I’ve been streaming, running tv optical, cd input to the WiiM Pro and am blown away by the quality of that product, so the idea of an excellent phono stage too for £350 total makes for a compelling buy!! It would sit next to my Cyrus 1 amp beautifully for a cool old school new school combo ❤
Others have pointed out the grounding post in the box has been missed. But what he is correct about is how good the grounding is - completely silent. It's quite remarkable. To the point where it is making me think Wiim is doing some sneaky processing during the conversion of the analogue signal and filtering out any remaining hum.
I'm quite amazed by the wiim ultra, it certainly doesn't sound budget, playing through naim amp and monitor speakers, I don't know what trickery is going on but it's sound is so spacious, £269 black Friday deal, you can't go wrong.
Same deal, couldn't pass it up (my adac/amp died, also). I needed the sub-out and accompanying features, but never expected it to be this good. I heard complaints about the DAC functionality, but I'm happy with it, 24bit 192k is plenty for my noise floor & speakers.
i have 2 of them and i love them just as much as you do. it replaced a pioneer sc-lx87 amp in one place and it does so many things more and it does them very well. the other one replaced a canton smartconnect 5.1 and it's much better integrated with everything.
How many people will actually use all the various connections at the rear? What am I missing? I've got an old arcam 9 amp and two speakers. This or the cambridge mxn10??? Help.
@@bobbysilver272 The connections offer choice...which it's good to have..you don't need to use them all. Also depends on the streaming service you use. For example Cambridge don't include Amazon Music whereas Wiim do.
You don’t need to use all of course. I use line in for an old cd player without digital output, HDmi for the tv, phono in for turntable, and line out to a power amp. And if you use an external DAC you will use optical or coaxial, not both, but you can choose the option you prefer.
Hi I was thinking of a wiim proplus. Ive seen the wiim ultra as a demo in a shop much cheaper so may get it. I have an old nad amp v good but v old. I also have a turntable that needs a preamp to go into my existing amp. Am i right that that the wiim ultra does the job of a preamp? Sorry if this is a basic question. Im not v up to date on all this. I do have a pre amp but its a bit fiddly and small. And it would be one less bit if i could use this instead? I am a bit confused as you mention ed plugging cd player into it as well. Why would you do that? Wouldnt you just plug a cd player unit into your normal amp? Again, apologies if this sounds basic.
I purchased one of these as a Xmas present for myself and have a few questions: 1)IF I'm connecting it to a Marantz receiver, do I still need to connect my Sub to it? 2)if my UTurn vinyl player has a built in phono am I better off using the one from the wiim?
I've seen reviews that said it has deezer compatibility. Has that been added recently or was it a mistake in the review? Or could they mean deezer through chromecast?
I like the cat. The Wiim's pretty good too. Thanks for the review. Interesting what you critique about the app as it seems to be universally loved. At present, I am in the market for a streamer and this or Bluesound Nano are the options.
Yes. If you’re asking about max sizes (it claims to support up to what the formatted filesystem supports), you really should be looking at a NAS and server software like Minimserver, LMS , Plex etc. For me, usb media support is for the casual user with a relatively small, fixed library
Bought one on Sunday, Sending it back tomorrow. Sometimes it works. sometime not. I listen to a lot of independent internet radio stations. I can get the stream on my iPhone, and it sounds great. In of as to artist.. album.track all there. But no art work. It did show art work with one of my Amazon playlists. And then that stopped. Very frustrating . Unless someone can guide me as to what I am doing wrong, back it goes.
Nice review Ed. Can you use the Wiim's Sub out functionality with an amp like the Rotel A8 similar to one built into an amp? Keep the TH-cam reviews coming. Thx.
If you use the subwoofer output, you need to use the Ultra as the preamp (control the volume via the WiiM) Basically you would plug the RCA from the WiiM to the AUX input. Then you set the Rotel to around 3/4 of it's max volume output and never touch it again. That way the levels of the subwoofer and the speakers will go up and down at the same rate via the WiiM. Hope this helps
I am a visually impaired music lover, I don't consider myself an audio file because I've never been able to afford high-end audio equipment, I'm currently using a Samsung tablet with a USB type c headphone adapter running into a Yamaha as501 integrated amplifier and a pair of 30 year old Kenwood 3-way speakers, I would imagine the wiim ultra would significantly improve my qobuz listening experience, the speakers still sound great by the way they have been well taken care of, if anyone has any opinions on the subject please let me know, do you think the wiim ultra would be a significant upgrade over a Samsung Galaxy tablet with the official Samsung USB type-c dongle dac. And thank you for any input.
Don't try and be an audiophile, just plug and play about with all the different choices, listen to all of them , there must be one that suits your ear. Hifi is for your ears, not your sight
There is no air play in wiim (which is in fact very good, air play have so low quality that should be globally eliminated by whole audio market, never should be in use), but there is ground adapter in package. Wiim is uncomparably better than eversolo A6 - i have both, but should be paired with better dac than internal sigma - like fiio k11 r2r or something better. In fact, there is no any competition.
@@Ineedtotakeabreak possible for persons for which quality has no any meaning. There is a lot of such consumers, even in fact most of them. For many any noise is OK. Still, technically bad protocol (without any justification) any where low quality is hidden between most of users, shouldnt be accepted on market. Better ones should be expected by consumers with respect to themselves.. Especially in case of Apple. Wifi connection simply shouldnt be a lot worse than even very old bt connection. Wifi shouldnt be highly compressed. Or at least communication about the low quality of the product being offered and compression used should be open and clear. If someone choose to use low quality, could be at lest fully aware of that.
I don't agree at all. The Eversolo has much more layering and sound stage. Way more. The Wiim room correction is a joke and removes any sound stage in the process of DSP correction. I've used both the internal DAC on the Wiim and Eversolo and the Eversolo wins, and wins by a long shot.
@@dangoertz8030 Doesent matter in any way, both are simply cheap, bad delta Sigmas (both ess), both are near not usable. There is no point using internal chips this type. Difference is that wiim is able to work with external dac with real value and sound quality, eversolo can not due to lack of DDC (which is absurd). Statement regarding dsp is simply not true. Yes, there are some phase issues, still end effect is uncomparably better. Including sound stage. I bought eversolo two times, and two times I returned it - it's so, really so very bad. Also from Sigmas, I sold my RME long time ago.
I expected better from this channel. You completely missed the plug-in ground connector and twice criticized it for not having one. Regardless of price, there is nothing like this on the market, it was designed for a pair of powered speakers and boom your hifi is done...
I don't really get it to be honest. What does it actually do, just streams music but it doesn't have any speaker outputs other then wireless so you would need a stereo amp alongside this to get that. Why not just use you're phones output into a stereo amp instead as that can stream already and lots of stereo amps already have Bluetooth input. Unless you want it to just pair with some shitty wireless speakers or something but then those can pair to a phone already so why bother? Am I missing something special?
Bluetooth and phones have a lot worse quality (there is no lossless bit to bit, no decent dac), and are uncomparably less practical. Also they are not preamp - with in and out connections (arc, lfe, analog, spdif for transports and external dacs), room correction, multiroom, bass management and many more. You are missing basically everything.
of course it has a volume controlled preamp output and you can connect any active speakers in the world easily. if you want to use passive speakers just use a power amplifier of your choice which you would do anyways. you are missing the idea of the product.
I use it for a pre amp. I have a adcom 555-2 amp .my turn table,and my cd player. I have a second turn table with mc hooked up as well .Great sound quality.
@robertmata4293 so can you do bass management with your turntable? I had a Bellari EQ but the thing wanted to kill my speakers and eq is brilliant for some albums that were not pressed with love.
Please do your home work before posting the video. I am a subcriber of Deezer since i owned wiim Ultra. I wish it had apple music streaming services too. But obviously its apple. As expected always annoyance.
I’ve been streaming, running tv optical, cd input to the WiiM Pro and am blown away by the quality of that product, so the idea of an excellent phono stage too for £350 total makes for a compelling buy!! It would sit next to my Cyrus 1 amp beautifully for a cool old school new school combo ❤
Oh dear Ed.... you got Airplay wrong and also missed the ground connector in the box.....😖
Yikes. Sure did! LOL
Hook the Wiim ultra to the AliExpress 20 Watt A Class amplifier and you won't believe how good this combo sounds amazing. Mind blowing.
Others have pointed out the grounding post in the box has been missed. But what he is correct about is how good the grounding is - completely silent. It's quite remarkable. To the point where it is making me think Wiim is doing some sneaky processing during the conversion of the analogue signal and filtering out any remaining hum.
Which shouldn’t be so difficult to program in a DSP.
I'm quite amazed by the wiim ultra, it certainly doesn't sound budget, playing through naim amp and monitor speakers, I don't know what trickery is going on but it's sound is so spacious, £269 black Friday deal, you can't go wrong.
Same deal, couldn't pass it up (my adac/amp died, also). I needed the sub-out and accompanying features, but never expected it to be this good. I heard complaints about the DAC functionality, but I'm happy with it, 24bit 192k is plenty for my noise floor & speakers.
Well done friend and happy holidays!
i have 2 of them and i love them just as much as you do. it replaced a pioneer sc-lx87 amp in one place and it does so many things more and it does them very well. the other one replaced a canton smartconnect 5.1 and it's much better integrated with everything.
How many people will actually use all the various connections at the rear?
What am I missing?
I've got an old arcam 9 amp and two speakers.
This or the cambridge mxn10???
Help.
@@bobbysilver272 The connections offer choice...which it's good to have..you don't need to use them all. Also depends on the streaming service you use. For example Cambridge don't include Amazon Music whereas Wiim do.
You don’t need to use all of course. I use line in for an old cd player without digital output, HDmi for the tv, phono in for turntable, and line out to a power amp. And if you use an external DAC you will use optical or coaxial, not both, but you can choose the option you prefer.
Hi
I was thinking of a wiim proplus. Ive seen the wiim ultra as a demo in a shop much cheaper so may get it. I have an old nad amp v good but v old. I also have a turntable that needs a preamp to go into my existing amp. Am i right that that the wiim ultra does the job of a preamp? Sorry if this is a basic question. Im not v up to date on all this. I do have a pre amp but its a bit fiddly and small. And it would be one less bit if i could use this instead?
I am a bit confused as you mention ed plugging cd player into it as well. Why would you do that? Wouldnt you just plug a cd player unit into your normal amp?
Again, apologies if this sounds basic.
I'd suggest getting shares in Wiim would be a good investment! 😂
Is his jumper inside out?
🤣
I purchased one of these as a Xmas present for myself and have a few questions: 1)IF I'm connecting it to a Marantz receiver, do I still need to connect my Sub to it? 2)if my UTurn vinyl player has a built in phono am I better off using the one from the wiim?
1 No you should only use the sub out on the Marantz. 2 try it and see only you will know
@RaymondReeves-db8dr thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.
I've seen reviews that said it has deezer compatibility. Has that been added recently or was it a mistake in the review? Or could they mean deezer through chromecast?
Deezer is supported natively
I like the cat. The Wiim's pretty good too. Thanks for the review. Interesting what you critique about the app as it seems to be universally loved. At present, I am in the market for a streamer and this or Bluesound Nano are the options.
Hi
Nice review. When playing music from a usb drive does the unit show the artwork and what size usb drive is maximum?
Yes. If you’re asking about max sizes (it claims to support up to what the formatted filesystem supports), you really should be looking at a NAS and server software like Minimserver, LMS , Plex etc. For me, usb media support is for the casual user with a relatively small, fixed library
It'll look for a default image file in the same folder as the music file and use that.
@@sneakyds Well I have a 1TB drive attached full of music and it plays them just fine....👍
@@thepracticalaudiophile or artwork embedded in the file itself....
@@steven2809 yes
Bought one on Sunday, Sending it back tomorrow. Sometimes it works. sometime not. I listen to a lot of independent internet radio stations. I can get the stream on my iPhone, and it sounds great. In of as to artist.. album.track all there. But no art work. It did show art work with one of my Amazon playlists. And then that stopped. Very frustrating . Unless someone can guide me as to what I am doing wrong, back it goes.
How are you connecting it to the internet? WIFI or LAN?
Can you mirror the screen to a TV, so you can view album art on a large screen ?
Επειδή το έχω αγοράσει σου απαντώ όχι,η HDMI είναι input.
yes
Nice review Ed. Can you use the Wiim's Sub out functionality with an amp like the Rotel A8 similar to one built into an amp? Keep the TH-cam reviews coming. Thx.
If you use the subwoofer output, you need to use the Ultra as the preamp (control the volume via the WiiM)
Basically you would plug the RCA from the WiiM to the AUX input. Then you set the Rotel to around 3/4 of it's max volume output and never touch it again.
That way the levels of the subwoofer and the speakers will go up and down at the same rate via the WiiM.
Hope this helps
It would be better suited for a power amplifier (ex. RB-1552) but it still works with a integrated amplifier like the A8.
I am a visually impaired music lover, I don't consider myself an audio file because I've never been able to afford high-end audio equipment, I'm currently using a Samsung tablet with a USB type c headphone adapter running into a Yamaha as501 integrated amplifier and a pair of 30 year old Kenwood 3-way speakers, I would imagine the wiim ultra would significantly improve my qobuz listening experience, the speakers still sound great by the way they have been well taken care of, if anyone has any opinions on the subject please let me know, do you think the wiim ultra would be a significant upgrade over a Samsung Galaxy tablet with the official Samsung USB type-c dongle dac. And thank you for any input.
So…. What CD player / transport will work best with this, visually, budget wise, connection wise?
Don't try and be an audiophile, just plug and play about with all the different choices, listen to all of them , there must be one that suits your ear. Hifi is for your ears, not your sight
You could have a look at a Pro-Ject cd player which is also a small box.
Will it take a cd player and a turntable or is there not enough ports
Yes, you can connect both
@@pablotorres9260 thankyou
It doesn't have a pair of DAC's, it has one.
When I first saw this review I thought it odd that the unit didn't come with it's own supply of blu tack. Oh dear you silly boy
You had me at BluTack.
Obviously missed the ground connector in the box - see the manual for what’s included
it doesnt support airplay 2!!! unfortunately!!! but airplay 2 is lossy audio!!
Nor does it directly support airplay 1 - don’t know where that notion came from…
There is no air play in wiim (which is in fact very good, air play have so low quality that should be globally eliminated by whole audio market, never should be in use), but there is ground adapter in package.
Wiim is uncomparably better than eversolo A6 - i have both, but should be paired with better dac than internal sigma - like fiio k11 r2r or something better.
In fact, there is no any competition.
Airplay sounds fine, get over yourself.
@@Ineedtotakeabreak possible for persons for which quality has no any meaning. There is a lot of such consumers, even in fact most of them. For many any noise is OK. Still, technically bad protocol (without any justification) any where low quality is hidden between most of users, shouldnt be accepted on market. Better ones should be expected by consumers with respect to themselves.. Especially in case of Apple.
Wifi connection simply shouldnt be a lot worse than even very old bt connection. Wifi shouldnt be highly compressed.
Or at least communication about the low quality of the product being offered and compression used should be open and clear. If someone choose to use low quality, could be at lest fully aware of that.
agree to your views on airplay
I don't agree at all. The Eversolo has much more layering and sound stage. Way more. The Wiim room correction is a joke and removes any sound stage in the process of DSP correction. I've used both the internal DAC on the Wiim and Eversolo and the Eversolo wins, and wins by a long shot.
@@dangoertz8030 Doesent matter in any way, both are simply cheap, bad delta Sigmas (both ess), both are near not usable. There is no point using internal chips this type. Difference is that wiim is able to work with external dac with real value and sound quality, eversolo can not due to lack of DDC (which is absurd). Statement regarding dsp is simply not true. Yes, there are some phase issues, still end effect is uncomparably better. Including sound stage.
I bought eversolo two times, and two times I returned it - it's so, really so very bad. Also from Sigmas, I sold my RME long time ago.
I expected better from this channel. You completely missed the plug-in ground connector and twice criticized it for not having one. Regardless of price, there is nothing like this on the market, it was designed for a pair of powered speakers and boom your hifi is done...
i don't like the screen at all, it's low quality and actually not needed, just some LED indicators would work better imo
I don't really get it to be honest. What does it actually do, just streams music but it doesn't have any speaker outputs other then wireless so you would need a stereo amp alongside this to get that. Why not just use you're phones output into a stereo amp instead as that can stream already and lots of stereo amps already have Bluetooth input. Unless you want it to just pair with some shitty wireless speakers or something but then those can pair to a phone already so why bother? Am I missing something special?
Bluetooth and phones have a lot worse quality (there is no lossless bit to bit, no decent dac), and are uncomparably less practical. Also they are not preamp - with in and out connections (arc, lfe, analog, spdif for transports and external dacs), room correction, multiroom, bass management and many more. You are missing basically everything.
of course it has a volume controlled preamp output and you can connect any active speakers in the world easily. if you want to use passive speakers just use a power amplifier of your choice which you would do anyways.
you are missing the idea of the product.
@Punisher9419 You're absolutely correct...you don't get it! 😂
I use it for a pre amp. I have a adcom 555-2 amp .my turn table,and my cd player. I have a second turn table with mc hooked up as well .Great sound quality.
@robertmata4293 so can you do bass management with your turntable? I had a Bellari EQ but the thing wanted to kill my speakers and eq is brilliant for some albums that were not pressed with love.
It supports Deezer
And Amazon Music Unlimited
Please do your home work before posting the video.
I am a subcriber of Deezer since i owned wiim Ultra.
I wish it had apple music streaming services too. But obviously its apple. As expected always annoyance.
The best at any price range. Terrible review basically no review get off the air dude.
Great product for price app sh1t in my opinion