I love when manufacturers tease us on a Friday at 3 pm before a long weekend and start of a major Jewish holiday on Monday. Our friends at WiiM Audio, have been naughty boys this year with the Pro Plus and WiiM Amp — but just wait till the new WiiM Ultra Streamer and Pre-Amplifier is unveiled at High End Munich 2024 in a few weeks.
The WiiM Ultra, inspired by the consumer-loved flagship streamer, is a central digital hub for your audio ecosystem, with audiophile-grade components and build-quality alongside rich audio connections and a vibrant 3.5” full-color touchscreen. It brings Hi-Res streaming capabilities, advanced room correction, and smart home integration to your existing setup, be it powered speakers or amplifiers.
Beyond these, it seamlessly connects with a wide range of devices including turntables, TVs, headphones, AV receivers, subwoofers, smart speakers, Bluetooth headsets, and more, offering a comprehensive and versatile audio solution.
We don’t have any additional details and don’t expect to learn much more until the WiiM Ultra makes it debut on May 9th at the show in Germany.
We do know that the WiiM Ultra will feature an upgraded DAC compared to the units currently being offered in the Pro Plus and Amp and that this unit will be competitively priced to give Cambridge Audio, Bluesound, and NAD some rather sleepless nights.
The unit also includes an HDMI ARC port and internal MM phono pre-amplifier.
Could this be the ideal streamer/pre-amplifier for something like the Acoustic Energy AE1?
Key Features
- Elegant aluminum case with 3.5” vibrant touchscreen display covered with glass
- Stream Hi-Res music with the bit-perfect digital output or high-fidelity analog audio
- Improved premium DAC
- A rich selection of audio inputs and outputs
Launch date: May 9, 2024 unveiled at the HighEnd Munich 2024 Show.
No word on pricing or availability, but we were told it’s coming in Q2 2024.
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David
April 20, 2024 at 1:32 am
Yup. This one is likely to be big if the the cost and performance is in line with the remainder of their streamer lineup. WiiM is the audio industry’s biggest disruptor. HDMI? Check.
Hmm… I wonder what a WiiM speaker would look like?
ginandbacon
April 20, 2024 at 11:55 pm
Obviously price will be the determining factor. An upgraded DAC (probably ESS) is nice but implementation is more important. I do question how much the touchscreen is used on streamers. Easier to see from access the room but actually using it to control the device when you have an app and remote is a different story. Phono input is a nice touch of you listen to records. I’m not a huge fan of a lot of brands dropping USB as a transport for HDMI ARC. I get it but never considering TV’s work with USB audio, and what formats HDMI arch supports outside PCM is a different story. I also wonder how many people will buy this and hook it up to the wiim amp also.
ORT
April 22, 2024 at 3:32 pm
It looks nice. With digital, it either converts/decodes or it don’t. Simple.
The screen is nice. I use HEOS and it does everything and more that any sane (read: non-anal retentive frAudiophile) person could desire. A friend enjoys his Bluesound and tells me it does all that he wants and needs too.
This will likely do the same for those that buy it.
ORT
Ian White
April 26, 2024 at 3:36 pm
ORT,
The price point will be the biggest point of differentiation. Why spend $$$$ when this will likely serve as the hub for a (potentially) wide range of systems for years to come.
I would buy this in a heartbeat if it offers the same performance/value as their other products that I currently own. WiiM gets it.
Best,
IW
Chris Boylan
April 29, 2024 at 7:15 pm
With HDMI ARC I guess the point is to allow the user interface to display on a TV screen, and also get TV sound into the Wiim box and from there into your A/V rig. With HDMI ARC, you could potentially even do multi-channel Dolby Atmos streams (lossy DD+ streams) from TIDAL or Amazon Music on the streamer to a compatible soundbar, receiver or preamp/processor.
If the WiiM Ultra does support Dolby Atmos music streams, I believe it would be the first dedicated audio streaming device to do so. But I don’t see anything in the specs to suggest that. I guess we’ll know more next month when it is officially unveiled.
Ross Warren
June 10, 2024 at 7:30 pm
I like that it is supposed to offer USB digital output. That alone might make it worth buying, and a nice little screen for album artwork.
To get the best from an external DAC that offers better clocking (less jitter) you must usually feed that DAC via asynchronous USB or I2S, otherwise all the clocking is done by the streamer.