WiiM Ultra

[morillon]

Je viens de demander une sortie USB à laquelle je pourrais connecter "quelque chose".
Je comprends que mon anglais est élémentaire mais je n'ai lu personne qui ait demandé des entrées et sorties AES/EBU intégrées.

for a very long time the sym ana, aes , and principaly usb to dac, has been pointed out.. in first...with project "plus"...!
so it's old...
in the idea of a complete streamer..

it is the enrichment of the inputs which would not necessarily be obvious in the way of preamp-streamer etc etc...

obviously...the use of the word "pro" strongly suggests it... sym and aes...

 

[morillon]

a mini mk2 with a better dac..?

a pro mk2 without dac but aes-usb? or no more pro....

a " plus mk2" with sym-ana, aes and usb?

stay in a field that they are beginning to master... streaming-streamer....
(and learning not easy subject.....peq-rc...)
;-)

 

[Emlin]

a mini mk2 with a better dac..?

a pro mk2 without dac but aes-usb? or more pro....

a " plus mk2" with sym-ana, aes and usb?

stay in a field that they are beginning to master... streaming-streaming....
and learning not easy subject.....peq-rc...
;-)

Or a miniDSP flex, make your choice from many? I know they are probably dearer, but...

 

[MKR]

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.

Check out the ultra thread on the Wiim forum, multiple asks for this capability

And also my previous post … thanks @Joffy1780

 

[Joffy1780]

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.

Post in thread 'WiiM Ultra' https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/wiim-ultra.50897/post-1955415

 

[Tremolo]

One of the strenghts of wiim products, IMO, is the ability to apply PEQ to all the inputs but they have just one digital toslink input. Ultra add hdmi-arc but I agree that a coax dig input would have been a nice improvement. And once you have a SOTA dac inside who cares about digital outputs? You should put resources on a better analog output stage (balanced XLR).

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

One of the strenghts of wiim products, IMO, is the ability to apply PEQ to all the inputs but they have just one digital toslink input. Ultra add hdmi-arc but I agree that a coax dig input would have been a nice improvement. And once you have a SOTA dac inside who cares about digital outputs? You should put resources on a better analog output stage (balanced XLR).

I'd have liked a coax in too, however...

Let's just stop and think, what are we going to use it for? As we're getting a lot of our music from streaming, or a HDD/local storage attached to the USB in, then that just leaves an external disc player. Okay, okay, perhaps one or two other uses, but pretty rare, I suspect. An old Mini Disc Player?

Many disc players have optical out. So we can use a coax to optical convertor. If our disc player is DVD, Blu-ray Disc, or UHD, we can use HDMI and an Amazon audio extractor. Okay, a bit of a pain, but cheap, and the easiest thing in the world to set up.

But seriously, we can find a disc player with optical out, and very cheap, and that's if we don't have one already. And if we effectively have enough digital inputs for streaming, a disc player, and local storage, then the need for a further digital input is going to be pretty rare, I think.

Just my opinion.

 

[Joffy1780]

One of the strenghts of wiim products, IMO, is the ability to apply PEQ to all the inputs but they have just one digital toslink input. Ultra add hdmi-arc but I agree that a coax dig input would have been a nice improvement. And once you have a SOTA dac inside who cares about digital outputs? You should put resources on a better analog output stage (balanced XLR).

Having balanced XLR output doesn't make it a 'better' analogue output stage as such and would likely mean losing one of the other inputs/outputs, as space is tight on the back.

 

[Octopie]

Compromises always leave someone wanting but I do think only 1 digital input is a large missed opportunity, as I think there are many potential customers that will have more than one digital source to connect. I myself have two and was eagerly anticipating this release. Otherwise it looks pretty promising and I like that Wiim continues to quickly evolve their products.

 

[rgruber]

Wondering regarding the phono pre, since everything is being converted to digital, couldn't the phono equalization be done in the digital realm too like the the Park Audio Waxwing? That would be much more interesting than a tacked on cheap phono preamp and seems doable.

 

[Joffy1780]

Compromises always leave someone wanting but I do think only 1 digital input is a large missed opportunity, as I think there are many potential customers that will have more than one digital source to connect. I myself have two and was eagerly anticipating this release. Otherwise it looks pretty promising and I like that Wiim continues to quickly evolve their products.

It does have 2 digital inputs, though.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Compromises always leave someone wanting but I do think only 1 digital input is a large missed opportunity, as I think there are many potential customers that will have more than one digital source to connect. I myself have two and was eagerly anticipating this release. Otherwise it looks pretty promising and I like that Wiim continues to quickly evolve their products.

What are your two?

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Wondering regarding the phono pre, since everything is being converted to digital, couldn't the phono equalization be done in the digital realm too like the the Park Audio Waxwing? That would be much more interesting than a tacked on cheap phono preamp and seems doable.

As far as I’m aware, and based on WiiM’s comments on previous products, any analogue input will be converted to digital, and any eq (etc.) will be applied there.

I suppose it’s not impossible that there’ll be a ‘source direct’ mode, as you find in some AV amps, but I think the chances of it utilising an analogue, parallel eq mode for this is vanishingly small.

 

[Octopie]

What are your two?

Waxwing and CD Player. Waxwing will be dedicated to optical for the superior ground isolation. That would only leave analog in for the CD player. I’ll need to know how good the ADC is to consider running a CD player through it.

Also hoping iOS microphones aren’t the only options for the new room correction.

 

[Joffy1780]

Waxwing and CD Player. Waxwing will be dedicated to optical for the superior ground isolation. That would only leave analog in for the CD player. I’ll need to know how good the ADC is to consider running a CD player through it.

Also hoping iOS microphones aren’t the only options for the new room correction.

How about a toslink switch?

 

[Ze Frog]

Any guesses on the new DAC chips? I'm guessing 9038Pro.

 

[tsfreo]

Without intending any offence or to upset anyone....In this thread (and on other forums) there are a lot of comments wishing that the unit had more inputs, different outputs, bigger screen, no screen etc etc. Ultimately manufacturers have to design a product that will have a big enough market to be a success, while keeping costs down (particularly a WiiM product which we have some reason to be confident, given their recent history, will be reasonably priced). That all means various compromises.
There are also quite a few other products that offer what some users may wish for (and are priced accordingly). If you really want many more inputs or balanced setup there are other, often much more expensive, manufacturers who can help you.
I remain keen to see the finished product with this one.
I've given some thought to my use case and expect it will still be a good fit for me. Like many on this forum I have various bits of audio kit in different systems around the house (mine at the more modest end I admit). So I thought a bit about what I might move around to best fit with the Ultra.
For me, this unit is about replacing a WiiM Pro in my living room where the system is used by family/more people aside from me. I have a study system etc that is really just for me.
In my living room I use a Gustard P26 preamp fed by a balanced DAC atm (the smsl DO200). Assuming the Ultra DAC implementation is good enough (and there is good reason for someone like me to expect so) then I can take that external DAC out of the chain. I'll use it elsewhere. The weak link for me is the unbalanced out from the Ultra because the Gustard P26 preamp performs less well when fed an unbalanced input. I'm lucky enough to have a Rotel preamp in other system that I can swap around with the P26, feed that Rotel pre from the Ultra and have the Rotel pre feed my hypex based power amp (probably balanced because why not?). The nice thing along the way with that approach is I pickup 12v triggers from the Ultra to the Rotel pre and to the power amp. So my family get everything switching on when then send a signal to the Ultra. User friendly. Sure, I probably like the P26 more than the Rotel as a pre, but I pick up plenty of functionality in the overall change.
The phono input interests me too because sure, it may not be a good as some others (and I use a Zen phono with a simple Rega Planar 1 deck), but I am just a casual vinyl user and this thing will mean I can stream vinyl to other WiiM systems around the house. Also something the wider family will get a kick out of.
I've found that with most new bits of kit, particularly more modern equipment like streamers, there is usually a bit of a juggle to work out how it best fits with your system - and that can include some swapping around or planning to change some of your units to make everything fit better.
Isn't that part of the fun?

 

[BossBunos]

Announcement is made. First impression was that it looks good to me, until I saw the back side.... No XLR
Was really looking forward to this one. Good streamer with a display and proper dac.
Very unfortunate.

 

[Overseas]

Seems to be un upgrade to Pro Plus, not a different animal. It is peach to apple, not coming up with a pinneapple.
I think it is a little upgrade more good looking Pro Plus, to say. Justify a little higher price bracket.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Announcement is made. First impression was that it looks good to me, until I saw the back side.... No XLR
Was really looking forward to this one. Good streamer with a display and proper dac.
Very unfortunate.

Do you have a DAC with balanced outs?