WiiM Ultra Streamer Preamp Review

[morillon]

Hi,
Thank you for the test

Sorry about my question...I'm a newbie

I'm new to HiFi...and I have just bought a Denon DP-300F platine.
I want now to buy an amplifier...and someone told me about this wiim ultra...that looks (sounds!) great!

But I want your wise advice please: would the wiim ultra a good solution to play with my Denon DP-300F?

Thank you (and sorry for my french accent )

It's just a preamp (the analog inputs are digitalized and rather "additional")...not an integrated amp

 

[pieterv1]

Hi,
Thank you for the test

Sorry about my question...I'm a newbie

I'm new to HiFi...and I have just bought a Denon DP-300F platine.
I want now to buy an amplifier...and someone told me about this wiim ultra...that looks (sounds!) great!

But I want your wise advice please: would the wiim ultra a good solution to play with my Denon DP-300F?

Thank you (and sorry for my french accent )

As stated above: The WiiM Ultra is just a streamer and (digital) preamp.

It only outputs a line-level signal. With passive speakers, you'll need to add a (power) amplifier between the Ultra and the speaker or you can connect the WiiM Ultra directly to a set of active speakers - which have the amplifier built-in.

 

[antcollinet]

Sorry about my question...I'm a newbie

Hi - welcome to the forum.

A couple of good answers above. If you tell us what speakers you have, and if you want to connect any other gear in your setup (eg CD transport, or streamer), we will be able to advise some options for you for what you might need.

But since this might not be about the wiim ultra, you should probably start a new thread in the amplifiers sub-forum here:

Amplifiers, Phono preamp, and Analog Audio Review

Reviews, tests, measurements and discussions of analog audio electronics.

www.audiosciencereview.com

Feel free to reply here with a link to your new thread, so we can go and give our advice.

 

[Sweet33]

Well...I'm just a beginner
So, right now, I've just bought a Denon DP-300F turntable...and I thought I could directly connect the wiim ultra...
I'm looking for a system to amplify this turntable...and then buy also a set of speakers...
As I said, I'm a beginner...I don't know where I'm going in the HiFi world ...so for the money, I thought the wiim ultra was a good starter...
(I was thinking for about 400-500 euros/dollars for the amplifier...and about 700 euros/dollars for the speakers...)
At first, I was thinking about the denon pma-600ne amplifier...and then I thought the wiim ultra was doing the same at a better quality and price...as I said, I'm a newbie in this "world"...and happy to begin and learn

Thanks for all your advice

 

[JeremyFife]

Well...I'm just a beginner
So, right now, I've just bought a Denon DP-300F turntable...and I thought I could directly connect the wiim ultra...
I'm looking for a system to amplify this turntable...and then buy also a set of speakers...
As I said, I'm a beginner...I don't know where I'm going in the HiFi world ...so for the money, I thought the wiim ultra was a good starter...
(I was thinking for about 400-500 euros/dollars for the amplifier...and about 700 euros/dollars for the speakers...)
At first, I was thinking about the denon pma-600ne amplifier...and then I thought the wiim ultra was doing the same at a better quality and price...as I said, I'm a newbie in this "world"...and happy to begin and learn

Thanks for all your advice

Hi,
(You might have meant this to be a new thread? Not to worry )

WiiM Ultra is a good choice.

Consider a pair of active speakers (amps built in) which often gets you better value - and better sound - than separates.
That gives ~1200 € for speakers which puts you in Genelec 8030 territory and are truly excellent.
There are other options.
Sticking to your 700 budget still gets you tremendous speakers.

Read some reviews (here) and get a feel for what you can do

 

[Audionaut]

so for the money, I thought the wiim ultra was a good starter...

This IS a very good start and you have many features on this device.
However, you still need to add a Power amplifier.
A very inexpensive option would be the O-Noorus D1 for 95 Euro / 99 USD.

If you just want to run the turntable for now, this device will also suffice
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../fosi-audio-box-x5-phono-preamp-review.59982/
plus, for example, the O-Noorus D1 plus loudspeaker

 

[pieterv1]

Well...I'm just a beginner
So, right now, I've just bought a Denon DP-300F turntable...and I thought I could directly connect the wiim ultra...
I'm looking for a system to amplify this turntable...and then buy also a set of speakers...
As I said, I'm a beginner...I don't know where I'm going in the HiFi world ...so for the money, I thought the wiim ultra was a good starter...
(I was thinking for about 400-500 euros/dollars for the amplifier...and about 700 euros/dollars for the speakers...)
At first, I was thinking about the denon pma-600ne amplifier...and then I thought the wiim ultra was doing the same at a better quality and price...as I said, I'm a newbie in this "world"...and happy to begin and learn

Thanks for all your advice

One popular choice for amplification in combination with the WiiM Ultra seems to be the Fosi Audio V3 Mono. These are pure power amplifiers (with just a single audio input and without volume controls). Volume would then be controlled by the WiiM Ultra - which is mostly convenient especially if you'll use the streaming services and HDMI as well. At any time you'll be able to wirelessly control the volume from your phone, tv remote, WiiM remote or the built-in volume knob. The V3 Mono is a monoblock amplifier: as the name states, you'll need 2 of them - one per channel for a L&R stereo setup. They're sold as a set with 2 amps and one large power supply, shared by both amps. They use signal sensing to auto power on/off when audio is coming in. A pair wil set you back around €270

Here's a few other options:
Fosi ZA3: €150 - another solid option, a stereo amp so you'll need one box. Has a 12v trigger input to power on simultaneously with the Ultra (which has a trigger output)
3e Audio A5: €279 - 3e Audio has been making very high quality class D amplifier modules for DIY for a while now. The A5/A7 is their first range of finished amplifiers for the consumer market, launched in December last year. It works with auto sensing just like the V3 Mono, but some people seem to have issues with it not always turning on with lower audio signal levels. The audio performance is stellar though! The first batch is currently sold out and the problem with the auto sensing is supposed to be solved with the next batch.
Audiophonics MPA-S250NC RCA: €479 - based on a off the shelf Hypex Ncore NC252MP class D amplifier module - considered one of the best in class (also comes with 12v trigger)
WiiM Vibelink: coming this month - €399 (rumoured): amplifier made to be paired with a WiiM streamer (same size).

The ZA3, A5 and Vibelink have volume controls - in combination with the WiiM Ultra, it's best to leave the amplifier volume at maximum as you'll probably control the output volume of the WiiM instead.

Personally I use a 15y old Rotel RB-06 power amplifier which also happens to have a 12v trigger input. Theoretically, any power amplifier with a 12v input should work great with the Ultra.

 

[antcollinet]

Well...I'm just a beginner
So, right now, I've just bought a Denon DP-300F turntable...and I thought I could directly connect the wiim ultra...
I'm looking for a system to amplify this turntable...and then buy also a set of speakers...
As I said, I'm a beginner...I don't know where I'm going in the HiFi world ...so for the money, I thought the wiim ultra was a good starter...
(I was thinking for about 400-500 euros/dollars for the amplifier...and about 700 euros/dollars for the speakers...)
At first, I was thinking about the denon pma-600ne amplifier...and then I thought the wiim ultra was doing the same at a better quality and price...as I said, I'm a newbie in this "world"...and happy to begin and learn

Thanks for all your advice

To clarify a little.

Your turntable has a built in phono stage, so you don't need a separate phono pre-amp, nor an amplifer (or preamp) with phono input. Anything with a line input is fine.

Then you need to decide if you want to use a separate amplifier with passive speakers, or if you want to use active (powered) speakers with built in amplifiers.

If you use active speakers, then you will still need to use a pre-amp of some sort to control the volume.

If you use separate amp and speakers, then you can get an integrated amp with built in preamp.

For the former (active speakers), you could use either the Wiim Pro Plus, or the Wiim Ultra as the preamp. Audio performance between the two is identical. You just get the display (mainly) on the ultra. And it looks a bit nicer. Personally I'd go with the pro plus, and again reserve budget for the speakers.

For the latter (passive speakers) I would suggest (as a good starting point) looking at the WIIM Amp Pro. This gives you a streamer and a good integrated amplifier, and gives more of your budget for spending on the speakers. It has a built in sub output, so will enable you to upgrade your system by adding a sub later.


You could still consider the PMA-600ne - but at a higher price, and no better performance. And no streaming functionality.

 

[pieterv1]

To clarify a little.

Your turntable has a built in phono stage, so you don't need a separate phono pre-amp, nor an amplifer (or preamp) with phono input. Anything with a line input is fine.

Then you need to decide if you want to use a separate amplifier with passive speakers, or if you want to use active (powered) speakers with built in amplifiers.

If you use active speakers, then you will still need to use a pre-amp of some sort to control the volume.

If you use separate amp and speakers, then you can get an integrated amp with built in preamp.

For the former (active speakers), you could use either the Wiim Pro Plus, or the Wiim Ultra as the preamp. Audio performance between the two is identical. You just get the display (mainly) on the ultra. And it looks a bit nicer. Personally I'd go with the pro plus, and again reserve budget for the speakers.

For the latter (passive speakers) I would suggest (as a good starting point) looking at the WIIM Amp Pro. This gives you a streamer and a good integrated amplifier, and gives more of your budget for spending on the speakers. It has a built in sub output, so will enable you to upgrade your system by adding a sub later.


You could still consider the PMA-600ne - but at a higher price, and no better performance. And no streaming functionality.

Don't forget about HDMI Arc which is a huge plus of the Ultra if you're planning to use the speakers alongside a tv

 

[antcollinet]

Don't forget about HDMI Arc which is a huge plus of the Ultra if you're planning to use the speakers alongside a tv

True, but not mentioned as a need by the person I was replying to - who in fact seems only to have a turntable.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Well...I'm just a beginner
So, right now, I've just bought a Denon DP-300F turntable...and I thought I could directly connect the wiim ultra...
I'm looking for a system to amplify this turntable...and then buy also a set of speakers...
As I said, I'm a beginner...I don't know where I'm going in the HiFi world ...so for the money, I thought the wiim ultra was a good starter...
(I was thinking for about 400-500 euros/dollars for the amplifier...and about 700 euros/dollars for the speakers...)
At first, I was thinking about the denon pma-600ne amplifier...and then I thought the wiim ultra was doing the same at a better quality and price...as I said, I'm a newbie in this "world"...and happy to begin and learn

Thanks for all your advice

The IOM Ultra amp is worth considering. It matches the looks of the Wiim Ultra and is based on a very well regarded and powerful class D module.

The Wiim Ultra has a built in phono stage so you don’t need a separate box to connect your turntable.

 

[antcollinet]

The Wiim Ultra has a built in phono stage so you don’t need a separate box to connect your turntable.

The turntable has a built in phone stage, so he doesn't need one anyway.

 

[testp]

The IOM Ultra amp is worth considering. It matches the looks of the Wiim Ultra and is based on a very well regarded and powerful class D module.

The Wiim Ultra has a built in phono stage so you don’t need a separate box to connect your turntable.

nice, but they are all out of stock for some reason..

 

[Deleted member 72219]

nice, but they are all out of stock for some reason..

He might be temporarily out of boards. He is just down the street from Hypex and is a friend of one of the founders. Just email IOM and ask what’s up. Sipko’s great at communication.

-Ed

 

[pieterv1]

The IOM Ultra amp is worth considering. It matches the looks of the Wiim Ultra and is based on a very well regarded and powerful class D module.

The Wiim Ultra has a built in phono stage so you don’t need a separate box to connect your turntable.

The Audiophonics MPA-S250NC RCA has the same exact amplifier module built-in for considerably less money.

 

[JaccoW]

nice, but they are all out of stock for some reason..

Probably because Wiim just teased the Vibelink Amp.

 

[gwing]

The combination of USB and sub output means there's more than one clock domain involved. To keep them in sync at least one of them must have asynchronous sample rate conversion (ASRC) applied, or some adding/removing of data depending on the direction of relative drift. Depending on the implementation there could be a loss of quality, so they may have identified and fixed a problem in implementation.

More than one clock domain?? With a modern US DAC it is really just treating the incoming music as data requesting samples for that data transfer as needed, there is only one clock involved and that is the DAC's clock. you might think of the incoming music data via USB as just like reading data off a disk - doesn't need a clock.

 

[antcollinet]

More than one clock domain?? With a modern US DAC it is really just treating the incoming music as data requesting samples for that data transfer as needed, there is only one clock involved and that is the DAC's clock. you might think of the incoming music data via USB as just like reading data off a disk - doesn't need a clock.

Right - that is the external DAC.

But there is also the internal DAC generating the analogue SUB output. That will be running with a different clock. Or will need to sync somehow with the USB data rate.

 

[gwing]

Right - that is the external DAC.

But there is also the internal DAC generating the analogue SUB output. That will be running with a different clock. Or will need to sync somehow with the USB data rate.

I haven't though about this too much as I'm running a simplified system without subs, but that does suggest that the combination of async USB DAC and analogue SUB output isn't a good one and SPDIF fed DACs could have an advantage. *If* there are any audible downsides the better architecture might even be to have the USB DAC provide both full range and SUB outputs, or split the SUB output off in analogue even further downstream in the amps.

 

[honn]

If I can get the Ultra for close to about the same price as Wiim Pro Plus, should I get the Ultra over the Pro Plus?