WiiM Amp Ultra Users Experience

[purpleyams]

Just got my Amp Ultra up and running with a pair of CSS Criton 1TDX bookshelves. My first Wiim product. The Amp Ultra is replacing a Sonos AMP, which lacked high-res support, proper EQ and room correction. I was afraid going down in power from 125wpc to 100wpc would somehow sound worse, but the Wiim seems to sound better than the Sonos in almost every way, and has no problem driving the inefficient Critons. Maybe I'm imagining it, but the Wiim to me sounds smoother and cleaner than the Sonos as well - less shouty and fatiguing especially at higher volumes.

 

[sbellon]

5. I don't use USB so I cannot comment. I use LMS running on a home server and Squeezelite and I very much recommend that solution to anybody all the time...

Does the Amp Ultra already support SqueezeLite? On the WiiM website I cannot find that information (neither here https://faq.wiimhome.com/en/support...from-lms-to-your-wiim-device-with-squeezelite nor in the release notes of the firmware updates).

 

[Burnside]

Does the Amp Ultra already support SqueezeLite? On the WiiM website I cannot find that information (neither here https://faq.wiimhome.com/en/support...from-lms-to-your-wiim-device-with-squeezelite nor in the release notes of the firmware updates).

Yes it does, I use it on a daily basis. Looks like that faq pre-dates the release of the Amp Ultra. Apart from the Mini (and vibelink which isn’t a streamer), all WiiM models have supported squeezelite since it was first released on WiiM.

 

[sbellon]

Yes it does, I use it on a daily basis. Looks like that faq pre-dates the release of the Amp Ultra. Apart from the Mini (and vibelink which isn’t a streamer), all WiiM models have supported squeezelite since it was first released on WiiM.

Thanks a lot for this reassuring information. I was pretty sure that at least one WiiM device initially did not have SqueezeLite support and it was only added via a firmware update, that's why I wanted to be rather on the safe side.

 

[sbellon]

Thanks again for this information. I do have some follow-up questions regarding the usage of SqueezeLite in combination with HDMI ARC:

1. Will playing a song on Lyrion also automatically select the correct input and thus start playing music through the connected boxes?
2. Will signal on the HDMI ARC also automatically select "TV" input and wake up the device if in some power saving mode?
3. What if SqueezeLite is playing and the HDMI ARC receives a signal or vice versa?
4. After having listened to music, stopped Lyrion and then turned on signal on HDMI ARC, will the input be switched automatically (and vice versa)?

So, essentially my question boils down to: is playing a song through Lyrion or turning on the TV enough to make everything work automatically, or do you have to turn on and select the appropriate input on the WiiM in addition?

EDIT: Oh, and one more: can you control the SqueezeLite via touch screen like it is possible with the good old Logitech Touch?

 

[Valentino]

To control Squeezelite you need a phone app or Squeeze-X.

 

[Burnside]

Thanks again for this information. I do have some follow-up questions regarding the usage of SqueezeLite in combination with HDMI ARC:

1. Will playing a song on Lyrion also automatically select the correct input and thus start playing music through the connected boxes?

Yes

1. Will signal on the HDMI ARC also automatically select "TV" input and wake up the device if in some power saving mode?
2. What if SqueezeLite is playing and the HDMI ARC receives a signal or vice versa?
3. After having listened to music, stopped Lyrion and then turned on signal on HDMI ARC, will the input be switched automatically (and vice versa)?

So, essentially my question boils down to: is playing a song through Lyrion or turning on the TV enough to make everything work automatically, or do you have to turn on and select the appropriate input on the WiiM in addition?

I don’t use hdmi auto sensing and there’s been a lot of discussion around this, so I’ll leave it to someone like @Wiimer to answer those queries

EDIT: Oh, and one more: can you control the SqueezeLite via touch screen like it is possible with the good old Logitech Touch?

No, the touchscreen doesn’t allow control of LMS/squeezelite

 

[Burnside]

To control Squeezelite you need a phone app or Squeeze-X.

I, as most do I suspect, use the Material Skin interface from any browser

 

[Wiimer]

Thanks again for this information. I do have some follow-up questions regarding the usage of SqueezeLite in combination with HDMI ARC:

I have not used SqueezeLite, but I think this post about auto switching between Wi-Fi (Ethernet) input and HDMI ARC is helpful.

1. Will playing a song on Lyrion also automatically select the correct input and thus start playing music through the connected boxes?

On WiiM devices, the auto switch to Wi-Fi input works perfectly. When you start streaming, the device auto switches to Wi-Fi from all other inputs. This works even if the device is on standby or playing.

1. Will signal on the HDMI ARC also automatically select "TV" input and wake up the device if in some power saving mode?

Yes.

1. What if SqueezeLite is playing and the HDMI ARC receives a signal or vice versa?

Even when music is playing over Wi-Fi, the input switches to HDMI when the TV is turned on. However, if the TV is already turned on, it will not switch to HDMI during music playback.

The system also auto switches to Wi-Fi when start playing music, even while watching a video on the TV. At this time, the TV will be silent and the video will continue to play.

1. After having listened to music, stopped Lyrion and then turned on signal on HDMI ARC, will the input be switched automatically (and vice versa)?

Yes. To be precise, if a video is playing on the TV, the input will auto switch to HDMI a few seconds after you stop the music. If the TV is not playing anything, simply stop the music and resume playing the video to switch the input.

So, essentially my question boils down to: is playing a song through Lyrion or turning on the TV enough to make everything work automatically, or do you have to turn on and select the appropriate input on the WiiM in addition?

The above is how it behaves when these two toggles are switched on in the Audio Input settings.


If these two toggles are on, when using the WiiM TV app on a TV, it will work better if you first turn on the TV and open the WiiM TV app before playing music.

It will generally work the way you think it should. (Unless you need to use the TV speakers occasionally.)

Note, that different TV models may operate differently.

 

[sbellon]

Thank you @Valentino, @Burnside and @Wiimer! All this information is very much appreciated and it sounds like it just works as one would expect.

 

[DazST]

Mine arrived on Monday. Sounds great straight out of the box and very happy with it so far.

 

[DazST]

I did feel a bit sad selling my ultra though. What an awesome bit of kit.

 

[QuarryHunslet]

I did feel a bit sad selling my ultra though. What an awesome bit of kit.

Could you not reuse it in another room?

 

[DazST]

Could you not reuse it in another room?

Not really, it would be overkill for my office where I already have a mini connected to a pair of Edifier powered speakers. Plus I really needed to make some cash back to justify getting the amp ultra.

 

[Woody]

Plus I really needed to make some cash back to justify getting the amp ultra.

Trust me, that feeling will pass.

 

[cristoo]

I have not used SqueezeLite, but I think this post about auto switching between Wi-Fi (Ethernet) input and HDMI ARC is helpful.


On WiiM devices, the auto switch to Wi-Fi input works perfectly. When you start streaming, the device auto switches to Wi-Fi from all other inputs. This works even if the device is on standby or playing.



Yes.



Even when music is playing over Wi-Fi, the input switches to HDMI when the TV is turned on. However, if the TV is already turned on, it will not switch to HDMI during music playback.

The system also auto switches to Wi-Fi when start playing music, even while watching a video on the TV. At this time, the TV will be silent and the video will continue to play.


Yes. To be precise, if a video is playing on the TV, the input will auto switch to HDMI a few seconds after you stop the music. If the TV is not playing anything, simply stop the music and resume playing the video to switch the input.




The above is how it behaves when these two toggles are switched on in the Audio Input settings.
View attachment 25225

If these two toggles are on, when using the WiiM TV app on a TV, it will work better if you first turn on the TV and open the WiiM TV app before playing music.

It will generally work the way you think it should. (Unless you need to use the TV speakers occasionally.)

Note, that different TV models may operate differently.

I came bit late for the party but at @Wiimer are you sure that optical in should be marked in bracket on screenshot, not the hdmi one ?

BTW once optical and hdmi auto sensing do not work together (only one or another) does it make sens to have possibly to have both toggles of autosening „on” at the same time ? I guess there should be option to have either optical or hdmi enabled.

 

[Wiimer]

I came bit late for the party but at @Wiimer are you sure that optical in should be marked in bracket on screenshot, not the hdmi one ?

Thanks.
My mistake. I have corrected it

BTW once optical and hdmi auto sensing do not work together (only one or another) does it make sens to have possibly to have both toggles of autosening „on” at the same time ? I guess there should be option to have either optical or hdmi enabled.

Sorry, I did not understand what you are saying.
I am currently aware that these two auto sensing are independent functions and can be turned on/off individually.
(If both of the two toggles are turned on, auto switching from HDMI to optical will not work, but from optical to HDMI should work.)

 

[cristoo]

Sorry, I did not understand what you are saying.
I am currently aware that these two auto sensing are independent functions and can be turned on/off individually.
(If both of the two toggles are turned on, auto switching from HDMI to optical will not work, but from optical to HDMI should work.)

From my understanding and practice (I might be wrong) optical in autosening does not work when hdmi autosening is enabled.

I received from Wiim following explanation: „Please note that because both your optical and HDMI are connected, the optical cannot do autosense when there is an HDMI signal. This is normal behavior. When both are connected, HDMI takes priority by default, and the optical input cannot preempt the HDMI signal. We recommend unplugging the HDMI cable when it is not in use.”.

So you might be right with your way of thinking although I consider these two autosensing options and related settings confusing.

But you are right, I didn’t make myself clear. Sorry for that .

 

[Wiimer]

From my understanding and practice (I might be wrong) optical in autosening does not work when hdmi autosening is enabled.

I received from Wiim following explanation: „Please note that because both your optical and HDMI are connected, the optical cannot do autosense when there is an HDMI signal. This is normal behavior. When both are connected, HDMI takes priority by default, and the optical input cannot preempt the HDMI signal. We recommend unplugging the HDMI cable when it is not in use.”.

So you might be right with your way of thinking although I consider these two autosensing options and related settings confusing.

But you are right, I didn’t make myself clear. Sorry for that .

Yes, as mentioned above, auto-switching from HDMI to optical does not work. However, if optical auto-sensing is turned on, auto-switching from Wi-Fi input to optical input will work.