Darko review of Amp Ultra

"The WiiM app’s Sub-Speakers Sync Test reported that the KEF sub sitting 50cm in front of the loudspeaker plane was running 2ms behind the Vivids. The app, therefore, set the loudspeaker delay to 2ms. Did I trust that result? Not until I’d confirmed it with the manual slider. I played a few cuts from Rhythm & Sound’s eponymous 2001 album and listened for the delay setting that had speakers and sub audibly ‘thwump’ into a single source. That happened at 2ms".

Enough for me to stop reading... Subjectivity at its best. Don't get me wrong, I do think there's much more than measurements into what make us consider a given piece of equipment. However, using your ears as goldstandard to adjust the delay of the speakers and subwoofer to 2ms is simply ridiculous.
 
Emiyanez said:
"The WiiM app’s Sub-Speakers Sync Test reported that the KEF sub sitting 50cm in front of the loudspeaker plane was running 2ms behind the Vivids. The app, therefore, set the loudspeaker delay to 2ms. Did I trust that result? Not until I’d confirmed it with the manual slider. I played a few cuts from Rhythm & Sound’s eponymous 2001 album and listened for the delay setting that had speakers and sub audibly ‘thwump’ into a single source. That happened at 2ms".

Enough for me to stop reading... Subjectivity at its best. Don't get me wrong, I do think there's much more than measurements into what make us consider a given piece of equipment. However, using your ears as goldstandard to adjust the delay of the speakers and subwoofer to 2ms is simply ridiculous.
Click to expand...
He obviously doesn't know how the sub/speaker sync works 🤣
 
I'm hoping by the end of the year reviewers like Darko do head to head comparisons between the WiiM Amp Ultra, the new Bluesound Powernode, the Eversolo Play, and the Marantz MODEL M1. This is an exciting year for this form factor!
 
Burnside said:
Felt it was more of a review of WiiM's Roomfit and bass management tbh, but I tend to take most Youtube reviewers/ "influencers'" opinions with a pinch of salt. Entertaining enough read though
Click to expand...
As mentioned in an earlier post anyone reading his review would think that the automatic sync for subwoofer and speakers works when the WiiM is not at the listening position.
 
More BS here. If only it did use the smartphone mic but we know it doesn't.

"Also dispensing with the second-guessing is the Home app’s options for subwoofer delay: manual or automatic. The Wiim Home app’s wizard plays test tones that are ‘read’ by the smartphone’s microphone and returned to the app for analysis."
 
slartibartfast said:
More BS here. If only it did use the smartphone mic but we know it doesn't.

"Also dispensing with the second-guessing is the Home app’s options for subwoofer delay: manual or automatic. The Wiim Home app’s wizard plays test tones that are ‘read’ by the smartphone’s microphone and returned to the app for analysis."
Click to expand...
I think the Darko reviews try to target things in basic layman's terms. He doesn't take too many deep dives into the technical side of things from what I have watched.
 
MotleyG said:
I think the Darko reviews try to target things in basic layman's terms. He doesn't take too many deep dives into the technical side of things from what I have watched.
Click to expand...
Yeah, his past few WiiM reviews have had factual errors like that in them, and he seems to have an almost pathological aversion to mentioning Amazon Music support where I think WiiM are still the only streamers to offer that bit perfect via Alexa or the Amazon Music app.
 
MotleyG said:
I think the Darko reviews try to target things in basic layman's terms. He doesn't take too many deep dives into the technical side of things from what I have watched.
Click to expand...
Basic layman's terms are fine if they are still correct. False information is false information.
Shame it isn't possible to leave comments on his reviews.
 
Last edited:
Good. Maybe he’ll pick up on the comments. I’ve mentioned a few things on his YouTube videos…
 
Burnside said:
Felt it was more of a review of WiiM's Roomfit and bass management tbh, but I tend to take most Youtube reviewers/ "influencers'" opinions with a pinch of salt. Entertaining enough read though
Click to expand...
Exactly. I’ll give them a listen, and usually know within the first 10 seconds if they’ll be at least tolerable enough to go on. From there, I just wait to see if any issues or complaints are about anything I care about (same as when I’m researching anything else), all the while looking to see if they have an obvious bias or agenda (which is usually just bringing attention to themselves). After all that filtering, I still just take whatever they say with that quintessential grain of salt. 😁

Edit: Now after actually reading the review, I’m more anxious than ever to get my paws on an Amp Ultra.
 
Last edited:
slartibartfast said:
As mentioned in an earlier post anyone reading his review would think that the automatic sync for subwoofer and speakers works when the WiiM is not at the listening position.
Click to expand...
There's no guarantee that the result of the automatic sync is always wrong. It all depends on positioning of sub and speakers. It can work out by chance. ;)

Emiyanez said:
However, using your ears as goldstandard to adjust the delay of the speakers and subwoofer to 2ms is simply ridiculous.
Click to expand...
This is actually the least thing I would argue against. It's not the gold standard, of course. But since a) we know that automatic sync uses the wrong microphone, so is usually lacking and b) most users have no measuring equipment then what is the next best thing but just playing around with latency and listen?

It's a relatively easy task, louder is better.
 
Emiyanez said:
"The WiiM app’s Sub-Speakers Sync Test reported that the KEF sub sitting 50cm in front of the loudspeaker plane was running 2ms behind the Vivids. The app, therefore, set the loudspeaker delay to 2ms. Did I trust that result? Not until I’d confirmed it with the manual slider. I played a few cuts from Rhythm & Sound’s eponymous 2001 album and listened for the delay setting that had speakers and sub audibly ‘thwump’ into a single source. That happened at 2ms".

Enough for me to stop reading... Subjectivity at its best. Don't get me wrong, I do think there's much more than measurements into what make us consider a given piece of equipment. However, using your ears as goldstandard to adjust the delay of the speakers and subwoofer to 2ms is simply ridiculous.
Click to expand...
I agree with...not a lot of absolutes. Definitely subjective. Darko is not the only one that puts a lot of effort into reviewing a lot of products. Hard to make good decisions on subjectivity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

noelc
Amp ultra review
2 3
Replies
47
Views
3K
Burnside
Burnside
hoohoohoo
Winer buys a WiiM Amp
Replies
7
Views
458
Zap Rekowski
Zap Rekowski
C
nice ideas to dig into
Replies
0
Views
459
canard
C
D
Darko. Again
Replies
0
Views
405
Deleted member 18192
D
D
Darko Audio Review
Replies
13
Views
3K
wiimamp user
W
Back
Top