My WiiM Ultra first impressions

[Musician]

I am very happy with the quality of the supplied cables. Way better than what other companies supply, if they do.

I have never spent more than £20 - £30 on a cable and now I would never even consider spending that much.

IME they make no difference at all.

I now tend to buy something from Kenable or Amazon Basics, just to get something a bit more robust.

Although I agree that a lot (the majority?) of people who buy the Ultra would "upgrade" their interconnects. So the decision to supply cables is a bit of a strange one.

Personally I'm using what it come with.

I can recommend the Focal Elite 1 meter rca as an upgrade ( yes I have compared with my Wiim pro cables 1 year ago ) .
Cost about 25 dollars.

Most cables thats more expensive are worse than the stock ultra rca cables ( I have tried many )

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

I like the quality of the included cables.

 

[Musician]

I like the quality of the included cables.

Any conclusions yet about the inbuilt dac and the sound quality ? Is it good enough do you think ?

 

[Smartplug]

I am very happy with the quality of the supplied cables. Way better than what other companies supply, if they do.

I have never spent more than £20 - £30 on a cable and now I would never even consider spending that much.

IME they make no difference at all.

I now tend to buy something from Kenable or Amazon Basics, just to get something a bit more robust.

Although I agree that a lot (the majority?) of people who buy the Ultra would "upgrade" their interconnects. So the decision to supply cables is a bit of a strange one.

Personally I'm using what it come with.

Cable came with it was nice better than those you get when you buy dvd player.

 

[Mr Ee]

Any conclusions yet about the inbuilt dac and the sound quality ? Is it good enough do you think ?

My thoughts - yes, they are both 'good enough'.
coax out to my hegel amp/dac was better, but if I hadn't had that I would have been quite satisfied using the ultra and its supplied cables.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

Any conclusions yet about the inbuilt dac and the sound quality ? Is it good enough do you think ?

It’s absolutely indistinguishable from my EX5 or an SMSL SU-10 I borrowed.

I expect, when measured, it’ll either measure as transparent, or close.

To be fair, I wouldn’t expect otherwise. The main reason for purchasing for me was the functionality; specifically the sub out w/bass management and PEQ.

This after testing on my speakers and my Sennheisers.

 

[wiimamp user]

Yes.. really... My home is long and spread out. We hated starting great music in one room, only to leave and miss some.

Now, we miss none.
Also, we loving just having the energy of great, nice, calming music playing throughout.

Of course with these devices any one of my family can sit in the listening room, doors closed and listen independently as well.

I feel it's the best of all worlds.

But, that's just me.
Jeff

PS: Many streamers do not even attempt MULTI ROOM, so the few that do needed to be leaps ahead of Sonos (Which WiiM certainly is).

Agree with you. Wiim make excellent products.

 

[Musician]

It’s absolutely indistinguishable from my EX5 or an SMSL SU-10 I borrowed.

I expect, when measured, it’ll either measure as transparent, or close.

To be fair, I wouldn’t expect otherwise. The main reason for purchasing for me was the functionality; specifically the sub out w/bass management and PEQ.

This after testing on my speakers and my Sennheisers.

Yes, people has to understand that to have a more ”earfriendly” sound, they cant get that with a dac with an even higher SINAD because that dac will sound the same . They have to use a dac with much worse SINAD to make the sound illusion with 2 channels more musical. The paradox in chasing the perfect sound/coloration.

 

[castalla]

Never really understood the appeal of multisync. . Let's assume the two rooms are 20m apart - by the time you walk between the two locations (assume 15 secs) , the music will be effectively 15 secs out of sync!

True distributed multi-sync would compensate for this, so when you enter room 2 the music would be playing just the same as when you left room 1.

How you would adjust for listeners who run between the rooms thus shortening the gap say to 10 secs, I don't know.

Maybe by built-in radar based synchronisation ?

 

[slartibartfast]

Never really understood the appeal of multisync. . Let's assume the two rooms are 20m apart - by the time you walk between the two locations (assume 15 secs) , the music will be effectively 15 secs out of sync!

True distributed multi-sync would compensate for this, so when you enter room 2 the music would be playing just the same as when you left room 1.

How you would adjust for listeners who run between the rooms thus shortening the gap say to 10 secs, I don't know.

Maybe by built-in radar based synchronisation ?

So if the rooms in this palace are 20m apart add speakers in the corridor between them, problem solved

 

[castalla]

So if the rooms in this palace are 20m apart add speakers in the corridor between them, problem solved

Or wear a multi-synced set of headphones as you leisurely stroll between the two parlours

 

[castalla]

Actually, slightly out of sync speakers placed strategically around one's abode can deliver quite a spaced-out effect

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

Never really understood the appeal of multisync. . Let's assume the two rooms are 20m apart - by the time you walk between the two locations (assume 15 secs) , the music will be effectively 15 secs out of sync!

True distributed multi-sync would compensate for this, so when you enter room 2 the music would be playing just the same as when you left room 1.

How you would adjust for listeners who run between the rooms thus shortening the gap say to 10 secs, I don't know.

Maybe by built-in radar based synchronisation ?

One of the things that initially surprised me at these forums was the number of people wanting to use WiiM ‘to replace Sonos’, and to move to an ‘integrated network’.

Not what I’m thinking of at all. Even if I bought a new WiiM for the kitchen, another for the lounge, another for the bedroom, I don’t think I’d link them.

But there you go, each to their own.

 

[slartibartfast]

One of the things that initially surprised me at these forums was the number of people wanting to use WiiM ‘to replace Sonos’, and to move to an ‘integrated network’.

Not what I’m thinking of at all. Even if I bought a new WiiM for the kitchen, another for the lounge, another for the bedroom, I don’t think I’d link them.

But there you go, each to their own.

I don't often link my Squeezeboxes but it's there if I decide to

 

[Smartplug]

It’s absolutely indistinguishable from my EX5 or an SMSL SU-10 I borrowed.

I expect, when measured, it’ll either measure as transparent, or close.

To be fair, I wouldn’t expect otherwise. The main reason for purchasing for me was the functionality; specifically the sub out w/bass management and PEQ.

This after testing on my speakers and my Sennheisers.

I think when sinad reach 120 anything more than that would be hard to hear unless you have bat ear. Many of today’s dac even entry can easily approach that number. They all transparent in today’s standard.

 

[Kampernaut]

I use multi-room playback very frequently (Airplay), not for focussed listening but to make chores around the house less boring. My WiiMs play an important role in this.

 

[castalla]

I don't often link my Squeezeboxes but it's there if I decide to

And isn't there a Walk With Me plugin to transfer play from one device to another?

 

[Burnside]

I use multi-room playback very frequently (Airplay), not for focussed listening but to make chores around the house less boring. My WiiMs play an important role in this.

And also why a feature like multi room music was/is very popular with smart speakers like echo - in the type of situation you describe, high fidelity isn’t required

 

[Kampernaut]

And also why a feature like multi room music was/is very popular with smart speakers like echo - in the type of situation you describe, high fidelity isn’t required

Precisely.

High-fidelity equipment is puzzlingly well equipped to participate with its low-fidelity brethren if required.

As audio equipment enthusiasts, I think many of us are sometimes guilty of forgetting that our kit is primarily there to enjoy the sound it makes. That reads as though I’m crazy, but it’s true.

I’m as interested as anyone in all the tech and any improvements in sound I might get from it. However, all of that is secondary to enjoyment of the media we choose to play through it.

I listened to Prom 42: Beethoven’s Symphony By Heart on the weekend. 60% on my Hi-Fi via WiiM, 15% in the car (Mineshaft-Fi) and 25% on my AirPods Pro whilst grocery shopping. Bloody marvellous it was, and I didn’t fret about the technical characteristics of any single item of equipment whilst doing so.

The fact that I could continue my enjoyment with little interruption because of all that kit is remarkable to me.

Nice to have options isn’t it?

 

[bernard23]

Multi room and room correction are one unholy marriage surely. Former is a sonos party trick, which is fine if you want a party trick.
I'm eagerly anticipating the firmware update that will include latency correction in the RC function.
I don't use my system for AV purposes (ironically a sonos beam 5.1 does that pretty well) but a more accurate method for setting lip sync must be top of that list.