Review of WiiM amp by ASR

[Wiimer]

Measured and reviewed by Amirm.

WiiM Amp Streaming Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the WiiM Amp streaming amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $299. I was pleasantly surprised by the good bit of weight this small box has. It will help it not slide with the weight of the speaker wires and such. Back panel shows...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I'll read now.

 

[Wiimer]

Is the test device silver?
Silver may sound better than gray.

 

[Wiimer]

It seems obvious that Wiim amp is better than Powernode edge.

Bluesound Powernode Edge Streaming Amp Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Bluesound Powernode Edge streaming DAC and amplifier review. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $649. The unit has lots the elegant look of the regular Bluesound Powernode which I just reviewed. Yes it is still white but I am not a...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[PatriX]

Just a little info about SINAD

Evaluating SINAD - Why it's NOT important

Blaine Lacross and Andrew Park examine SINAD, a popular index commonly used to evaluate amps and DACs. In this article, they explain why it's not important

headphones.com

 

[Wiimer]

Just a little info about SINAD

Evaluating SINAD - Why it's NOT important

Blaine Lacross and Andrew Park examine SINAD, a popular index commonly used to evaluate amps and DACs. In this article, they explain why it's not important

headphones.com

Thank you.

Needless to say, SINAD is not the only measurement.

 

[kalle]

Erins review claimed he lost approx. 30watts with multitone testing, but i see no mention of that here or in the other thread.

 

[cooky560]

Honestly whatever the measurements say, the Wiim Amp sounds fine, a little leaner than it's bigger brothers in my collection, but very enjoyable

 

[Griff]

Thank you.

Needless to say, SINAD is not the only measurement.

Interesting article @PatriX thanks for sharing

 

[VintageFlanker]

Since I've been beaten by both Erin and Amir in few days, I shared my data anyway:

WiiM Amp Streaming Amplifier Review

I want to repeat it. It's a non-issue. Any response deviations can be corrected in the digital domain without loss of quality. Not only that, but the majority of customers won’t notice or care even if they were told about it. In the context of ASR I think Amir’s rating is fair. In the context...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Erins review claimed he lost approx. 30watts with multitone testing, but i see no mention of that here or in the other thread.

Personally measured about 25W loss. Honestly... it is absolutely to be expected with most amplifiers. None is designed to handle 64 full scale sines in the same time (this is an extreme test, absolutely more stressful than any music content), Even more with tiny TPA 3255 with small SMPS such as the Amp.

Needless to say, SINAD is not the only measurement.

Good note for those who have no clue how to read ASR reviews but still insist to debunk them anyway...

 

[Wiimer]

Since I've been beaten by both Erin and Amir in few days, I shared my data anyway:

WiiM Amp Streaming Amplifier Review

I want to repeat it. It's a non-issue. Any response deviations can be corrected in the digital domain without loss of quality. Not only that, but the majority of customers won’t notice or care even if they were told about it. In the context of ASR I think Amir’s rating is fair. In the context...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Hi, @VintageFlanker ,

Thanks for sharing great data. Anyway, I'm very happy to see a lot of measurements. Thank you for your volunteer work.

Maybe I should send you and @onlyoneme an Amazon gift card.

 

[cc_rider]

Good note for those who have no clue how to read ASR reviews but still insist to debunk them anyway...

… or unsuccessfully attempt to debunk them. I’ll never understand these uninformed attacks on the scientific method.

 

[dangermouse]

… or unsuccessfully attempt to debunk them. I’ll never understand these uninformed attacks on the scientific method.

Haters gotta hate.

 

[kalle]

Personally measured about 25W loss. Honestly... it is absolutely to be expected with most amplifiers. None is designed to handle 64 full scale sines in the same time (this is an extreme test, absolutely more stressful than any music content), Even more with tiny TPA 3255 with small SMPS such as the Amp.

sure, but at 15:37 he says it doesnt happen with the other amplifier he has at hand.
its cheap, but it still shows the difference between a simple and a good amp. so why is this not a test criteria for any amps on ASR? impulse response is also missing from all dacs.

 

[VintageFlanker]

sure, but at 15:37 he says it doesnt happen with the other amplifier he has at hand.

"Says". He has to show it, then. For now, I didn't see any of that with NAD 3050 data he shared on Patreon (apart from non-dependant FR contrary the the WiiM Amp). I would be curious to see that as well.

so why is this not a test criteria for any amps on ASR?

It's a test criteria for literally no one in the industry, I regret. None of those who have measured amps for decades (Stereophile, SoundStage, Audioholics, Hi-Fi News) do show MT VS Power measurements. REW has a stepped test for it, so perhaps I will look into that...

impulse response is also missing from all dacs.

That we couldn't care less. It performed exactly as it should for each filter (refering to x chip datasheet) for any D/S DACs I tested. Perhaps for R2R or in-house design, it could be interesting.

 

[onlyoneme]

Erins review claimed he lost approx. 30watts with multitone testing, but i see no mention of that here or in the other thread.

I would only partially confirm Erin's findings. With a 65 tones multitone signal and minimized crest factor I can generate -1.1 dBFS RMS signal without any digital clipping. For both channel driven and 4 ohm load it results in 16.21 Vrms output level. The same RMS source level in case of pure sine 1 kHz signal results in 19.53 Vrms output level. In terms of the power it will be 65 W versus 95 W.

EDIT
My mistake, I missed that I had sub out active. It affected results. Correct ones:

With a 65 tones multitone signal and minimized crest factor I can generate -1.1 dBFS RMS signal without any digital clipping. For both channels driven and 4 ohm load it results in 18.7 Vrms output level. The same RMS source level in case of pure sine 1 kHz signal results in 19.5 Vrms output level. In terms of the power it will be 87 W versus 95 W.

But there is a catch in it - the thermal management system implemented in the Amp. It will force the output level to be lowered after some time when using such high signal levels without a proper cooling.

 

[onlyoneme]

For 226 tones multitone it will be respectively -0.9 dBFS, 19.2 Vrms vs 20 Vrms and 92 W vs 100 W.

In case of 0 dBFS RMS signal which clips inevitably for multitone, results are 21.1 Vrms vs 22.2 Vrms and 111 W vs 123 W.

 

[canard]

For 226 tones multitone it will be respectively -0.9 dBFS, 19.2 Vrms vs 20 Vrms and 92 W vs 100 W.

In case of 0 dBFS RMS signal which clips inevitably for multitone, results are 21.1 Vrms vs 22.2 Vrms and 111 W vs 123 W.

the rew generator is remarkably educational for this...
for these reasons I was wondering about the methodology of the "erin s" test for these reasons of saturation with its 65...
if it reads us and can enlighten us....? ;-)