WiiM Ultra Streamer Preamp Review

[Chaos01]

You can choose individual or stereo measurement.
Helpful hint for those willing to read instructions. On the Roomfit Start Page, just left of the previously mentioned gear, there is a circled Question mark icon. Clicking that opens a quite well written synopsis of the process which includes the process, parameters, what the parameters do, and where each one is selected. It was quite helpful to me.

On the Wiim Homepage i found this quote:
"If Subwoofer Calibration is enabled, RoomFit™ will only perform Stereo Room Correction."
But i can still Switch between single Channel and Stereo. I guess that means Subwoofer correction works only in Stereo mode?

Optimizing Your Audio Experience: A Comprehensive Guide to RoomFit™ Room Correction

TABLE OF CONTENTS What's Room Correction The Benefits of Room Correction Room Correction vs. EQ Preparations for Room Correction Step-by-Step Guide to Room Correction Tips What's Room Correction Room correction is a process that inv...

faq.wiimhome.com

 

[harkpabst]

One more side note (because I think it's not yet explicitly mentioned in the guide): Moving Mic Method (Beta) and Individual Channel Room Correction are mutually exclusive. You can have one or the other, but not both (as of now).

And literally the moment I wrote this it is no longer true.

WiiM have silently updated the RoomFit algorithm (which is cloud based) to what is certainly a big improvement.

The valued member @dominikz wrote about it here:

RoomFit Moving Mic Measurement (beta) - improvements

Today I accidentally noticed several improvements to RoomFit Moving Mic Measurement (MMM) beta feature which seem to have been added silently at some point: There's a screen now explaining how to perform MMM It is now possible to use "Individual Channel RoomFit" mode while MMM is enabled: If...

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[dominikz]

Pointing the Umik-1 at the ceiling (and using the 90 degree calibration file) is generally superior/more consistent with this mic then pointing directly at the speakers (direct calibration file)

Microphone orientation is basically irrelevant for room EQ, as long as you use the appropriate calibration file (90° if pointing up, 0° if pointing forward). See this post for more information and examples. In general vertical mic orientation with 90° cal file will give a slightly more accurate representation of the response at very high frequencies - but this is largely irrelevant for room correction purpose.

Moving Mic Measurement is a significant upgrade, it analogizes the problem with single point to comb filtering in photographs, the app tries to fix tiny dips that occur just in that precise spot. Waving the ceiling pointed mic in a figure 8 pattern over your head eliminates much of this issue.

I definitely prefer MMM because it is more repeatable and looks nicer, but if you're only correcting in the bass (which is what I'd recommend) the difference shouldn't be very big (see the example in this post).

Given the Moving Mic vs Individual L/R measurement limitations, it recommends using individual measurement in rooms that are asymmetric (ie, one speaker is in open space and the other is in a corner) or if your listening position is not centered. Moving mic may otherwise be preferable.

I'd recommend to always use the Individual Channel correction - regardless if you use sweep or MMM.

Moving mic generally provides better bass accuracy, where as individual measurement may improve stereo imaging

As mentioned above, correction should be comparable if you limit it to the bass region. Correction above the bass should anyway be done based on anechoic loudspeaker data (e.g. EQ presets from spinorama.org) and not based on in-room measurements.

It also seems to prefer limiting measurements to bass/mid-bass, say 20Hz – 500Hz, particularly if you are measuring from a single spot.

This is good advice. In practice I usually limit the correction even more than that (e.g. 20-300Hz).

Do your experiences agree with this? I know Wiim community forums is a good resource, are their sections that describe the exact benefits of specific measurement strategies? In my experience Room-fit seems to have gotten more accurate over time. Initially my results varied a lot and some sounded terrible. Now, not so much.

The really crucial point for any room correction to work optimally is to first optimize loudspeaker/sub placement and integration. The importance of this cannot be overstated.
Here's some posts you might find interesting:

• On the limitations of room correction
• On subwoofer integration, speaker/sub placement and RoomFit configuration

Hope this helps!

 

[GGroch]

dominikz, thanks for the solid advice...just what I was looking for. I re-ran using MMM and limiting correction to 35-500Hz (bookshelf speakers no sub) and the results are the best yet. Other Wiimers should give it a shot and see if it helps.

 

[BassThatHertz]

Is it possible to go from the L and R pre outs on my Denon AVR to the line in on the WiiM Ultra which is feeding my Fosi V3 Mono amplifiers? I know I can go directly from the pre outs to the mono amps, but I'm wondering if I can have WiiM in between by going from the AVR pre outs to the line in on the WiiM.

Currently, for music it's WiiM Ultra > RCA input on V3 Monos and for movies it's Denon AVR pre outs > the XLR inputs on the V3 Monos (using an RCA to XLR cable) and it's annoying having to flip the switch on the V3 monos to go from RCA input to XLR input and vice versa when switching between watching a movie and listening to music, which is why I want the AVR to go through the WiiM as then I can keep switch on the V3 Monos in RCA input mode.

I know I can solve this problem another way by having the WiiM feed my AVR's RCA inputs but then the AVR would need to be on too when I just want to listen to music. For music I'd rather it be directly from the WiiM to the V3 Monos.

 

[Mort]

Is it possible to go from the L and R pre outs on my Denon AVR to the line in on the WiiM Ultra which is feeding my Fosi V3 Mono amplifiers? I know I can go directly from the pre outs to the mono amps, but I'm wondering if I can have WiiM in between by going from the AVR pre outs to the line in on the WiiM.

Currently, for music it's WiiM Ultra > RCA input on V3 Monos and for movies it's Denon AVR pre outs > the XLR inputs on the V3 Monos (using an RCA to XLR cable) and it's annoying having to flip the switch on the V3 monos to go from RCA input to XLR input and vice versa when switching between watching a movie and listening to music, which is why I want the AVR to go through the WiiM as then I can keep switch on the V3 Monos in RCA input mode.

I know I can solve this problem another way by having the WiiM feed my AVR's RCA inputs but then the AVR would need to be on too when I just want to listen to music. For music I'd rather it be directly from the WiiM to the V3 Monos.

Yes should work. Could also consider a bobwire device for auto switching.

 

[GGroch]

Is it possible to go from the L and R pre outs on my Denon AVR to the line in on the WiiM Ultra which is feeding my Fosi V3 Mono amplifiers?

You can absolutely do that. Its a common use. it will mean you have 2 volume controls in the line, both the Denon's and the Wiims, but if you get used to using only the Wiims volume control it should work fine. Some Denon receivers have a fixed Tape or other output that bypasses the Denon volume control.

 

[Joe0429]

I’ve tried this setup before. It works, but I wouldn't recommend it.

The internal processing lag in the WiiM exceeds what Audyssey can handle (upper limit: 18m), so you'll run into sync issues with your other channels.

 

[BassThatHertz]

I’ve tried this setup before. It works, but I wouldn't recommend it.

The internal processing lag in the WiiM exceeds what Audyssey can handle (upper limit: 18m), so you'll run into sync issues with your other channels.

As my subwoofers are connected to my AVR, does this mean that my subwoofers might play a little earlier than my front channels which would be going through the WiiM? Running an Audyssey calibration should sort this timing issue? As it would send tones to the front channels and my subwoofers and I believe it calculates how long the sound takes to reach the mic to time align all channels (distance values in the AVR).

Or are you saying Audyssey can only time align if the spund arrival times are within 18ms and the WiiM adds more than that? In which case this would be an issue. Hmm...

I have a Denon AVR-X3400H with Audyssey XT32

 

[SPOautos]

Im doing some research and considering buying a WiiM Ultra. I hope you guys who use this device can answer some usability questions for me....

I have a media server with all the music set up with Plex server. I like to control the music with my phone using PlexAmp. A lot of the music is 192/24 and I would like it to be direct play and not go through a downgrading process. I can use either Ethernet or WIFI.

From research it appears that in PlexAmp phone app I would need to select Ultra via Chromecast. Can anyone confirm if this will still allow 192/24 direct play? On a lot of other Chromecast devices they downgrade 192/24....do just want to verify.

Also, if I hook it up via Ethernet will phones running Spotify (without the Wiim app on their phone like my daughter/wife) find the WiiM within the Spotify app? Or will they have to connect with the pretty low quality Bluetooth?

Thank You! I appreciate the insight!

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

Im doing some research and considering buying a WiiM Ultra. I hope you guys who use this device can answer some usability questions for me....

I have a media server with all the music set up with Plex server. I like to control the music with my phone using PlexAmp. A lot of the music is 192/24 and I would like it to be direct play and not go through a downgrading process. I can use either Ethernet or WIFI.

From research it appears that in PlexAmp phone app I would need to select Ultra via Chromecast. Can anyone confirm if this will still allow 192/24 direct play? On a lot of other Chromecast devices they downgrade 192/24....do just want to verify.

Also, if I hook it up via Ethernet will phones running Spotify (without the Wiim app on their phone like my daughter/wife) find the WiiM within the Spotify app? Or will they have to connect with the pretty low quality Bluetooth?

Thank You! I appreciate the insight!

It will downsample Chromecasted audio.

WiiM Ultra has its own integrated Plex client so you need not rely on Chromecasting from PlexAmp from your mobile device.

It supports Spotify Connect. As of recently, some users are reporting issues with Spotify Connect streaming lossless, however.

 

[SPOautos]

It will downsample Chromecasted audio.

WiiM Ultra has its own integrated Plex client so you need not rely on Chromecasting from PlexAmp from your mobile device.

It supports Spotify Connect. As of recently, some users are reporting issues with Spotify Connect streaming lossless, however.

Ive been reading around and it seems like the Wiim Plex app is half baked and no one used it, especially for music. Are you using Plex with WiiM for music? I don't mind using the PlexAmp phone app, it's what I use all the time, in the car, house, etc. Honestly there's a few details about it that make it the best phone app I've tried for playing my music. So certainly don't mind just using it and Cheomcasting from PlexAmp app to WiiM Ultra. I just need to make sure that running it that way will direct play 192/24.

I can't see to find anyone that can verify that lol.....I guess most people don't have 192/24 music.

 

[obsessive9119]

Ive been reading around and it seems like the Wiim Plex app is half baked and no one used it, especially for music. Are you using Plex with WiiM for music? I don't mind using the PlexAmp phone app, it's what I use all the time, in the car, house, etc. Honestly there's a few details about it that make it the best phone app I've tried for playing my music. So certainly don't mind just using it and Cheomcasting from PlexAmp app to WiiM Ultra. I just need to make sure that running it that way will direct play 192/24.

I can't see to find anyone that can verify that lol.....I guess most people don't have 192/24 music.

I can’t help you wrt Plex, but I self-host my music collection and use DLNA to stream via the WiiM app and can confirm that it’s just a direct bit perfect stream. So even if for some reason you were having issues with the Plex config, you could install a DLNA server (I use minimserver but there are other options).

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

Ive been reading around and it seems like the Wiim Plex app is half baked and no one used it, especially for music. Are you using Plex with WiiM for music? I don't mind using the PlexAmp phone app, it's what I use all the time, in the car, house, etc. Honestly there's a few details about it that make it the best phone app I've tried for playing my music. So certainly don't mind just using it and Cheomcasting from PlexAmp app to WiiM Ultra. I just need to make sure that running it that way will direct play 192/24.

I can't see to find anyone that can verify that lol.....I guess most people don't have 192/24 music.

I never managed to get any application to Chromecast to my WiiM Ultra in high-res, including PlexAmp.

 

[SPOautos]

I never managed to get any application to Chromecast to my WiiM Ultra in high-res, including PlexAmp.

Well that's good to know. The more I read the more it sounds like their marketing got ahead of reality, where a lot of features are still half baked.

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

Well that's good to know. The more I read the more it sounds like their marketing got ahead of reality, where a lot of features are still half baked.

Did they actually claim Chromecasting in high-res specifically? Chromecast does work, just not high-res.

 

[morillon]

Well that's good to know. The more I read the more it sounds like their marketing got ahead of reality, where a lot of features are still half baked.

That's a bit of a problem with Wiim...
they got a little carried away with too many features, perhaps, without always having the resources to implement them "quickly," and sometimes they barely understood certain audio elements, which I think weren't their original areas of expertise...

This can create a certain amount of frustration, sometimes unfair, but quite "human"... because too often things were announced for "15 days"... for months on end...
and then there were betas that never came to fruition (DLNA?).

But we can't deny their efforts to offer a very comprehensive product, almost disproportionate to their costs... just look at Roomfit, which is constantly improving, etc. And rather, we should encourage them effectively and fully to help them improve their software, etc.
;-)

 

[obsessive9119]

and then there were betas that never came to fruition (DLNA?).

They’ve had DLNA support for as long as I’ve been using them, which has to be a couple of years.

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

They’ve had DLNA support for as long as I’ve been using them, which has to be a couple of years.

He’s talking about DLNA casting from attached storage, not being the DLNA client.

 

[obsessive9119]

He’s talking about DLNA casting from attached storage, not being the DLNA client.

Ah ok. I hadn’t even heard of that being considered.