More flexible is the point - a pc neeeds messing about with and setup to turn it into a streamer. A dedicated streamer works as such out of the box. In this case it alreay has a nice apropriately sized display integrated, and the user interface is optimised for the application.
Any digitial connection will be audibly identical to any other. Unless you manage to create a ground loop in your system which also creates audible noise. In which case Toslink will break the ground loop, and completely elminate the noise.
Considering the T8 to drive my new actives and for me the primary factor that would justify it vs something like the Wiim is accurate and robust dig volume control. So, for anyone familiar with both, is there any benefit to volume control on T8 vs Wiim?
No. There are plenty of other benefits, but there’s no superior digital volume control between them. Arguably the Eversolo is a bit more logical in that the volume control is indicated in negative decibels whereas WiiM uses a somewhat mysterious percentage/arbitrary measure.
Concur.
The T8 has some useful features over the WiiM, but those same features are mostly available for less money on the DMP-A6 Gen 2, such as internal NVMe bay, better SMB support, support for higher resolution PCM and also native DSD (they're features, I'm not here to argue if they sound better or not, but they are features). The Eversolos also support attaching external CD drives and using them to play CDs directly through the streamer or even using the streamer to rip the CD to the internal or attached storage. If you are looking to use the built-in room correction, the WiiM RoomFit correction is superior to Eversolo's crappy correction features. Both have equally good parametric equalizers. The WiiM has a subwoofer output and actual bass management, which the Eversolo T8 and DMP-A6 Gen 2 do not; however, the Eversolo Play, which costs even less than the others, does have a subwoofer out and bass management. The Play and DMP-A6 Gen 2 also have ARC inputs, which the T8 does not have, but the WiiM does have. WiiM's ARC support is superior as it will decode Dolby Digital and also auto-switches to/from ARC input when a signal is detected--the Eversolos don't autoswitch to ARC and only play PCM, no Bitstream support. The only important thing the Eversolo Play doesn't include despite costing less than DMP-A6 Gen 2 is the internal NVMe bay.
If I need to run a set of active speakers, particularly using AES Wiim, is not exactly the choice. I don't need a DAC, just a good network interface. And it can be a media device with storage. Apples and oranges.
I don't disagree with you that, in the scope of the T8, it is apples versus oranges. T8 would be more comparable, at this time, with Aiyima DM100, Shanling SMT1.3, and xDuoo DP-10.
Active speakers with digital input … I wouldn’t have asked the question otherwise. And why would the Wiim not be a good solution? It has a bitstream output. Bits are bits. As long as the volume control is sufficient, it is a perfectly good solution
I think his response was based on the active speakers requiring AES/EBU input. Just my guess.
Thanks … in fact I already have a Wiim Pro (love it) and my actives have both toslink and AES inputs. I just was trying to confirm for my use case if any benefit to T8 over Wiim and from everyone’s great inputs here, that answer is a clear no.
