each room for control. I can use the higher quality WiiMs where sound matters and the cheaper ones where I just need some background music and they all work together.

I see this as a breakthrough for whole home sound systems.

Can I ask what speakers you plan to use in such a setup? I've been considering ditching Sonos for multiple wiims but not sure what could replace the all-in-one relatively good sounding powered speaker and built in Alexa mic that comes in the Sonos Era 100.

 

[Descartes]

You can group WiiM/Linkplay devices in the WiiM Home app and play music across them, nothing to do with Airplay. Plus Airplay is only not supported on the Ultra and Amp Pro - the other WiiM units still act as Airplay receivers. Are you perhaps confusing it with the withdrawn Airplay cast feature?

I see yes you can add other WiiM devices, nice touch.
So if I have an original WiiM Amp which can play Airplay 2 and I add an other WiiM Pro will I be able to play from my Apple Music App?

 

[uofmtiger]

I see yes you can add other WiiM devices, nice touch.
So if I have an original WiiM Amp which can play Airplay 2 and I add an other WiiM Pro will I be able to play from my Apple Music App?

Yes ( the way it works now).

 

[JaccoW]

RyanWithWiim
Hi everyone! Thanks all for testing out the Plex integration! We've been going through your feedback and have partnered with Plex to build a more in depth integration with Plex before we go live. Please continue to share feedback, we'll keep reading it.

We'll let you know when there's more to share, but for now we're going back to the development desk for some more time.

Wiim Forums: Beta Test: Plex

There is a good bit of discussion going on there about a headless Plex implementation but they seem to be putting in the work to improve the integration.