Can I stream from a ProPlus via wifi, to a headphone dac or similar?

[InYumenXibalba]

Hi, my setup is currently a WiiM Pro Plus, with a turntable and cd player connected, and until now I’ve been streaming via Bluetooth to wireless headphones.
I would like to move to wired headphones, and to take Bluetooth out of the equation due to its lossy nature, so am trying to find a device that I can stream to via wifi from the WiiM, that I can connect headphones to. Does anyone know of any (small, it’ll be sitting beside me on a couch) devices that would be suitable? Would a wiim mini + headphone dac work (stream from ProPlus to Mini, and then Mini output connected to dac?).

Or should I just find an old Sony Walkman and use that?

Thank you!

 

[Mr Ee]

Welcome.

Wired headphones => sitting still while listening.
A grouped mini and dac/hp amp would work, and if just streaming (not cd or turntable) then stream directly to mini.
You'd need power very close to where you sit for the mini and for the dac.
For a one box solution, get an ultra

How far from the pro plus will you sit?
i.e. why not a dac/hp amp by the plus and a long headphone lead to where you sit?

 

[InYumenXibalba]

Welcome.

Wired headphones => sitting still while listening.
A grouped mini and dac/hp amp would work, and if just streaming (not cd or turntable) then stream directly to mini.
You'd need power very close to where you sit for the mini and for the dac.
For a one box solution, get an ultra

How far from the pro plus will you sit?
i.e. why not a dac/hp amp by the plus and a long headphone lead to where you sit?

Thank you!
That’s a very valid question you ask about why not just the plus and a dac it’s one of those frustratingly so close and yet so far situations, where the hi-fi and plus are one side of a doorway and where i sit is the other side, so a headphone wire, even a long one, will stretch across the doorway……something I’m fine with but the WAF is in negative numbers for that particular suggestion

Thanks for your help, the mini and a dac seems like the way to go……I was point there’d be a device that does both in one but Google didn’t seem to think so

 

[d6jg]

Won't help you very much but I use a Raspberry Pi Zero W piggybacked onto a Powerbank with an attached Audioquest Dragonfly and a pair of B&W P7's (wired).
It is an entirely mobile LMS endpoint/player within the confines of the range of my WiFi. Works brilliantly but you would need an LMS server.

 

[WiiMer SJ]

My headphone setup includes a Mini connected to a Fiio K11 (non R2R version) via optical cable. Works great and can be placed anywhere in a room near a mains power source.

Edit: Forget the Walkman. All you really need to steam to wired headphones is a dongle dac and your phone.

 

[Mr Ee]

Mini connected to a Fiio K11 (non R2R version) via optical cable

Ditto!
It's really good.

 

[QuarryHunslet]

Hi, my setup is currently a WiiM Pro Plus, with a turntable and cd player connected, and until now I’ve been streaming via Bluetooth to wireless headphones.
I would like to move to wired headphones, and to take Bluetooth out of the equation due to its lossy nature, so am trying to find a device that I can stream to via wifi from the WiiM, that I can connect headphones to. Does anyone know of any (small, it’ll be sitting beside me on a couch) devices that would be suitable? Would a wiim mini + headphone dac work (stream from ProPlus to Mini, and then Mini output connected to dac?).

Or should I just find an old Sony Walkman and use that?

Thank you!

I plug my headphones directly into a WiiM Mini, and they sound excellent, no additional headphone amp needed.

 

[jfbuk]

This may also be of interest. Transmitters and receivers can be purchased individually as well.

Wireless Transmitter Receiver System Avantree Audiplex 2403s

The Avantree Audiplex 2403s wireless transmitter receiver wirelessly streams audio from a musical instrument or other audio sources to multiple speakers.

avantree.com

 

[d6jg]

This may also be of interest. Transmitters and receivers can be purchased individually as well.

Wireless Transmitter Receiver System Avantree Audiplex 2403s

The Avantree Audiplex 2403s wireless transmitter receiver wirelessly streams audio from a musical instrument or other audio sources to multiple speakers.

avantree.com

I think they are intended for musical instruments and therefore NOT stereo. I could be wrong though.

 

[jfbuk]

This is from the website

 

[d6jg]

I can't find any mention that they are stereo - the use cases shown on their web page wouldn't necessarily require stereo e.g. church meeting, conference, outdoor theatre etc and that schematic doesn't prove anything - I say ask the question explicitly first.

EDIT: From their Q&As

 

[kayg]

My headphone setup consists of a Mini connected to a Fiio K11 (not R2R version) via an optical cable. Works great and can be placed anywhere in a room near a mains power source.

Edit: Forget the Walkman. All you really need to stream to wired headphones is a dongle DAC and your phone.

That's right, an old Samsung S8 or s9 sounds good without a DAC, but with an external DAC and the right app it can sound really great.

 

[Scimitar]

Hi, my setup is currently a WiiM Pro Plus, with a turntable and cd player connected, and until now I’ve been streaming via Bluetooth to wireless headphones.
I would like to move to wired headphones, and to take Bluetooth out of the equation due to its lossy nature, so am trying to find a device that I can stream to via wifi from the WiiM, that I can connect headphones to. Does anyone know of any (small, it’ll be sitting beside me on a couch) devices that would be suitable? Would a wiim mini + headphone dac work (stream from ProPlus to Mini, and then Mini output connected to dac?).

Or should I just find an old Sony Walkman and use that?

Thank you!

Hi,

have you heard about the Nubert nuConnect TRX System? It uses the 6GHz band, so it is not disturbed by WiFi-frequencies so far. Nubert used the system mainly to connect their powered boxes to their pre-amps, but there is a small device to connect audio devices with each other. You could just buy two of them, connect them to each other and connect one of them with the Pro Plus, the other one with a headphone amp and you are ready.

By the way, I could not hear any great differences between my Sennheiser Momentum 4 via Bluetooth on a Wiim Pro and my Sennheiser HD600 on a Lehmannaudio Headphone Amp connected to the same source. Maybe it is a better idea to invest in a better bluetooth headphone. ;-)

Warm regards,
Axel.

 

[WiiMer SJ]

Hi,

have you heard about the Nubert nuConnect TRX System? It uses the 6GHz band, so it is not disturbed by WiFi-frequencies so far. Nubert used the system mainly to connect their powered boxes to their pre-amps, but there is a small device to connect audio devices with each other. You could just buy two of them, connect them to each other and connect one of them with the Pro Plus, the other one with a headphone amp and you are ready.

By the way, I could not hear any great differences between my Sennheiser Momentum 4 via Bluetooth on a Wiim Pro and my Sennheiser HD600 on a Lehmannaudio Headphone Amp connected to the same source. Maybe it is a better idea to invest in a better bluetooth headphone. ;-)

Warm regards,
Axel.

Keep in mind that regardless of headphone choice, Wiim bluetooth functionality is limited to AAC and SBC codecs. As far as I know AAC is the only codec Apple supports and SBC is the lowest common denominator for Android.

 

[Deleted member 404]

Use LG phones V30 and V40 with Quad DAC together with neutron and UAPP. Never had such a great wired headphone sound. My favorite Walkmen

 

[d6jg]

What about the Sennheiser RF options? I used to have a pair but the transmitter gave up the ghost after some years of service.

 

[Deleted member 404]

Agreed. Its such a shame LG stopped the phone production. Was happy with my G7 ThinQ and UAPP for years. Thanks heaven there are a lot of USB-C dongles available, but its not the same.

Absolutely, really nice phones and probably the best on the market for music enthusiasts. A real shame...

 

[Scimitar]

Keep in mind that regardless of headphone choice, Wiim bluetooth functionality is limited to AAC and SBC codecs. As far as I know AAC is the only codec Apple supports and SBC is the lowest common denominator for Android.

OK, there is some music where you hear a difference between bluetooth AAC via AptX HD and a good DAC. But not most of the FLAC files with 44kHz, not mp3 and not most of the streaming in normal resolution. I could hear a difference in good jazz records like Chesky Sara K., some classical pieces like Hilary Hahn plays Bach and in some pieces where I know every note by heart like brothers in arms. But is this difference worth the investments?

 

[WiiMer SJ]

OK, there is some music where you hear a difference between bluetooth AAC via AptX HD and a good DAC. But not most of the FLAC files with 44kHz, not mp3 and not most of the streaming in normal resolution. I could hear a difference in good jazz records like Chesky Sara K., some classical pieces like Hilary Hahn plays Bach and in some pieces where I know every note by heart like brothers in arms. But is this difference worth the investments?

What do you consider an investment? There are products available under $100 or $150 US (many for much less) that utilize better codecs than AAC and SBC. APTX and LDAC are not solely the province of high end audio.

 

[jfbuk]

I can't find any mention that they are stereo - the use cases shown on their web page wouldn't necessarily require stereo e.g. church meeting, conference, outdoor theatre etc and that schematic doesn't prove anything - I say ask the question explicitly first.

this has been bothering me so I ran a test

I chose a track (CD rip to FLAC)



with a more obvious stereo separation and used the following playback path:

Wiim Mini accessing a Plex Server (DLNA) => optical out to Avantree Quartet transmitter => using Avantree proprietary 2.4Ghz wireless protocol paired with Avantree Audiplex receiver => analog aux out into Windows PC running Audacity and made a short recording

I applied the following "Nyquist prompt" to a section of the recording

(diff (aref *track* 0) (aref *track* 1))

From my research this is a fairly crude tool to determine with an audio stream is mono or stereo

Before image



After Nyquist prompt applied image



The results appear to confirm stereo transmission over the Avantree wireless link.

The subsequent saved file is uploaded to:

Avantree stereo test | Music by jfbuk | Listen on audio.com

Play Avantree stereo test by jfbuk on audio.com and discover something new. Listen tracks or upload your own audio files for free.

audio.com

If anyone has better audio analytical tools to take a look please do.

It sounds fine to me.

I don't have "golden ears" and am perfectly happy with 16 bit 44.1 khz