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Bluesound died - is Wiim a good alternative?

I have been using a BlueSound Vault as my streamer for many years, but it finally died, and my resuscitation attempts have failed. I want to replace it with another low-cost streamer, and the Wiim Pro looks like an interesting possibility for $150. 
 

The rest of my system is:

- McCormack DNA-1, fully refurbished (gold, love it):

- Bel Canto 2.7 DAC, Which I also use as my pre;

- Usher Mini Dancer 2 speakers

 

I like the Bel Canto DAC pretty well, So I doubt the DAC in a Node 2i would be any better. Aside from that, is there any other reason to spend more for the Node?

cheeg
peter_s
1,439 posts
 

@pnolley1 What do you use to recharge your batteries? Do you have to do it manually for each battery, or is there some sort of automatic charger that kicks in when the voltage drops below a certain point? Also, do you use any special cable between the battery and the unit?

wesleyburks
2 posts
 

I’ve had the Wiim Ultra for over a year now and I love it! I do use an external dac with the Wiim. I’m running it through the Topping DX5 II. Which I upgraded to from the Topping DX3 Pro+. The Ultra also supports Tidal connect and Qobuz connect along with several other streaming services.

pnolley1
8 posts
 

@peter_s The LHY linear power supply with batteries has a switch on the front, I run it on a 14/8 cycle, meaning it's in battery mode for 14 hours ( I only listen in the evenings so the batteries are engaged after dinner) in the morning before I leave the house I flip the switch on The front panel to charge and it charges until I get home. The front panel has a light display divided into four parts and it's usually still at 50% when I switch it to charge. It can still be used while charging but the linear power supply is engaged so whatever noise it creates will be included in the power signal. I use a good quality short USB ribbon cord from the LHY power supply to the node nano and the LHY is plugged into my power conditioner. The nice thing about the LHY is that there's no power interruption when you switch from battery to charge  and back to battery, so the node nano does not reboot every time you start a new cycle. I have also run the node nano with a regular LHY  linear power supply without a battery option it sounds better with the battery option. It works great for me and it's not inexpensive experiment. 

Cheers 

mlsstl
1,574 posts
 

I have several WiiM units (Mini, Pro, Pro Plus and Ultra) and am very pleased with all of them. For the Ultra, I even ended up selling my external DAC (Schiit Bifrost 2).  And WiiM's app for your phone or tablet is second to none for managing the device and selecting music. 

smodking1
15 posts
 

Depends on the DAC you plan to use.
Depends on if your audio system is highly resolving.
Depends on your hearing ability. 
 

Internal DAC of the WiiM is not good. Price point should tell you something. 
 

Plan on using an external DAC for better results. 

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