Can someone please advise on which is better for what.
And why I may prefer one over the other.
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WiiM Vibelink Amp Review
- Thread starter amirm
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And why I may prefer one over the other.
antcollinet
Grand Contributor
You are vanishingly unlikely to prefer one over the other based on the sound. In fact you are very unlikely to hear a difference at all - if level matched and playing within power limits.
You need to choose based on which offers you the set of power, features, aesthetic, brand rep, perception of quality etc etc that best suits your needs.
harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I only described the current status. You can ask WiiM for everything you want.
Completely shutting off the standby mechanism is probably agains EU law, so they might have to try and find out where your mobile is when you attempt to do that to stay compliant.
antcollinet
Grand Contributor
As long as the watts figure is specified at the same speaker load (4ohm or 8ohm - ideally at the impedance of your speakers) then a straight power rating is fine.
The power of an amp is often specified by the manufacturer at the point distortion reaches 1% - though not always. This is equivalent to the "Peak power at 1% THD" measurement shown in Amir's reviews.
If it is specified at 10% distortion, that is a useless spec, and should be ignored.
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PFFB? No, that prevents load dependency (frequency response changing at the high end depending on the load's impedance).
harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Could you explain in simple and straight language what this question is about?
The WiiM Home app provides a "Feedback" function. This isn't marketing, it works as advertised.
Post Filter Feedback is a technical implementation of the TI TPA325x chips and the WiiM Vibelink Amp clearly employs one of the best implementations so far.
So, what is your question?
Seems the hypex nc252mp has more power before distorting.
Coming off this previous review:
www.audiosciencereview.com
The difference seems to be huge. Is a purely sinad comparison misleading?
Coming off this previous review:
Buckeye NC252MP Stereo Amplifier Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Buckeye NC252MP balanced stereo class D amplifier. It was kindly drop shipped to me by a member and costs US $575. The amp is almost the size of a loaf of bread and literally weighs nearly as much! Amazing how far amplification technology has...
www.audiosciencereview.com
The difference seems to be huge. Is a purely sinad comparison misleading?
harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
No, these are absolute numbers and there's nothing misleading.
You're comparing a $600 Hypex based amp to a $300 TI based amp (which also happens to employ a great DAC), what do you expect? 260 W peak power over 180 W peak power means a difference of less than 1.6 dB SPL. That's not really a huge difference, is it?
JeremyFife
Major Contributor
Hi,Seems the hypex nc252mp has more power before distorting.
Coming off this previous review:
Buckeye NC252MP Stereo Amplifier Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Buckeye NC252MP balanced stereo class D amplifier. It was kindly drop shipped to me by a member and costs US $575. The amp is almost the size of a loaf of bread and literally weighs nearly as much! Amazing how far amplification technology has...
The difference seems to be huge. Is a purely sinad comparison misleading?
It's fine to compare the same metric between amps (as long as the measurement conditions are the same, obviously) so comparing ASR reviewed SINAD for the Buckeye NC252 (96) with the WiiM Vibelink (88 analogue input or 100 digital input) is a reasonable comparison.
Unfortunately, no single metric tells you everything about an amp, or any other component. You really need to read the reviews. It's worth noting that any noise or distortion coming from an Amp with a SINAD of (generalisation) 80 or better is probably inaudible - certainly compared to what your speakers do to the sound.
Some Amps behave differently as frequency changes - both of these examples are pretty much flat across the audible range. The Buckeye has more power but, as @harkpabst said, that doesn't necessarily mean much in increased volume.
I'd be inclined to think that the Buckeye, as a well made dedicated power amp, would be a better choice for longer / louder sessions and might well be better if your speakers were difficult to drive. Obviously, it doesn't have a built in DAC.
In normal use, I doubt that you would notice a difference and either would be pretty great.
harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
You cannot simply take the price from Amir's review, two years ago, and convert it to GBP.
You can buy the WiiM Vibelink Amp from Amazon.co.uk or lots of local resellers for £319, but you can only buy the Buckeye amp directly.from them in the US. The current price is $595 plus shipping to the UK plus taxes plus local VAT.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking down the Buckey amps at all. Just make sure you're not comparing apples to oranges when it comes to pricing.
The Hypex amp has a little more power on tap, for sure. Too much power never hurts. The thermal solution built into the Vibelink Amp is pretty sofisticated, though. They use a heat pipe to cool the chip.
Audionaut
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They do
https://forum.wiimhome.com/threads/wiim-amp-ultra-performance-meets-precision.7167/
"We’re thrilled to introduce our most refined streaming amplifier yet, the WiiM Amp Ultra, a high-performance powerhouse built for discerning listeners. Encased in a sleek unibody aluminum chassis with a vibrant 3.5” glass touchscreen, it delivers 100W per channel at 8Ω or 200W at 4Ω, driving up to four passive speakers with stunning clarity and dynamics.
Built with audiophile-grade components, including the ESS ES9039Q2M SABRE DAC, dual TI TPA3255 amp chips, and six TI OPA1612 op-amps, Amp Ultra ensures ultra-low distortion and rich, detailed sound. Post Filter Feedback (PFFB) technology further enhances load-independent performance across all speaker types, delivering cleaner sound and improved amplifier control, especially for complex loads."
I am actually just using the buckeye amp review as indicative of the hypex nc252mp amp modules.
My local supplier nord acoustics is where I am getting the pricing from.
The Wiim amp ultra has no power increase over the vibelink.
Is this pffb thing of consideration if choosing between hypex nc252mp.
My local supplier nord acoustics is where I am getting the pricing from.
The Wiim amp ultra has no power increase over the vibelink.
Is this pffb thing of consideration if choosing between hypex nc252mp.
I’m considering using the vibelink with some small passive speakers to replicate a smart speaker.
I have a spare Wiim pro which is unused. The dac won’t matter much in this use case.
It is more versatile, and most smart speakers sound sucks.
It is just about me choosing 2 mono speaker pairs standing together for a point source mono sound at about 1-2m away in my bedroom.
The only decent smart speakers I can find are audio pro c20.
I am also considering using Kali lp unf active speakers together for mono too. But then I wouldn’t need an amp.
They have a good review and are pretty flat. I doubt adding a dac will improve these.
I have a spare Wiim pro which is unused. The dac won’t matter much in this use case.
It is more versatile, and most smart speakers sound sucks.
It is just about me choosing 2 mono speaker pairs standing together for a point source mono sound at about 1-2m away in my bedroom.
The only decent smart speakers I can find are audio pro c20.
I am also considering using Kali lp unf active speakers together for mono too. But then I wouldn’t need an amp.
They have a good review and are pretty flat. I doubt adding a dac will improve these.
JeremyFife
Major Contributor
Sonos speakers are pretty good - well worth a look
The Google Nest speaker also measured surprisingly well: https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/google-nest-audio-speaker-review.58134/
Unless you really, really, want an amp a set of small actives makes a lot of sense ... from cheap Edifier MR4's to the very good Kalis.
Interested: why do you want a mono sound? I'd go Sonos if that's what you are really looking for
I already have Sonos play1.
I want something larger, better and has Bluetooth.
The Sonos five would have been good except no Bluetooth.
Other smart speakers don’t compare to something like Kali lp unf.
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Curious, why do you want Bluetooth? Do you plan to take the speaker out of the house? For strictly in-home use, having the speaker on wifi should be a better experience: no Bluetooth flakiness and can go anywhere you have wifi reception rather than needing to keep your device within Bluetooth range.
harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I see. The Value-Line MP NC252 amp even sells from £349. That's certainly good value for money.
The WiiM Amp Ultra is a completely different product from the WiiM Vibelink Amp. It's an integrated network streaming amp like the WiiM Amp Pro and the WiiM Amp. Any of the three already contain everything the WiiM Pro has to offer (and more), so there's no point in combining them.
Texas Instruments sell amplifier chips. Hypex sell completed and fully refined amplifier boards. The companies building and selling finished amplifiers just have to add a suitable pulower supply, case work and input board. There's little that can go wrong if they stick to Hypex' specs.
Different story with TPA325x based amplifiers. TInjust sell the chips. Not entire amplifier modules. You can buy a reference board from them but this is not optimized for mass production. To help with a better performing amplifier board, TI published a white paper on how to implement PFFB with their TPA325x chips shortly after their market launch, but nobody implemented this for in a commercial design for a long time.
Summery: If you buy an amplifier based on a Hypex board there is nothing to consider. The entire board will work as specified and advertised. If you buy a TI TPA325x Chip based amplifier, make sure the manufacturer developed and built his board with a good PFFB implementation (no load dependency), such as the WiiM Vibelink Amp.
Why would you need the extra power of the Hypex amp in this scenario? The Vibelink Amp would be more than up to the task. Plus you can use the top notch DAC in the Vibelink Amp instead of the mediocre one in the WiiM Pro.
For this use case I wouldn't think about the Hypex based amp.
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