WiiM Ultra Streamer Preamp Review

[Burnside]

I have an issue with the hdmi arc , the volume level compared to audio in, is quite a bit lower. Not exactly sure how much lower but I would guess something like 10db or even more.Output is from the Hdmi arc of a Sony Bravia 1080p 55inch , older model . Anyone else had this issue ?

Check if the tv has a separate digital volume control buried in its settings, or use the pre gain setting in the WiiM Home app audio input settings

 

[Lefty9]

Check if the tv has a separate digital volume control buried in its settings, or use the pre gain setting in the WiiM Home app audio input settings

Yes I looked in the tv settings but did not find anything , will look again. Didn’t find that pre gain setting in the Wiim app either , could it be that it is only possible for the wiim amp and not the ultra ?

 

[Mort]

Try Audio Input | Pre-gain

 

[Burnside]

Yes I looked in the tv settings but did not find anything , will look again. Didn’t find that pre gain setting in the Wiim app either , could it be that it is only possible for the wiim amp and not the ultra ?

As above, it should appear under audio input in your device settings in the WiiM app, just under where you’d select your input connection. There’s a small drop down on the right hand side against pre gain that will reveal a set of gain sliders for the different inputs. It’s available on all WiiM devices bar the Mini

 

[Lefty9]

Try Audio Input | Pre-gain

Thanks a lot , will do

 

[Lefty9]

As above, it should appear under audio input in your device settings in the WiiM app, just under where you’d select your input connection. There’s a small drop down on the right hand side against pre gain that will reveal a set of gain sliders for the different inputs. It’s available on all WiiM devices bar the Mini

Thanks a lot I will look for it . Not a very intuitive app I might add but then again I only have the wiim two days now

 

[holbob]

If I set the TV to output PCM instead of bitstream I get more gain through hdmi arc.

 

[KjetilA]

How is the pre-section? Would it be terrible to use it as a pre? Digital out -> dac -> poweramp

 

[Godataloss]

How is the pre-section? Would it be terrible to use it as a pre? Digital out -> dac -> poweramp

I replaced a Minidsp SHD with it and couldn't be happier. Plenty of output voltage to run a Hypex NCx252. Connected an external usb powered hard drive and it indexed (and plays) the nearly 40,000 songs that are on it. The phono section is even perfectly fine. Probably going to sell the SHD.

 

[TimW]

I've owned an Ultra for a couple of months now, and the Ultra is spectacular. No real significant complaints. I think I hear what Amir is talking about with noise on the phono input though. Here's my set-up:

• Technics SL-1210GR with Nagaoka MP-200 cartridge
• WiiM Ultra
• Neumann KH 120 II monitors

I have less than 1m interconnects.

I enjoy listening to vinyl, but I find the need to boost the low and high end of the room correction occasionally to get things sounding close to digital quality--and I often get there. Although I think the quality of the pressing matters greatly, I do hear some fuzziness at low volume (I suppose that is the 'noise')...but I also hear a bit of that when I am streaming.

Curious if that is dirty power, and I am better off getting a power conditioner rather than a phono stage...although I'm likely going to purchase an external phono stage anyway to up-level the sound quality of vinyl and have more control of gain and other settings, but also so I can eventually upgrade to a MC cartridge.

When I first purchased my Ultra I was using the phono input for my turntable connection. I'm not sure I heard the "fuzziness" you speak of, but it is a rather noisy phono stage. Most phono stages I have used have a fair amount of noise compared to other audio electronics though. When I used my Denon DL-103 with the Ultra in MC mode the noise was particularly bad. I'm not sure if it is the old wiring in this house or a strong nearby transmitter but I was picking up an NPR radio station through the turntable connection quite audibly and no rearrangement of the cabling would solve it. During quiet passages in songs you could clearly hear talk radio in the background haha

I am using a large Belkin AV power conditioner for my audio equipment and it was of no help. I would not recommend a power conditioner unless you want the features or potential protection it provides, it is highly unlikely to reduce noise.

Currently I use a Parks Audio Waxwing as my phono stage. It is connected to the Ultra optically which provides great noise isolation. No more radio station madness with this setup and the Waxwing is actually the least noisy phono stage I have ever used. It seems to mute its output when no record is playing because the pause symbol pops onto the Ultra's screen a few seconds after a side has finished. This allows the Ultra to go to sleep properly as with the other digital inputs and it can be set to automatically detect the optical input as it does with HDMI.

I used to own the Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL which was the best phono stage I had ever used. In comparison, the Ultra's phono input seemed to sound a bit dull. I'm not sure if this was due to its noise or maybe a mismatch with its input resistance/capacitance and my carts. Wiim has not published those specs for the Ultra as far as I know. Now with the Waxwing I have great vinyl sound again, the best I have ever had actually. While I appreciate the ability to EQ each input separately with the Ultra, I was already using the PEQ for speaker and room correction. The Waxwing provides a band of PEQ for cart correction along with 4 easy to use EQ types that work well for vinyl. I particularly like playing with the warmth and air settings to dial in a particular cart and record combination. When I use the derumble and magic features of the Waxwing as well, I can really get as close to digital as I have ever heard from vinyl. I really enjoy being able to change settings on the Ultra and the Waxwing from apps on my phone while sitting at my listening position. I highly recommend the Waxwing if you are looking to splurge on an audio gadget to improve your record listening.

 

[mlsstl]

How is the pre-section? Would it be terrible to use it as a pre? Digital out -> dac -> poweramp

I replaced a Schiit Lyr 3 preamp with the Ultra and have been very pleased with the results. Only two issues to consider IMO -- first, if your power amp has low gain, you may find the 2 volt line output of the Ultra shy of what you need. That's not an issue in my case. Second, the Ultra headphone amp is rather so-so. The Lyr is a much better headphone amp, especially if you have difficult-to-drive headphones. (Also not an issue for me since I have a separate system set up for my headphones.)

 

[TimW]

How is the pre-section? Would it be terrible to use it as a pre? Digital out -> dac -> poweramp

The pre-out option works great for me straight into a power amp. Others here have warned that full volume sounds were sent to their power amp so I would make sure the max volume can't damage anything. I have used a variable digital output>DAC>Power amp setup before and it worked great so I don't see why it wouldn't with the Ultra.

 

[dtaylo1066]

When I first purchased my Ultra I was using the phono input for my turntable connection. I'm not sure I heard the "fuzziness" you speak of, but it is a rather noisy phono stage. Most phono stages I have used have a fair amount of noise compared to other audio electronics though. When I used my Denon DL-103 with the Ultra in MC mode the noise was particularly bad. I'm not sure if it is the old wiring in this house or a strong nearby transmitter but I was picking up an NPR radio station through the turntable connection quite audibly and no rearrangement of the cabling would solve it. During quiet passages in songs you could clearly hear talk radio in the background haha

I am using a large Belkin AV power conditioner for my audio equipment and it was of no help. I would not recommend a power conditioner unless you want the features or potential protection it provides, it is highly unlikely to reduce noise.

Currently I use a Parks Audio Waxwing as my phono stage. It is connected to the Ultra optically which provides great noise isolation. No more radio station madness with this setup and the Waxwing is actually the least noisy phono stage I have ever used. It seems to mute its output when no record is playing because the pause symbol pops onto the Ultra's screen a few seconds after a side has finished. This allows the Ultra to go to sleep properly as with the other digital inputs and it can be set to automatically detect the optical input as it does with HDMI.

I used to own the Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL which was the best phono stage I had ever used. In comparison, the Ultra's phono input seemed to sound a bit dull. I'm not sure if this was due to its noise or maybe a mismatch with its input resistance/capacitance and my carts. Wiim has not published those specs for the Ultra as far as I know. Now with the Waxwing I have great vinyl sound again, the best I have ever had actually. While I appreciate the ability to EQ each input separately with the Ultra, I was already using the PEQ for speaker and room correction. The Waxwing provides a band of PEQ for cart correction along with 4 easy to use EQ types that work well for vinyl. I particularly like playing with the warmth and air settings to dial in a particular cart and record combination. When I use the derumble and magic features of the Waxwing as well, I can really get as close to digital as I have ever heard from vinyl. I really enjoy being able to change settings on the Ultra and the Waxwing from apps on my phone while sitting at my listening position. I highly recommend the Waxwing if you are looking to splurge on an audio gadget to improve your record listening.

How does your Wiim Ultra sound with an outboard phono preamp feeding the analog in vs using phono preamp in Wiim? Or did you not try that? I have a turntable with built in phone preamp that is actually pretty good, and was thinking of feeding that to the Wiim ADC vs using it's phono preamp, which seems OK, but not great.

 

[antcollinet]

How does your Wiim Ultra sound with an outboard phono preamp feeding the analog in vs using phono preamp in Wiim? Or did you not try that? I have a turntable with built in phone preamp that is actually pretty good, and was thinking of feeding that to the Wiim ADC vs using it's phono preamp, which seems OK, but not great.

I would use the TT built in preamp unless i had a known-to-be-excellent-and-much-better external preamp. Apart from anything else you are not sending tiny cartridge level signals down 2 or 3 ft of interconnect.

 

[Lefty9]

So I found the setting and boossted to max ,10db, although it is much better, it still does not match the line in sound level. I wonder why, has this something to do with the hdmi voltage output maybe? or something with the bandwidth? has anyone tried it with a 2.1 hdmi, because I think mine is not since is a fairly old tv.

 

[Godataloss]

When I first purchased my Ultra I was using the phono input for my turntable connection. I'm not sure I heard the "fuzziness" you speak of, but it is a rather noisy phono stage. Most phono stages I have used have a fair amount of noise compared to other audio electronics though. When I used my Denon DL-103 with the Ultra in MC mode the noise was particularly bad. I'm not sure if it is the old wiring in this house or a strong nearby transmitter but I was picking up an NPR radio station through the turntable connection quite audibly and no rearrangement of the cabling would solve it. During quiet passages in songs you could clearly hear talk radio in the background haha

I am using a large Belkin AV power conditioner for my audio equipment and it was of no help. I would not recommend a power conditioner unless you want the features or potential protection it provides, it is highly unlikely to reduce noise.

Currently I use a Parks Audio Waxwing as my phono stage. It is connected to the Ultra optically which provides great noise isolation. No more radio station madness with this setup and the Waxwing is actually the least noisy phono stage I have ever used. It seems to mute its output when no record is playing because the pause symbol pops onto the Ultra's screen a few seconds after a side has finished. This allows the Ultra to go to sleep properly as with the other digital inputs and it can be set to automatically detect the optical input as it does with HDMI.

I used to own the Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL which was the best phono stage I had ever used. In comparison, the Ultra's phono input seemed to sound a bit dull. I'm not sure if this was due to its noise or maybe a mismatch with its input resistance/capacitance and my carts. Wiim has not published those specs for the Ultra as far as I know. Now with the Waxwing I have great vinyl sound again, the best I have ever had actually. While I appreciate the ability to EQ each input separately with the Ultra, I was already using the PEQ for speaker and room correction. The Waxwing provides a band of PEQ for cart correction along with 4 easy to use EQ types that work well for vinyl. I particularly like playing with the warmth and air settings to dial in a particular cart and record combination. When I use the derumble and magic features of the Waxwing as well, I can really get as close to digital as I have ever heard from vinyl. I really enjoy being able to change settings on the Ultra and the Waxwing from apps on my phone while sitting at my listening position. I highly recommend the Waxwing if you are looking to splurge on an audio gadget to improve your record listening.

My initial plan was to use my existing Fosgate Signature Phono pre, but out of curiosity I hooked the table up the Wiim's phono to see what it could do. Failing to find the moving coil setting on the Wiim (can anyone help here)- I used a step up transformer and the resulting gain structure is excellent- with absolutely no noise issues of any kind. Needle drops and run in grooves are come on from a completely black background. I also don't hear any softness or lack of detail. I was previously using the minidsp SHD so it was already doing the A/D/A dance, and the Wiim's conversions seem just as transparent. The ease to make adjustments gives it an enormous edge over the SHD.

 

[Burnside]

My initial plan was to use my existing Fosgate Signature Phono pre, but out of curiosity I hooked the table up the Wiim's phono to see what it could do. Failing to find the moving coil setting on the Wiim (can anyone help here)- I used a step up transformer and the resulting gain structure is excellent- with absolutely no noise issues of any kind. Needle drops and run in grooves are come on from a completely black background. I also don't hear any softness or lack of detail. I was previously using the minidsp SHD so it was already doing the A/D/A dance, and the Wiim's conversions seem just as transparent. The ease to make adjustments gives it an enormous edge over the SHD.

When you select phono under audio input, another row appears further down where you can toggle between mm/mc

 

[TimW]

How does your Wiim Ultra sound with an outboard phono preamp feeding the analog in vs using phono preamp in Wiim? Or did you not try that? I have a turntable with built in phone preamp that is actually pretty good, and was thinking of feeding that to the Wiim ADC vs using it's phono preamp, which seems OK, but not great.

I did not try an outboard phono stage connected to the Wiim line input. Currently I have my tape deck connected there.

 

[dtaylo1066]

Well, if I go Wiim, which I think I will, I can certainly experiment with my TT phono preamp into the analog in or use the TT MC output into the Wiim Phono in and see which is best. Probably minimal or no difference. Records are a minority of what I listen to, the TT purchase as a mechanism to keep my 100 or more albums from the 70s and 80s viable. I have a Sony TT with built in preamp that can be bypassed, but also has ADC and USB out to computer plus software to record vinyl into HiRes onto your hard drive. A bit of a pioneer product in the day and one that got good reviews at a TT with phono preamp. Nothing special but it works. I was ambitious when buying it but, frankly, can't be bothered to digitize my vinyl, which would alleviate the need for an ADC in the Wiim, but it just seems easier to play the Vinyl on the TT vs digitizing 100 or more old albums.

https://www.whathifi.com/sony/ps-hx500/review

 

[EddNog]

Who here has played with room correction using an external mic? How were your results?

I just ordered a UMIK-1 to see if it improves room correction accuracy with the WiiM Ultra. Wasn’t sure if it would be worth it to pay twice as much for UMIK-2.

-Ed