This thing directly hits the "features at a wife won't kill me price point" target. Pair it with a decent amp and speakers and you can be set for around a grand or so.

Why are you making a video about a product you haven’t even tested yet?

You haven’t even heard the product and you are commenting on the sound? I don’t get it.

Wiim pro plus owner here and I looove it! I laugh when i think about people that waste money on sonos trash.

Come on guys! Its getting people into the hobby and its shaking up the industry!!!

It is simple. It is audiophile. It has digital out with no degradation. If you are audiophile you have a separate dac. If you are high end and care about measurents and care about what matters you avoid so called audiophile as plague. In reality it is a question of measurement vs the perception of quality.

Until you’ve actually got one in front of you that you’ve properly reviewed this comparison is a bit of a nonsense and purely generating KZfaq content for the sake of it. It might be great, it might be terrible, at this stage nobody knows.

Lenny, I love your enthusiasm. I have a Wiim Mini plugged into a Schiit DAC to a 1974 Marantz 2220b. I love the Wiim because the menu was easy for a 67 year old guy like me to set up. If I can do it, anybody can do it! LOL

For me, streaming is not about sound quality, it's about convenience. Streaming is the "all you can eat buffet" of music. Part of this is that Apple Music is my service of choice, and all of the streamers are limited to air-play, unless you use an AppleTV, which is not easy to connect to a two channel system. I could pay more for Tidal, or Qobuz, but then I lose the integration with the Apple ecosystem. The Wiim Pro or Plus, at around $200 works for me. I can get 44.1Khz "CD Quality" if I use Apple Lossless audio, and that's fine. I am experimenting with an external SMSL DAC and that seems to be an improvement. But 99% of my listening from my two channel system comes from vinyl played off my SL-1200GR, and not from streaming. Most of my streaming by far is casual listening over Home pods or in the car.

Is it me or is the audio coming out the left channel only? I have noticed on two different sources and with another video.

Lenny, I would contend that the Cambridge MXN10/AXN10 are better units, pricewise, to compare the Ultra with. I did a couple of reviews on the MXN10 and it smoked the competition on sound quality and build quality. Sound is really all I care about. Another great video my friend.

I bought a Wiim Amp on a (no pun intended) whim. Just to give you a sense of the gear I'm used to, I have a McIntosh MA352, Kinki ex m1+, Hegel H80, Parasound A21, Krell 400xi and a Forte 5 amp. I paired the Wiim with all sorts of "high end" speakers, a JBL4429, ProAc Tablette 10, Avalons, etc and frankly I came away very impressed with what this tiny amp is capable of. So much so, that I carted the speakers to another friend's house to test it with his Unison Research Max 1 speakers (which he had paired with a Michi X5 amp). It sounded ridiculously good with these high sensitivity speakers. I so wish we had gear of this quality at this price point when I was in school/college. The 5 band EQ is worth the price of admission alone. I've been recommending the Wiim amp to everyone, though to really get the best out of it, you need to EQ to suite your taste/room.

I've had several WiiM products and always found them a little lacking in the SQ dept. Their software on the other hand is awesome. Recently I built my own streamer from parts by Ian Canada and a Raspberry Pi, I'll absolutely never go back. The sound coming from the unit into a Denafrips DAC is the best I've heard. Of course, there is always "better" but, I have other expensive hobbies.

I’m confused, do I need a streamer if I listen to music off my fire stick then use an optical cable from my tv to my amp? Would a streamer provide higher resolution?

Wiim rules for the price. Hi fi Rose is clearly not 10x better….not even 2x better.

There is an interesting dynamic going on in your channel. On the one hand, many of your followers (like me) have vintage HIFI that came from the time when brands like Pioneer, Kenwood, Sansui, Sony etc were NOT considered audiophile equipment. The vintage equipment we have is probably something we purchased 40+ years ago and cost well under $1,000. Fast forward to today, and vintage equipment now has price tags in the $5K-$10K range or more. Seeing a SX-1980 for $15K is pretty eye opening. But that's today's market and it fits the modern hi-end equipment (like the Accuphase, Luxman, etc), and I get it. Listening to the guys over at SkyLab Audio talk about the realities of running a vintage hifi shop gives me a new insight to why vintage audio is so expensive today. The current range of Chinese manufacturer "hifi" gear from companies like Wiim, SMSL, Fosi Audio, etc are all the rage because of the crazy VALUE they provide. I think that is attractive to the segment of your followers who purchased vintage hifi in the 1970's/1980's and kept it all this time. Same with the idea of using a cheap CD player with a nice DAC. It works, it's cheap and that's attractive to a group of your followers. That said, you also have customers who are buying high end expensive equipment today, and to them, the Wiim is a plastic toy. So I think this is going to be one of those topics where you can't please ALL of your followers. Poor Tom is stuck in the middle here - he is selling equipment at today's prices in today's market, and the Wiim is a "toy" in that market. At the same time, you have a bunch of viewers who love Randy over at the CheapAudioMan and think the Wiim is the best value in "hifi" today. Tom is doing his best to play middle of the road here - which is a good thing. I love both of your channels, and I really want to make it out to your shop one day.

Great video …….. can I connect tru óptica to my smsl 300 ?

If you have a decent DAC Wiim pro with digital out at $149 is the best deal. Add external LPS and sounds as good as Eversolo and Bluesound. Maybe Wiim ultra with USB out and all extra functions could make better sounds than it will be the winner.

Hi Lenny. Started with a Wiim pro for my first streamer. Months later to a Node X. Wiim pro is in my secondary system, mostly vintage gear. Sure as one spends more you hope for better build quality. For the money Wiim is pretty darn good. Keep the videos coming.

Be interesting to explore if you pair it with a higher end DAC, what the results would be. Would the signal be so degraded that there would be no improvement, or would it have no negative impact on passing the signal along and you would get great sound for the money.

I haven't heard the Wiim but I do own a couple of Chifi dacs One is the SMSL Su8 ...great for $399 aud and the Topping D90Es. Pretty expensive at now 1400 of our weak Australian dollars. I also have a PS audio Nuwave plus Stellar Gain Cell Dac. So I have a few to compare and they all do the job well. I use mostly Jbl and Altec studio monitors to compare things via good amps like Accuphase and Luxman. Sure there are better dacs out there but it's all relevant to the person's budget. I've hear Dac systems upto $130000 at hifi shows and a mate has a $40000 dac. Yeah is better for certain but I still enjoy my stuff. I also run good cd players like the Yamaha Cd s 2000. I play cds and sometimes files from my computer to a Rotel RC 1590 pre with a good AKM dac. It's just as much about the power supply and analog stage post the dac as you guys know. And the recording matters just as much probably more. Some cds and streams are simply compressed no matter your system etc. Too many options out there.

I have the Wiim pro for almost a year now. I definitely like it.

Great content and explanation of the products. I'm sure the Wiim Pro or ultra would be just fine for me since I use my phone through my vintage pioneer. I only stream for convenience if I'm cleaning just to have background music. Obviously my critical listening is through my turntable and or reel to reel. I'm also a little hesitant to dive into the streaming market since technology changes so fast.

Good afternoon. One question, I have an Onkyo 9.2 ch receiver. with Dolby Atmos. I listen to the Tidal service, Amazon music and Sirius Xm through apps through an Amazon device connected to my receiver. How could any Wiim device connected to my receiver be useful? Would the audio improve in these services or would the sound quality be the same? thank you!

Sounds like a good option for a lot of people, all depends on your system, when you have a good amp and speakers i guess this thing could be the weakest link soundwise, if you have a budget system it will be a great adition with tons of funcionality. Myself will be saving a litle bit longer for a Cambridge

Its unfortunate that this product is already being judges and put in the box of "fun-fi" even though you have yet to properly review and A/B the product against others in its price category. But if your goal was clicks and comments, then I guess mission accomplished?

Going to get one or the other need help.. Wiim Ultra or eversolo dmp a6, Wiim or eversolo ?

Sorry Lenny...I'm longwinded and I can't help it. First things first...I don't have experience with real hi-fi. I'm 40. I live in SE MN outside of Rochester and we don't have any audio shops around...we have a few record stores, but nothing much. I have to drive 100+ miles one way to get to any places that would have any of those other brands. Otherwise it's online. I have a Wiim Pro that I bought last year. I connected that to my most expensive 2-ch piece which is an Arcam SA20 that I got half off on sale last year. I figured $880 was decent for brand new. That stuff runs out to a pair of Emotiva T-Zero+. For as much of a budget setup as it is, I have to say, I REALLY like how it sounds. I can't really imagine better stuff out there even though I'm sure there is. I will be moving that Wiim Pro upstairs and will replace it with a Wiim Ultra. If I had a way to demo things at home (try before you buy) or something, I may consider more expensive pieces, but I just don't have that option. I grew up in the Twin Cities and as a teen I went with my mom to a stereo shop and auditioned speakers after talking to the sales people. They sold me B&W DM 602 S2's....still have them. I spent $600 plus tax on them...bought a Sony STR-DE935 AVR to go with them...later added cheap center and surrounds from Sony...eventually bought used matching B&W (601's and CC6)...for years that was my 5.1 setup (various subs over the years)....it was good enough. Fun fact...I spent over $1200 on that first setup in 1999/2000 and I spent $300 on my first car in 2001. Priorities, right? I hope that someday I can make it out your way and stop in the shop. I also hope to actually listen to some higher end things, but I'm cheap so it doesn't mean I'll spend the money on it. I can't complain at all about the current setup though. I just need to add a sub to get a little more bass out of the setup. Your Leak video has me very interested in the 150's and 250's. I would love to hear those...also want to hear some KLH Model 3 and 5. Through my home theater setup, the Accuphase and Mofi Sourcepoint sounded so good, but well out of my budget. I can't hear what they truly sound like, but I can distinguish when something is more open or clear or has more depth to it and that setup you mixed compared to the A-S3200 was absolutely beautiful. I would probably be happy with most anything you offer in those rooms though. I just found a pair of DCM CX-17's and a Pioneer SX-440 that I bought and am waiting to receive...hoping they're in good shape and work correctly.

The DAC in the Wiim Pro Plus is as good as any external DAC under $300. My vintage receiver has never sounded better.

Let the dealer earn 500$ on a wiim and they will love it. It will be high, high, high end.

By the way, you never heard it and you already know it is not good? How come? Is the DAC chip bad? If you would sell a wiim streamer, how much would be your profit? Bigger profit, bigger sound?

As a HiFi Rose 250A owner, I can confirm and validate Tom's remarks. 👍

Definitely gonna be a fun one

If neither of you guys critically compared the actual sound between this wiim against others, then you are guessing! Don't do that guys! That's worthless... I expected better!

IMO, i personally think that a Wiim (all of them) streamer sounds best with a really good dac. That's what i personally would do iff i was still searching for a streamer. As i own a cxn V2, the difference in sound with the internal dac with my Accuphase dp57 was a huge difference in sound. Less harsh and way more precise.

I preordered one a few days ago. I hope it comes out soon

I think you’re wrong in saying the Wiim is not hifi. The remote is plastic but just fine. It works! My mini and pro are connected to my external dacs so the Wiims internal dacs are irrelevant. The dacs in turn are connected to my Rogue integrated and McIntosh preamps. In other words, the WiiM is just a digital transport. The music sounds fantastic. It is absolutely hifi. The WiiM is a disruptor. They are plastic. They cost almost nothing. I think you guys are gasping at straws.

Any indication of release date ?

I have the WiiM Pro and use it as a Roon endpoint. The digital signal is output through the coax connection to a Schiit Modi Multibit DAC and then into my vintage Luxman R-115 receiver. I also have a Node X that I use for headphone listening. I like the Nodes DAC and it has a decent headphone amp. I never, ever, considered using the WiiM as a streamer/DAC and would not for the Pro Plus or the Ultra. I think they stream fine, but I would always use an external DAC with them. I think the WiiM products are great for someone beginning their hi-fi journey. Great bang for the buck.

I use a Wimm Pro Plus with a J2 DAC. I still come in under the price of a Node. It's my dipping my toe into streaming moment. The Cambridge has caught my eye, and would probably be as high in streaming food chain, that I'm willing to go. Does the Cambridge folks keep up with software upgrades and fixes like the Wiim folks do? I seen a screen shot of the Cambridge software and to be honest, it kind of looks similar to the Wiims software. Great debate.

I know I don't have to watch them but it is dissappointing to see so many so called self appointed reviewers who equate sound quality with price when there is no correlation whatsoever. Without measurements most of what they say is pure bunkum. Ignore them.

I'd stick with the mini or WIIM pro and a external DAC. I think the screens on streamers are basically useless. With my eyes there is not much point in having a 3.5" screen accross the room.

I think the WiiM Ultra is going to disrupt the streaming world just like all the prior versions have. I do think they would be better staying in just the "streaming lane" with just providing a streamer only and then allowing you to use your own dac and amplifier instead of trying to provide everything but i understand they are trying to get it out into the most hands possible. My biggest question is how smooth everything is going to work with the touch screen that is going to be what makes or breaks it over its sound quality.

I wouldn't consider the Eversolo "budget". At about $1200, that's pretty expensive to me. Yes, I know one will bring up that streamer / dacs can run into the $1000's, such as the Rose unit which goes for $5k+. To me, that is now trolling and it is ridiculous to believe that unit seriously outperforms something in the $1000 range or even less. When I seriously, I mean that for 5k, that Rose unit better sound FIVE TIMES better than the Eversolo, and I can probably say that it does not. The Law of Diminishing Returns comes into play big time in hi-fi audio and I find it worst with speakers and these little streamer boxes. Most of these high end companies think they are " all that" and that if they have slightly marginally better performance, that gives them the cue to charge an arm and a leg for it. I'm sorry, but I am not buying it, both metamorphically and literally. I have to tip my hat to Wiim for producing a quality product that introduces a good quality product for the price. Again, one might say, "Well, the Rose unit is a higher quality build and will last longer than the Wiim". Okay, my answer would be, "Show me a Rose unit that is still working that is 20 years old". Can you do that? Also, say in 5 years time it does break? Where do you go to have it fixed? In the case of the Wiim, if it breaks, and worst case I can't get it fixed, the loss is only $300 not $5k. I rest my case. Chose wisely and don't feed the trolls!

I'm in Australia and could pre-order an Ultra for A$540. Eversolo DMP A6 is A$1,400 here. Given I already run a couple of WiiM Pros in a couple of systems in my house with great success (using external DACs) then the Ultra for a stereo used by the family, its ease of use functionality, likely to free up a mid priced DAC currently there to go someone else and also the coming room correction - it is a no brainer for me. Does the Eversolo do more, sure it does. Does it do three time more or three times better. Not for me. And the new Cambridge CXN 100 is lovely, but again it is so many more times the price I can't see the value. When one comes pre loved at 60% RRP though I'll probably grab one.

Id be willing to bet in a blind test they can not tell the difference in Wiim mini and the hifirose going into the same DAC.

The form factor is right for modern music lovers and most Wiim customers (IMO) aren't concerned about the kind of longevity you guys are concerned with. Some of your receivers are 50 years old - again, my assumption based on the faceplates - and we are talking about a product that I expect Wiim to supercede /. upgrade within 2 years. As always, just my two cents worth.

Pure sound that will last a long time is called a turntable and a vinyl record.

I'm curios why know reviewer ever mentions an Apple TV box as a streamer? It was a definite upgrade for me that using blue tooth with my phone years ago. And I wonder how its sound compares to the streamers you mentioed?

Nothing better for the price

Not even on their website, you must be special.

I have a node 2i, I have a old ipad, bought a cheap stand for it. I leave the ipad plugin, screen sent to on. Put the ipad stand ontop of the node 2i with the bluos app on. I still use my iphone to open the app, but I do have the bigger ipad screen to see what is playing. Also have mapped my yamaha remote to the node, and one button I'm back to the optical input screen. Simple cheap effective. I really am interested in seeing the album art and info, but not staring at my phone all the time. Nor am I going to get up from listening position to change my muisc.

Sorry ZZ Top, I thought I as going to see a proper review

Based on the poor audio quality of the video I’m not sure you can justify criticizing a product you have not really listened to. Rework it and try again.

BluOS is the best 👌 forget the rest 😊 Time stamp smoke roll from UR ears?

My $40 ROKU sounds amazing believe it or not threw the tv into the stereo

wiim is a established streamer brand ,more so then the other brands you named

people get ALL THE WAY IN THEIR FEELINGS over this stuff hahaha

Lets hear A/B with NodeX woth Power Supply upgrade China Fi??????

Most people don't give a shit about ultra high res dac's etc, they just want to listen to music and do other fun stuff.

I have tried a couple streamers and find them to be a bit fiddly(if thats a word).I have a vintage system and a modern system which in my opinion both sound good. That being said I listen mainly to vinyl or CD. For casual listening, I hook my laptop up to a decent Dac and listen to internet radio etc. I think that sounds Okay. So for now, I'm going to stay away from streamers.

“The build quality will affect how pure the sound is.” More decay due to better build quality? What a load of crap! Data to support your comments? That longer tail would be measurable.

The sound quality of the first spoken segment is pretty appaling. Thanks for the content, though.

This video comes iff a someone who is but hurt that a cheap product will likely beat the useless expensive products it will compete with. Funny how things not sound related are all if a sudden the most important thing to the buyer, lol. Yeah i care about the touchscreen and the material sone box is made of more than the actual quality of sound it makes, sure.

"It's fun-fi, not hi-fi".....what pretentious BS based on nothing but personal opinion. Who are you to make a statement like that? Useless! (and I don't even own a WiiM pro or ultra)

Fun-fi not Hi-fi?? You are absolutely wrong. Wiim Pro Plus sound quality is better than any Bluesound Node before Node X. Do you consider BS Node streamer being a Hi-Fi I wonder?

Also if i said it once I will say it again No Alexa NO AI running anywhere in my system or my house. Too much going on with Privacy issues - i see Cloudy Days ahead

Same dac as the leak amp.

You should try room correction with REW. Will make a bigger difference than dacs and most respectable amps. Come on man you're an audio KZfaqr, learn about room correction. Then you talk about funfi and don't do room correction? 😅

You guys are kinda going pretentious, i get it, you were knocked for not being discerning enough, now you are overcompensating going the other way. Its pretty obvious.

Dude, you're 100% correct. You can't compare the sound quality from a Cambridge or Hi-Fi Rose with the Wiim, which is an inexpensive toy.

Well, Rose is expensive so it’s good… Wimm is cheap.. Soh it’s shit…

Longevity in a streamer😵‍💫 It will be obsolete in 3 years anyway. Might as well spend the money on a quality DAC instead of an overpriced streamer with a useless screen. Ps “Fun-Fi”🙄 - what an arrogant way to degrade a product you haven’t even listened to yet🙈 Is this ZZ Top’s goofy cousins Snob-Fi channel?🤷‍♂️

GIANT KILLER? NO. DWARF KILLER? YES! WALLET-SPIKER DISNEYLAND...FIRST CLASSIFIED @ VALUE-FOR-MONEY CHAMPIONSHIP!

I run the OG Wiim Pro feeding my new Denafrips Ares 12-1 DAC and its AMAZING 🥲

Well, Rose is expensive so it’s good… Wimm is cheap.. Soh it’s shit…