{"id":275504,"date":"2025-02-12T18:39:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T18:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/articles\/wiim-ultra-music-streamer\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T14:25:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:25:50","slug":"wiim-ultra-music-streamer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/articles\/wiim-ultra-music-streamer\/","title":{"rendered":"WiiM Ultra Music Streamer: The Cabin Audiophiler"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Learning to live with less<\/a> is not a bad thing, especially if you have what you need and that works for you. For those with a limited amount of space, there are a number of Hi-Fi options available in 2025 that can work rather well in a small apartment or cabin and our goal is turn you onto as many of them as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having to downsize from 3,200 to between 700 and 848 square feet might feel like a huge step backwards — but that all depends on your perspective. Less is more sometimes and might make you appreciate what you have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Zook<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you don’t have a lot of room, what types of components and loudspeakers should you be considering? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A high performance and affordable music steamer should be on your shopping list because something like the WiiM Ultra<\/strong> offers some useful connectivity options like HDMI ARC for your TV, a subwoofer output, coaxial digital output if you want to use an external DAC to improve the sound quality of your streaming, and a phono preamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a TOSLINK Optical input\/output and analog input for use with a CD player or even an external phono preamplifier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Park Life<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Park<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Not the Blur album or where Ricky and Bubbles cause trouble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best features of the standard Zook Cabins A-frame Park model is the layout and intelligent use of space. 400 square feet is not a lot of room, but its use of natural light is a key component which helps open up the main living area to the outside world that feels rather huge looking out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know people living in tiny apartments in NYC who wish they had access to this much light, ambiance, and usable space to work, cook, live, listen, and read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also know New Yorkers who would tell me that their apartment was so tiny that they could sit on the toilet whilst doing the dishes in the kitchen and it felt normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zook Cabins has also clearly paid attention to noise issues because the rentals, which are often surrounded by other similar cabins, parking for RVs and high-end glamping spots — also feel well isolated from the outside world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"HiYa
HiYa Cabin, Zook Cabins A-frame ADU in Stanley, Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wind noise and rain pounding on the metal siding isn’t completely inaudible, but it’s certainly not anything that would keep anyone up at night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reach Out and Touch Someone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I remember the first time I watched a video on YouTube of the Zook Cabins A-frame Park model and wondered if I could stretch my arms out and touch both walls in the living room area by the massive window that gives this particular unit its unique look and amazing light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having spent time inside the 400 square foot model, it has become rather obvious that anything larger than a 55-inch TV is out of the question and so are loudspeakers larger than the Q Acoustics 5020 on stands or the M40 wireless speakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wharfedale Super Denton<\/strong> could also work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wharfedale
Wharfedale Super Denton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One could mount a larger TV on the bedroom wall, but that would likely become somewhat overwhelming in the room and take away from the focal point which is the large window that creates so much light across the bed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I will be traveling around and renting the standard 400 square foot units – there is no question that the long-term plan is to invest in the 848 square foot ADU version of the A-frame Park model<\/a>; and with only 12′ x 14.8′ (not to mention the angled ceiling) in the main living room space in the ADU units, my choice of speakers and listening position will be rather critical.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Zook
Zook Cabins, A-frame Park Model, 400 square feet but look at that window!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

There really isn’t enough space in the living room areas for a dedicated book shelf — but I fortunately still have my 2 Sapien Bookcases that I purchased many years ago — you would be amazed at how many books you can stack vertically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Do You Need a Digital Music Streamer? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The vast majority of consumers use their smartphone to stream and that\u2019s a perfectly valid way to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streaming does drain your battery. It gets even worse if you utilize a Dongle DAC<\/a> to drive a pair of headphones or a pair of active loudspeakers on the desktop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another drawback is that the DAC<\/a> (digital to analog converter) in your smartphone does not compare favorably to the DAC inside of a dedicated music streamer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You also require a better quality system downstream to truly appreciate the improvement that a music streamer can make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streamer. Nothing but a Streamer…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The WiiM Ultra was a rather easy selection for our “Best Music Streamer: Editors’ Choice<\/a>” list, but I am already starting to see just how flexible this little box can be when confronted with a lack of space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WiiM Ultra does not have to be totally visible. And that’s a very good solution when you may want to use the top of a credenza for a television and some photos and books; maybe even a vase with some pretty flowers that will bathe in the natural sunlight through the A-frame window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha Stewart is probably smirking somewhere in Connecticut reading that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why the WiiM Ultra? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"WiiM
WiiM Ultra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just look at it. When you get past the plasticky looking chassis, a rather good music streamer with an excellent control app lurks beneath — and it’s hard to do better at the asking price of $329 USD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of WiiM\u2019s streamers, including the entry-level WiiM Mini<\/a>, support lossless and high resolution audio<\/a> at a minimum of 192kHz\/24-bit (depending on the source) with gapless playback for seamless track-to-track transitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All WiiM streamers except the WiiM Ultra and WiiM Amp Pro support Apple AirPlay 2 and Siri voice assistants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WiiM Ultra also offers a high-quality 3.5\u2033 full-color touchscreen, but does so at about a third of the cost of the Cambridge Audio CXN100 streamer.

The upgraded DAC is the ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M DAC with decoding of up to 32-bit\/384kHz PCM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"WiiM
WiiM Ultra (rear)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All of those features and connectivity options would be for naught if the WiiM Ultra didn\u2019t sound better than the competition. The music streamer offers a rather clear sounding presentation that is just neutral enough to make it ideal for all kinds of amplification and even active speakers. Although we prefer it with a warmer sounding tonal balance overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The app is comprehensive and easy to use with access to almost every major streaming platform available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost impossible to go wrong with the WiiM Ultra \u2014 unless you must have AirPlay 2 support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pros:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n