WiiM Ultra

[staticV3]

Find it really odd when they have improved the DAC that they have removed coax input for things like CD transport.

Coax->Toslink is a super simple and cheap conversion.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Coax->Toslink is a super simple and cheap conversion.
View attachment 365050

I’ve been meaning to ask, have they been measured, and are they transparent? Cheers.

 

[Ze Frog]

Coax->Toslink is a super simple and cheap conversion.
View attachment 365050

Blu ray has a Toslink already, but was worried Toslink was a lesser quality over coax. That's probably outdated view now, and that might have actually been to do with home theatre multiple channel or video applications, not sure.

 

[staticV3]

I’ve been meaning to ask, have they been measured, and are they transparent? Cheers.

There's no signal processing inside these, so transmission is bit-perfect.

One possible degradation is added jitter, which however isn't super easy to measure directly on the digital output.

For a thorough assessment, you'd need specialized oscilloscopes and photovoltaic cells for eye patterns etc.

 

[Ze Frog]

There's no signal processing inside these, so transmission is bit-perfect.

One possible degradation is added jitter, which however isn't super easy to measure directly on the digital output.

For a thorough assessment, you'd need specialized oscilloscopes and photovoltaic cells for eye patterns etc.

Can I please ask, only you seem to know your stuff...

Does Toslink have any disadvantages? Only I heard ages ago it can ruin dynamics compared to coaxial and is/was technically inferior.

 

[staticV3]

Does Toslink have any disadvantages? Only I heard ages ago it can ruin dynamics compared to coaxial and is/was technically inferior.

Between Coax and Toslink, I'd choose Toslink for its isolating properties.

No idea how it could possibly "ruin dynamics", it's a digital transmission after all.

 

[gwing]

Does Toslink have any disadvantages? Only I heard ages ago it can ruin dynamics compared to coaxial and is/was technically inferior.

Toslink implementations often don't support as high a bit rate as co-ax, but where that is not a concern I always prefer optical for its electrical isolation benefit.

 

[Ze Frog]

Between Coax and Toslink, I'd choose Toslink for its isolating properties.

No idea how it could possibly "ruin dynamics", it's a digital transmission after all.

Yeah, I think a lot of the stuff I heard was the typical nonsense to be fair. I'm only interested in CD quality, that's my go to format so should be more than fine.

Thankyou for clarifying.

 

[Joffy1780]

Wow, I think Wiim has nailed the aesthetics side and, for me, the feature set is really comprehensive.
Will be interesting to see the price at launch, I'm gonna guess at £400/$500, which will massively undercut Eversolo.

 

[holbob]

Does Eversolo have peq? If so, then you're paying for a bigger more impressive screen with more inputs with the Eversolo. The Ultra feels like a jumping off point to me. Why not more digital inputs/bigger screen? I think they're probably coming at some stage with other units.

 

[holbob]

Btw, before anyone accuses me of moaning - i'm not. I don't have a subwoofer anymore, so I may well sell my Flex and replace it with the Ultra. Depends if I can figure out a way to get all my inputs into the Ultra and I can integrate the remote into the system for the family.

 

[Tremolo]

Does Eversolo have peq?

Yes, but only for the internal player

 

[Ze Frog]

Wow, I think Wiim has nailed the aesthetics side and, for me, the feature set is really comprehensive.
Will be interesting to see the price at launch, I'm gonna guess at £400/$500, which will massively undercut Eversolo.

Yeah, I was impressed by aesthetics as well, was exactly how I pictured it after seeing the WIIM Amp as well. I even like the fact the screen is just enough to be functional without being flashy.

Going by price of WIIM Amp, I'm guessing cost at £300-£350.

 

[Ze Frog]

Does Eversolo have peq? If so, then you're paying for a bigger more impressive screen with more inputs with the Eversolo. The Ultra feels like a jumping off point to me. Why not more digital inputs/bigger screen? I think they're probably coming at some stage with other units.

Thing is there's a lot of choices with bigger screens, was probably a smart move to go the smaller route, and in theory this should allow very competitive pricing as the screens on some are likely the biggest outright cost area.

 

[MKR]

I have pro monitors with balanced inputs, sooner or later I will switch to the Genelec which I will connect digitally (AES/EBU).
I will never use the WiiM's internal DAC.
Here's "my" why.

Fully agree on this … was really hoping for balanced out and AES dig in/out. There goes my plan to use the Ultra to drive direct digital active speakers (or to even drive them analog with XLR). Not to mention that view screen is far too small such that I don’t even see what the purpose is, except more of a gimmick.

Missed opportunity here by Wiim to make a true “Ultra” product that I am sure even with above mentioned features would have beat the competition on price. Bummer

Sad to say, I will no longer be considering the Ultra

 

[kharan]

I have pro monitors with balanced inputs, sooner or later I will switch to the Genelec which I will connect digitally (AES/EBU).
I will never use the WiiM's internal DAC.
Here's "my" why.

The question that needs to be answered is if it has volume control on all the digital inputs, a volume controlled SPDIF out would make this very nice, especially with the big volume knob.

 

[staticV3]

The question that needs to be answered is if it has volume control on all the digital inputs, a volume controlled SPDIF out would make this very nice, especially with the big volume knob.

WiiM has always had global volume control of all inputs and outputs (incl. Digital out).

I doubt that's gonna change with the Ultra.

 

[Esprit]

OT: I was interested in the Eversolo but not all inputs can be routed to the digital outputs.

 

[Joffy1780]

I'm not sure AES in/out was ever realistically on the table, not enough demand at this level of the market, surely.
I think people are getting a little hung up on the name 'Ultra' (even more so on the Wiim Forum) and expecting it to have every connection and feature imaginable.

 

[Esprit]

I just asked for a USB output to which I could connect "something".
I understand that my English is elementary but I haven't read anyone who has asked for integrated AES/EBU inputs and outputs.