Wiim Ultra vs. NAD MDC HDM-2 for HDMI functionality?

[Symphoniac]

Hi everyone. I have an NAD C658 pre-amp that I use primarily for 2 channel music listening. Now I want to connect my stereo system to my TV but my C658 does not have HDMI input. I know there is NAD MDC HDM-2 add on board I can buy but at $549 the price is a bit steep, and I've also read that the auto input switching doesn't perform flawlessly. I'm wondering if I should instead buy a Wiim Ultra at $349 (can probably wait till it goes on sale and get it even cheaper) and connect it to one of the digital inputs of my C658. The Wiim has HDMI eARC so I presume it can do everything the MDC card can do and more. Is this a good idea? What am I missing in terms of pros and cons of each approach?

 

[Symphoniac]

Whoops just realized I posted this in the wrong forum. Doesn't look like I can delete. Can an admin kindly move this to the streamer forum? Thank you!

 

[somebodyelse]

The Wiim has HDMI eARC so I presume it can do everything the MDC card can do and more.

The Wiim has ARC not eARC, and doesn't have video switching. It looks like the NAD is also limited to ARC rather than EARC. They both say they support CEC, but don't detail which commands work in which direction.

 

[holbob]

I use the wiim ultra through arc for the tv, and it switches input from music to the tv every time something plays on the tv. There are settings in the wiim app to facilitate this.

 

[somebodyelse]

I use the wiim ultra through arc for the tv, and it switches input from music to the tv every time something plays on the tv. There are settings in the wiim app to facilitate this.

That part works on other inputs too, so doesn't seem to be related to CEC. That would be more about whether powering on one powers up the other, whether both show volume changes and whether it matters which remote you use for volume. I've seen it mentioned on the Wiim forum that powering on the Wiim doesn't power on the TV, in contrast to something like an Xbox which will power on the TV. That actually seems reasonable to me as you're not going to use the Xbox without the TV, but you could play music without the TV. Meanwhile if you turn on the TV the Wiim will detect audio and start up. Note that the Wiim doesn't really have an 'off' or 'standby' state as such - it just stops outputting audio, turns the screen and trigger off. The mains power draw remains pretty much the same. That's allowable under EU rules because of the 'networked standby' exception.

 

[l_lama]

I think you should have optical port on your TV already and all you need is fiber cord.

Make you AI do research about C658 and MDC2 user's feedback. Search on this forum may help too.

For more convenience, CEC is a must (power and volume control).
If you mind streaming with multichannel audio for your (potentially) 2.1 or 2.2 system, eARC is required.