Upgrading digital sound

[WideEyedToad]

So currently im using my phone (qobuz) to stream through the BT dongler (aptX) to nova65se.
Will a wiim uktra, Bluesound node nano, or similar make a significant upgrade in sound?
My Carina 150 will arrive shortly, and while it has built in BT, maybe a streamer would sound better?
Some say yes, some say no.

Whats your opinion?

 

[nerdemoji]

no.

 

[staticV3]

Below you can upload a song and A/B the original against an aptX encoded version: https://btcodecs.valdikss.org.ru/sbc-encoder/

Though in general I would recommend you don't worry about the transmission type or the DAC chip or w/e.

Worry about speakers, room acoustics, and room correction instead. That's where you can make meaningful gains.

 

[WideEyedToad]

Below you can upload a song and A/B the original against an aptX encoded version: https://btcodecs.valdikss.org.ru/sbc-encoder/

Though in general I would recommend you don't worry about the transmission type or the DAC chip or w/e.

Worry about speakers, room acoustics, and room correction instead. That's where you can make meaningful gains.

The wiim ultra has room correction correct? I've never used one before, but did light reading on it. I'll need a laptop or PC, omni microphone, and a license, i believe.

The speakers are Q concerto meta. I'm slowly starting to tune the speaker/sub location and starting to find very good spots. The noise seems to be coming from between the speakers now, it sounds great (to my ears anyways). The sub, I can tell there are some places where it feels deeper in the corners, but moving it around helped a lot.

 

[staticV3]

The wiim ultra has room correction correct?

Correct, as does the WiiM Mini.

I'll need a laptop or PC, omni microphone, and a license, i believe.

No, you can use your phone or tablet. There's no license either.

If you have an iPad or iPhone, then you can use their built-in microphone for measurements, otherwise you can get a USB mic like the UMIK-1 or iMM-6c.

The speakers are Q concerto meta.

With a WiiM, you can try loading the anechoic correction parameters found here ("Data & EQ" tab): https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/KEF Q Concerto Meta/ErinsAudioCorner/index_eac.html

A comprehensive EQ includes both loudspeaker correction and room correction, and the WiiM enables that.

The sub, I can tell there are some places where it feels deeper in the corners, but moving it around helped a lot.

W/o a sub I'd have suggested the WiiM Mini instead, connected to your Peachtree via Optical.

With a sub though, the WiiM Ultra makes more sense so you do WiiM->RCA->Peachtree->KEF and WiiM->RCA->Sub.

Just keep in mind that then, you'll have to use the Peachtree as though it was a simple Power Amp with just an On/Off switch.

All sound sources must be plugged into the WiiM and after calibration, the Peachtree's volume knob must never be touched as that'd mess up the balance between your sub and the KEFs.

 

[WideEyedToad]

Correct, as does the WiiM Mini.


No, you can use your phone or tablet. There's no license either.

If you have an iPad or iPhone, then you can use their built-in microphone for measurements, otherwise you can get a USB mic like the UMIK-1 or iMM-6c.


With a WiiM, you can try loading the anechoic correction parameters found here ("Data & EQ" tab): https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/KEF Q Concerto Meta/ErinsAudioCorner/index_eac.html

A comprehensive EQ includes both loudspeaker correction and room correction, and the WiiM enables that.


W/o a sub I'd have suggested the WiiM Mini instead, connected to your Peachtree via Optical.

With a sub though, the WiiM Ultra makes more sense so you do WiiM->RCA->Peachtree->KEF and WiiM->RCA->Sub.

Just keep in mind that then, you'll have to use the Peachtree as though it was a simple Power Amp with just an One/Off switch.

All sound sources must be plugged into the WiiM and after calibration, the Peachtree's volume knob must never be touched as that'd mess up the balance between your sub and the KEFs.

Awesome thanks!

 

[90sNintendoKid]

May I echo exactly what @staticV3 has said about the Wiim?

I'd like to highlight that the delay between the left and right speakers on the Wiim Ultra can't be adjusted. I realise this may not matter if you precisely position your speakers to the MLP and I found it to be a problem which is why I don't use my Wiim Ultra for EQ. Knowing Wiim though, that might change in a future firmware update which in that case I would use it again.