Listening impressions with the WiiM Ultra compared to the WiiM pro+ and compared to other streamers

[Witterings]

I tested the internal dac of the ultra yesterday and to my surprise it sounded quite a bit better than before. Better than my external dac. Maybe a firmware upgrade of some kind ?. I’m gonna sell my external dac

When you say better than before, can you say in what way it's improved and how it sounded different?

 

[cc_rider]

I tested the internal dac of the ultra yesterday and to my surprise it sounded quite a bit better than before. Better than my external dac. Maybe a firmware upgrade of some kind ?. I’m gonna sell my external dac

Just shows how notoriously unreliable our ears are. They can change from day to day. It’s why “listening impressions” of DACs are nonsense. Only measurements can reveal the accuracy of a DAC. Most DACs are much better than our ears at reproduction of sound.

 

[Musician]

When you say better than before, can you say in what way it's improved and how it sounded different?

Cleaner , with better stereo image than before . My external dac is now inferior on those parameters , it was the opposite one year ago .
I use other speakers today but the poweramp is the same .

Overall, this is good news for me when I don’t need the external dac , less things to turn on/off and apparently better sound than before .

 

[Dude]

I tested the internal dac of the ultra yesterday and to my surprise it sounded quite a bit better than before. Better than my external dac. Maybe a firmware upgrade of some kind ?. I’m gonna sell my external dac

This was my experience too but, first with the Pro Plus and also the Ultra. The Pro Plus sounds slightly better on my main system, probably just a better match AND it uses AKM, which my brain prefers and is also the main ADC and DAC company used in recording and editing studio equipment.
But, the Ultra looks cooler (and is warmer sounding — which is not good or bad, just its vibe) so, it is on main and ProPlus in my office. Like the saying goes: Audiophile is code for separating us from our money!
Since I use an old iPhone with Lysonic on the Ultra for Apple Music lossless (and it is higher quality than Airplay/Airplay 2), all my basses are covered.
I am pretty much done though. WiiM and streaming is my end point. I will only replace when a component breaks. Well, until…

 

[steadyshot]

Cleaner , with better stereo image than before . My external dac is now inferior on those parameters , it was the opposite one year ago .
I use other speakers today but the poweramp is the same .

Overall, this is good news for me when I don’t need the external dac , less things to turn on/off and apparently better sound than before .

Listen to dire straits water of love and check for bass impact , timing , quick bass transients . It is a nice test for musicality. Compare it to your external dac