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In Reply to: RE: Streamers: Are you willing to pay LESS to get MORE ? posted by AbeCollins on June 03, 2024 at 11:29:26
Only $499 new, maybe $300 used. I get great sound from one running USB out to my RME ADI-2 DAC.
Follow Ups:
...and it costs more than the WiiM Ultra. I think the big differentiator is the WiiM Ultra LCD screen and it's low price of $329.
I run my DIY Raspberry Pi to my USB DAC but for $329 the WiiM Ultra would be fun streamer / DAC to play with and it might even sound good.
But the BluOS controller software on your phone, tablet, or PC more than makes up for it. The software is a bit cranky, though.
My streamer (a Bluesound Node X) sits on the other side of my living room so a screen is useless. I can barely see the time display on my SACD player. The phone app display covers my visual needs. What I would like to see the Bluesound folks do is add DSD to the supported files.
I've been following the Ultra discussion over at the WiiM forum -- the company actually asks for user input when they are choosing what features to include on new products and seem to genuinely pay attention to the responses (though that doesn't guarantee you'll get everything you want -- for example a USB output to an external DAC.)Without counting, my general impression is that the onboard screen ran around 50:50 in terms of want/want not, but that was apparently enough to sway the pendulum toward inclusion.
In any case, at this price its hard to complain about getting a feature you don't want. I guess there are purists out there who would be worried about extra noise from the added display electronics, but OTOH, what audiophile purist is going to be happy with a $329 streamer in their expensive system?
EDIT -- nothing to do with the display, but I just found out that the WiiM Ultra =will= output USB to an external DAC. The one USB A connection on the back can be used either as an input for a thumb drive or an output to an external DAC. The HDMI port will also output audio.
Edits: 06/06/24
" I guess there are purists out there who would be worried about extra noise from the added display electronics, but OTOH, what audiophile purist is going to be happy with a $329 streamer in their expensive system?"On a related note, if I were a purist audiophile I'd be more concerned with a digital display in my preamp which is supposed to be a fully analog device. If I were an old fart old school purist audiophile I'd be complaining if the preamp even had a simple IR remote control.
Are you willing to pay LESS for MORE? If you are, maybe you're not an audiophile ;-)
Edits: 06/05/24
My point was to post about low cost streamers that ALL have useful LCD screens. My streamer does not have a LCD screen but that didn't deter me from posting about these that might be of interest to others.
Not that I -NEED- one but for only $329 with a screen I am truly impressed with the soon-to-be available WiiM Ultra just on specs. How will it sound? I don't know but I can always couple an external DAC to it if it doesn't sound great. The DAC (IMHO) makes up 99% of hardware sound quality in a streaming setup.
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