WiiM Amp discussion

[Grovkalle]

As an owner of both the WXA-50 and the WiiM Mini, I can attest that the differences between Yamaha MusicCast app and WiiM Home app are significant and lean positively towards the WiiM Home, at least for me. It's simply a much more potent and modern app, by any account.
I like the sound of my WXA and it's really far beyond whatever the WiiM Mini could achieve on its own. But, the Mini connected to a decent external DAC changes the picture completely, and still for significantly less money than is asked for a WXA-50.
I even connected the Mini to my WXA through SPDIF, just to try it out through the same DAC. Result was a coherent, balanced sound which I liked it a bit more than the Yamaha own streamer's sound.
Don't know how WiiM Amp will sound, but if it is to live up to the hype, it shouldn't be a disappointment.

Yes I tried the WXAD-10 once but the Tidal integration was the worst ever and as far as I know, no MusicCast product has Tidal Connect. So as a Tidal user MusicCast is a no go.

 

[Brantome]

I wonder what Sabre chip it is and why they ditched the AK4493, that the Wiim Pro Plus has?

ESS Sabre DAC ES9018 - see https://faq.wiimhome.com/support/so...16467-technical-specification-of-the-wiim-amp

 

[Jeromeof]

ESS Sabre DAC ES9018 - see https://faq.wiimhome.com/support/so...16467-technical-specification-of-the-wiim-amp

Same one used in a few pretty good DAC's already e.g. Schiit Modi+ uses this ES9018

Schiit Modi+ DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Modi+ stereo USB DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $129. There are three inputs and are nicely stepped through using the momentary switch. The white LED that indicates the selected input is nice but alas, there is some...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[BossBunos]

Will be more interesting to see how the amp section performs since that will probably be the most limiting factor of the device

 

[Grovkalle]

Same one used in a few pretty good DAC's already e.g. Schiit Modi+ uses this ES9018

Schiit Modi+ DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Modi+ stereo USB DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $129. There are three inputs and are nicely stepped through using the momentary switch. The white LED that indicates the selected input is nice but alas, there is some...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I think also the Mytek Liberty (first edition) uses ES9018, so BossBunos is right in that the amp section is probably a more
interesting factor when buying this product

 

[dmilller]

Yes I tried the WXAD-10 once but the Tidal integration was the worst ever and as far as I know, no MusicCast product has Tidal Connect. So as a Tidal user MusicCast is a no go.

Tidal Ready isn't released for the Wiim Pro+ yet, so it could be awhile for the Wiim Amp. I assume that the timing on the Pro + is simply Tidal working through a queue

 

[Grovkalle]

Tidal Ready isn't released for the Wiim Pro+ yet, so it could be awhile for the Wiim Amp. I assume that the timing on the Pro + is simply Tidal working through a queue

Tidal Ready? what is that? I have the Wiim Pro and Wiim Mini and they both have Tidal Connect, do you mean Roon Ready?

 

[dmilller]

Tidal Ready? what is that? I have the Wiim Pro and Wiim Mini and they both have Tidal Connect, do you mean Roon Ready?

yes, I got confused. I use roon to play Tidal.

 

[VladimirJ]

Yes I tried the WXAD-10 once but the Tidal integration was the worst ever and as far as I know, no MusicCast product has Tidal Connect. So as a Tidal user MusicCast is a no go.

Yep, I forgot about the WXAD-10... I owned that one before I purchased the WXA-50 and the Mini.
As for Tidal and MusicCast combo, it's workable... bearly, but workable

 

[I know (almost) nothing]

I have the bluesound powernode, but I’m very interested in seeing a direct comparison . Has anybody ever compared the blue OS software/nterface to wiim’s?

 

[Bobinski]

Hi,
I have just invested in the wiim mini and also connected over spdif to my wxa-50. It sounds great output to QA concept 20's and a yamaha sub, though the latter needs replacing for somethng better for stereo.
I am assuming the wxa dac takes over? I cannot obviously see a setting to make sure it does.
I do have an audiouquest dragon black and was wondering if i should connect over 3.5 and connect to the yammy as an alternative dac if better than the wxa. Newish to all this so easliy confused!
Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Brantome]

Hi,
I have just invested in the wiim mini and also connected over spdif to my wxa-50. It sounds great output to QA concept 20's and a yamaha sub, though the latter needs replacing for somethng better for stereo.
I am assuming the wxa dac takes over? I cannot obviously see a setting to make sure it does.
I do have an audiouquest dragon black and was wondering if i should connect over 3.5 and connect to the yammy as an alternative dac if better than the wxa. Newish to all this so easliy confused!
Any advice would be much appreciated.

If you use the digital outputs from a WiiM, you’re passing the job of converting digital to analogue to the DAC in the device you’re connecting to I.e. you’re not using the WiiM DAC. Conversely, if you use the WiiM’s line/RCA analogue output, the WiiM’s DAC has done the conversion.

 

[Brantome]

I do have an audiouquest dragon black and was wondering if i should connect over 3.5 and connect to the yammy as an alternative dac if better than the wxa. Newish to all this so easliy confused!
Any advice would be much appreciated.

The 3.5 connection on your dragonfly black DAC is an output not an input (viz. digital to analogue convertor, not the other way round) so can’t be used in the manner you describe. Also, WiiM devices don’t support USB DACs (they don’t have a usb connection) so DACs such as yours can’t be used with them.

 

[Bobinski]

@Brantome Thank you for your replies, really helpful. The dac on the wxa may be oldish but if i recall considered to be quite good so it doesnt look like i am missing out. Thanks again.

 

[VladimirJ]

@Brantome Thank you for your replies, really helpful. The dac on the wxa may be oldish but if i recall considered to be quite good so it doesnt look like i am missing out. Thanks again.

Hi,
No, you're not missing out on anything, for sure. I use the same WXA-50/Wiim Mini combination as you do, and the sound through Yamaha's DAC is much better, fuller, more precise and more coherent than the sound through the WiiM's own DAC in the Mini.

 

[VladimirJ]

I have the bluesound powernode, but I’m very interested in seeing a direct comparison . Has anybody ever compared the blue OS software/nterface to wiim’s?

I have owned a Bluesound NODE for several months last year, in parallel to the WiiM Mini.
For me, BlueOS is a more mature system than WiiM Mini, but not significantly.
On the other hand, I've sold my NODE, bought a decent DAC for my Mini and I am a happy listener for half of what I paid for the NODE and I don't feel I'm missing out on anything in particular (except maybe for the presets on the NODE, but that's a more hardware-specific difference).

 

[perry m]

Darko just posted his first impressions about the WiiM amp. Woohoo, even better than I expected. Review in 2 days.

 

[Jeromeof]

Darko just posted his first impressions about the WiiM amp. Woohoo, even better than I expected. Review in 2 days.

This article on his website:

The WiiM AMP lands w/ HDMI ARC & subwoofer output for €349 | Darko.Audio

Bass management with a couple of nifty extras are also part of this very sharply-priced deal.

darko.audio

 

[StefanSweden]

Does anyone know why links dont work from ASR to darko?

 

[Jeromeof]

Does anyone know why links dont work from ASR to darko?

No sorry that is weird alright - technically he must be blocking ASR as a "http-origin" - if you reload the page it works