WiiM Vibelink Amp

[wiimamp user]

But sound quality..of both devices..isn't that very important..
They match together perfectly.. visually and soundly wise..
Those 2 perfectly matched device's..most important is the sound i would say.

 

[Burnside]

I'm leaning towards (A) so that you can use it for amplification with your existing Mini, Pro or Ultra as said in the article "WiiM is selling it as the "perfect complement" to the Mini, Pro and Ultra". If you have a Mini, but wanted some of the features that the Pro has, you'd upgrade to the Pro. Same if you have a Pro and you want some of the features the Ultra has, you'd upgrade to an Ultra. I see this amp standing alongside those models, but not transforming your device into the next or top model in the streamer (or indeed Amp) range.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

I’ll stick with my Fosi V3’s. I don’t need a power amp with a volume control or anything extra. The Ultra is my preamp

That's £280.

And at the moment, that's me with my Toppin PA5 II (vanilla).

Current price is £199. If you want the Plus version with more power it's £259.

So both are cheaper than this WiiM. If they don't perform/measure as well, why pay more for less?

Obviously there are people who don't own an Ultra yet. But those who do will already have an amp. I suppose that means WiiM's job with this (or one of them) was to make something as cheap and as good, but which matches. I'm not buying one just because it matches, if it's more expensive but not as good as the thing it's replacing.

 

[harkpabst]

I'm not buying one just because it matches, if it's more expensive but not as good as the thing it's replacing.

Anything else would be borderline crazy.

 

[wiimamp user]

But there is also something like matched for a perfect sound..
Visually..but think about Audio quality.. theres the match.

 

[pieterv1]

Here we gooo!

If it has a USB input, one possible benefit of matching this with a WiiM Ultra (instead of a Mini or a Pro) could be the Ultra's USB output to interface with the Vibelink's built-in DAC.

Let's wait for a picture of the back or let's see what WiiM have to say.

And at the moment, that's me with my Toppin PA5 II (vanilla).

Current price is £199. If you want the Plus version with more power it's £259.

So both are cheaper than this WiiM. If they don't perform/measure as well, why pay more for less?

Safe to assume the Vibelink will have a built-in power supply... I would prefer this over the external adapters as used by many of the small class D offerings out there.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

But there is also something like matched for a perfect sound..
Visually..but think about Audio quality.. theres the match.

There should be no 'matching for sound'. Both (and any DAC, pre-amp, amp) should be flat frequency response, full frequency range, lowest nise/best dynamic range and lowest distortion possible.

 

[wiimamp user]

There should be no 'matching for sound'. Both (and any DAC, pre-amp, amp) should be flat frequency response, full frequency range, lowest nise/best dynamic range and lowest distortion possible.

But that's the point..still it could be a perfect match sound wise.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

I'm leaning towards (A) so that you can use it for amplification with your existing Mini, Pro or Ultra as said in the article "WiiM is selling it as the "perfect complement" to the Mini, Pro and Ultra". If you have a Mini, but wanted some of the features that the Pro has, you'd upgrade to the Pro. Same if you have a Pro and you want some of the features the Ultra has, you'd upgrade to an Ultra. I see this amp standing alongside those models, but not transforming your device into the next or top model in the streamer (or indeed Amp) range.

If it's just a really great amp, but with a few digital add ons, at negligable extra cost, fair enough. But why would you make something like this, but with a cheap, crap DAC?

And if you're including extra stuff that's cheap, why no streamer?

 

[goodmore]

So why the knob on the front?

And from article:

"It delivers 100W per channel (8Ω) and supports variable sample rates and bit depths, utilising premium components and advanced technologies to ensure high-fidelity performance. WiiM promises a “rich, pure audio experience” and has incorporated analogue and digital inputs, making it a versatile addition to any hi-fi setup."

 

[goodmore]

I have the Amp Pro. 100 watts per channel would have been nice. I ditched my old Amp for an all in one package. I still don't see a headphone port. One thing WiiM refuses to put on their Amps.

 

[EddNog]

I can think of just a few reasons for this interesting design, although all of them are rather niche/low-uptake-rate reasons:
1) People such as I who want to be able to listen to DSD with a bitperfect signal path, if this new amp's integrated DAC can accept bitperfect DSD and convert it to analog before the integrated volume control (which must be analog) that sits before the amplification stage. This provides a niche benefit for people who otherwise cannot listen to bitperfect DSD with any of the, "perfect companion streamers," as stated by WiiM marketing.
2) People who use external, digital room correction modules like MiniDSP Flex with digitals inputs/outputs or (like me) DSPeaker Anti-Mode X2D, which also has digital outputs only, so people like us need a separate DAC anyway from the streamer's, and an amp with integrated DAC would reduce clutter.
3) People who want more analog inputs than are included in the regular WiiM streamers.
4) People who use an external DAC or room correction module with balanced outputs (assuming this amp has balanced, analog inputs, that feed straight to the amp, or the volume attenuator if it is analog).

In other words, my interest is heavily piqued, but I suppose I'm weird, and that's okay by me.

May also be a nice option for owners of pure streamers from competing manufacturers. Imaging the conquest play where someone who owns a Bluesound, Eversolo, etc. buys one of these amps to go with their streamer, and then over time, decide to replace their current streamer with a WiiM Ultra, or its follow-up that still has the same form factor.

-Ed

 

[campaz]

This amplifier is not bad, I think many will buy it. But a power amplifier to match Ultra would be (at least as) interesting. It's not to save a few dozen euros, I (I understand not only me...) simply need a power amplifier. Imagine also: a CD player with the same form factor. What a nice compact system we would have!

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

May also be a nice option for owners of pure streamers from competing manufacturers. Imaging the conquest play where someone who owns a Bluesound, Eversolo, etc. buys one of these amps to go with their streamer, and then over time, decide to replace their current streamer with a WiiM Ultra, or its follow-up that still has the same form factor.

I was thinking that. If this is 'everything except a streamer', then it's ideal for anyone who owns something that's 'just a streamer'.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

So this is my Ultra and Topping PA5 II. The amp is much smaller than the new WiiM appears to be.

I would have loved something which was styled like the Ultra, the width of the Ultra, and the height of the Topping.

I will be amazed if the new WiiM measures better than the Topping; good luck to them if they can pull it off.

 

[slartibartfast]

I was thinking that. If this is 'everything except a streamer', then it's ideal for anyone who owns something that's 'just a streamer'.

If it had room correction and a sub out with bass management you could use a Raspberry Pi as a streamer

 

[castalla]

I was thinking that. If this is 'everything except a streamer', then it's ideal for anyone who owns something that's 'just a streamer'.

If they have streamer then they'll also have some sort of amp already. Can't see a big market for this out there.
A compact CD player/transport would have had more interest!

 

[pieterv1]

Topping PA5 II

Again, the comparison doesn't really hold up because your Topping has a big external power supply.

 

[EddNog]

So this is my Ultra and Topping PA5 II. The amp is much smaller than the new WiiM appears to be.

I would have loved something which was styled like the Ultra, the width of the Ultra, and the height of the Topping.

I will be amazed if the new WiiM measures better than the Topping; good luck to them if they can pull it off.

View attachment 17490

IOM Ultra is close, but stack height is same as WiiM Ultra, not thinner.

-Ed

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

I was surprised when I saw the WHF post and pic, hence posted it up, as it’s mated with the Ultra…
I’d tend to agree, the Ultra would benefit from a similarly sized WiiM Power Amp Pro, rather than the integrated option in the pic…