WiiM Ultra with 2 FOSI V3 MONO or an AB amplifier ?

[Ruediger]

I went with vitalink so optical cable for me

That way you get the best out of the vibelink as measurements showed.

 

[Ruediger]

You need custom cables to go XLR from wiim ultra. Unless you have a specific problem, I would not bother.

It makes sense to get some with the hypex/purifi recommended wiring when rca2xlr cables shall be used.

It makes no sense when the gain on the xlr input of the poweramp is not a good match for the rca line out of the Ultra (2vrms).

 

[gwing]

It makes sense to get some with the hypex/purifi recommended wiring when rca2xlr cables shall be used.

It makes no sense when the gain on the xlr input of the poweramp is not a good match for the rca line out of the Ultra (2vrms).

Just to make this simple

If your preamp and power amp both have XLR connections, then use XLR by preference.

If not and they both have RCA connections then use RCA.

If you have only RCA on one and only XLR on the other component then you have a mismatch which will require a converter cable. However RCA and XLR connections don't just have different connectors but operate at different voltage levels so you are likely to have gain problems hence don't go this route but use the simpler RCA to RCA connection if you can.

 

[Ruediger]

The rca2xlr cable provides better shielding and is not a bad idea to do.

If it works out with the amp is dependent on the device. If it has a too low gain with XLR just 2vrms from rca. If gain is adjustable, just not for XLR - some amps have gain adjustment for both inputs. And another thing is XLR bypassing the buffer/gain completely, which limits the power of the amp (can be desired and a safety measure).

Always check what the specific amp does for the inputs. Rca2xlr cables with the hypex/purifi suggested shielding are not expensive, roughly about the same as 2 good rca cables.