Anyone using WiiM Pro with Denafrips Ares II DAC?

[igotdibs]

I would love to hear from anyone with a WiiM Pro running coax or opt outputs to the Denefrips Ares II DAC, and from there RCA out to aux inputs of amplifier or receiver.

This is my set up, and I would like to hear from others with similar set ups.

 

[Balthazar B]

Not a Denafrips, but a Schiit Gungnir MB. I slightly prefer coax in principle, but with Toslink as well, they work together blissfully.

 

[igotdibs]

The reason I'm looking for other WiiM Pro>Ares II owners is because of an issue I had after updating the Ares II firmware. I'd like to see if there are others running this combination that have installed the new firmware in their Ares II.

 

[larrybody]

I haven’t updated the firmware on my Ares II yet. I use it with another well known streamer thru a USB connection. If WiiM ever brings a device with a USB output I will hook it up. Wondering what kind issue? Just curious.

 

[igotdibs]

I haven’t updated the firmware on my Ares II yet. I use it with another well known streamer thru a USB connection. If WiiM ever brings a device with a USB output I will hook it up. Wondering what kind issue? Just curious.

After the update, I immediately noticed micro skips at 5 or sometimes 10 seconds into the beginning of a song. I reported the issue, and tried all the suggestions offered by Vinshine, but I eventually went back to the original firmware to solve the problem.

It would appear that something in the new firmware is conflicting with something in the WiiM Pro...

 

[Vic Vinegar]

After the update, I immediately noticed micro skips at 5 or sometimes 10 seconds into the beginning of a song. I reported the issue, and tried all the suggestions offered by Vinshine, but I eventually went back to the original firmware to solve the problem.

It would appear that something in the new firmware is conflicting with something in the WiiM Pro...

I recently updated the firmware on my Pontus II and am getting the micro skips as well. Seems to be a common issue as it has been mentioned on HeadFi, Audiogon and Hoffman forums so, not sure if it's directly related to the WiiM streamers.

The sound improvement from the update is wonderful but the skips are very frustrating.

 

[igotdibs]

Vic, are your skips random or always at the beginning of a track as was the case with me?

 

[Vic Vinegar]

It seems that they are all withing the first 10 seconds of a track.

 

[igotdibs]

It seems that they are all withing the first 10 seconds of a track.

Thank you Vic! Have you reported the issue to Vinshine? I'm wondering if Alvin told you what he told me... that it's the first time anyone has reported the issue.

 

[Vic Vinegar]

Yes, I reported to Vinshine. Support suggested to power cycle the DAC and also try a different input. The frequency of the skips seems to have been reduced but is still there.

What did Alvin tell you?

I received an email from Vinshine asking to leave a review on HeadFi, Audiogon, Audiophilestyle and Hoffman forums. I read the threads at those sites and it would appear that it is a fairly common issue.

 

[igotdibs]

At first he told me it was the first he'd heard of the issue appearing after the update. Then, he suggested several things to try. Power cycling the Ares II, trying optical as well as coax, and then finally re-install the new firmware. I did all those things to no avail. He finally sent me a link to the original firmware. As soon as I installed the original firmware - no more skips.

At that point, Alvin suggested it must be something to do with the interaction of the FPGA update and the WiiM. He said he would forward all of our emails to Denafrips and see what they had to say about it. That was over two weeks ago... to he honest, I doubt that I'll ever hear back with a fix.

 

[Vic Vinegar]

The WiiM is providing the same bit perfect stream it was before the firmware update. Sounds like they're trying to pass the buck.

I think that it has something to do with the changes they've made to these items listed in their change log:

• Improved Adaptive FIFO Buffer & Reclocking Architecture
• Reduced the effect of Buffer overrun/underrun due to the Source's Clock and the DAC's Clock differences
• Reduced Audio Latency

The glitch is obviously some kind of timing error.

How much time did you give things to settle in before rolling back?

 

[igotdibs]

I rolled back after 4 days. But I'm not buying any notion that firmware needs time to 'burn in'. Just my opinion, but that's BS as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Vic Vinegar]

I agree.

 

[Klipscher]

I have the Ares ii and haven't noticed any issue with the wiim pro. I use tidal connect instead of the wiim app and coax output.

 

[igotdibs]

I have the Ares ii and haven't noticed any issue with the wiim pro. I use tidal connect instead of the wiim app and coax output.

@Klipscher, to be clear... you've installed the FPGA firmware update on the Ares II, and you're not getting micro skips using the Tidal app?

Would you mind trying the WiiM app and see if you get the skips? For me the skips occur right at 5 or 10 seconds into the clip, depending on the quality of the stream (lower quality always at 5 seconds). It would be extremely helpful to know if the micro skips only occur with the WiiM app.

 

[Vic Vinegar]

The micro skips happen for me using BubbleUPnP and my Primare NP5 streamer as well.

I mostly listen to playlists made up of mixed tracks. I'm not exactly sure how the buffers work in the DAC but I'm thinking that each time a track changes the buffer clears information from the previous track and then loads information for the current track. Watching the seek bar counter, the skip happens consistently at the 10 to 12 second mark. Is this where the buffer clears?

@igotdibs are you an album start to finish listener or a playlist of mixed tracks type listener?

I would think that due to the gapless playback of an entire album, there would be only one buffer clear/load cycle at the bigging of an album and may explain why this problem isn't more widely reported? Most listeners are likely ones that play an entire album from start to finish.

The only variable that has changed in the new firmware that could cause this is the changes to the buffers (except for changes done to improve latency) so it seems obvious to me that this is the issue. Then again, I could also be completely out to lunch.

I've passed my theory on to Vinshine and also requested the files to roll back the firmware. Vinshine/Denafrips isn't convinced yet that it's a firmware issue.

 

[igotdibs]

The micro skips happen for me using BubbleUPnP and my Primare NP5 streamer as well.

I mostly listen to playlists made up of mixed tracks. I'm not exactly sure how the buffers work in the DAC but I'm thinking that each time a track changes the buffer clears information from the previous track and then loads information for the current track. Watching the seek bar counter, the skip happens consistently at the 10 to 12 second mark. Is this where the buffer clears?

@igotdibs are you an album start to finish listener or a playlist of mixed tracks type listener?

I would think that due to the gapless playback of an entire album, there would be only one buffer clear/load cycle at the bigging of an album and may explain why this problem isn't more widely reported? Most listeners are likely ones that play an entire album from start to finish.

The only variable that has changed in the new firmware that could cause this is the changes to the buffers (except for changes done to improve latency) so it seems obvious to me that this is the issue. Then again, I could also be completely out to lunch.

I've passed my theory on to Vinshine and also requested the files to roll back the firmware. Vinshine/Denafrips isn't convinced yet that it's a firmware issue.

Vic, I'm a little of both - playlists and albums start-to-finish. But now that you bring up your theory, I honestly can't remember if I was hearing the skips on only the first track of an album. I do remember the skips were very consistent at the 5 second mark with CD quality tracks, and at approx. 10 seconds with Ultra HD quality tracks. Hmmm... This makes me want to re-install the update just to check. If I get some free time this weekend, I'll do just that.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Vic Vinegar]

I wonder if the issue may be related to the specific model of FPGA chip as well?

@igotdibs do you recall what model your FPGA chip is? Mine is EP4CE6F.

 

[igotdibs]

I wonder if the issue may be related to the specific model of FPGA chip as well?

@igotdibs do you recall what model your FPGA chip is? Mine is EP4CE6F.

Mine is also EP4CE6F.