Anetwork music streameronly needs to accomplish a few cardinal tasks to be successful . It needs an app - based interface that ’s easy to navigate . It needs lineal compatibility with as many streaming servicing as possible , and the inclusion of Bluetooth , Google Cast , andApple AirPlayfor any services that ca n’t be straight off included . It need a decentdigital - to - analog converter(DAC ) , and a option of digital and analog output so you could connect it to a diversity of hi - fi systems .
TheWiim Proproved that a boring , $ 150 black boxwood could do all of those tasks and more , while theWiim Pro Pluscatered to those who wanted a higher - performance DAC , and a ready to hand remote , for $ 70 more .
These products are so good at deliver everything a streamer needs to do — at such fairish toll — I interrogate why anyone would require to spend $ 329 on Wiim ’s newest flagship pennant , the Wiim Ultra . And yet , several Day into my time with the Ultra , I ’m now a convert .
Even though the Ultra does n’t drastically change the timbre of the audio you ’d get from the Pro Plus , it opens up many more sources and throw in a headphone doodly-squat — and I ’ll talk mint more about that screen in a moment . Overall , this raw pennant feels like a big step up in the overall experience of playing my favorite music . After a week with the Wiim Ultra , I am deeply reluctant to return my reappraisal social unit .
First , let ’s get the basic out of the fashion .
Wiim 101
The Wiim Ultra is a internet medicine pennon with no onboard amplification , unlike its sibling , theWiim Amp . It ’s for folks who already have a set of powered speakers or a hi - fi arrangement . It ’s good direct competitors are the $ 449Sonos Port , the $ 349Denon Heos Link , and the $ 549Bluesound Node . In the box , you get a power cord , a stereophonic system RCA patch cord , an ocular cable , a high - speed HDMI cable , a phono land adapter , and a voice - capable remote control ( batteriesnotincluded ) .
It partake almost all of its core feature of speech with the extended Wiim phratry :
I ’ve write before about the Wiim app in my reviews of theWiim ProandWiim Amp . At the metre , I marveled at how Wiim had deal to reproduce all of my favorite Sonos features — something no other company had accomplished . TheMay 2024 Sonos app update — the one that has affected customers ’ loyalty so badly that CEO Patrick Spence feltcompelled to bid a personal apology — only reinforced for me how critical it is for a stream - first gimmick to have great software system . So far , the Wiim app has been flawless in its operation .
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About the only change I ’d care to see is a direction to quickly jump off back and forth between the deep setting for Wiim devices and your useable sources of euphony and playback . Right now , every carte du jour that consume you deep is a menu you demand to back out of once you ’ve made change .
What makes it Ultra?
As the name suggests , the Wiim Ultra live on above and beyond a canonic pitch-black box streamer .
It ’s an organic evolution of the design that Wiim debuted with the Wiim Amp . Its guinea pig is made from atomic number 13 , give the Ultra a decidedly Apple - like show . Like the Amp , Wiim offers the Ultra in Apple ’s two most popular aluminum colors : silver and place gray ( seen here ) . fuse with its outsized volume / frolic / pause knob and gorgeous color touchscreen , the Ultra looks like a Mac Mini crossed with an iPod nano . Much like Apple ’s industrial design , your oculus is straight off drawn to the Ultra ; it demands a prominent localisation in your sound setup .
The Mac Mini comparing goes beyond looks . Though it stands a minuscule tall , the Ultra ’s footprint is nearly identical to Apple ’s small background . It ’s also slenderly large than the Wiim Amp despite not having an integrated amplifier gather inside that cuticle .
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Speaking of the Wiim Amp , the Ultra fixes the only gripe I had about the Amp ’s appearance . The tiny triangle that sits in the center of the loudness thickening no longer turn out with the node itself . ( Yes , that really bug me . ) The Ultra ’s knob is now a ring that spread out around what is effectively a diminutive round screen that expose the trilateral in a miscellany of colors depend on your activity . Its brightness level jibe that of the adjacent touch screen .
One pocket-size grumbling : On my review unit of measurement , the intensity doughnut did n’t turn smoothly . At a few points , it felt like it was fret ever so more or less against the heart and soul CRT screen . I would also prefer a notched rotation like the Wiim Amp ’s knob . Neither are deal - ledgeman , but they ’re two small dents in an otherwise flawless build quality .
To the rightfulness of the knob is the first dedicated headphone jack on a Wiim product . It is confessedly a small thing , but it adds a lot of versatility . Even if you never connected the Ultra to a hi - fi system , you could still thoroughly love using it with an attached curing of wired cans . I try a lot of Beyerdynamic DT Pro 990 X and a lot ofSennheiser HD 660S2open - back earphone , and the Ultra drive them both effortlessly . ( Your favorite high - resistivity cans may not deliver similar results . )
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
I do n’t profess to be a cognoscente of DACs — I ’m evenhandedly certain I ca n’t hear any difference between the Wiim Pro Plus ’ AKM 4493SEQ and the Ultra ’s ES9038 Q2 M when listening to these two streamers via powered speakers . What I can say is that heed via headphones on the Ultra sounds as good to me as using consecrate externalDAC / ampsthat cost as much as $ 350 , like theIfi Go Baror theQuestyle M15 .
The streamer with a screen
The touch screen is the expectant surprise to me . You do n’t require it . There ’s nothing it lets you do that you ca n’t do via the Wiim app . In fact , it does well less . And yet , glancing over at it and seeing the album graphics for the currently playing track colorfully turn in on the face of the Ultra makes me irrationally well-chosen . So does the fun collection of ground art it display when in clock modality ( any time the Ultra slips into standby ) .
The sieve also is a lot of fun . It ’s very antiphonal , and somehow it has n’t become a greasy smear of fingermark , even after repeated habit . The Ultra ’s various features are do via screen page . When playing audio , the default screen will be one of three types of now - playing pages — one with raceway streaming details , one with just record album art and a progress stripe , and a retro VU meter show .
Tapping any of them brings up restraint overlays for period of play / pause and chase skipping . Alternatively , swipe to the left and you ’re presented with your Wiim stored favorites ( tracks , play list , etc . ) , EQ presets , stimulation excerption , output selection , screen pick , and a equipment info page . Each of these has a small home icon that brings you back to the independent dwelling house varlet , with shortcuts to all of the pages .
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
For now , you ca n’t directly crop for content or carry on search . The only way to initiate playback is via the Wiim favourite page . you may ascertain the filmdom brightness manually , or dress it to conform to your room ’s ignition conditions automatically . you may also shut it off completely , though this option is only available from the touchscreen ’s own options page , not from the app or the included remote .
Wiim say alteration to the display options are coming with next updates . The clock will drop the 24 - hour style leading zero when you tack to 12 - hour time ( the zero can still be seen in the accompanying picture ) , and you ’ll be capable to choose your own images for the clock background .
Mission control
The Wiim Ultra is absolutely packed with input and outputs . Where the Pro Plus has an analog in , analog out , one digital in and two digital outs , the Ultra ’s back panel looks more like an AV receiver .
You get one analog in , plus a 2d analog in that’spre - ampedfor aturntableconnection , including an uncommitted ground terminal . Cleverly , that ground terminus is removable , keeping things much clean-living if you do n’t postulate it . There ’s anHDMI ARCinput , an ocular comment , and a USB - A port for aggregated storage equipment like SSDs or HDDs . If you connect one , it can be get at by just the Ultra , or you may partake in access to all of your other Wiim players .
For output , you get analog , optical and coaxal digital , plus a consecrate subwoofer output — an unusual feature on a non - amplified streamer .
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The Wiim app give you granular control over all of these connexion . If you ’re using the digital outs , you could turn over through LPCM audio recording at its aboriginal bit deepness and sample rate , or you could resample that signal down to low-down values if your affiliated gear ca n’t accommodate higher values .
Since the parallel inputs are all converted to digital before being played via the turnout ( or share across a multiroom Wiim setup ) , you may choose the bit profundity and sampling rate for that changeover . These are n’t likely to interest casual users , but audiophiles will value them — especially those who believe standard CD quality is insufficient for capturing all of the nicety in their favorite record .
All of this means the Ultra is much more than a net music streamer . It ends up taking on a hybrid use , bet on your setup . For those of you with recentAV receivers , the Ultra is overkill . It ’s unconvincing you ’d need to habituate the HDMI port , as this will reduce output from multichannel down to two channels . ( And it will killDolby Atmos , if your telly is so - able . ) It ’s also unlikely that you ’d require the Ultra ’s phono or analog inputs .
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The Ultra ’s idealistic base is with someone who owns a two - communication channel hi - fi system that lacks any kind of New digital features . By adding the $ 329 Ultra , that arrangement becomes part of a multiroom sound setup with access code to most streaming services and personal digital collection . Plus it can now do for your TV audio what it has always done for your pet medicine .
Glorious stereo sound
I ’d also strongly commend the Ultra for those who want to die hard a set of powered speaker . Klipsch loan me a lot of itsKlipsch The Sevensfor this recap , and it made for a potent combo .
There ’s some gemination , for sure : The Sevens also have HDMI ARC and a switchable line - in / phono input . But other than an available Bluetooth connective , they have no streaming smarting at all .
Using The Sevens also let me perform some playfulness A / vitamin B complex comparisons . I tie the Ultra ’s analog and digital outputs to the speaker system and then flip back and forth between using the Ultra ’s DAC and the one built into The Sevens . aboveboard , it was hard to tell the remainder . They both sounded amazing .
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
What followed was the good part of my job — hr of listening to some of my favourite album via The Sevens and earpiece , perfectly lost in the experience .
It ’s possible that my test setup was n’t high - remainder enough to reveal any of the Ultra ’s sonic deficiency . I suspect that you would take some very fancy gear to start to spot those limitations . One of the only Ultra brushup I could find before I begin writing isfrom Steve Huff , an audiophile with a consecrated listening way stacked with thousands of dollars of equipment . This one seam fromhis YouTube videosays it all : “ I polish off $ 15,000 worth of streaming / DAC / preamp / transmission line and I replaced it with $ 329 of the same matter and I ’m getting 85 % of the carrying into action , but really , 100 % of the music . ”
I reckon the same mathematics applies in thinking about the Ultra versus the Wiim Pro Plus . The extra $ 110 you ’ll spend on the Ultra delivers an amazing return on extra features — an easy tophus should you need them .
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Let ’s lecture very in short about the new Room Correction feature . This is Wiim ’s answer to Sonos ’ handyTruePlayroom tuning function . Like TruePlay , Room Correction uses the mic on your telephone and ( for now ) that earpiece must be an iPhone . It take an extremely fast measurement ( less than 10 seconds ) of your room ’s acoustics and then creates a customized EQ curve to compensate .
I ca n’t say I notice much of a difference post - rectification . There was a svelte drop in the low mids , but otherwise things remained the same . What bedazzle me was the app ’s set of extended background for perform additional tweaks . object curved shape , parametric fine - tuning — loads of toy well beyond my ken . I ’m guessing it will be like catnip for folks fluent in this language .
Almost perfect
As much as I ’ve become a big fan of the Wiim Ultra , it ’s not perfect . Here are some drawback you should be cognizant of .
There ’s no Apple AirPlay . This will fall as a surprisal to those who are already members of the Wiim ecosystem , since all of the society ’s player to date support Apple ’s wireless audio cyclosis communications protocol . And Wiim has already sound out it wo n’t ( because it ca n’t ) update this version of the Ultra with AirPlay .
In paleness , withGoogle Cast(which Wiim still refers to as Chromecast Audio ) , Alexa Cast , Tidal Connect , and Spotify Connect , plus all of the native support for streaming services , you might not lack AirPlay at all . But I also do n’t want to downplay this issue — many in ther / audiophile subredditand on thewiimhome.com forumsconsider this a deal - breaker .
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
There ’s also no native backup for Apple Music or YouTube Music . This is associate to the AirPlay issue insofar as if you ’re an iPhone substance abuser with an Apple Music subscription — it ’s impossible to swarm Apple Music to the Ultra at anywhere close to the quality that this table service can support ( up to 24 - bit/192kHz lossless ) . Ironically , it may be possible to hear Apple Music tracks at substantially higher quality if you use the app on an Android equipment and then cast the music to the Ultra over Google Cast .
There ’s no figurer audio connection . This one pains me the most . I ’d like nothing respectable than to perplex the Ultra on my desk , pipe my computer ’s sound recording into the back of the player digitally , and then use the built - in phone squat to hear all of my audio — from YouTube to Tidal — through the Ultra ’s fabulous DAC . woefully , that ’s not possible , and without AirPlay , I ca n’t even practice a wireless connector from my Mac as an choice .
expel TV audio recording through the Ultra ’s HDMI input vocalize enceinte in hypothesis , but the implementation needs some workplace . When you first hit play on a movie or TV show , it hold a few second for the Ultra to tell apart that there ’s signal coming in . Once it switches itself to the HDMI input , there ’s another 10 to 15 seconds where the sound recording drops in and out . After that , things run absolutely , but this sequence ingeminate itself every time you pause your program long enough for the Ultra to think it should put itself back into standby modality .
Is the Wiim Ultra for everyone ? Nope . The company ’s existing Wiim Pro and Pro Plus fulfill the web euphony pennon role perfectly for many ( and for less money ) .
And yet , it ’s hard not to fall for the Ultra ’s stunning design , its dazzling CRT screen , and its comprehensive set of digital and analog connexion .
It outclasses the $ 449 Sonos Port in every measurable direction ( save for the absence of AirPlay ) . The $ 549 Bluesound Node , with its telling hi - rhenium audio specs , nativeMQAprocessing , and BluOS multiroom software program , come closest to the Ultra ( without spending thousands ) . But the Node lacks the Ultra ’s dedicated phono input , voice remote , color touchscreen , large book knob , or elbow room chastisement .
Bottom line : If you may omit the unfortunate AirPlay omission , the Wiim Ultra is a stunning streaming time value .
