Wiim Mini room correction vs MiniDSP

[CreasyBear]

Hi

First time poster, long time lurker; my lack of technical knowledge has kept me from posting, that and the fear of the scolding remarks.

Anyway, the reason for my post. I recently replaced a very expensive set of floor standing speakers with some Revel M16s that were on offer with 50% discount over here in the UK. This was based on Amir's review of the M16s and I haven't been disappointed.

I also purchased a Wiim Mini, mainly to try out the Tidal Connect functionality. Very impressed with both. Then I discovered that you can carry out room correction with the Wiim Mini and your phone. Wow - I'm not sure how accurate the results were from the Wiim but the frequency response before correction was all over the place.

I was able to mostly correct using a combination of the Wiim room correction facility, tone controls on my amplifier and simply by trying the speakers in different positions; off-axis, on-axis, pulled out into the room, closer to the wall, further apart, closer together etc... I've now got an OK response that maps against the Harmon curve I chose to follow. I have a narrow dip of around 12dcb at 200hz, but I read that this can be quite common. I assume the addition of a sub would correct this but I like less boxes not more.

Overall after applying room correction the bass is less boomy, there is more detail (hearing things I never heard before) - yes all very subjective so ignore as you see fit.

So I now have the bug; is it worth moving up to a MiniDSP with an external mic? Does the Wiim Ultra have exactly the same room correction software as the Wiim Mini (I assume so). I don't really want to replace my DAC so the MiniDSP may be overkill...

For what it's worth my signal chain is Wiim Mini via optical >> Denafrips Ares ii >> Luxman L-505uXII integrated amp >> Revel M16s.

Regards

 

[Mort]

Maybe. Probably not. If it's better, it is unlikely to be astronomically better.

People have different experiences with room correction software. There isn't a definitively best one, and while it's not preposterous to think DiracLive implementation on MiniDsp is as good or better than Wiim, most of the reports from Wiim users is that the room correction works well or well enough.

Minidsp shines when integrating subwoofers, which you aren't doing. I would skip it.

I do recommend getting an external mic and learning REW. That'll be more rewarding and more fun and cheaper.

 

[JeremyFife]

I'd also suggest that you get a measurement mic (umic-1 or similar) and use REW to make measurements.
Compare those measurements with the WiiM's room correction adjustments and see if you can improve on the recommended settings.
You'll need that experience if you decide to go for a miniDSP.
It's very likely that you will be happy with your sound, with no need to upgrade - but you'll have learned a lot!

As @Mort said, perhaps upgrade if you decide to add a sub (or just go to a WiiM Ultra)

Good first post!

 

[CreasyBear]

Thanks for the responses.

I had a play around with speaker placement a little more tonight, trying to get rid of the dip at 200hz.

I managed to do it by pulling the speakers further into the room. I guess this points to the need for some acoustic panels behind the speakers if I wish to push them back closer to the wall.

 

[CreasyBear]

Wrong image uploaded. This is the final version.

 

[kyuu]

That dip at 200Hz was very high Q so likely not very (or at all) audible. The results for the bass are suspicious, however. I wouldn't expect nearly flat bass response down to almost 30Hz with a pair of M16s. Your second measurement looks like a much more likely bass response.

Edit: Now with your corrected version the bass looks unlikely again. Unless you're running a sub but didn't mention it? Or the Wiim is applying some serious boost in the bass region maybe? Wouldn't think the M16 could handle that much of a bass boost though.

 

[CreasyBear]

Hi

In the final version I set room correction from 45hz to 8khz. The previous post I had set it from 75hz. So yes, I guess the Wiim is adding a lot of bass boost. I might tone that down.

 

[Thor8]

I am also playing around with roomfit room correction of the wiim mini. I recently bought the Imm 6c mic, but unfortunately I can't find the option to select it in the wiim home app for room correction. Doesn't the wiim mini support external mics?

 

[kyuu]

Are you following the steps in this guide?

Tutorial: Microphone Calibration File Import in WiiM Home

The WiiM's Room Correction feature improves your listening experience by adjusting the audio output to match your room's acoustics. The feature has now been enhanced to support the import of a calibration file for an external microphone. This cal...

faq.wiimhome.com

 

[Digital_Thor]

Overall after applying room correction the bass is less boomy, there is more detail (hearing things I never heard before) - yes all very subjective so ignore as you see fit.

This is a great example of bass masking the midrange/tweeter, so you can pretty much trust this improvement
I do not use full range EQ, since I can see that my speakers measure just fine in the listening position, because they are quite linear with gated/semi-anechic measurements - which just proves that the estimated in-room response is a good factor to consider.
In your case, I would try and EQ with the help from data at spinorama.org, measure the result in your listening position with your own mic/REW, and then only ask the automated room correction, to work from around 500Hz and down. For some reason - I can't fully explain - I always experience, that full frequency room correction seems to overdo it too much. For bass correction, they work great, but when these software solutions try to smooth the combination of room reflections and speaker dispersion characteristics, then it often sounds like they damp and suppress too much.
So, for me, the natural response of a well-designed speaker, mostly sounds just fine, without EQ ( with the room included ) above around 500Hz.
One of my friends have the KEF R3 Meta, and that sounds way better with anechoic EQ, rather than room corrected EQ - IMO. And this is in a well damped and proper setup room, where things should be quite optimal.

 

[Thor8]

Are you following the steps in this guide?

Tutorial: Microphone Calibration File Import in WiiM Home

The WiiM's Room Correction feature improves your listening experience by adjusting the audio output to match your room's acoustics. The feature has now been enhanced to support the import of a calibration file for an external microphone. This cal...

faq.wiimhome.com

Yes, but I am stuck at "6. In the External Microphone section, tap External Mic Calibration". I don't see that option. Could it be, that it will not appear as long as the usb c mic is not correctly installed?

 

[Guddu]

Yes, but I am stuck at "6. In the External Microphone section, tap External Mic Calibration". I don't see that option. Could it be, that it will not appear as long as the usb c mic is not correctly installed?

The option appears when phone has a measurement mic connected that it can recognize.