Thanks for the review, Amir. I've had a WiiM Ultra since July 22nd and am extremely pleased with it. The line output from the DAC is excellent -- as good as anything else I've tried. I currently use it for streaming only -- Qobuz, Amazon Music, internet radio and my local collection, and as a preamp to feed my Aiyima A70.
The features I like are: album cover display, included voice remote for volume, pause/play & changing tracks, sub output management (that also applies a high-pass for the main speakers), PEQ & room correction, the WiiM app, and ability to serve as a LMS player.
I've used LMS for some 20 years now but the one negative about it is that my wife has never gotten comfortable using it. The Ultra's ability to integrate with Amazon Music and Alexa has been a game changer for her. The voice remote makes it even easier for her -- you don't even have to say "Alexa" -- just pick up the remote and say "play Mozart" (or get more specific) and it plays. The main stereo is now available to my wife in a way that its never been before. And, with the 12 volt trigger on both the Ultra and A70 amp, one doesn't even have to use a power switch.
And, the Ultra's ability to serve as a LMS endpoint means I can hang on to the things that the Squeezebox system does better, like active management of the queue being played at the moment. WiiM's app has improved on this point since I first tried it but still has a ways to go.
Things that don't bother me are the volume knob -- other than trying it just to see if it works, I haven't touched it once since. The most annoying thing about the volume knob is that it takes multiple complete rotations to go from off to full, but as noted, I don't use it, so no skin off my teeth from a practical standpoint. I haven't tried any of the inputs, line or phono, so can't pass judgement on those, though it is nice to know that I could hook up something without much hassle if the need arose.
The list of things I don't like are minor annoyances at best. For example, while I like the clock display when not playing music, the background constantly changes and many of the background images make it hard to read the clock time. The headphone output is mediocre at best, but I have two other dedicated headphone setups so the Ultra's deficiency in this area is no big deal. And, the EQ presets they offer are pretty worthless, though I can see others being impressed. Finally, if used as a preamp, the lack of any gain above 2 volts may prove inadequate for some power amps, especially with material recorded at a low volume (the CD of Jennifer Warne's "Famous Blue Raincoat" is a classic example.) Fortunately, the A70 I'm using doesn't have this issue.
So, all-in-all, it is a great option for me and the way I listen to music. Fantastic for the price.
The features I like are: album cover display, included voice remote for volume, pause/play & changing tracks, sub output management (that also applies a high-pass for the main speakers), PEQ & room correction, the WiiM app, and ability to serve as a LMS player.
I've used LMS for some 20 years now but the one negative about it is that my wife has never gotten comfortable using it. The Ultra's ability to integrate with Amazon Music and Alexa has been a game changer for her. The voice remote makes it even easier for her -- you don't even have to say "Alexa" -- just pick up the remote and say "play Mozart" (or get more specific) and it plays. The main stereo is now available to my wife in a way that its never been before. And, with the 12 volt trigger on both the Ultra and A70 amp, one doesn't even have to use a power switch.
And, the Ultra's ability to serve as a LMS endpoint means I can hang on to the things that the Squeezebox system does better, like active management of the queue being played at the moment. WiiM's app has improved on this point since I first tried it but still has a ways to go.
Things that don't bother me are the volume knob -- other than trying it just to see if it works, I haven't touched it once since. The most annoying thing about the volume knob is that it takes multiple complete rotations to go from off to full, but as noted, I don't use it, so no skin off my teeth from a practical standpoint. I haven't tried any of the inputs, line or phono, so can't pass judgement on those, though it is nice to know that I could hook up something without much hassle if the need arose.
The list of things I don't like are minor annoyances at best. For example, while I like the clock display when not playing music, the background constantly changes and many of the background images make it hard to read the clock time. The headphone output is mediocre at best, but I have two other dedicated headphone setups so the Ultra's deficiency in this area is no big deal. And, the EQ presets they offer are pretty worthless, though I can see others being impressed. Finally, if used as a preamp, the lack of any gain above 2 volts may prove inadequate for some power amps, especially with material recorded at a low volume (the CD of Jennifer Warne's "Famous Blue Raincoat" is a classic example.) Fortunately, the A70 I'm using doesn't have this issue.
So, all-in-all, it is a great option for me and the way I listen to music. Fantastic for the price.
