WiiM Ultra Streamer Preamp Review

[SoySalsaPicante]

On the room correction side, I found the inbuilt WiiM stuff pretty terrible last time I tried it (a few months ago). Running through the process multiple times would give wildly different results, and none were close to sounding as good and what I got from HouseCurve. This was with a Pro Plus, but I assume the algorithm is the same for the Ultra.

The algorithm has been refined and improved multiple times in just the last month, so if the last time you tried it was months ago, you should consider giving it another shot now. It has been improved quite dramatically. I’ve been playing around with it today since the most recent round of updates and getting quite decent results now in conjunction with my UMIK-1 mic.

 

[obsessive9119]

The algorithm has been refined and improved multiple times in just the last month, so if the last time you tried it was months ago, you should consider giving it another shot now. It has been improved quite dramatically. I’ve been playing around with it today since the most recent round of updates and getting quite decent results now in conjunction with my UMIK-1 mic.

Good to know - I’ll give it a go when I get time

 

[Gorgonzola]

How are you serving the files from your NAS? If you’re using DLNA, then what WiiM home will show is completely dependent on what the DLNA server is providing.

For example, I use minimserver and have it configured to have a custom year-of-release view, and WiiM Home displays it just fine.

I assume with foobar you’re pointing it at an SMB share and then it’s indexing the files. You’re right that WiiM Home won’t do that, but (IMO) that’s not really its job.

I appreciate your comments though I kind of glaze over when it gets down to the technical details. For my part I'm not really sure what WiiM Home's job ought to be.

I'm reasonably sure the Foobar2000 does indeed utilized the SMB service. SMB is enabled on my Synology NAS, where 'WS-Discovery' (Windows network discovery) is also enabled.

On another forum someone recommended LMS (Lyrion Media Server); I have set this up on a Rasberry Pi device. LMS requires that a NAS enable the 'NFS' service which I have done according to the instructions that are available. That includes enabling NFS for the individual Share Folders where my music files reside.

As it stands, LMS also "sees" my Synology NAS; also LMS and the WiiM Ultra "see" each other. . However the present impasse seems to be that while LMS sees the NAS, it doesn't see the individual Shared Folders. This is frustrating because I had that working a few years ago when I was using PiCorePlayer. (I no longer use or want to used PiCorePlayer).

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Karlaka]

 

[Heat11]

lol the amp ultra had to come after i bought the ultra + vibe . i also have to lol at my in room measurement / EQ

dont yell at me @amirm

 

[Romario]

lol the amp ultra had to come after i bought the ultra + vibe . i also have to lol at my in room measurement / EQ

dont yell at me @amirm

View attachment 452401

Sub crossover at 80 hz and a big glass window ( TV) between the speakers is my first guess.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Sub crossover at 80 hz and a big glass window ( TV) between the speakers is my first guess.

Shirley that dip at 80Hz which can't be corrected is down to a null.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

More measurements

SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - WiiM Ultra Streaming Preamplifier Measurements

www.soundstagenetwork.com

 

[Romario]

Shirley that dip at 80Hz which can't be corrected is down to a null.

Sure it can, but not with room correction for sure. The dip is at 60 Hz, but it's hard to tell for certain.

 

[Burnside]

Shirley that dip at 80Hz which can't be corrected is down to a null.

 

[Audionaut]

I think WiiM has improved the room correction function.
This is the first time today that I find the room correction suggestion better than the original sound.

In addition, the correction functions were also far more moderate and correspond to what I had already measured (calibrated iMM-6C) at the listening position.

I also connected the subwoofer directly to the Ultra, not better, but easier to control using the app.

 

[obsessive9119]

I think WiiM has improved the room correction function.
This is the first time today that I find the room correction suggestion better than the original sound.

In addition, the correction functions were also far more moderate and correspond to what I had already measured (calibrated iMM-6C) at the listening position.

View attachment 452659

I also connected the subwoofer directly to the Ultra, not better, but easier to control using the app.

Yeah I agree - it has improved a lot over the last few months.

 

[Burnside]

New WiiM Home app v3.2.2: " [Android] MMM for Stereo Room Correction (Beta): Support for Moving Microphone Measurement in Stereo Room Correction. Enable this feature in Room Correction settings."

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

Intriguing that this time the new feature came out on Android before iOS.

 

[pieterv1]

Intriguing that this time the new feature came out on Android before iOS.

Hi there! Do you have the topping D90 III connected to the Ultra over USB or toslink? With USB, does the Ultra control the Topping's volume?

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

Hi there! Do you have the topping D90 III connected to the Ultra over USB or toslink? With USB, does the Ultra control the Topping's volume?

I use the DAC in DAC only mode and rely on the WiiM’s volume control. They’re both digital volume controls, so and I don’t see why one would be better than the other.

All that said, being that I use a subwoofer, I actually cannot use the volume control in the D90 because it would put the volume of the speakers out of sync with my subwoofer, since the sub attaches separately upstream of the DAC. I must use the streamer’s volume control in order for the volume of the complete system to remain in sync.

 

[Romario]

Well, I think it's a benefit. Dialing down the preamp (controlling the mains only) gives you relatively more bass when needed without going into the Wiim app.

 

[Mort]

I get frequent (every few minutes) millisecond skips of TV audio/dialog using HDMI from a recently purchased HiSense TV via earc into my Wiim ultra. I do not get it from the same TV with my MiniDSP Flex. I even switched out the ultra for a second unit and it's still there. No, I haven't opened a ticket with wiim.

Anyone experienced anything like this with the Ultra? I was kinda hoping it would just go away but it seems persistent.

 

[holbob]

I've had zero dropouts with my TCL/Ultra through arc. Maybe look at the tv settings or experiment with a different cable? Try PCM from TV to rule that out.