WiiM Amp Ultra Users Experience
- Thread starter adias
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- aio all in one wiim amp ultra
Initial volume setting on my Amp Ultra was 50, just as @adias had noticed with his.
Yeah, I get it... I messed up
But even 50 is, imo, too high as a shipped default. I'm at 50 right now in my office, and tbh if it wasn't Friday afternoon it'd be too loud to work effectively. (Guns N' Roses)
iirc, the audio pro wiim edition speakers were a lower, more sensible default.
I run two Naim amps. I use generic high quality speaker cable with both to no negative effect.
This is my experience with the WiiM Amp Ultra. First of all, here's unboxing video.
View attachment 1000000604.mp4
View attachment 1000000597.mp4
View attachment 1000000600.mp4
Before I get down to business, must confess. I never even imagined I would like the new Remote 2 so much..
Excellent Completion
The 3 WiiM Amp sisters side by side.
It may not be new to those who already have an Ultra, but the weight is completely different, giving it a luxurious feel and a high level of satisfaction when I hold it in my hand.
Speed comparison of standby on/off by Remote. Amp Ultra is so fast.
Top:Amp
Middle:Amp pro
Bottom:Amp Ultra
View attachment 1000001245.mp4
Screen comparison between Ultra and Amp Ultra. Although there may be individual differences, the Ultra's screen looks slightly yellowish compared to the Amp Ultra.
I believe the resolution and refresh rate are the same; the UI is basically the same as the Ultra and I didn't notice any difference in touch sensitivity. No particular problems.
The orange VU meter looked more beautiful on the Amp Ultra.
View attachment 1000001238.mp4
Comparing the aluminium chassis, the Ultra has joints, whereas the Amp Ultra is one-piece. Chassis sizes also vary slightly.
The back panel of the Amp Ultra is similar to the Vibelink amp, but as you may know, the speaker terminals are colour-coded.
Note, however that unlike previous WiiM Amp sisters, Optical, HDMI, USB and LAN jacks on the Amp Ultra are upside down. I was a little confused during set-up.
Since I had 3 WiiM Amps lined up, I played each one for an hour and compared the temperatures.
Use an inexpensive kitchen thermometer.
First, temperatures were measured on 3 units that had been on Standby for more than 12 hours.
[Amp Ultra] Top: 32°C, Bottom: 31°C
(CPU temperature: 43°C)
[Amp Pro] Top: 33°C, Bottom: 31°C
(CPU temperature: 44°C)
[Amp] Top: 34°C, Bottom: 31°C
(CPU temperature: 42°C)
One "Sade" album was played at approximately 75 dB (1m) with the EQ and Sub turned off respectively. (My speaker is 8 ohms/87dB)
After 1 hour...
[Amp Ultra] Top: 39°C, Bottom: 38°C
(CPU temperature: 53°C)
[Amp Pro] Top: 39°C, Bottom: 39°C
(CPU temperature: 59°C)
[Amp] Top: 39°C, Bottom: 37°C
(CPU temperature: 52°C)
The CPU was hottest on the Amp pro; the Amp and Amp Ultra were almost same.
The temperature of the top panel was almost the same for all three units.
Also, the Amp Pro seemed to have a harder time lowering its CPU temperature after standby compared to the others. (I will not pursue this at this time as need more time to investigate this.)
Note that Amp Ultra has been tested before. After 7 hours of continuous playback at approximately the same volume, the results were as follows.
[Amp Ultra] Top: 46°C, Bottom: 42°C
(Sorry, I forgot to look at the CPU)
Now, suddenly the topic changes, they say that Amp Ultra is Wi-Fi 6E compliant, is this true?
...Yes, I was able to connect successfully
I did almost all other basic operational checks and could not find any problems with the Amp Ultra hardware. On the software side, we found a few small bugs,
but these have already been fixed, or I'm confident that they will be improved soon.
Overall, I thought it was wonderfully complete.
I used to Ultra+Vibe as my main system. But I've fallen in love with the Amp Ultra so much that I now use it as my main system. For me, the sound quality of the Amp Ultra is excellent and I love the simplicity of having just one unit
(From the scene during my test.)
Thank you
Review by other members
Review by @adias
View attachment 1000000604.mp4
View attachment 1000000597.mp4
View attachment 1000000600.mp4
Before I get down to business, must confess. I never even imagined I would like the new Remote 2 so much..
Excellent Completion
The 3 WiiM Amp sisters side by side.
It may not be new to those who already have an Ultra, but the weight is completely different, giving it a luxurious feel and a high level of satisfaction when I hold it in my hand.
Speed comparison of standby on/off by Remote. Amp Ultra is so fast.
Top:Amp
Middle:Amp pro
Bottom:Amp Ultra
View attachment 1000001245.mp4
Screen comparison between Ultra and Amp Ultra. Although there may be individual differences, the Ultra's screen looks slightly yellowish compared to the Amp Ultra.
I believe the resolution and refresh rate are the same; the UI is basically the same as the Ultra and I didn't notice any difference in touch sensitivity. No particular problems.
The orange VU meter looked more beautiful on the Amp Ultra.
View attachment 1000001238.mp4
Comparing the aluminium chassis, the Ultra has joints, whereas the Amp Ultra is one-piece. Chassis sizes also vary slightly.
The back panel of the Amp Ultra is similar to the Vibelink amp, but as you may know, the speaker terminals are colour-coded.
Note, however that unlike previous WiiM Amp sisters, Optical, HDMI, USB and LAN jacks on the Amp Ultra are upside down. I was a little confused during set-up.
Since I had 3 WiiM Amps lined up, I played each one for an hour and compared the temperatures.
Use an inexpensive kitchen thermometer.
First, temperatures were measured on 3 units that had been on Standby for more than 12 hours.
[Amp Ultra] Top: 32°C, Bottom: 31°C
(CPU temperature: 43°C)
[Amp Pro] Top: 33°C, Bottom: 31°C
(CPU temperature: 44°C)
[Amp] Top: 34°C, Bottom: 31°C
(CPU temperature: 42°C)
One "Sade" album was played at approximately 75 dB (1m) with the EQ and Sub turned off respectively. (My speaker is 8 ohms/87dB)
After 1 hour...
[Amp Ultra] Top: 39°C, Bottom: 38°C
(CPU temperature: 53°C)
[Amp Pro] Top: 39°C, Bottom: 39°C
(CPU temperature: 59°C)
[Amp] Top: 39°C, Bottom: 37°C
(CPU temperature: 52°C)
The CPU was hottest on the Amp pro; the Amp and Amp Ultra were almost same.
The temperature of the top panel was almost the same for all three units.
Also, the Amp Pro seemed to have a harder time lowering its CPU temperature after standby compared to the others. (I will not pursue this at this time as need more time to investigate this.)
Note that Amp Ultra has been tested before. After 7 hours of continuous playback at approximately the same volume, the results were as follows.
[Amp Ultra] Top: 46°C, Bottom: 42°C
(Sorry, I forgot to look at the CPU)
Now, suddenly the topic changes, they say that Amp Ultra is Wi-Fi 6E compliant, is this true?
...Yes, I was able to connect successfully
I did almost all other basic operational checks and could not find any problems with the Amp Ultra hardware. On the software side, we found a few small bugs,
but these have already been fixed, or I'm confident that they will be improved soon.
Overall, I thought it was wonderfully complete.
I used to Ultra+Vibe as my main system. But I've fallen in love with the Amp Ultra so much that I now use it as my main system. For me, the sound quality of the Amp Ultra is excellent and I love the simplicity of having just one unit
(From the scene during my test.)
Thank you
Review by other members Review by @adias
Last edited:
Right. The only reason why the default volume setting is >0 is the ability to hear the spoken setup instructions.Yeah, I get it... I messed up
But even 50 is, imo, too high as a shipped default. I'm at 50 right now in my office, and tbh if it wasn't Friday afternoon it'd be too loud to work effectively. (Guns N' Roses)
iirc, the audio pro wiim edition speakers were a lower, more sensible default.
Unfortunately, the sensitivity of the connected speakers is unknown beforehand, of course, as is the listening distance. But I think that a default value of 25 or 30 would certainly be enough to make sure that the audio instructions won't go by unnoticed.
No, we have to thank you once again. What a great review!Thank you
I still didn't find the time to share my own thoughts. But for now let me add and confirm, that in my view the WiiM Amp Ultra is easily the best WiiM Product so far. Period.
You would have no output to any external device then ... the WiiM Amp Ultra cannot have both, the USB and the speaker output active at the same time. Just like the Amp or Amp Pro.
That’s what I thought and for an AIO makes sense.
Hello, how do you understand that headphones can be connected to the USB port?
With a usb dac / headphone amp.
S
Hello, so the USB port is a USB output?
However, it may be possible to output in mono if a sub-out is used....
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I have just tested the headphone output using the following adapters
This will then appear in the Audio Output section after connecting the headphones.
Then the USB Output Resolution shows the following.
This device supports 32-bit 384kHz, but the WiiM USB output supports up to 192kHz.
This works very well, and has plenty of volume available for my headphones.
I’m going to try this out with my WiiM Amp later, to see if it also works with it.
This will then appear in the Audio Output section after connecting the headphones.
Then the USB Output Resolution shows the following.
This device supports 32-bit 384kHz, but the WiiM USB output supports up to 192kHz.
This works very well, and has plenty of volume available for my headphones.
I’m going to try this out with my WiiM Amp later, to see if it also works with it.
Last edited:
I'm positive that it will. If the WiiM Amp Ultra can detect the DAC built into this tiny adapter then the the WiiM Amp should, too.I’m going to try this out with my WiiM Amp later, to see if it also works with it.
If not, I'd consider this a bug.
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I have just finished testing it with my Amp, and as you suggested it does work in the same way.
Streamer2025
Member
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- Mar 2, 2025
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- 6
Hello,
I have to admit that I was having similar thoughts about both the vibelink and amp ultra vs my Hegel H190, and I never thought I'd think that.
Did someone say Preconceived Misconceptions...?
At full price it's a tenfold price difference for the vibelink and maybe 7× (price pending) for the amp Ultra.
At any normal listening level there really isn't much in it, and I wonder if I'd be as happy with the amp ultra and a few grand in my pocket.
Or squandered on Stereonet!
But for those times when I'm home alone and I really want to crank it up the wiims can't keep up.
And I like being able to play with different dacs, even though they all sound the same.
Yes, the vibelink has a non-digitised analog input, but for whatever reason I just don't like it.
So the Hegel has a reprieve. For now.
Streamer2025
Member
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- Mar 2, 2025
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- 6
@Herr Ee
Thank you very much for your detailed response. Unlike you, I’m not necessarily focused on high volume levels, but more on the dynamics at lower volumes. I’m using the WiiM Amp Ultra with the Wharfedale Evo 4.4, and together they already produce a nice bass for me. The NAD M10 v2 has Dirac Live onboard, but due to lack of knowledge I haven’t really worked with it yet (I do already have a UMIK-1 microphone). With the right settings in Dirac Live, I might be able to achieve a similar kind of bass. Maybe I’ll find someone who can help me with Dirac Live—then the NAD might still get a second chance.
Kind regards
Thank you very much for your detailed response. Unlike you, I’m not necessarily focused on high volume levels, but more on the dynamics at lower volumes. I’m using the WiiM Amp Ultra with the Wharfedale Evo 4.4, and together they already produce a nice bass for me. The NAD M10 v2 has Dirac Live onboard, but due to lack of knowledge I haven’t really worked with it yet (I do already have a UMIK-1 microphone). With the right settings in Dirac Live, I might be able to achieve a similar kind of bass. Maybe I’ll find someone who can help me with Dirac Live—then the NAD might still get a second chance.
Kind regards
