Newbie here. Need help for my first Streamer / DAC

[vladcristian77]

Hello there. I consider myself a newbie/beginner in the audiophile world.

My setup is:
• Taga Harmony TAV-606 Special Edition
• Sony STR-DH190
• Fiio Taishan-D03K
• Supra Cables ZAC Toslink 1m
• RCA cables
• Apple TV 4K (2023) + Apple Music

I want to remove the TV from this setup and switch to a dedicated streamer/DAC for better audio quality and more convenience in my listening experience

I plan to switch from Apple Music to TIDAL and also use a Plex server for my local library.

My question is: What should I choose between the WiiM Pro Plus and WiiM Ultra? Keeping in mind that this will be my first “expensive” DAC and streamer, is it worth spending the extra money on the WiiM Ultra (which costs 400 EUR in my country), or should I stick with the Pro Plus at around 250 EUR?

Will I really benefit from the better DAC in the Ultra?

Thank you!

 

[Mr Ee]

Welcome.

Some say they can't hear a difference between the pro plus and the ultra analog outs.
If price is the main concern and you don't think you'll want / need the additional functionality the ultra offers (such as sub out, usb out, hdmi in) then, imo, the pro plus would be more than sufficient.

The use of Plex may be an issue for a little while. Don't use it myself, but it seems a bit of a rework is coming in that area and it's only available as a beta test right now.
You could possibly use something else alongside plex in the meantime, such as minimserver or LMS.

 

[pieterv1]

The native Plexamp app of course supports Airplay/Google Chromecast, but playback won't be bit-perfect (and not gapless for Chromecast I believe)

As you might have heard by now: there's no Airplay for the recent WiiM devices - Ultra and Amp Pro.

There is a workaround to mimick native Airplay for any chromecast/UPnP endpoint at home in the form of the Airconnect plugin. This would need to be running constantly as a service on a NAS or computer in your network.

 

[vladcristian77]

Welcome.

Some say they can't hear a difference between the pro plus and the ultra analog outs.
If price is the main concern and you don't think you'll want / need the additional functionality the ultra offers (such as sub out, usb out, hdmi in) then, imo, the pro plus would be more than sufficient.

The use of Plex may be an issue for a little while. Don't use it myself, but it seems a bit of a rework is coming in that area and it's only available as a beta test right now.
You could possibly use something else alongside plex in the meantime, such as minimserver or LMS.

The price difference is not negligible. If what you mentioned is the only difference between them, then I don’t need features like sub out, HDMI, etc., right now. However, the Ultra seems like a more future-proof option.

The native Plexamp app of course supports Airplay/Google Chromecast, but playback won't be bit-perfect (and not gapless for Chromecast I believe)

As you might have heard by now: there's no Airplay for the recent WiiM devices - Ultra and Amp Pro.

There is a workaround to mimick native Airplay for any chromecast/UPnP endpoint at home in the form of the Airconnect plugin. This would need to be running constantly as a service on a NAS or computer in your network.

I already have a NAS and a dedicated Plex server in my home network, but I won’t be using AirPlay. Currently, I am using Apple Music and Plex.

If I am gonna buy any WiiM product, I plan to switch to TIDAL due to the lack of support of Apple Music, and hopefully, we will get official Plex support in the future (I see they are working on it in Beta).

 

[d6jg]

If I am gonna buy any WiiM product, I plan to switch to TIDAL due to the lack of support of Apple Music, and hopefully, we will get official Plex support in the future (I see they are working on it in Beta).

Just bear in mind that Tidal is disappearing from Plex shortly (or may already have).
The Plex integration on WiiM is still very much beta with a couple of bugs that make it not very usable with decent sized libraries.
If you want local music and Tidal via one interface then consider LMS. All WiiM's bar Mini have native LMS endpoint support.

 

[Mr Ee]

If you go to wiimhome.com and choose one of the Products from that menu then scroll to the very end you should see a 'Which WiiM product is right for you?' comparison chart.
But, for you, I'm still backing the pro plus

 

[Kampernaut]

I want to remove the TV from this setup and switch to a dedicated streamer/DAC for better audio quality and more convenience in my listening experience

I suggest you consider retaining both the TV and Apple TV by connecting your TV optical-out to a WiiM Pro Plus to replace most of your other interfaces.

IMO, these provide a far more convenient way to browse and control music playback using the Apple TV remote. Its way better than the tiny view you get on the Ultra IMO.

Depending on your TV, the digital audio will likely be resampled to 24-bit, 48kHz. Thus your digital stream will not be bit-perfect from the Apple TV, but few (some would say nobody) can discern any difference.

This way, you can compare your Apple TV to TIDAL streamed directly by the WiiM.

This is what I did. The major jump in sound quality from my previous setup came from WiiM parametric EQ/room correction, and not from higher resolution streams or a different DAC.

I tried all the different streaming services and noticed zero improvement to Apple Music with any of them. I did notice a big drop in convenience when I couldn’t use Apple TV to drive it all.

Of course, we’re all different and the conclusion you draw may not match mine. At least this way you can compare.

Good luck.