WiiM Sound Picked up techradar's Best of High End Munich 2025

[RyanWithWiiM]

We had techradar come by and drop off a Best of High End Munich 2025, one of their 5 awarded!

 

[Erebus]

Wow! That's excellent news. Congratulations, WiiM.

 

[Wiimer]

We had techradar come by and drop off a Best of High End Munich 2025, one of their 5 awarded!

View attachment 21159

I baked bread to celebrate

 

[castalla]

Well, not an award for styling

 

[Mr Ee]

@Wiimer burn-in's a hi fi myth

 

[Pragmatist]

But bake-in might be the next real big thing

 

[Persona Grata]

The Wiim Sound "sounds" very interesting.

We had techradar come by and drop off a Best of High End Munich 2025, one of their 5 awarded!

View attachment 21159

The Wiim Sound "sounds" very interesting. I run a Wiim Ultra with wired sub out and RCA line out to a nice Purifi Amp to my wired passive stereo loudspeakers. The $1000 question is: Will I be able to connect three Wiim Sound speakers wireless via the Ultra as centre channel and L and R back channel speakers so I can have a complete 5.1 surround sound setup for movies and be able to switch back to my 2.1 setup for regular music listening?

 

[Paul911]

Why are these new products not supporting Airplay? The Ultra ultimately didn't even though it was initially stated that it would. Now it seems Wiim is giving up on Airplay entirely. Why?

 

[Wiimer]

The Wiim Sound "sounds" very interesting.

The Wiim Sound "sounds" very interesting. I run a Wiim Ultra with wired sub out and RCA line out to a nice Purifi Amp to my wired passive stereo loudspeakers. The $1000 question is: Will I be able to connect three Wiim Sound speakers wireless via the Ultra as centre channel and L and R back channel speakers so I can have a complete 5.1 surround sound setup for movies and be able to switch back to my 2.1 setup for regular music listening?

The center channel is currently virtual only, but by the time WiiM Sound is released it will be possible. And yes.

 

[Burnside]

Why are these new products not supporting Airplay? The Ultra ultimately didn't even though it was initially stated that it would. Now it seems Wiim is giving up on Airplay entirely. Why?

This is as comprehensive a post you’ll get on that topic

Post in thread 'What products you'd like to see WiiM produce?'
https://forum.wiimhome.com/threads/what-products-youd-like-to-see-wiim-produce.725/post-126825

 

[Mike in NY]

Why are these new products not supporting Airplay? The Ultra ultimately didn't even though it was initially stated that it would. Now it seems Wiim is giving up on Airplay entirely. Why?

Likely due to the long ago falling out that resulted in the Ultra also not supporting AirPlay. Apple doesn't play well with others, and even when they do they demand a big licensing fee. I'm guessing Linkplay eventually tired of that and walked away, and that makes sense especially when considering that AirPlay2 is in almost all cases limited to AAC256 anyway. You can just use Bluetooth for that.

Apple wants you to buy a HomePod or HomePod mini, they aren't going to play nicely with competitors to those products, and WiiM's pricing model can't really allow for steep licensing fees for something you can easily just do with Bluetooth. AirPlay2 is a train-wreck, very poor documentation and obfuscation of the protocol's capabilities with different hardware platforms including their own. The fact they actively promote Apple Music's hi-res tracks with both AirPlay2 or even Bluetooth AAC256 via AirPods tells you all you need to know there. You can safely skip AirPlay and just use Bluetooth if all you need is AAC256.

 

[QuarryHunslet]

Likely due to the long ago falling out that resulted in the Ultra also not supporting AirPlay. Apple doesn't play well with others, and even when they do they demand a big licensing fee. I'm guessing Linkplay eventually tired of that and walked away, and that makes sense especially when considering that AirPlay2 is in almost all cases limited to AAC256 anyway. You can just use Bluetooth for that.

Apple wants you to buy a HomePod or HomePod mini, they aren't going to play nicely with competitors to those products, and WiiM's pricing model can't really allow for steep licensing fees for something you can easily just do with Bluetooth. AirPlay2 is a train-wreck, very poor documentation and obfuscation of the protocol's capabilities with different hardware platforms including their own. The fact they actively promote Apple Music's hi-res tracks with both AirPlay2 or even Bluetooth AAC256 via AirPods tells you all you need to know there. You can safely skip AirPlay and just use Bluetooth if all you need is AAC256.

You seem to have missed the main point of Airplay2 compared to Bluetooth, and that is its multi speaker/room ability, which is something that it does rather well. Can you do that with Bluetooth? If not, it isn't a viable alternative to Airplay2.

Before anyone mentions using WiiM DLNA Cast feature instead of Airplay2 multi room, it doesn't work.

 

[Paul911]

You seem to have missed the main point of Airplay2 compared to Bluetooth, and that is its multi speaker/room ability, which is something that it does rather well. Can you do that with Bluetooth? If not, it isn't a viable alternative to Airplay2.

Also the ability for other Apple devices to stream to the Wiim. The Apple TV is the example I'm thinking of.

 

[adias]

Also the ability for other Apple devices to stream to the Wiim. The Apple TV is the example I'm thinking of.

That and the official way to cast Apple Music. Apple does not play well with others? Plenty of manufacturers support AirPlay.

I rarely use AirPlay, but I understand many do. LinkPlay not working with Apple on AirPlay is a big miss.

 

[Mike in NY]

You seem to have missed the main point of Airplay2 compared to Bluetooth, and that is its multi speaker/room ability, which is something that it does rather well. Can you do that with Bluetooth? If not, it isn't a viable alternative to Airplay2.

Before anyone mentions using WiiM DLNA Cast feature instead of Airplay2 multi room, it doesn't work.

Right but hopefully WiiM will get DLNA Cast sorted at which point you'll have the functionality that AirPlay has. I didn't actually miss anything other than perhaps if someone had previously stated the exact need for AirPlay was specifically multiroom, I missed that requirement.

I used AirPlay for 10 years, when it was actually lossless. It was never ideal in that it whacks the battery of the sending device because it's not a simple control point. Apple completely dropped the ball when "updating" that technology to AirPlay2, big step backwards when they could have actually improved it. Now it's just a piece of their walled garden increasingly used by only those subscribed to Apple Music and few others.

My representation of AirPlay2 stands as stated, everything I said about it was accurate, and I never said Bluetooth did multiroom. the fact remains that Apple does not play well with others (typing from a MacBook Air M2 so no not an Apple hater).

 

[adias]

Right but hopefully WiiM will get DLNA Cast sorted at which point you'll have the functionality that AirPlay has. I didn't actually miss anything other than perhaps if someone had previously stated the exact need for AirPlay was specifically multiroom, I missed that requirement.

I used AirPlay for 10 years, when it was actually lossless. It was never ideal in that it whacks the battery of the sending device because it's not a simple control point. Apple completely dropped the ball when "updating" that technology to AirPlay2, big step backwards when they could have actually improved it. Now it's just a piece of their walled garden increasingly used by only those subscribed to Apple Music and few others.

My representation of AirPlay2 stands as stated, everything I said about it was accurate, and I never said Bluetooth did multiroom. the fact remains that Apple does not play well with others (typing from a MacBook Air M2 so no not an Apple hater).

Completely agree. But the fact is many use AirPlay and LinkPlay dropped it.

 

[Mike in NY]

Completely agree. But the fact is many use AirPlay and LinkPlay dropped it.

Definitely disappointing in the case of the Ultra for which it had been previously announced and then rescinded. I'm sure that was a tough decision for Linkplay to make, but only they can best judge the right path for their business. I'm not sure that a product like the forthcoming Sound would have received approval from Apple anyway, as it directly competes with their HomePod and will likely undercut its price too.

 

[cc_rider]

I have an iPhone, an iPad, and a (rarely used) Apple laptop, yet I've NEVER felt the need to use Apple's primitive AirPlay. It simply sucks, and there are many alternatives that are SO MUCH better. I don't get it.

 

[wiimamp user]

Congratulations Wiim

 

[Heat11]

awesome!