DAC for WiiM mini

[dinut]

Hi,

I’m looking to add a DAC to my WiiM Mini because I’d like to connect my PC.

Do you have any recommendations for a DAC in the €100–200 range? Ideally, something with a built-in power supply.

Thanks

 

[Ropeburn]

The Wiim Mini is a DAC, that's part of its whole point. You can simply connect it to your PC via its USB port. Or is that occupied by something else?

 

[dinut]

many thank for your reply. My PC doesn’t recognize the WiiM Mini as an external sound card. It seems the USB port is only for powering the device.

 

[JeremyFife]

The WiiM mini has analogue line in only, which it digitises with an OK but not great ADC. As you say, the USB is for power.

Why are you trying to connect your PC? The WiiM can connect to shared music services on it anyway (wi-fi).

Even if you add a decent external DAC - like this? https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-su-1-stereo-dac-review.44029/
the WiiM will put that signal back through its ADC anyway

 

[dinut]

my idea is: WiiM + PC through optical output to a decent DAC and connect the DAC to my AMP

 

[JeremyFife]

Fair enough. In that case, you need a DAC with optical (spdif) and USB inputs ... connect your WiiM to optical and the PC to USB and you are done. Don't route the PC through the WiiM.

That SMSL I linked to above would be fine - plenty of other options though, just look at the review index for recommended DACs. Choose based on the features you want.

 

[Ropeburn]

Well damn, its USB port is indeed only for power. My bad.

 

[Ropeburn]

A great setup is the Wiim mini -> optical -> RME ADI-2 DAC FS -> XLR -> Purifi amp -> Speakers

You can connect the computer to Wiim via UPnP using Audirvana (Or other Music player)
You can also connect directly via USB to ADI-2 DAC to support resolutions above 192K.
Or you can control playback of Wiim with phone/tablet.

This setup offers lots of options while supporting an amazing set of playback options.

Oh yeah, very nice and flexible. However it's a bit outlandish to recommend a DAC for over 1000 moneys, considering OP's budget, don't you think?

 

[Madeintooting]

upnpHi,

I’m looking to add a DAC to my WiiM Mini because I’d like to connect my PC.

Do you have any recommendations for a DAC in the €100–200 range? Ideally, something with a built-in power supply.

Thanks

Put Foobar with Upnp component on your pc and set the output to Upnp-Wiim.
No external DAC required.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

You can also control the Wiim from your PC via WiFi (with the Wiim connected to the amp). That's what I do (in addition to Android).

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? I'm not clear.

 

[dinut]

Thank you for all the replies. I want to use a DAC to connect my PC, routing everything through this DAC (like an external sound card), and use the WiiM only for streaming. This is my goal. What do you think about Topping E50?

 

[JeremyFife]

The Topping E50 is a very good DAC ... but what features are you actually looking for?

That Topping has balanced output - does your Amp accept balanced inputs?
(The Topping also has single-ended, so it's not a problem just a bit of a waste).
I like a physical volume control - you might not.
For similar money you can have a combined DAC/headphone Amp - again, you might not want that.
You said you wanted a built-in power supply - doesn't have that.

The Topping is a good choice, no problems, but there are other options too.

 

[dinut]

I have a Cambridge Audio 640A, and it only accepts RCA inputs. The built-in power supply is an issue because I don't like external power supplies, but in the end, I could accept it. The physical volume knob isn't a problem since I use the one on my amp.

Do you know any alternatives to this in the same price range?

 

[kyuu]

You could easily just route your PC through the Wiim Mini using a USB to TOSLINK adapter (such as this one). The Wiim Mini is a perfectly adequate DAC.

 

[dinut]

The WiiM doesn't accept optical input I think

 

[kyuu]

Oh dang, you're correct. The TOSLINK on the Wiim Mini is for audio out, not in. My mistake.

In that case, I'd advise just upgrading to the Wiim Pro, Pro Plus, or Ultra.

 

[JeremyFife]

I have a Cambridge Audio 640A, and it only accepts RCA inputs. The built-in power supply is an issue because I don't like external power supplies, but in the end, I could accept it. The physical volume knob isn't a problem since I use the one on my amp.

Do you know any alternatives to this in the same price range?

All the recommended DACs are good - you can pretty much choose one you like the look of.
The E50 is a solid choice, the SMSL first linked is cheaper.

Going for the WiiM Pro Plus (not the Pro) is a good shout too - you get room correction with that.

 

[Ninjastar]

This thread is cracking me up.

The OP asked for a simple recommendation for an external DAC, even gave a budget, and no one responded with a single suggestion within those parameters.

It's fairly obvious the OP wants to improve the sound of his system and simplify his source connections to his amplifier by using a DAC that can connect to both his WiiM and PC. And everyone is trying to convince him not to do that?

Why?

And people saying the WiiM is perfectly fine on it's own, which I'm sure is not terrible, but uses a lower end TI DAC chip, and it didn't measure particularly well from it's 3.5 mm analog output. It did not get recommended by Amir for that purpose (only recommended as a streamer only to use an external DAC):
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/wiim-mini-review-streamer.33099/

For the OP, Topping E50 (any Topping or SMSL really within your budget should be fine). Most of the popular modern DACs using ESS Sabre or AKM chips are transparent. As long as it has optical input and USB input so you can plug both your Wiim Mini and PC USB output into it.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

And everyone is trying to convince him not to do that?

Post #6,#13,#18 already said Topping E50 or similar would work (before you repeated it at #19).

 

[Ninjastar]

Post #6,#13,#18 already said Topping E50 or similar would work (before you repeated it at #19).

But not before trying to convince him to just use the Wiim Mini because it is fine on its own. And that if he were to use a DAC it wouldn't be worthwhile because it would go through the ADC of the WiiM (what?). Or to just setup the WiiM Mini to stream files from his computer, which is not terrible advice I guess, but maybe he just likes playing files from his PC?

I guess there was some confusion on how the OP wanted to connect the DAC to his PC and WiiM, but it seemed clear to me he wants to use his PC and WiiM Mini as transports to a DAC and then connect said DAC to his integrated amp. Very sensible objective, and for the most part people in this thread were trying to steer him away from that for some reason (?).

I just found that funny and interesting.