Is the HYPE deserved? WiiM Ultra Music Streamer Review

AVForums Hi-Fi Editor Ed Selley gives his expert opinion on the music streamer that is generating huge amounts of hype, but is it justified?

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#hifi #hifireview #wiimultra

[stevebode]

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 ❤

[Tinman]

Oh dear Ed.... you got Airplay wrong and also missed the ground connector in the

[JDB]

#1 - "small plastic box" is kind of misleading. it is extremely well built and put together. #2. he missed the ground plug in the box lol i almost missed mine also but i found it. #3. i like that he pointed out the touch screen, i use it all the time. i use my phone for a remote so i never used the actual plastic remote it came with. thats about all he got wrong. at 325 this is an amazing piece of equipment. i paid 250 for mine and got a deal.

if you have powered speakers and a turntable, there is nothing better for you. the volume control and EQ alone with app support is worth $500.

[erratic]

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.

[martinburn]

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.

[eugenefudge]

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.

[ip-]

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.

[Dave-erpn]

I run mine into a pair of active Beolab 8000 speakers and a subwoofer and it sounds great to me.

[matteomilani]

I have a small setup consisting of a NAD3020D purchased 10 years ago (30w 8ohm with Bluetooth) and a pair of Indiana Line bookshelf speakers (30-120w). I want to improve the audio quality, but I can't decide whether to change the entire amp and get a C700V2 (a bit of a financial effort) or just change the source (getting a Wiim Ultra) and settle for the performance of my 'old' NAD... What do you recommend?

[terencecreed]

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.

[archstanton]

It doesn't have a pair of DAC's, it has one.

[alexgottmituns]

How good is the Wiim ultra as a preamp for a turntable (Pro-ject with otrofon super 5e stylus)? Is it also Atmos compatible for tidal/apple?

[bobbysilver]

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.

[cognoscenti]

I have a nice multi zone Yamaha amp and want to have streaming in diff rooms. How do I wire these up if I get 2 or 3?

[pauldickinson]

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.

[rellmyers]

And can I hook a external hard drive to it as well and will it read those mp3 music files saved to it

[brookeheaton]

Welp. I'm sold. I'm a Linux user so streaming for me is limited to 48 kHZ and I've been looking for a streaming DAC that can also handle my Phono. Curious if this can be Grouped with Wiim other devices and how it performs. If true, wondering if the other device(s) should be an Ultra as well.

[JDB]

lol before even watching this - yes it is worth the hype. it turned my powered studio monitors with a cheap lp70x turntable into a hifi masterpiece. the phono clarity that came from this thing basically turned my phono into the most crystal clear digital sound it was insane. plus the built in streamer made it so i don't need a receiver. this allows you to listen to your streaming services and everything else. i will watch this now and tell you everything the guy did and said wrong.

[gregmorris]

I’ve had one for 3 days. Its great. Get one. You can’t hear the difference.

[everything]

I'd suggest getting shares in Wiim would be a good investment! 😂