WiiM Ultra

[Mort]

Sounds like an easy decision now. Phone stage will probably also not make that big of a difference. The WiiM is about 240€ cheaper than the Marantz for me.

You will need that money for an external amp, so it's not a big cost savings. Others are using the Fosi v3 monoblocks BTW.

Still. I think you are getting much more for your money this way than that Marantz.

 

[andlum]

You will need that money for an external amp, so it's not a big cost savings. Others are using the Fosi v3 monoblocks BTW.

Still. I think you are getting much more for your money this way than that Marantz.

My speakers are active speakers though. Will try the Wiim.

 

[Mort]

Ah got it. In this case you really don't need that Marantz.

 

[Abdo]

I'm still discovering the WiiM Ultra, but the part that I really liked was the issue of the ready-made equalization presets. They work very well. I compare the WiiM Ultra with a Cambridge CXN V2. In neutral mode, the CXN V2 seems a little better, cleaner, but I believe that this is due to the 384 processing that the CXN does automatically and I can't turn it off. But when I go to the WiiM presets and adjust them to my liking, the result is better than the CXN. And in the case of the CXN, I don't have these presets to adjust. So this is an important point in the WiiM, you have more controls for what to play to your ears. The only thing that bothers me about the WiiM is its size. I know that a lot of people like it, but for my environment, aesthetically, it would be nice to see a WiiM Ultra Plus... with a bigger screen and a bigger case, but that's just aesthetics.

 

[uofmtiger]

He put out a video (a rant of his) on how stupid it was to have these screens on streaming dacs. He lost all kinds of cred with me on that one. He calls the screen OVERRATED.

I think he was talking about physical control from across the room. I have the Wiim Ultra next to my chair in my office, so I use the touch screen quite a bit, mainly for switching inputs, changing/pausing tracks or switching over to headphones. It is quite convenient in my office setup.

However, I have a Wiim Pro in the living room because a touch screen there would be cool, but I would barely be able to see it from across the room and I would never get up to use it directly when it can be controlled with a phone/tablet. I have a mini PC in the space that will show Wiim album art on the TV (which is much easier to see). That being said, most of the time, we just use the AppleTV and live with the 24/48 transcoding since we use the AppleTV for most everything else. Also, we like the lyrics that the AppleTV shows. That being said, if Wiim had a device like the Ultra with a touch screen and HDMI video out, I would definitely get one.

 

[mlsstl]

Guys, can you help me sort this decision out? I am looking for something which can act as pre-amp (phono, arc) for my Neumann KH120ii. Would you go wiim ultra or something like the marantz stereo 70? As I will be using the amps in the speaker, how much of a difference can there be between different pre-amps, if any?

I'm using the Ultra as a preamp. It replaced a Schiit Lyr 3 with a DAC card fed via USB by a Raspberry Pi 4. I've been very pleased with the switch -- frankly was quite surprised that the Ultra's preamp function was up there with the Lyr. However, haven't tried the phono or analog inputs. I've only used the streamer function.

 

[Abdo]

I think he was talking about physical control from across the room. I have the Wiim Ultra next to my chair in my office, so I use the touch screen quite a bit, mainly for switching inputs, changing/pausing tracks or switching over to headphones. It is quite convenient in my office setup.

However, I have a Wiim Pro in the living room because a touch screen there would be cool, but I would barely be able to see it from across the room and I would never get up to use it directly when it can be controlled with a phone/tablet. I have a mini PC in the space that will show Wiim album art on the TV (which is much easier to see). That being said, most of the time, we just use the AppleTV and live with the 24/48 transcoding since we use the AppleTV for most everything else. Also, we like the lyrics that the AppleTV shows. That being said, if Wiim had a device like the Ultra with a touch screen and HDMI video out, I would definitely get one.

You mentioned something that I don't know if it's possible to disable in Ultra: every time you change an entry, you have to click to confirm. I find this a bit annoying and time-consuming. Is there a way to disable this?

 

[WalterW]

Sorry if this was discussed before, but I would like to know how the Wiim fares against a minidsp Flex/SHD/ SHD Studio in terms of DSP including integration of subs? Is the additonal cost of for example the minidsp SHD, which is 1500 Euro in Europe, worth it?

 

[uofmtiger]

You mentioned something that I don't know if it's possible to disable in Ultra: every time you change an entry, you have to click to confirm. I find this a bit annoying and time-consuming. Is there a way to disable this?

I get the confirm request when I change from the touchscreen, as well. Not sure if there is a setting to get around it, though. I haven't seen it, but I haven't really looked for it specifically, either.

 

[Jkdjedi]

Now I'm not sure...

 

[Abdo]

Now I'm not sure...

 

[Jkdjedi]

 

[Mort]

Sorry if this was discussed before, but I would like to know how the Wiim fares against a minidsp Flex/SHD/ SHD Studio in terms of DSP including integration of subs? Is the additonal cost of for example the minidsp SHD, which is 1500 Euro in Europe, worth it?

The mini DSP with a microphone is significantly better than Wiim.

You can buy an AVR for less than the minidsp if you want something that does dsp better than the Wiim but less than the minidsp.

 

[WalterW]

The mini DSP with a microphone is significantly better than Wiim.

You can buy an AVR for less than the minidsp if you want something that does dsp better than the Wiim but less than the minidsp.

The mini DSP is better in which respect? I guess both DACs are fully transparent and the streaming works fine. So are you referring to better DSP (with Dirac), Subwoofer integration, overall connectivity, or something else?

 

[ehabheikal]

Does the wiim ultra have an upgraded cpu over pro plus

 

[ehabheikal]

Sorry if this was discussed before, but I would like to know how the Wiim fares against a minidsp Flex/SHD/ SHD Studio in terms of DSP including integration of subs? Is the additonal cost of for example the minidsp SHD, which is 1500 Euro in Europe, worth it?

minidsp flex is significantly cheaper and has dirac option if u use dirac with cd quality not hires. i have flex and wiim pro. tried both room corrections but use dirac mainly for configurability as you can set bass and treble ends of fr.
one issue the wiim room correction does not do left and right seperatly now but i would not be suprised if they did in a future firmware upgrade.
Also wiim uses mobile mic not calibrated mic so it would not be able to be accurate but i also would not be suprised if this is addressed later.

 

[Bernard23]

minidsp flex is significantly cheaper and has dirac option if u use dirac with cd quality not hires. i have flex and wiim pro. tried both room corrections but use dirac mainly for configurability as you can set bass and treble ends of fr.
one issue the wiim room correction does not do left and right seperatly now but i would not be suprised if they did in a future firmware upgrade.
Also wiim uses mobile mic not calibrated mic so it would not be able to be accurate but i also would not be suprised if this is addressed later.

There are a few calibrated mic options, not least of which the Dayton iMM-6 and the iMM6C.
The challenge for Wiim is to make the data processing more reliable, it's not as sophisticated as say REW and it shows. However, this is primarily a software challenge so potentially one that is solvable with the current hardware.

 

[Deleted member 71304]

Apologies if someone already asked this.
I have an old (2016) mac book pro with optical output (in the same socket for the headphones output)
Can I use this to connect with the ultra via it's optical input?

 

[staticV3]

Apologies if someone already asked this.
I have an old (2016) mac book pro with optical output (in the same socket for the headphones output)
Can I use this to connect with the ultra via it's optical input?

Yes.

 

[Deleted member 71304]

Thanks!