staticV3
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@Hartj85 I think this is what you need: https://www.pimfg.com/product-detail/TTA-1432
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DAC Recommendation for Wiim Mini or Pro
- Thread starter wacomme
- Start date
Hi Everyone, I'm planning to use e70 with the Wiim pro but can't figure out which exact cable I need to connect the two? The topping e70 has optical input but the Wiim has SPDIF output ? If someone can share an amazon link for the cable, that'd be great.
For connecting the topping with my power amp, I'm planning to get https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P0HKW7E/ OR https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JV7WTZ2/
For connecting the topping with my power amp, I'm planning to get https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P0HKW7E/ OR https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JV7WTZ2/
Just any decent Toslink cable will do. Most any decent XLR to XLR is fine. Don't buy the cheapest and not anything fancy.
I've had good success with Amazon Basics and Monoprice. You'll need to determine the length of each. My crystal ball has some fog today.
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I do not know why everyone raves about WiiM Mini or Pro. I have owned both. Both are lowest quality sound streamers I have ever tried (not speaking about DAC).
Bluesound Node streamer section is much better. And built in DAC is way way better than WiiM.
Do yourself a favor and buy a Node or a used Lumin U1 Mini and invest in some decent sound.
WiiM is veiled sounding streamer especially decoding MQA.
Bluesound Node streamer section is much better. And built in DAC is way way better than WiiM.
Do yourself a favor and buy a Node or a used Lumin U1 Mini and invest in some decent sound.
WiiM is veiled sounding streamer especially decoding MQA.
Should we just take your word as one set of ears, or are there some references to cite? This is, after all, ASR: audio SCIENCE review, not Steve Guttenberg. @amirm did test and review the WiiM, and only couldn't recommend it because it didn't run his mated Roon.
WiiM Mini Review (Streamer)
This is a review and detailed measurements of the WiiM Mini Wifi/Bluetooth streamer. It is on kind loan from a member and is on sale on Amazon for US $89. As you can see the former factor is a "hockey puck." An included phone charger needs to be used to power the unit over USB-C. It did not...
www.audiosciencereview.com
"Conclusions
If you use the App and Toslink output, you basically have a transparent wireless link to your stereo. Connect it to your favorite DAC and your performance will only be limited by the rest of your system. For me personally lack of Roon support is a big deal. I don't want to use their App to play or stream content. I hope the company looks at supporting Roon endpoint. Analog output of the unit is just OK.
Personally I can't recommend the WiiM Mini due to lack of support for Roon player. That aside, it is great to see bit exact digital output in a budget streamer allowing you to improve its performance to any level you want using your own DAC."
Started with Wiim Mini and became a hater, due to breaking optical port. However, regarding the sound the analogue sounded very ok/ decent to me but not the optical (via Topping E50), go figure.
As they say 'nuts do the same and expect different result' I continued with Wiim, but upgraded to Pro, better physical case and ports. Maintaining opinion on analogue (consistent with impression from Mini) that is 'good' BUT optical + E50 sounds better, I say. The set of features and options is amazing even to me, a complete amateur.
And btw, MQA is out of the question for me. No go.
As they say 'nuts do the same and expect different result' I continued with Wiim, but upgraded to Pro, better physical case and ports. Maintaining opinion on analogue (consistent with impression from Mini) that is 'good' BUT optical + E50 sounds better, I say. The set of features and options is amazing even to me, a complete amateur.
And btw, MQA is out of the question for me. No go.
How does bit perfect bit data from a streamer sound different on different streamers?
There seems a hidden bias against inexpensive gear among folks who just know that good stuff just must be costly.
I suppose if I had paid $2999 for a streamer last year, I'd resent it if somebody sold one that works digitally just as well for $89. And since the WiiM doesn't have a milled front panel, an OLED touchscreen, XLR cables** or big blue meters, where are the brag rights?
However, my two WiiMs both sit under cover, velcroed to the undersides of shelves... just streaming CD or better* controlled from my phone. And I am not queer for Roon or MQA. I use very good speakers, well placed and better than my hearing, and more SOTA modern hi-res 24/192k audio is better than MQA.
*24/192k if not synced with each other, and where the streaming service provides it.
**Really, like I need balanced audio for a 1/2 meter cable?
It does not, however it's not only digital data which affects how an entire audio path sounds.
Even the Toslink cable delivered with the WiiM is quiet a decent cable, i have seen costly gear delivered with much worse cables in the box.
No, but here we are strictly speaking of the digital transfer of data/bits, zeros and ones.
Digital data does not sound itself and usually the streamer is not fully isolated from other components, so a bit-perfect stream can result in the different sound from different streamers when the audio path is affected by the psu of the streamer or by interconnection being used.
In this case we would discuss low quality cables (in the case of optical cables that would mean broken cables) or cheap PSU. If delivered with the streamer, it would be an argument in realation to price to buy it or not buy it, but the way we look at the streamers ability to perform bit-perfect output would not differ.
The question was "how does bit perfect bit data from a streamer sound different on different streamers", not "how does bit perfect bit data from a streamer are different on different streamers". BTW being bit-perfect require an adequate DAC to get benefits and maintain bit-perfect manner. And you cannot evaluate bit-perfectness without a connection with the capturing device. Easy way to have 2 "bit-perfect" streamers sounding differently is to connect them to any ASRC DAC.
Agreed.
How do you measure that?
Can you name at least two streamer (products) YOU tested and provide your measurements?
Or someone elses measurements?
For example two WiiMs captured in the digital domain on miniDSP Flex. REW RTA analysis and full stream recordings to compare in DeltaWave software. I'm not going to provide detailed results here.
Statement above is taken with an assumption that WiiMs are bit-perfect which is not exactly true depending on the definition of being bit-perfect.
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Pictures or it didn't happen.
No pic of you and you didn't happen?
WiiM Pro - Review & Measurements (Streamer)
And a general question: was there a measured device (streamer) that DOES NOT measure well for the WIFI - SPDIF out scenario ?! We can imagine that some streamers may apply oversampling or having a bad hardware implementation. I don't have examples in mind, but I'm sure there is some. I've...
audiosciencereview.com
Schlippwhip68
Addicted to Fun and Learning
That’s a good question. Personally I would say it also depends on your amplifier as to how to match the dac and mini. For example I have the mini and rigged it up to my Denon PMA800NE directly via optical. The Denon has the Burr Brown PCM5141. Now here’s the thing, the BB dac in the Denon is imo very good. A well rounded sound, full, detailed and balanced. The Mini has the BB PCM5121 which could be one or two tiers lower than the Denon chip but they compliment each other during playback very well indeed.
Ok, now an exterior DAC, namely an Topping E50. I plugged the Mini into the Topping E50 and then analogue connection (RCA) to the PM800NE amp. The result was a mixed bag. I found the E50 less forgiving, slightly colder and or more hard in its delivery from the Mini through the Denon PM800NE, very revealing overall exposing shoddy recording which is great for critical listening but can be a little discomforting to the listener.
So I concluded at least for my setup that even the Topping E30 just might be a better budget choice (or the MK2 version) due to the AKM chipset which a more rounded sound than the ESS chipset used in the E50. Personally I would love the Topping E70v for this job but it’s way out of my budget but the AKM chipset will compliment the Mini very well. The iFi Zen v2 dac would also be a very good choice but lacks the optical input unless you buy the higher model which is over twice the price.
But yes, I believe any dac with AKM or Burr Brown chipsets would be better for the Wiim Mini, especially if you are using more detailed or brighter amplifier and want a more forgiving smoother sound. The ESS chipset might be a better choice for warmer amps like the Denon PMA600NE or something from Arcam etc but the balance for either should be an real point of consideration if you want to bring a degree of equilibrium to your over all sound.
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