WiiM into Outboard DAC

I have all three units. 

From a potentially audible standpoint, the one argument for the Ultra is that it has USB output to an external DAC (along with optical & coax) while the Pro and Pro Plus devices only support optical & coax. While I don't find any difference between the outputs, there are others who have a strong preference one way or the other. 

Which one I use in what system ties more to features.  I have the Ultra in my main system and like the screen and extra inputs. I use the Pro in a headphone system where the amp has its own DAC. And I use the Pro Plus in a second system where a touch screen wouldn't be visible or easily used. 

Your mileage may vary. 

jl35 OP

4,294 posts

11-25-2025 at 10:42am 

Would the Pro and Pro Plus sound the same as the Ultra if run through the MHDT ? Would the 3 sound identical, as a streamer, plugged into the same DAC?
 

most like the same. Worst case scenario you will hear slight variations in their mediocrity. 

I do suggest some sort of decent outboard DAC for the WIIM streamers. I found the native DAC circuit in the WIIM I bought and then returned to sound less than the Cambridge Audio I ended up with. I had purchased the Pro Ultra.

Does anyone else find the sound quality of the digital output of the pro, highly damped, like a towel thrown over the music? That’s what I hear, and another friend has made the same observation independently. I’m quite surprised at this performance… But I don’t see very many people mentioning this.

It may depend on the engineering of the outboard DAC.

A great DAC, with good FIFO, isolation of the input(s) to reduce noise, and a top quality clock (OCXO) is effectively insensitive to the source (given reasonable competence of the source).

In the early days of digital, DACs were very sensitive to their source as they reconstructed the  clock from the input stream and had poor isolation, so different CD transports and different digital cables seriously affected the DAC's sound. Jitter was a major problem. In my experience today's better DACs do not have that issue.

One thing to look at is the device's output capabilities and the DAC's input specs.  There may be limitations on DSD inputs for example.  My Esoteric DAC only supports DSD 512 over USB.

There may be differences in the streamer's noise rejection from the input CAT-5/6 - look for reviews on that topic.