Not talking about the DAC, ie analog outs of Wiim, just the digital side. What I’ve found (today) is that in either Wiim will send 24/192 to R26 in either Toslink or Coax via LAN connection to Wiim. And for my ears, the Optical actually sounded more coherent, a tad brighter and clearer, and 1-2db louder on my meter at 12’; call it a 5-10% betterment than Coax. Coax is a WireWorld silver IC and Toslink is a run of the mill 3’ cable.
Toslink and Coax send exactly the same data - so sound exactly the same if working correctly.
Should do, in theory. But interfaces are implemented differently and coax provides a ground and electrical connection between the devices that isn’t there with optical, so you can’t discount possibility of noise being introduced via coax, or increased jitter (say) via toslink. Look at any of Amirs measurements - the coax and toslink measurements are rarely identical (all be it usually at inaudible levels).
This. I’m not sure what meter you are using, you will have potentially better results by measuring the actual voltage at the speaker rather than db levels of which positioning, ambient noise and a host of other factors become significant.
So:
I'm pleased you tried it and it worked
All the usual sighted listening, handy wavey claptrap. "Everything matters"
If one cannot audibly discern 192 vs 96 (or 48…), what are we doing here?
We are here -- on ASR -- because even 16/44 deserves accurate reproduction. If a DAC can't even manage to pass 16 bits cleanly, it is to be avoided.
98% of content here on ASR isn’t 16/44 science. LBH, most on ASR are looking for the rationale, scientific backing such that is will measurably, AND audibly, improve the sound quality listening experience. Otherwise, we are fledgling scientists, and perhaps not audiophiles. I’d reason, A-S-R, by definition is intended to meld both. If I wanted the best 16/44 reproduction, I’d likely be over and done with it a decade ago.
Paying for stuff that has no benefit.
One of the things we are doing here, is learning the limits of our auditory system.
To my ears, the LAN input of the Gustard R26 provides the best sonic performance for me so far. My dedicated main audio room doesn't have a wired Ethernet jack, I used a WIFI to wired Ethernet adapter, and I am sending my audio files to the R26 using Jriver DLNA.
