Anyone using WiiM Pro with Denafrips Ares II DAC?

[Vic Vinegar]

Interesting. I'll let Vinshine know.

I tried connecting my PC via USB and have no issues. Seems to be a SPDIF thing and could also explain why there aren't more reports.

 

[Klipscher]

So you guys are getting skips on albums? I listen to mostly playlist but will try to duplicate problem if possible. Just to be clear it’s with wiim app and album play?
I checked the chip mine is EPACE6F17CaN and firmware installed will listen to some music and get back to you guys.

 

[igotdibs]

So you guys are getting skips on albums? I listen to mostly playlist but will try to duplicate problem if possible. Just to be clear it’s with wiim app and album play?
I checked the chip mine is EPACE6F17CaN and firmware installed will listen to some music and get back to you guys.

I can't remember if I was getting them on albums too. But it was definitely using the WiiM app, and definitely with the first album track, and individual tracks in a playlist.

 

[Klipscher]

I can't remember if I was getting them on albums too. But it was definitely using the WiiM app, and definitely with the first album track, and individual tracks in a playlist.

Can you try this, launch tidal first then switch to wiim app, then using a master track that is either 88.2 or 96khz do you still gets the issue?

 

[Vic Vinegar]

So you guys are getting skips on albums? I listen to mostly playlist but will try to duplicate problem if possible. Just to be clear it’s with wiim app and album play?
I checked the chip mine is EPACE6F17CaN and firmware installed will listen to some music and get back to you guys.

I get it with the WiiM Home app and BubbleUPnP on both the WiiM Pro and a Primare NP5.

I listen to playlists of mixed tracks. It isn't noticeable on every track change but it's more often than not. Occurs at about the 10 second mark.

All bit depth and sample rates are affected.

 

[igotdibs]

Can you try this, launch tidal first then switch to wiim app, then using a master track that is either 88.2 or 96khz do you still gets the issue?

I will try that if and when I re-install the new Ares II firmware. After 4 days of annoying skips I went back to the original firmware 2 weeks ago. But if I get around to re-installing the firmware update this weekend I'll try that.

 

[Vic Vinegar]

Can you try this, launch tidal first then switch to wiim app, then using a master track that is either 88.2 or 96khz do you still gets the issue?

I don't have Tidal but it happens with Qobuz, Amazon HD and local network shares.

 

[Klipscher]

Took some listening put think found a track that skipped when using wiim app. It happens is if in 24bit 48KHz Tom Petty Full Moon Fever master album song I won’t back down. If played in 24bit 96KHz it’s just slightly noticeable in wiim app. Using tidal connect it plays fine.

If others can list some songs they hear the skip I can see if can reproduce it. Right no leaning more into thinking it’s more a wiim issue.

 

[Vic Vinegar]

It's not track specific for me.

If I restart a track after it occurs, the skip doesn't happen again. I assume this is because the track is already in the buffer memory.

I suspect that the skip is caused from the buffer flushing the memory of the previous track.

 

[onlyoneme]

Issues similar to those ones which affect digital input of the Pro - using two different clocks.

 

[igotdibs]

So, I reinstalled the firmware update on my Ares II today. The skips are back when streaming Tidal, Qobuz or Amazon Prime using the WiiM app on my iphone. The skips are consistently at the 5 second mark when streaming individual CD quality 16 bit tracks. If I stream an album, the first track will skip at the 5 sec mark, but subsequent tracks on the album do not skip. The skips are more intermittent when streaming Ultra HD 24 bit tracks, but they generally occur at around the 10 second mark if at all.

I DO NOT get the skip when streaming Tidal tracks from the Tidal app, but I DO get the skip streaming the exact same Tidal tracks from the WiiM app.

I also DO NOT get the skip when streaming Qobuz tracks from the Qobuz app, but I DO get the skip streaming the exact same Qobuz track from the WiiM app.

There is clearly a conflict of some sort with the WiiM app and the Ares II firmware update.

 

[Vic Vinegar]

Thanks for going to the effort of re-flasing the firmware.

I had not tried casting Qobuz from the native app before.

I just tried playing Qobuz from the native app via Chomecast to the WiiM. The skip at 10 seconds isn't there but the skip now occurs at first fraction of a second at the beginning of the track. The first fraction is cut off.

 

[Vic Vinegar]

Amazon HD cast via Chomecast and Alexa Cast have skips at about the 10 second mark.

 

[igotdibs]

Amazon HD cast via Chomecast and Alexa Cast have skips at about the 10 second mark.

Yes! Very disappointing. I was hoping to start using the Amazon Music app until WiiM fixed the issue with Denafrips. But it's (AM) just as bad with the skips.

 

[Klipscher]

So, I reinstalled the firmware update on my Ares II today. The skips are back when streaming Tidal, Qobuz or Amazon Prime using the WiiM app on my iphone. The skips are consistently at the 5 second mark when streaming individual CD quality 16 bit tracks. If I stream an album, the first track will skip at the 5 sec mark, but subsequent tracks on the album do not skip. The skips are more intermittent when streaming Ultra HD 24 bit tracks, but they generally occur at around the 10 second mark if at all.

I DO NOT get the skip when streaming Tidal tracks from the Tidal app, but I DO get the skip streaming the exact same Tidal tracks from the WiiM app.

I also DO NOT get the skip when streaming Qobuz tracks from the Qobuz app, but I DO get the skip streaming the exact same Qobuz track from the WiiM app.

There is clearly a conflict of some sort with the WiiM app and the Ares II firmware update.

I see wiim just did an update did it help?

 

[igotdibs]

I see wiim just did an update did it help?

No it didn't.

 

[igotdibs]

But I do really appreciate that the update fixed the sample rate "pop" issue! I figure it's just a matter of time that they will fix the skip problem too.

Edit - I officially reported the skip problem and WiiM responded that would check the issue immediately and find the root cause.

 

[Kapsch]

I have the same issue. Using coax out from Wiim Pro to the Ares ii with the new FPGA firmware installed, I get skips within the first 10 secs of a new track or album, also when using Tidal Connect.

I hope Wiim can do something about this issue; however, I'm not convinced it's a problem on their end. As far as I know (which is not much), the Ares ii is reclocking the spdif signal via the beforementioned buffer. This process used to cause noticeable delays, making the Ares ii unfit for tv, gaming, and so on, where latency is essential. With the recent FPGA firmware update, they fixed this issue, which has now introduced the problem of small skips when introducing a new audio (spdif) signal, at least for many users.

Looking forward to hearing about what Wiim comes up with for possible solutions

 

[Vic Vinegar]

I have the same issue. Using coax out from Wiim Pro to the Ares ii with the new FPGA firmware installed, I get skips within the first 10 secs of a new track or album, also when using Tidal Connect.

I hope Wiim can do something about this issue; however, I'm not convinced it's a problem on their end. As far as I know (which is not much), the Ares ii is reclocking the spdif signal via the beforementioned buffer. This process used to cause noticeable delays, making the Ares ii unfit for tv, gaming, and so on, where latency is essential. With the recent FPGA firmware update, they fixed this issue, which has now introduced the problem of small skips when introducing a new audio (spdif) signal, at least for many users.

Looking forward to hearing about what Wiim comes up with for possible solutions

It's definitely a Denafrips issue. Problem didn't exist before the firmware update. Apparently, Vinshine/Denafrips is working on another firmware update for the Pontus II to address the issue that they say should be available in about a week. For some unknown reason, they won't just simply provide the old firmware for roll back .

Head-Fi has an active discussion regarding the issue.

You should contact Vinshine about the problems with your Ares.

 

[Kapsch]

It's definitely a Denafrips issue. Problem didn't exist before the firmware update. Apparently, Vinshine/Denafrips is working on another firmware update for the Pontus II to address the issue that they say should be available in about a week. For some unknown reason, they won't just simply provide the old firmware for roll back .

Head-Fi has an active discussion regarding the issue.

You should contact Vinshine about the problems with your Ares.

Oh, I see. Thanks for that info – I sure will contact Vinshine now. Hopefully, they will also make a firmware update for the Ares ii. I mean, why only the Pontus ii?