[aricml]

At Munich High End is looks like Wiim just dropped the curtain on a new streamer.  $329 for a bevy of I/O options (including USB out).  A nice little screen to display artwork and frankly a super slick look.  I think if you are running this to an external DAC it could be quite a spicy little meatball.  Though I guess we will see when people get some hands-on and ears-on experience with this later in the year.

https://www.blog.wiimhome.com/post/unveiling-wiim-ultra-the-digital-hub-for-your-music

[newzooreview]

USB out is a good addition. However, Roon Ready will likely take 5 months, as it did with the WiiM Amp (which I own and like). I2S output would have been a much more intriguing addition.

It is interesting that this costs $50 more than the WiiM Amp. It is a nicer design than the WiiM Pro Plus (which I own but do not currently use), but doesn't have the amp of the less expensive WiiM Amp in the same aluminum case.

I am more and more inclined towards one box that combines streaming and DAC. There are significant advantages to keeping very short and integrated digital pathways to the point of generating the analog signal. Something like the Eversolo DMP-A8 that also has a resistor-based volume control is very appealing. Of course that is almost 6x more expensive.

It would be interesting to see what WiiM could do to compete with Eversolo. It is good to see the competition here, along with the competition in loudspeakers with Borresen bringing a lot of their $X00,000 speaker engineering down to a $5,500 speaker (the X1).

[Mike-48]

Regarding Roon Ready, while I waited for that for my WiiM Pro Plus, I used the Chromecast option, which worked flawlessly up to at least 96/24. WiiM has been, in my limited experience with them, the only company who when they said, "It's coming soon," actually made it happen.