In this review, we’ll look at WiiM’s new flagship streamer, the Wiim Ultra. It has a new and updated DAC, a new touchscreen, and other new features that make the Wiim Ultra a solid choice if you want to buy a new streamer. It stands out as a more feature-rich and better-looking product than other streamers in the market at this price point.
Review
The new Wiim Ultra has a high-quality Aluminum chassis, it is the largest streamer WiiM has released. It comes in two colors, Space Gray and Silver. The front panel is black, it has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a large volume knob on the front. It also has a glass-covered 3.5-inch touchscreen display, a first for WiiM. It is a full-colored display, which can show app widgets and album covers, it has playback controls, an equalizer, and audio input. You can also customize the wallpaper and the display which the screen will show during standby mode. You will also get feedback when there is a change in play mode.
WiiM also includes a remote that you can use if you don’t want to use your phone or the touchscreen. The touchscreen does get the job done, but it does lack in quality and WiiM could have put a larger screen, there’s certainly space for it.
The back of the WiiM Ultra features a power port, and a 12V trigger output to connect to other components, it also has a USB port if you want a digital output. You also have COAX to connect to almost any DAC you can find. The HDMI ARC input gives you a connection to your TV for a higher-quality output. It has a subwoofer output which has adjustments for crossover frequency, level, and phase.
The setup process from the WiiM home app is fairly easy, the app walks you through all the steps and you are ready to go in just a few minutes. From the app, you can use room correction which gives you a more balanced bass performance. The app will use your Apple phone’s( the room correction feature is not featured in the Android app as of now) microphone to take measurements using a 2-minute long pink noise signal. The WiiM ultra also includes a full-feature equalizer which allows users to adjust the sound to their liking. You can also stream from Spotify Connect, Apple Airplay, TIDAL Connect, Google Chromecast Audio, and DLNA. It also has Alexa built-in.
The WiiM Ultra also has a phono input with a ground connection that will allow you to connect a turntable to the Ultra, this is rarely seen in devices in this price range. It also has WiFi 6E which means it can connect to any network and also take advantage of higher speeds. The new 32-bit/384kHz ESS Sabre 9038Q2M DAC chip is also a great upgrade. It has better specs than the previous chips WiiM used, and will undoubtedly lead to better audio.
Verdict
The WiiM Ultra stands out as a high-quality streamer, the inclusion of WiFi 6E and the upgraded ESS Sabre 9038Q2M DAC chip ensures high-speed connectivity and superior audio performance. Setup is easy and quick, and room correction gives you much better sound. While the touchscreen could be larger and of better quality, the overall performance and features offered at its price point make the WiiM Ultra a compelling purchase.
If you’re looking to buy a streamer, consider the Marantz Model M1 aswell.
You can get the WiiM Ultra here.