[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.

[wushuliu]

Just ordered one. Mainly to stream Tidal.

[Andrew JC]

I took delivery of one about a week ago. My integrated lost a channel so I purchased the Wiim and using it with a spare power amp that I had.
The product is really good but I'm having a issue with the USB input not reading all my music on my hard drive.  That's something that my Blusound Node did not have an issue with. Wiim is aware of the issue and are working to address it. So far the unit has had about three firmware updates, I hope the issue is resolved soon.

[wushuliu]

I took delivery of one about a week ago. My integrated lost a channel so I purchased the Wiim and using it with a spare power amp that I had.
The product is really good but I'm having a issue with the USB input not reading all my music on my hard drive.  That's something that my Blusound Node did not have an issue with. Wiim is aware of the issue and are working to address it. So far the unit has had about three firmware updates, I hope the issue is resolved soon.

Good to know.

[wushuliu]

Got the Ultra up and running. I got it to use coax out to an external dac but first impression is the internal dac sounds really really good (streaming Tidal and local files via USB). Smooth and open. My expectations were quite low on that front. I'm setting up almost a whole new 2-channel system though after 6 years of dormancy and in a new home so everything is breaking in at once, including my ears.

These 'Chi-fi' companies have come a long way the last 10+ years, that's for sure. The Ultra is no slouch.

[mresseguie]

Oh, goodie! Another new thing to try. I have waited more or less patiently for improved products and/or performance as I suspected something like this would come out before too long.

I’m going to order one myself. I changed my mind and bought a Nuprime Omnia WR2.

Thanks for chatting about it here. 

[Andrew JC]

wushuliu glad to hear you are enjoying the Wiim Ultra. Its a nice piece for relativity short money. The touch screen does not matter to me because I'm sitting 8 feet away but seeing the album art is coo!

[Tarheel]

I bought one primarily for the room correction feature.  I am still using Blu OS Node for streaming and a Denafrips Ares ll dac.

[Andrew JC]

I'm very interested in the room correction but I'm an Android user. I have to steal the wife's iPhone or iPad to try that feature. 

[wushuliu]

Might do a separate review thread but the Wiim Ultra is an outstanding value especially for the price. For example I was initially using it to play music off a usb flash drive. Then I thought hey it sure would be cool if it I could output via usb as well as just use as a local input. Turns out I can! That's what I get for not reading the manual. So now I am testing out streaming wirelessly from my PC to a DDC via usb to a DAC and it sounds fantastic.

[newzooreview]

I'm very interested in the room correction but I'm an Android user. I have to steal the wife's iPhone or iPad to try that feature.

I think getting a Umik-1 or Umik-2 will be preferable. The iPhone and iPad have a predictable mic performance (compared to the large variety of mics used in various android phones), so it's possible to have an approximate, average, workable mic calibration on an iPhone or iPad. However, it is still just approximate and workable. A Umik is individually calibrated and is much better in low-frequency response than an iPhone or iPad mic (which is naturally focused on the human voice).

Even with a Umik, I ended up disabling the room correction on my Wiim Amp. Running the audio through the DSP to provide room correction seemed to degrade the sound even if frequency response was, theoretically, flatter. I can't recall if room correction limits hi-res playback on the WiiM, but it can do that on some devices.

[S Clark]

So please allow me to illustrate my complete ignorance of all things streaming.  I spin vinyl. 
What will this unit do (in the very most basic terms)?
Do you plug this in, connect to wifi, connect to Amazon Music, hook it up to your preamp, turn on the amp, and start listening to music?  Basically a high quality version of an Amazon Echo?  If it's easy enough, I might be tempted to dabble.   

[wushuliu]

So please allow me to illustrate my complete ignorance of all things streaming.  I spin vinyl. 
What will this unit do (in the very most basic terms)?
Do you plug this in, connect to wifi, connect to Amazon Music, hook it up to your preamp, turn on the amp, and start listening to music?  Basically a high quality version of an Amazon Echo?  If it's easy enough, I might be tempted to dabble.

Yes you can do exactly that and in that order. You can also output via coaxial, or usb, or optical. You can also input via rca, optical, LAN or files on usb. It even has phono inputs (conforming RIAA digitally I assume I haven't checked).

You do the entire setup with their app which I found very easy to navigate.

[Doublej]

So please allow me to illustrate my complete ignorance of all things streaming.  I spin vinyl. 
What will this unit do (in the very most basic terms)?
Do you plug this in, connect to wifi, connect to Amazon Music, hook it up to your preamp, turn on the amp, and start listening to music?  Basically a high quality version of an Amazon Echo?  If it's easy enough, I might be tempted to dabble.

Yes you can use a WiiM as a high quality Amazon Echo as each WiiM can be an Amazon Echo endpoint. You can use the WiiM voice remote to issue Alexa voice commands. Just like an Echo, a WiiM supports multiple music services including Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, Internet Radio and more. But a WiiM Ultra is a whole lot more.

It is a streamer, preamp (with analog, phono, digital optical, and Bluetooth inputs), DAC, equalizer, and room correction device with a headphone jack, and RCA stereo output (and subwoofer jack) to feed an external preamp or power amplifier. It has a built in volume control. It has a small display.

Analog and phono inputs are converted to digital. The internal DAC can be bypassed and a digital signal sent from the WiiM to an external DAC as desired.

There are more features like Chromecast, DLNA, multiroom support...

I have a WiiM Pro Plus, They pack a lot of functionality into these.

[mitch stl]

It's been a while since there have been any comments added to this thread but thought I'd add mine. I've had an Ultra for several months now and am extremely pleased with it. I'm using it as a streamer, DAC and preamp with the room correction and sub-out active.  I've been very pleased with it's performance.  The Ultra ended up replacing my RPi/pCP streamer and Schiit Lyr 3 with multibit DAC card. 

I still run LMS (WiiM players can serve as Squeezelite endpoints) and split about 50:50 between using that and the WiiM app for selecting and managing playback. Each has its advantages.  Have to say I haven't used either the phono or line inputs, but I do like the ability to control volume with the included remote. In short, a great buy for the money.

[Andrew JC]

I have been very impressed with Ultra. Initial bugs aside it works perfect now. The Ultra was a stop gap measure for me due to my integrated amp failing. It has taken some pressure off a buying decision so again I'm grateful for that. However, I'm not going to lie I look forward to looking at some gear at CAF!

Also I think I may get the Wiim Amp Pro for an office system. The software is amazing and value for the dollar is unmatched.

[Spearhead3AD]

I’ve got eight Wiim devices (including two Ultras). I went that route as a whole-house solution after a couple years of unreliability with HEOS. So far, so good. As a bonus, i put them on vintage receivers throughout the house after giving away most of my standalone HEOS speakers.

[twitch54]

I have just recently dipped my toes into the world of streaming with the Ultra. At $263 it was a no brainer, if I decide to go higher up the food chain in the future it can still be put to use in another system.

My only initial problem was wireless connectivity to my router, problem solved, ran an ethernet cable