Guidance for new multipurpose Wiim Ultra setup

[wilgarr]

Hello folks! Apologies in advance for what is probably a simple question, I just want to make sure I'm on the right track. I'm looking to upgrade from my glitchy Sonos system. My goal is to have a single compact sound system with the following capabilities:

- music streaming from both streaming services and a turntable
- TV audio
- multi-room/zone control via app

It's a fairly compact apartment, so volume is not a concern, but I am trying to keep equipment minimal and costs low.

Based on a few hours of research, I think the following setup would work perfectly, I'm just wondering if there's anything I'm not taking into consideration.

1. Use Wiim Ultra as streamer. Connect turntable via Phono ports, connect TV via HDMI ARC port.
2. Use C10 MKII WiiM Edition as primary speaker in living room, positioned for TV viewing.
3. Use multiple A10 MKII WiiM Edition as additional speakers in other rooms of apartment.
4. Control everything via Wiim app.

Does this all seem reasonable? Anything I'm missing, or that you would suggest? Thanks!

 

[Wiimer]

Hello folks! Apologies in advance for what is probably a simple question, I just want to make sure I'm on the right track. I'm looking to upgrade from my glitchy Sonos system. My goal is to have a single compact sound system with the following capabilities:

- music streaming from both streaming services and a turntable
- TV audio
- multi-room/zone control via app

It's a fairly compact apartment, so volume is not a concern, but I am trying to keep equipment minimal and costs low.

Based on a few hours of research, I think the following setup would work perfectly, I'm just wondering if there's anything I'm not taking into consideration.

1. Use Wiim Ultra as streamer. Connect turntable via Phono ports, connect TV via HDMI ARC port.
2. Use C10 MKII WiiM Edition as primary speaker in living room, positioned for TV viewing.
3. Use multiple A10 MKII WiiM Edition as additional speakers in other rooms of apartment.
4. Control everything via Wiim app.

Does this all seem reasonable? Anything I'm missing, or that you would suggest? Thanks!

Hi

In my opinion, it works without any problems.

There is currently an audio delay of 1 second or more in the WiiM multi-room music group, which can cause problems with TV viewing. (This delay will be improved to less than 100 milliseconds in a future update.)
However, it is preferable to have a wired connection between the Ultra and the active speakers in the living room if possible.

Also, I do not know if the C10 or A10 will be an upgrade for Sonos speakers. I would recommend hearing the Audiopro speakers beforehand if possible.

 

[Hazenhart]

I cannot speak to the TV audio part of your plan, as I do not use my WiiM devices for any video-associated audio playback, but I have replaced my multiroom Sonos audio system with WiiM and AudioPro devices and I am very happy. I have not experienced any delay or sync issues for multi-room playback as Wiimer describes. I can play music (internet streamed or local NAS) in 5 distinct zones across 7 distinct devices simultaneously and everything is synchronized.

I think the A10 MII sounds better than the Sonos One speaker. I would imagine that C10 is even better.

 

[wilgarr]

Hi

In my opinion, it works without any problems.

There is currently an audio delay of 1 second or more in the WiiM multi-room music group, which can cause problems with TV viewing. (This delay will be improved to less than 100 milliseconds in a future update.)
However, it is preferable to have a wired connection between the Ultra and the active speakers in the living room if possible.

Also, I do not know if the C10 or A10 will be an upgrade for Sonos speakers. I would recommend hearing the Audiopro speakers beforehand if possible.

Thank you, Wiimer! To be honest, I have been basically happy with the sound quality of the Sonos speakers, I just hate their glitchy app and connectivity issues.

Can you explain a bit more about "an audio delay of 1 second or more in the WiiM multi-room music group, which can cause problems with TV viewing"? Would that just be a delay from speaker to speaker, or between the TV visual and speaker? Could that be eliminated by hardwiring the TV into the Wiim Ultra into the C10? (They will all be close together).

 

[wilgarr]

Thank you so much for the info!

 

[Wiimer]

Thank you, Wiimer! To be honest, I have been basically happy with the sound quality of the Sonos speakers, I just hate their glitchy app and connectivity issues.

Can you explain a bit more about "an audio delay of 1 second or more in the WiiM multi-room music group, which can cause problems with TV viewing"? Would that just be a delay from speaker to speaker, or between the TV visual and speaker? Could that be eliminated by hardwiring the TV into the Wiim Ultra into the C10? (They will all be close together).

Yes, in a multi-room group, the audio will lag behind the TV picture.

For this reason, a wired connection is preferred, but if the firmware is successfully updated, the delay problem will be corrected.

Please refer to this thread.

Beta Test: Multi-Room Low Latency Mode for Line-In, Optical-In, Phono-In, TV, and Bluetooth Inputs

Hi WiiM Community, We are seeking beta testers for the new Multi-Room Low Latency Mode. This feature reduces audio delay for Line In, Optical In, Phono In, TV, and Bluetooth inputs, enhancing multi-room sync to provide a smoother and more synchronized listening experience. This feature will be...

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[Skull]

Thank you, Wiimer! To be honest, I have been basically happy with the sound quality of the Sonos speakers, I just hate their glitchy app and connectivity issues.

Can you explain a bit more about "an audio delay of 1 second or more in the WiiM multi-room music group, which can cause problems with TV viewing"? Would that just be a delay from speaker to speaker, or between the TV visual and speaker? Could that be eliminated by hardwiring the TV into the Wiim Ultra into the C10? (They will all be close together).

I have repurposed my Sonos system and plugged a WiiM ultra into my 5s line in I have a pair of 5s and a sub as my main music system
I use sono+ widget app on iOS for grouping and volume to group my moves with my 5s and it works well
Haven’t used the Sonos App in months but small caveat I never upgraded to the new version in may maybe you can use this method to get more use from your Sonos system

 

[Mr Ee]

1. Use Wiim Ultra as streamer. Connect turntable via Phono ports, connect TV via HDMI ARC port.
2. Use C10 MKII WiiM Edition as primary speaker in living room, positioned for TV viewing.

The implication here is that the ultra and the single c10 will be in a wiim group.
As advised, this will cause tv lip sync issues, although simply listening to audio is not an issue as there's no visual reference.
For streaming you may as well just use the c10 directly, i.e. the ultra is really only necessary for tv and phono.
If wiim get the group delay down to 100ms I feel it'll still be quite noticable - I recall having, I think, a 50ms delay with a bs node's hdmi input and it was enough to make me sell it.
The c10 does have analog inputs. You could try ultra analog out to c10 analog in. Even though the c10 will adc / dac that input it might be better.
In fact, I'll try it for you later today

I also think a single c10 (or any such single speaker) isn't great for stereo music / tv as the sound is just too bound to the speaker itself.

 

[Wiimer]

I also think a single c10 (or any such single speaker) isn't great for stereo music / tv as the sound is just too bound to the speaker itself.

Yes, I agree.
I too was concerned about this point..

 

[Mr Ee]

Chromecast in tv hdmi slot 1, hdmi lead from tv slot 2 (arc) to ultra, rca from ultra to c10.

As expected, putting the two wiims in a wiim group (and therefore not using the rca connection) has terrible lip sync issues.
However, unlink them and use rca and I have no lip sync issues at all.

Sound is actually really rather good (better with some EQ applied), but, as expected, it's all a bit 'central'with one speaker.

(my) Biggest drawback?
Can't pair a wiim remote to the C10.
The Ultra's volume can be controlled from the tv remote, but that means setting the C10 to a high volume.
i.e. if at 100% ultra volume it's too quite then I need to either open the wiim app to increase the C10 or go over to it and press the buttons.
Could set C10 to 100% and use the ultra's volume exclusively - might be a problem if someone then cast directly to the c10 though!

Two C10s with each getting just the left/right output of the ultra would probably sound pretty good, but then an issue would be managing the volume across the pair without them being in a wiim group. (Unless both at 100% as described earlier, but has same problem if used directly.)

 

[willsldavid]

I cannot speak to the TV audio part of your plan, as I do not use my WiiM devices for any video-associated audio playback, but I have replaced my multiroom Sonos audio system with WiiM and AudioPro devices and I am very happy. I have not experienced any delay or sync issues for multi-room playback as Wiimer describes. I can play music (internet streamed or local NAS) in 5 distinct zones across 7 distinct devices simultaneously and everything is synchronized.

I think the A10 MII sounds better than the Sonos One speaker. I would imagine that C10 is even better.

How many and which WiiM devices do you have and how are they connected to the speakers?. I have 3 Sonos Play 5s and a Play 1. I bought a WiiM mini because on the web ads for WiiM I saw Sonos as an apparent output option. When I got the mini it looked as though it would only connect to dumb speakers. I thought what I was getting was an interface that would stream to Sonos. I could see the Sonos devices in the WiiM app but they were in some place like music sharing and I didn't seem to be able to do anything with them. I got a Bluetooth speaker going but it didn't seem reasonable to buy a bluetooth speaker and WiiM mini for very Sonos device or WiiM somethings and dumb speakers. Or is it? I also see mention of WiiMs and the line in on the Sonos. I tried that with the WiiM mini with no success.

Looks like folks are having some success. Anyone got a picture/schematic of something that works? Like others I have been happy with the Sonos sound and quality but the S1 app is so glitchy.

 

[Hazenhart]

How many and which WiiM devices do you have and how are they connected to the speakers?. I have 3 Sonos Play 5s and a Play 1. I bought a WiiM mini because on the web ads for WiiM I saw Sonos as an apparent output option. When I got the mini it looked as though it would only connect to dumb speakers. I thought what I was getting was an interface that would stream to Sonos. I could see the Sonos devices in the WiiM app but they were in some place like music sharing and I didn't seem to be able to do anything with them. I got a Bluetooth speaker going but it didn't seem reasonable to buy a bluetooth speaker and WiiM mini for very Sonos device or WiiM somethings and dumb speakers. Or is it? I also see mention of WiiMs and the line in on the Sonos. I tried that with the WiiM mini with no success.

Looks like folks are having some success. Anyone got a picture/schematic of something that works? Like others I have been happy with the Sonos sound and quality but the S1 app is so glitchy.

I have 4x WiiM Pro+s and 3x AudioPro A10 MKIIs. 3 Pro+ connected via rca out to amplifers feeding passive speakers, 1 Pro+ connected via digital coax to my AVR. Full details here:

What's your setup/configuration look like?

https://amzn.eu/d/1hTI8D1 Thanks thinking of a similar setup later this year 👍

forum.wiimhome.com

I was a dedicated Sonos user for over a decade, and finally made the switch a few months ago after increasingly glitchy performance. I have purged all Sonos devices from my house and replaced it all with all of the above. There is still some improvement to be made in the way the WiiM Home App functions as a controller, but I am very happy with the switch.