WiiM Ultra Streamer Preamp Review

[Romario]

Good to know, thanks! But it's weird, huh? You would expect this with shelving higer up the db scale.

 

[Smitty2k1]

Let's see a new product with a true headphone amp built in for desktop use!

 

[Mort]

My wife and I love the small screen for changing input and output in the fly at our desktops.

It's much easier than most other dacs for my wife who loves good audio but dislikes managing them. We never use the remote.

They really need to add an accelerometer to the volume control on the device. That's a pain point.

Headphone is weak. I get my headphone by connecting a qudelix 5k to the USB port. One could attach a Fosi DS2 of you don't need the Q5k other features.

We attached computers with a USB to toslink.

I hooked my monitor up to a Google streamer and out to the ARC and works great.

There are other weak spots but so are all affordable multi function devices. For the price point I consider this an amazing gadget at the desktop.

 

[kingkoolkris]

Would you recommend this device when using mainly local FLAC music? I have an external HDD attached via USB3.0 to my FritzBox Fibre router which hosts my music library.
I'd like to control music search/playback via my iPhone or and Android Tablet.

 

[Miguelón]

Good to know, thanks! But it's weird, huh? You would expect this with shelving higer up the db scale.

I have another curiosity, mine is obviating the elevation on the highs, or perhaps had exhausted the 10 parameter on the lows and mids…

 

[Romario]

On the first page of the RC I clicked the grinding wheel and limited the window to be measured from about 50 to 1700 Hz. The ultra remembers the
setting so I don't know what te default was. Maybe the answer lies there.

 

[Miguelón]

On the first page of the RC I clicked the grinding wheel and limited the window to be measured from about 50 to 1700 Hz. The ultra remembers the
setting so I don't know what te default was. Maybe the answer lies there.

Thanks, the answer was on the room settings, but I was right: the WiiM tried to correct primarily lows and mids and didn’t have more place for trebles.

I reduced the Q value to 6 to avoid so many corrections and too steep.

Now is correcting the elevated region above 8-10 kHz.

 

[Romario]

Thanks, the answer was on the room settings, but I was right: the WiiM tried to correct primarily lows and mids and didn’t have more place for trebles.

I reduced the Q value to 6 to avoid so many corrections and too steep.

Now is correcting the elevated region above 8-10 kHz.

Personally I prefer to adjust the trebles manually if needed, but it sure is nice to play with this feauture!

 

[AudioJester]

I have another curiosity, mine is obviating the elevation on the highs, or perhaps had exhausted the 10 parameter on the lows and mids…

View attachment 401831

Are you sure that treble elevation is real and not a measurement issue? What speakers?

 

[Miguelón]

Are you sure that treble elevation is real and not a measurement issue? What speakers?

Maybe a measurement issue, is constantly there in various speakers I tried. Also are a marble table at left side and the screen of the TV on the right.

Speakers are Genelec G Three, same as 8030C but with less sensitivity and an extra RCA input

 

[AudioJester]

Maybe a measurement issue, is constantly there in various speakers I tried. Also are a marble table at left side and the screen of the TV on the right.

Speakers are Genelec G Three, same as 8030C but with less sensitivity and an extra RCA input

Unless a definite audible issue, not sure I would try and correct that.

 

[Miguelón]

Unless a definite audible issue, not sure I would try and correct that.

I can try measuring in another place without reflecting surfaces or at closest distance to avoid returning sound. If it disappears should be a reflection (reflexion ?)

 

[EJ3]

I can try measuring in another place without reflecting surfaces or at closest distance to avoid returning sound. If it disappears should be a reflection (reflexion ?)

reflection is correct in this usage.

 

[AudioJester]

I can try measuring in another place without reflecting surfaces or at closest distance to avoid returning sound. If it disappears should be a reflection (reflexion ?)

Measuring and EQ are tools to help identify and fix an audible problem. Is there something you can hear?

If we just use eq to fix a squiggly line - it will often sound worse.

 

[TimW]

I've really been enjoying my Ultra but there has been a few issues with no sound output. Two or three times this happened with the HDMI ARC input, the TV would turn on as usual and so would the Wiim but there just wouldn't be any sound. Rebooting the wiim or turning on and off the TV would fix it. Today this happened but now there was no sound with the HDMI, optical, or line inputs. Only the wifi input produced sound. Rebooting the unit once again fixed the issue but it's just annoying to me and confusing to my roommate. I've never owned a consumer audio component that needed to be rebooted regularly to work properly.

 

[Miguelón]

Measuring and EQ are tools to help identify and fix an audible problem. Is there something you can hear?

If we just use eq to fix a squiggly line - it will often sound worse.

Yes, too much brilliant sound, since I changed the place of speakers.

With the room correction in automatic mode and some reductions of the gain to soften the EQ has improved a lot the low end and some irritarting mid-highs and trebles.

Since I always test recordings I know very well, don’t seem to be an issue of the recording, and also are present in my two setups (Genelec 8020 and Genelec G Three) in that place.

I guess are a combination of screen and marble surfaces, behind the speaker they are glass door and windows also, but is not probable that a 8 kHz sound go back and bounce on the glass…

 

[Romario]

Measuring and EQ are tools to help identify and fix an audible problem. Is there something you can hear?

If we just use eq to fix a squiggly line - it will often sound worse.

I think the RC in the Ultra is a great way finding that out on the cheap and without additional software, just a mic connected to a tablet. As I read somewhere is that above 300 Hz or so one is not correcting the room anymore but is eqing the speakers ( including placement).
Switching out speaker pairs and start over gave also more satisfying results to the ear. Let's play on!

 

[Miguelón]

I think the RC in the Ultra is a great way finding that out on the cheap and without additional software, just a mic connected to a tablet. As I read somewhere is that above 300 Hz or so one is not correcting the room anymore but is eqing the speakers ( including placement).
Switching out speaker pairs and start over gave also more satisfying results to the ear. Let's play on!

I didn’t lnow that you can connect a mic to the tablet, which mic and how do you connect it?

What you red is not true, they are reflections on many surfaces, I think it was only in the case of room modes.

But depending on the reflection coefficient of the materials, you can have troubles on any place of the spectrum.

Also is nothing bad about correcting the speaker frequency curve, if doing it subtle. In room response of Genelec 8030C for example, have a little dip on the marching interval between woofer and tweeter, boosting 2 or 3 decibels there it helps a more clean sound.

Usually you obtain good results correcting low end, and softening/gently boosting the main spikes /dips shown by the analysis. Ear is helpful there, don’t get auto corrections as literally

 

[Romario]

I bought the Umik 1 connected to the usb-c. But there are more alternatives.

 

[Miguelón]

I bought the Umik 1 connected to the usb-c. But there are more alternatives.

Thanks, the Umik 1 was recommended to me in another occasions, but didn’t know that can be plugged on the tablet and WiiM app accepted. Irrationally, no reasons whatsoever for the WiiM software to differentiate the onboard mic and reject a third party ones, but was one that stupid things one (or at least me) pass through the brain…