WiiM Ultra

[staticV3]

Totally true.

What's maddening is that 100 Mbps ports are also still standard for streaming televisions, which play back streams with far more demanding bandwidth. I can swamp 100 Mbps with locally stored 1-1 4K blu-ray rips streaming to Plex. It's ridiculous that WiFi can best the wired networking ports on a lot of modern devices, it's as bad as Apple dragging their heels on the Lightning connector with crummy USB 2.0 speeds.

I wish manufacturers would just spring for the slightly pricier networking chipsets. Screw 100 Mbps.

Sony and LG TVs secretly support 1Gbps USB Ethernet converters:

 

[Mort]

Sony and LG TVs secretly support 1Gbps USB Ethernet converters:

This is the recommendation.

Cable Matters Plug & Play USB to Ethernet Adapter with PXE, MAC Address Clone Support (USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet, Ethernet to USB, Ethernet Adapter for Laptop) Supporting 10/100/1000Mbps in Black https://a.co/d/amRb9Rv

 

[somebodyelse]

This is the recommendation.

Cable Matters Plug & Play USB to Ethernet Adapter with PXE, MAC Address Clone Support (USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet, Ethernet to USB, Ethernet Adapter for Laptop) Supporting 10/100/1000Mbps in Black https://a.co/d/amRb9Rv

I would expect it to work fine with any class compliant adapter (CDC, a bit like UAC for audio devices), so long as they don't need firmware loading first. Manufacturers might also include drivers and firmware for common non-standard adapter chips like realtek. Unfortunately this isn't the sort of thing most of the adapters advertise.

 

[Mort]

Some updates. I wasn't sure if WU was keeping subwoofer volume in sync with main output. I'm pretty sure it does and that my issue was with different sources.

My 3.5 headphone jack does not keep subwoofer on now. Was that a bug fix? Not sure about any other outputs. Sub should be selectable.

In general I'm not impressed with the headphone amp. It's fine. HD650s power to high but not very high volume clearly. Little headroom.

Don't get me wrong, I like the device. Am getting a second. But I'll attach a headphone amp.

 

[Brian Hall]

In general I'm not impressed with the headphone amp. It's fine. HD650s power to high but not very high volume clearly. Little headroom.

Don't get me wrong, I like the device. Am getting a second. But I'll attach a headphone amp.

Something must be off in your setup. I get plenty of power for the HD650, HD800S and also Arya Stealth. Never need to go over half volume for more than enough loudness.

Good clear sound. I don't see any need for a separate headphone amp.

 

[Emlin]

Something must be off in your setup. I get plenty of power for the HD650, HD800S and also Arya Stealth. Never need to go over half volume for more than enough loudness.

Good clear sound. I don't see any need for a separate headphone amp.

I've only had the Ultra for a few days and only used it with IEMs, but your conclusions seem right to me.

 

[Mort]

I was surprised too based on what's written here, I'll do more testing with headphones. I probably have hearing damage and like it loud but that's unlikely the difference.

Separate question, possibly dumb.

If I'm connecting these to a Kali IN-5 Monitor, which accepts 1v RCA or 4v XLR, will an RCA to XLR cable work to deliver the 2V that the ultra can do?

I know it won't be balanced, not worried about that. I doubt I'll need the extra power either, I'm mostly curious.

 

[staticV3]

Separate question, possibly dumb.

If I'm connecting these to a Kali IN-5 Monitor, which accepts 1v RCA or 4v XLR, will an RCA to XLR cable work to deliver the 2V that the ultra can do?

I know it won't be balanced, not worried about that. I doubt I'll need the extra power either, I'm mostly curious.

Not dumb at all

Using an RCA->XLR cable, the WiiM Ultra can transmit 2V to the Kali's XLR input.

For the Kali's differential XLR input, it doesn't matter if, say, 2V is sent as 2x 1V differential, or 1x 2V Single-ended.

 

[56suited]

Here are a few possibilities:

WiiM RCA->Monitor RCA
WiiM RCA->Monitor XLR
WiiM RCA->Monitor TRS

WiiM Toslink->Monitor Toslink
WiiM Toslink->Toslink to Coax converter->Monitor Coax
WiiM Toslink->Toslink to Coax converter->Monitor AES3
WiiM Toslink->Toslink to AES3 converter->Monitor AES3

WiiM Toslink->External DAC->Monitor XLR
WiiM Toslink->External DAC->Monitor TRS

It all depends on what inputs your studio monitors have and what kind of signal voltage they need.

Does the Ultra play nicely with Neumann KH120 IIs via SPDIF?

 

[Mort]

Bought this rig for my wife. She's thrilled. Super clean audio, all white, small form factors.

*Genelec G Two x2 ($800)
*SVS micro 3000 subwoofer ($650)
*Wiim ultra ($320)

I wish we had more affordable powered monitors like Genelec. Used speakers and new Wiim were still under $1800.

She really loves the Wiim as a touchscreen preamp. (Can we turn off the "yes/no" prompts when switching input/output?)

 

[Joffy1780]

Bought this rig for my wife. She's thrilled. Super clean audio, all white, small form factors.

*Genelec G Two x2 ($800)
*SVS micro 3000 subwoofer ($650)
*Wiim ultra ($320)

I wish we had more affordable powered monitors like Genelec. Used speakers and new Wiim were still under $1800.

She really loves the Wiim as a touchscreen preamp. (Can we turn off the "yes/no" prompts when switching input/output?)

I bet that sounds amazing, I'm not surprised she likes it!!
Re the more affordable monitors, have you looked at the Kali Audio IN-5 or IN-8 or even the Swissonic a305/6/8?

 

[Mort]

I bet that sounds amazing, I'm not surprised she likes it!!
Re the more affordable monitors, have you looked at the Kali Audio IN-5 or IN-8 or even the Swissonic a305/6/8?

Not the swissonic, but the kalis yes. It came down to space savings plus I already owned the subwoofer.

I did look at the Kali in-5 extensively and decided that with a subwoofer, I could get away with a LR pair with less bass output and have a considerably smaller desktop footprint. The kalis are quite deep and she appreciates the space savings of the Genelec.

If I didn't have the micro 3000 already to give her (I got it for 650 blemished from SVS last month) I probably would have gone in-5 or in-8 and foregone the space savings. Even used/blemished Genelec and the micro3000 are a bit expensive for what one gets.

 

[Joffy1780]

Not the swissonic, but the kalis yes. It came down to space savings plus I already owned the subwoofer.

I did look at the Kali in-5 extensively and decided that with a subwoofer, I could get away with a LR pair with less bass output and have a considerably smaller desktop footprint. The kalis are quite deep and she appreciates the space savings of the Genelec.

If I didn't have the micro 3000 already to give her (I got it for 650 blemished from SVS last month) I probably would have gone in-5 or in-8 and foregone the space savings. Even used/blemished Genelec and the micro3000 are a bit expensive for what one gets.

I'm looking to build a very similar setup for our bedroom, so have been weighing up the same issues you describe.
I think I'll likely go with an Ultra and the Swissonic a305 and possibly add a sub later, as the Kalis aren't much cheaper than used Genelecs and I think I'd regret not just getting the Genelecs. I don't think I'd really need a sub with the Kalis, as it's a small room, but I'd likely add a used SVS SB1000 pro or a BK XLS300.
I can imagine the Genelecs 2s and the SB3000 being an amazing combo and with a bit of EQ will sound stunning - I hope you both enjoy it!!

 

[Joffy1780]

Also, I'm looking to go as budget friendly as possible, so the savings the Swissonics represent over the Kalis is quite significant, to me anyway.

 

[James240]

When do you think Amiir will have a review up!

 

[Joffy1780]

When do you think Amiir will have a review up!

Hopefully we will be seeing one from Vintageflanker soon, as I know he has one for testing.

 

[REK2575]

The price-point of WiiM's products really impresses me. I bought a WiiM Ultra and swapped out my old Bluesound Node because, hey, why not give it a try at this price? I really like the Ultra, and I also like WiiM's app better than BluOS.

With the newest generation Bluesound Node retailing at a not-so-cheap $550, WiiM seems well-placed to cut into that marketshare.

 

[Burnside]

The price-point of WiiM's products really impresses me. I bought a WiiM Ultra and swapped out my old Bluesound Node because, hey, why not give it a try at this price? I really like the Ultra, and I also like WiiM's app better than BluOS.

With the newest generation Bluesound Node retailing at a not-so-cheap $550, WiiM seems well-placed to cut into that marketshare.

I would have thought they already had done that with the WiiM Pro tbh…

 

[REK2575]

I would have thought they already had done that with the WiiM Pro tbh…

Yes I suspect you are right. I notice on Crutchfield that the older gen Bluesound Node is now retailing at $350 (marked down from $600 - !!) -- it seems a reasonable guess that those discounts are in response to what WiiM and similar are offering.

 

[renoxd]

Hi @amirm , Thank you for your work!

Do you have plans to take measurements of Wiim Ultra?