WiiM Ultra

[Abdo]

We are still waiting for Roon certification for the Wiim Ultra, I received an Ultra this week. I am still testing it, but one curious thing is that Roon marks it as already tested, but not yet ready. So far so good, so I am using Chromecast to use the Ultra together with Roon, the transmission works but Roon does not send the information to the Wiim LCD of what is playing etc. Is this normal using Chromecast to transmit? Thanks

 

[rgruber]

Any reason not to go with a Wiim Amp or Wiim Amp pro (is this out yet?) if it's more of a secondary system and ditch the separate amp?

I think it has all the features of the Ultra but with an amp. Might not be the greatest amp ever but probably sufficient for a bedroom system and with the benefit of fewer boxes.

I've been thinking of getting an Ultra for my main system and a Wiim Amp for a secondary system that is currently an Airport Express and an old Griffin 20 (class D amp with a little thing that takes an old Airport Express).

The sub out features on this are crazy. Took a little tweaking but it's doing a better job than what my Denon (entry level) AVR was doing. Looking to grab a decent amp to compliment this unit for my bedroom bookshelf speaker setup. Emotiva BasX A2 or Schiit Vidar?

 

[Petrushka]

Any reason not to go with a Wiim Amp or Wiim Amp pro (is this out yet?) if it's more of a secondary system and ditch the separate amp?

I think it has all the features of the Ultra but with an amp. Might not be the greatest amp ever but probably sufficient for a bedroom system and with the benefit of fewer boxes.

I've been thinking of getting an Ultra for my main system and a Wiim Amp for a secondary system that is currently an Airport Express and an old Griffin 20 (class D amp with a little thing that takes an old Airport Express).

The Amp Pro has been shown, but has no release date.

 

[harkpabst]

Any reason not to go with a Wiim Amp or Wiim Amp pro (is this out yet?) if it's more of a secondary system and ditch the separate amp?

I think it has all the features of the Ultra but with an amp. Might not be the greatest amp ever but probably sufficient for a bedroom system and with the benefit of fewer boxes.

I've been thinking of getting an Ultra for my main system and a Wiim Amp for a secondary system that is currently an Airport Express and an old Griffin 20 (class D amp with a little thing that takes an old Airport Express).

WiiM Amp Pro vs. WiiM Ultra:

• No optical output
• No coax output
• No phono input
• No line output (in case you wanted to use a different power amp later on)
• No display, and finally, as @Petrushka stated:
• Not yet available with no official release date

If you don't need any of the missing features and don't have to buy right now it might be worth the wait.


Edit:
WiiM Amp vs. WiiM Amp Pro:

• Missing Post Filter Feedback, thus a little load dependency
• Inferior DAC
• Older networking/Bluetooth hardware stack

 

[Petrushka]

WiiM Amp Pro vs. WiiM Ultra:

• No optical output
• No coax output
• No phono input
• No line output (in case you wanted to use a different power amp later on)
• No display, and finally, as @Petrushka stated:
• Not yet available with no official release date

If you don't need any of the missing features and don't have to buy right now it might be worth the wait.


Edit:
WiiM Amp vs. WiiM Amp Pro:

• Missing Post Filter Feedback, thus a little load dependency
• Inferior DAC
• Older networking/Bluetooth hardware stack

Basically I’ve been looking for the Ultra for several years. I don’t need it to have airplay, so it has everything I want.

 

[harkpabst]

Basically I’ve been looking for the Ultra for several years. I don’t need it to have airplay, so it has everything I want.

I have no reason not to believe that.

 

[Petrushka]

I have no reason not to believe that.

It’s almost too good to be true. I still have LPs I want to convert, and it has multiple digital outputs.

Of course, everyone will be horrified I plan to feed a Sonos Port. The Ultra will be the hub for everything not streaming, and Sonos will be the distribution hub.

My understanding is, the Ultra has automatic source switching, and the Port switches automatically to line input.

I know this forum is dedicated to sound quality, but there’s a case to be made for being family friendly.

I’ve had systems that took me two hours to re-cable after a move. And required several remote controls. I’m tired of that.

 

[harkpabst]

It’s almost too good to be true. I still have LPs I want to convert, and it has multiple digital outputs.

It's a very capable device and still it's getting better and better. Even if it was just a simple pre-amp with PEQ and the marvelous subwoofer integration it was a steal. Independent 10 band PEQ for left and right is coming in August and will make it even better.

 

[rgruber]

But if you are using it in a bedroom system which is just going to to output to an amp and some bookshelf speakers (as the OP stated), you probably don't need all the extra input and outputs so the regular Wiim Amp is probably sufficient.

The only caveat is that you could do better on the amplification section but depending on how you critically you listen to your secondary system, that may not be a huge drawback. Personally in a bedroom setting, I'd probably sacrifice a bit of sound quality for a more compact system with fewer cords. The lack of display might be a feature rather than a bug in this situation.

WiiM Amp Pro vs. WiiM Ultra:

• No optical output
• No coax output
• No phono input
• No line output (in case you wanted to use a different power amp later on)
• No display, and finally, as @Petrushka stated:
• Not yet available with no official release date

If you don't need any of the missing features and don't have to buy right now it might be worth the wait.


Edit:
WiiM Amp vs. WiiM Amp Pro:

• Missing Post Filter Feedback, thus a little load dependency
• Inferior DAC
• Older networking/Bluetooth hardware stack

 

[harkpabst]

But if you are using it in a bedroom system which is just going to to output to an amp and some bookshelf speakers (as the OP stated), you probably don't need all the extra input and outputs so the regular Wiim Amp is probably sufficient.

The only caveat is that you could do better on the amplification section but depending on how you critically you listen to your secondary system, that may not be a huge drawback. Personally in a bedroom setting, I'd probably sacrifice a bit of sound quality for a more compact system with fewer cords. The lack of display might be a feature rather than a bug in this situation.

OP was referring to something completely different in post #1.

That other user you've been quoting didn't say anything useful about what inputs and outputs he/she might or might not need for a bedroom system so I just presented a collection of the facts. No rating, no recommendation, just facts. Bedroom turntables are OK, if you want one. Fully or semi automatic ones are probably the preferred choice.

 

[WalterW]

If you care about your music playback, you won't use Airplay2 just like you won't buy mp3 files. Airplay2 compresses audio without warning.

Is this an established fact? Sources? The Airport Express is audibly tranparent and has no problem delivering 16 bit 44.1 kHz resolution, so why should it be like that?

 

[harkpabst]

Is this an established fact? Sources? The Airport Express is audibly tranparent and has no problem delivering 16 bit 44.1 kHz resolution, so why should it be like that?

AirPlay 2 can be lossless, but not streaming from iPhones and iPads. This is always lossy AAC. AirPlay 2 brought multi-room, but did so at the cost of fidelity.

You should find a bunch of articles and videos describing the different use cases in more detail with one single Google search.

 

[WalterW]

AirPlay 2 can be lossless, but not streaming from iPhones and iPads. This is always lossy AAC. AirPlay 2 brought multi-room, but did so at the cost of fidelity.

You should find a bunch of articles and videos describing the different use cases in more detail with one single Google search.

Ok, found an article by questionable Darko. In most cases it is lossless, even with an iPhone, since I am using Qobuz. So no need to worry for me. Only when all three, app, sender and receiver are using Airplay2, it's lossy, and even this lossiness is better than the standard 320kbps mp3, so 99% of the time nobody would hear a difference.

 

[Petrushka]

AirPlay 2 can be lossless, but not streaming from iPhones and iPads. This is always lossy AAC. AirPlay 2 brought multi-room, but did so at the cost of fidelity.

You should find a bunch of articles and videos describing the different use cases in more detail with one single Google search.

What else streams airplay?

 

[BrooklynNick]

What else streams airplay?

Apple TV, Roon servers, some TVs, etc.

 

[harkpabst]

Ok, found an article by questionable Darko. In most cases it is lossless, even with an iPhone, since I am using Qobuz. So no need to worry for me.

Sorry, I was a bit hasty and wrote from the top of my head, so the result was oversimplified or in other words: wrong.

Anyway, the truth is: As long as either the music app or the endpoint is not capable of AirPlay 2 you can have lossless (but not necessarily bit perfect) transmission.

Apple Music Lossless Mess Part 2: AirPlay

Earlier this month I dug into Apple Music's Lossless and Hi-Res offerings, running several bit perfect rests on the audio output of my Macs and iOS devices. The results were less than stellar (link). This week I dug into Apple Music lossless over AirPlay. One would think that the results would be...

audiophilestyle.com

What else streams airplay?

MacOS devices, in addition to the above list.

 

[terryforsythe]

My WiiM Ultra arrived today. FYI, it does not work with camilladsp-setrate. But, USB support just came out in the last couple of days. Hopefully they will continue working on the drivers. I hope it is resolved within my return window. Otherwise, this unit is going back.

 

[Joffy1780]

Audiophonics showing incoming 'restock' between 1st and 8th August for our (very) patient European members!!

 

[Petrushka]

Apple TV, Roon servers, some TVs, etc.

My understanding is Roon uses airplay 1. Perhaps this is different on a Mac.

 

[zoetrope]

I've had the WiiM Ultra now for about 3 days so I'm still in discovery mode. I'm using it as a streamer only and currently comparing its internal DAC to my Denon AVR DAC. There are audible differences between them but I'm not sure which one I prefer. It was a tossup between the two until WiiM released their last Ultra update and improved the line-out audio. I'm leaning towards defaulting to the WiiM's DAC. There are presets and even options in the play view to switch outputs between optical and line-out so I just need to decide a default and switch when preferable. The WiiMs software on the other hand is far superior to HEOS. That was a large driver for purchasing the unit. HEOS is utter garbage and very limited for compatible streaming sources. I use Qobuz and HEOS doesn't offer it as an option. If I need to use AirPlay 2 I can just connect to the Denon for that. Very happy overall with the Ultra. Great price and fantastic value for what it offers.