WiiM Ultra

[JaccoW]

It’s $350 right, you lot seem to expect it to do absolutely everything for all people, even at that price.

Personally, I can’t see how they can afford to sell high performing products AND run and manage a pretty decent app (with very frequent updates) at the price point they’re at. I’m very impressed but do wonder if this pace and level of quality for both is sustainable. I hope so.

I'm starting to get the feeling Linkplay is mostly interested in gaining market share and the Wiim brand just happens to have become a big hit due to the combination of affordable hardware and good software support. So it's not Wiim that needs to recuperate all the costs.

The app is apparently compatible with Arylic's 4Stream software due to the Linkplay protocol.

 

[5onderling]

Sadly though I have noticed one major problem, I also had when I first got the Genelecs and tried to connect them directly through TV optical out -> optical to coaxial converter -> coaxial to aes/ebu cable -> genelecs. So sometimes the sound drops out but like not really. It's like first the left speaker goes quiet and immediately again to normal volume (feels like a smooth transition too) and directly after that the right speaker. It's not as often as with my initial connection method through the TV optical but on the Node I got it to be basically non existent. I turned on the "Optical/HDMI Audio De-noising" feature but it doesn't seem to help. I also tried another samplerate for the coax output, maybe that works better. I have to test some more in the following days. If I can't fix it I probably will switch back to the BlueSound, which would make me very sad, since it seems so great otherwise.

Okay, so today I tried 2 things today.
First I disabled eARC on my TV because I read in the WiiM forum that that somehow sometimes helps and the WiiM doesn't support eARC, only ARC. Asly it didn't make any difference to me.
Then I had another idea yesterday that I tried now and that surprisingly seems to work. So I use a FiiO K3 for my headphones and that also has an Coaxial output and so I have connected that to the WiiM USB out and then the super complicated connection as written before. So even more steps but somehow it works. Maybe I'll create a thread in the WiiM forums for that, because it seems a bit weird that the FiiO coax out works fine and the WiiM's not. First I want to test a bit more though.

 

[5onderling]

HDMI ARC always takes precedence over optical, if I remember correctly.

I actually found this thread yesterday which describes exactly my problem and has some useful information. Who knows, maybe they will do something about it, or they just declare it as expected.

Auto-Sensing of HDMI and Optical issue

In my quest for a workaround to the lack of AirPlay, I recently hooked up an AirPort Express to the optical port of the Wiim Ultra. I am also using the ARC port (as my primary input about 90% of the time). Unfortunately, the “Auto-sensing of Optical In & HDMI” setting seems very finicky...

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[Mort]

Protip. If you don't use the built in headphone amp, It's best to use USB for your headphone stack with the Wiim ultra. It's the only output that turns off the subwoofer.

Note - it's USB 1.1. I had to change a setting on the SMSL DL100.

 

[TonyJZX]

there's another whole thread discussing the lack of type c input

here's the thing, its not a budgetary concern

if fiio can sell you an ENTIRE type-c dac that is 32/768 WITH peq for $10 then that puts paid to that argument

this is a design choice

they want you to upgrade one day the Ultra Pro

further to this they could have saved money by losing the PHONO

ask yourself the amount of people who want type c vs phono?

to me the choice is easy

i'm waiting for the next one

LOSE phono and rca in and all the ADC

ADD XLR and type-c

see how fast it flies off teh shelf

but you might say it flies off the shelf quite happily now... there's your answer

they want a 'round two' somewhere down the line

 

[Burnside]

ask yourself the amount of people who want type c vs phono?

I’ve asked myself, and I don’t miss a type c connection…

 

[TonyJZX]

i might too but it doesnt make me blind to wider societal trends.. not saying that it does for you

if you want to be an outlier that's great but realise that's what it is

 

[Burnside]

i might too but it doesnt make me blind to wider societal trends.. not saying that it does for you

if you want to be an outlier that's great but realise that's what it is

LOL. How will I ever be able to listen to music again without feeling like a social pariah…

 

[TonyJZX]

my friend, being an outlier doesnt not mean a negative as you strangely jump to but it does say a lot about your personality if that's what you thought of

how your mind went to 'social pariah' is an strange one

probably a bit of victim complex there but enjoy your vinyl in a digital world

 

[Burnside]

Yet more misguided assumptions…

 

[TonyJZX]

looks like someone is triggered

all over type c and phono...

good day to you 'social pariah' (your words not mine)

 

[5onderling]

Please keep it on topic in here guys. No one of you has said anything really extreme and I guess you can fight in you're dm's if you really want to.

I am personally not sure if a USB-C input would widen the audience for that product that much. Sure, I would appreciate it but I'm not sure about the mass market. I can see this being a product people that don't even have a computer buy.

 

[TonyJZX]

I am personally not sure if a phono input would widen the audience for that product that much. Sure, I would appreciate it but I'm not sure about the mass market.

 

[5onderling]

Also true. I sadly don't have any statistics on that but I bet WiiM probably has.

 

[TonyJZX]

also i feel like in this current year many many people do not own computers

useless things that do not serve a purpose

as Apple once said "what's a computer?"

 

[Mort]

also i feel like in this current year many many people do not own computers

I'm gonna take the other side on this one.

Yep.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

So maybe a thought for the future.

How about a decent ADC, which will accept both phono and line level, then convert that for an optical output to connect to a future WiiM.

That way, people who don't want or need any form of analogue input don't have to pay for it, whilst those who do don't have to put up with a less-than-stellar version due to cost constraints.

 

[somebodyelse]

So maybe a thought for the future.

How about a decent ADC, which will accept both phono and line level, then convert that for an optical output to connect to a future WiiM.

That way, people who don't want or need any form of analogue input don't have to pay for it, whilst those who do don't have to put up with a less-than-stellar version due to cost constraints.

Sounds an awful lot like a Waxwing. A while back I suggested using the USB to connect another module with whatever extra inputs or outputs people were demanding, analog or digital.

 

[Chester]

All sounds a bit messy….. she’s wonderful as she is, leave her alone

 

[5onderling]

Okay, so today I tried 2 things today.
First I disabled eARC on my TV because I read in the WiiM forum that that somehow sometimes helps and the WiiM doesn't support eARC, only ARC. Asly it didn't make any difference to me.
Then I had another idea yesterday that I tried now and that surprisingly seems to work. So I use a FiiO K3 for my headphones and that also has an Coaxial output and so I have connected that to the WiiM USB out and then the super complicated connection as written before. So even more steps but somehow it works. Maybe I'll create a thread in the WiiM forums for that, because it seems a bit weird that the FiiO coax out works fine and the WiiM's not. First I want to test a bit more though.

So today I tried using my old simple coax to aes/ebu cable. Sadly with the same result. Dropouts when directly connected to WiiM and no problems connected to the FiiO K3 that is connected to the WiiM. So, I'll create a thread in the WiiM forum now and then I guess I'll maybe update you on that topic when I made some "final" decision.