My WiiM Ultra first impressions

[harkpabst]

Unfortunately, customers like you don't help in selling ££££ DACs and valve amplifiers (for US residents: $$$$$ DACs and tube amplifiers).

It's so much easier to harp on about supposed fine details that owners of humble WiiM devices can't even dream of than to simply solve the real problems of music playback, if you want to sell stuff.

 

[bernard23]

Unfortunately, customers like you don't help in selling ££££ DACs and valve amplifiers (for US residents: $$$$$ DACs and tube amplifiers).

It's so much easier to harp on about supposed fine details that owners of humble WiiM devices can't even dream of than to simply solve the real problems of music playback, if you want to sell stuff.

We all know it's an industry that's been constructed on large quantities of snake oil and psycho babble, and companies like Wiim are proving just that. However, they've managed to successfully fool enough people enough of the time for it be commercially viable, so like I said, if you believe there's a difference and can justify spending your own cash, so be it. Whilst I'm a big fan of the principles of Amir and others, it's not an offense to like stuff that doesn't measure any differently, after all we're not building aeroplanes where these things really do matter. Ironically, I've never heard anyone yet use the phrase "night and day" when comparing manufactured components for certification

 

[holsen]

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 ?

Multisync is absolutely necessary in my set up. My ground floor is one long wide corridor with my office the front followed by an open kitchen / living / dining room, which then leads to double French doors to the backyard / patio bbq area. Ive got an Ultra in the office, a ultra in the living room and an amp pro in the back yard. Often I have all three zones playing at the same time. And it's possible to hear what's playing in each room from any of the others. When they're not I sync it's very disconcerting and annoying to hear the same song playing simultaneously at different time points. Multisync fixes that.

I too am in the process of replacing all my Sonos gear with WiiM - 7 Zones. 4 are done, 3 to go. I've still got an Era 300 and 2 Play 5s. They sound great but.... The Sonos App is awful, and they can't sync with WiiM with either Home App or Roon. WiiM tells me that later this year powered, self contained speakers are coming! Then I can complete the changeover.

 

[holsen]

Features We're Thinking About In Future Updates

• Multiroom of Hi-Res Audio
• New Music Services: including YouTube Music, Idagio, SiriusXM, Nugs.net, RadioParadise, etc.
• Play Music From Personal Cloud Storage: Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud, etc.
• Selectable Streaming Quality in the "Now Play" App UI

Please include IceDrive and PCloud

 

[holsen]

I'll add my impressions though I don't think others may like it. First off the features & inputs/outputs on this unit are phenomenal. Truly outstanding & covered all the bases. I don't fiddle with Bluetooth or Airplay so I have no dog in that fight.

I've used Dirac on a couple different devices as well as digital & analog Minidsp's. The room correction on the Ultra is not bad. Not Dirac level but definitely good enough if you have minor room or speaker issues. Compared to measurements I take with a Umik-1 and using REW they aren't identical to what the Ultra comes up with..but the corrections can make improvements without degradation if set up properly in the Ultra.

My only issue, which is a big one, is the overall sound quality. Maybe I shouldn't say it's an issue because of its price point..but I do think it sounds like a $300 plus a streamer. The bass is big but loose. Not very transparent. I think it sounds best using my RME dac due to it being very transparent, clear, detailed. Compared to my Primare Prisma NP5 streaming transport the WiiM is lacking in every category. The Prisma is twice the price though. And no streamer I've ever had has all the features the Ultra has. I do get a pretty decent sized soundstage with the Ultra though.

So I guess maybe I'm being too critical but I think it sounds like it's price. Which is fine but the online reviews were saying otherwise. Things like how great it sounded in $10k to $50k systems. It's a good device, not "audiophile" quality lol.

The streamers I have personally owned in the budget-ish category over the last few years are the Mini, the Node, Zen stream, B&W Formation, Cambridge CXN2, MXN10, Arcam SA30, the Prisma, & a cheap Arylic. The Zen & Prisma being the best of the bunch with upgraded PS. They are also the only ones that were "transports" only.

I want to reiterate that I'm not really knocking the Ultra. This thing can literally be a great preamp obviously. Sub output, EQ/DSP, analog input, decent internal dac, volume control, etc. etc. Its remarkable what they have put into this thing. And I was surprised at its overall size..& I actually like the display screen. Just wish it sounded a little better. A little more resolution & detail. With my tube amps it's not too bad. Something like my Hypex Nilai and it's pretty sibilant. Which is usually the sign of the source having moderate power supply noise.

App has been great. I mostly use Quboz but have Amazon music as well.
That's my 2 week impressions.

I completely agree with you. I've got 2 Ultra, a Pro and an Amp Pro. All but the Amp Pro output to a external DAC and sound exceptional. I'm not a fan of the implementation of the internal Dacs. But for what I paid for the WiiM devices and the DACS together with functionality - I consider all of it extremely high value proposition.

 

[amix]

I agree with you about the batteries. Very odd choice to not include them in the kit.

What speakers are you using?

The thing with the batteries may be die to regulatory issues. This way, it may be more expensive to ship in the EU.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

The thing with the batteries may be die to regulatory issues. This way, it may be more expensive to ship in the EU.

I don't think so. I've bought plenty of hi-fi (and other) kit from China, with prices from dirt cheap to quite expensive, which have included batteries.