Meet WiiM Ultra - The Digital Hub for Your Music

[CrystalGipsy]

Just curious what sources are we airplaying? Apple Music or local files off a NAS? Airplay 2 is AAC (not lossless) is it not…

Not necessarily, depends on the app being used and how they have coded it to use legacy streaming or low latency streaming, the latter is aac the former lossless ALAC.

As most Airplay is used from a phone to device, sending multiple streams for multiroom will put big strain on it and the battery life so low latency is preferred by Apple stability over anything else. Qobuz is lossless ALAC upto 44.1/16. Not sure about Tidal as don’t subscribe. Roon sends lossless ALAC for all Airplay sending.

 

[Brantome]

I could never remember idioms or phrasal verbs so I'm pretty sure you've used one to not let me understand it. So I'm free of any responsibility.

No, I’m not that devious. That’s the thing about idioms you use in common everyday speech - you don’t realize they are idiomatic and don’t necessarily translate word by word into another language…

 

[Brantome]

Not necessarily, depends on the app being used and how they have coded it to use legacy streaming or low latency streaming, the latter is aac the former lossless ALAC.

As most Airplay is used from a phone to device, sending multiple streams for multiroom will put big strain on it and the battery life so low latency is preferred by Apple stability over anything else. Qobuz is lossless ALAC upto 44.1/16. Not sure about Tidal as don’t subscribe. Roon sends lossless ALAC for all Airplay sending.

Tidal mentioned in this oft quoted link along with Apple Music & Qobuz

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

 

[Brantome]

Got it. If it can read the audio files stored on an external hard drive, show the artwork on the screen and the metadata as well, and cast the signal via ethernet in a bit perfect fashion while being controlled by the WiiM app, then I am sold. In this scenario the Ultra would simply replace a much noisier NAS or PC as a DLNA server. It would be great if some of the reviewers could test this functions in detail

See this thread about the initial beta release of DLNA casting which imho still needs some improvement

Ongoing Beta - Beta Test: DLNA Cast

Hi WiiM Community, We are currently seeking beta testers for our DLNA Cast feature. The DLNA Cast feature will enable you to cast audio from Wiim devices to other DLNA-enabled speakers, such as Sonos, Bose speakers, and more. If you are interested in beta testing this new feature, please...

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[todo]

Just received my WiiM Ultra - setting it up and pumped.
Question - what is the best way to use HDMI in the WiiM - thanks in advance.

 

[pieterv1]

Just received my WiiM Ultra - setting it up and pumped.
Question - what is the best way to use HDMI in the WiiM - thanks in advance.

It can only be used in combination with your TV's ARC compatible HDMI port, to send audio from your TV to the Ultra.

If you enable HDMI CEC on your TV, your TV will be able to control volume & power of the WiiM Ultra as well.

 

[wavetomars]

Just received my WiiM Ultra - setting it up and pumped.
Question - what is the best way to use HDMI in the WiiM - thanks in advance.

Hey - I’m using HDMI to stream audio from my TV via the ARC port. Assuming your TV (or other device) supports ARC via HDMI, you can use that to get audio into the Wiim. If your TV has CEC, it also means that the Wiim can turn on when it senses the TV is on, and you may be able to control the volume of the Wiim using your TV’s remote.

One note - my ARC connection was experiencing issues at first (audio dropouts, pops, slow to start playing). Turns out I had eARC enabled on my TV. Disabling it fixed the issue. eARC I believe can technically carry a higher quality audio signal, but I don’t believe this matters for a stereo setup, more for home theater.

 

[Jls]

See this thread about the initial beta release of DLNA casting which imho still needs some improvement

Ongoing Beta - Beta Test: DLNA Cast

Hi WiiM Community, We are currently seeking beta testers for our DLNA Cast feature. The DLNA Cast feature will enable you to cast audio from Wiim devices to other DLNA-enabled speakers, such as Sonos, Bose speakers, and more. If you are interested in beta testing this new feature, please...

forum.wiimhome.com

There’s a rumor that Sonos is trying to move away from DLNA. Not proprietary enough?

 

[Project86]

Has anyone with an Ultra tried using DLNA? I'm wondering if it shows the artwork?
Thanks!

 

[Caffeinated]

Currently not possible, but I believe such an option could be implemented, please submit a feature request through the feedback section of the WiiM app.

(re: screen in standby mode) Not sure how long it takes to boot up, but if it's not long perhaps you could consider a smart home switch at the power point, and turn it on/off as desired? Assuming it will automatically power on when the switch is turned on.

 

[Wiimer]

(re: screen in standby mode) Not sure how long it takes to boot up, but if it's not long perhaps you could consider a smart home switch at the power point, and turn it on/off as desired? Assuming it will automatically power on when the switch is turned on.

Yes, that is one way. Thanks. Boot time for Ultra is about 1 minute, same as my pro.

Also, as @Brantome mentioned here, in past beta firmware versions the screen was changed to turn off during standby.

Meet WiiM Ultra - The Digital Hub for Your Music

Where did this "Fanboy" stuff come from? 🤔 ASR, the Ultra thread.

forum.wiimhome.com

However, since there was no on/off switch, the clock could no longer be displayed during standby. (I objected to this change because I wanted the clock to always be displayed.)

I believe that the display of the screen during standby should at least allow the user to choose to turn it on/off.

Also, if the clock is to be displayed at all times, it would be useful to have the option to turn off the background image, increase the font size, and change the font color, etc.

These features have already been requested, but if you have any requests, please send support ticket.

 

[Brantome]

Has anyone with an Ultra tried using DLNA? I'm wondering if it shows the artwork?
Thanks!

Using DLNA in which manner - the Ultra accessing a DLNA server or the Ultra casting to another DLNA renderer/player? If the former, then yes it displays the artwork: if the latter, not yet but follow that up in the DLNA thread in the Beta subforum.

 

[tceresini]

The announcement says, “Gapless playback of Hi-Res music up to 24-bit/192 kHz using USB, SPDIF, Coax, Line, and Headphone output.” Does this specifically mean you can’t get gapless playback and/or 24-bit/192 kHz from the RCA out speaker connections?

Thaņks,
Tom

 

[tsfreo]

It is - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0D41YCLW8 - just not currently available as I think release date hasn't hit yet (local hifi stores all say end of July). They even teased it at AUD$499 on their website for some reason - https://wiimhome.com/#/shop (location has to be AU to see this). HiFi stores all still have it at $599.

I understand that is a price (converted into AU dollars) without tax or shipping. Once you add that, it is about A$600.

 

[Brantome]

The announcement says, “Gapless playback of Hi-Res music up to 24-bit/192 kHz using USB, SPDIF, Coax, Line, and Headphone output.” Does this specifically mean you can’t get gapless playback and/or 24-bit/192 kHz from the RCA out speaker connections?

Thaņks,
Tom

You can get gapless playback from any output, but 24/192 is a digital resolution so can’t be used to describe analogue outputs like RCA or speakers.

 

[Caffeinated]

I understand that is a price (converted into AU dollars) without tax or shipping. Once you add that, it is about A$600.

I disagree. You'll see the prices on other items listed match exactly on Amazon. It's very rare to see prices ex-GST in Australia (and will be stated if so), and GST is 10% here so that math doesn't add up anyway. Welcome to the forum.

 

[tsfreo]

I disagree. You'll see the prices on other items listed match exactly on Amazon. It's very rare to see prices ex-GST in Australia (and will be stated if so), and GST is 10% here so that math doesn't add up anyway. Welcome to the forum.

Fair enough. Given it is not listed as available on Amazon AU it probably doesn't matter much just yet anyway.
I was able to click through from the wiim/home shop this morning and got a US result, which showed a delivered price of just over A$600. But hey - if they end up offering a delivered price of AU$499 in Australia that will be great. I got mine on a pre-order with a discount for just a little over that.

​

 

[Caffeinated]

Fair enough. Given it is not listed as available on Amazon AU it probably doesn't matter much just yet anyway.
I was able to click through from the wiim/home shop this morning and got a US result, which showed a delivered price of just over A$600. But hey - if they end up offering a delivered price of AU$499 in Australia that will be great. I got mine on a pre-order with a discount for just a little over that.

Right, nothing stopping Aussies buying from Amazon US right now if they want. Power supply is 100-240V so just need a simple US-to-AU plug converter. I think I know where you got that discount from.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

A question for @WiiM Support, if this is your department.

When the Ultra’s worldwide prices were announced, it was going to be £339 in the UK. It’s now up at almost all UK outlets at £349, despite the £ buying more $s and €s than at the start of the year, and both US and EU prices being as originally announced, as far as I can see.

Any idea what’s going on?

 

[pieterv1]

A true first impression/unboxing it seems

* Those visualizers when using phono/optical input need to go