Connection preference...

[Tenacious_Ste]

Looking for some general advice about best way to hook the Ultra (when it arrives) up to my hifi setup...
I have a Marantz PM6006 amp and B&W speakers. The amp has digital (optical and coax) and analogue inputs.
To achieve the best overall sound quality, which of the following options would everyone recommend...
1) Digital out (optical or coax?) on the Ultra and rely on the DAC in the amp
2) Analogue out on the Ultra (relying on the onboard DAC)?
3) some other method that I haven't thought of...
4) It doesn't really make much difference how it's done

 

[Brantome]

As in all questions of this nature, my response is try the options and decide for yourself - your kit, speakers, room acoustics, preferences, ears and brain are different to everyone else’s, so the opinion of a random stranger on the internet isn’t really of much value

 

[Tenacious_Ste]

As in all questions of this nature, my response is try the options and decide for yourself - your kit, speakers, room acoustics, preferences, ears and brain are different to everyone else’s, so the opinion of a random stranger on the internet isn’t really of much value

I'll assume that you're not trying to be condescending and phrase my question differently...
Are there any technical reasons why one connection setup might be better than the other?
There are clearly some very knowledgeable people on this forum (including WiiM themselves) and in my noob innocence I was simply asking for an opinion from one of them...
For example, a few years ago I noticed that the AV Receiver in my home cinema setup wasn't decoding Dolby Digital Plus, despite the fact that all of the connected devices and the media being played, should have been capable of it.
A quick question on an AV forum and 10 minutes later I discovered that the way I'd connected my Bluray Player to the amp wasn't actually capable of delivering the DD+ information. Ten minutes after that it was sorted.
I could probably have found the answer somewhere in the manual, but I'm a typical bloke and dont bother with those things

 

[pieterv1]

One technical reason to use COAX/optical is the fact that you're keeping your audio in the digital realm until it enters the amplifier & your amp's built-in DAC is better integrated with the rest of the circuitry. Possibly it might give you a better signal/noise ratio.

 

[Brantome]

I'll assume that you're not trying to be condescending and phrase my question differently...
Are there any technical reasons why one connection setup might be better than the other?
There are clearly some very knowledgeable people on this forum (including WiiM themselves) and in my noob innocence I was simply asking for an opinion from one of them...
For example, a few years ago I noticed that the AV Receiver in my home cinema setup wasn't decoding Dolby Digital Plus, despite the fact that all of the connected devices and the media being played, should have been capable of it.
A quick question on an AV forum and 10 minutes later I discovered that the way I'd connected my Bluray Player to the amp wasn't actually capable of delivering the DD+ information. Ten minutes after that it was sorted.
I could probably have found the answer somewhere in the manual, but I'm a typical bloke and dont bother with those things

Of course I’m not trying to be condescending, and apologies if you took it that way.
I can’t tell whether you would prefer the sound of the DAC in your Marantz by using the digital outputs from the WiiM thereby bypassing the WiiM’s DAC, or if you’d prefer the results using the WiiM’s DAC and its analog outs into the amp. Only you can say. As for coax or optical, in my experience they sound the same as both are delivering the same bit perfect signal to the amp.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

Looking for some general advice about best way to hook the Ultra (when it arrives) up to my hifi setup...
I have a Marantz PM6006 amp and B&W speakers. The amp has digital (optical and coax) and analogue inputs.
To achieve the best overall sound quality, which of the following options would everyone recommend...
1) Digital out (optical or coax?) on the Ultra and rely on the DAC in the amp
2) Analogue out on the Ultra (relying on the onboard DAC)?
3) some other method that I haven't thought of...
4) It doesn't really make much difference how it's done

I’ll stick my neck out.

At the moment we don’t know 100% how well the Ultra will measure, but there’s every chance it’ll be transparent.

In that case, I’d definitely use an analogue input, and the Marantz’s ‘Source Direct’ mode.

Marantz are famed for ‘tuning’ their kit for a more ‘audiophile’ listening experience, which invariably means distorting the original signal.

Whatever, if the Ultra is indeed transparent, the Marantz definitely can’t make it better, only worse.

 

[Mr Ee]

You really will have to try it for yourself!
I used to have a bluesound node n130 into a PM6006. I prefered optical out into the Marantz over using the node's dac and analog to the Marantz.
As you can see in my signature, I now have that 6006 being fed an analog signal by an smsl dac, and I prefer that over the pro digital into the 6006.

And I'll stick my neck out here just a tad too - I think the analog cables can make a difference.
I'm not suggesting spending a fortune or that more expensive means better, but in my opinion / experience some cables can "restrict" the enjoyment.

Edit: to be clear, I'm not wanting to start a cable debate.
Personally, I didn't like what the wiim pro supplied analog cables did to my system, and changing them for something else greatly improved the sound. Again, stressing this is my truth
And, of course, I've no idea if the ultra supplied cables would be 'different' to the pro ones.
I'm just trying to suggest that if you do try wiim analog out into the Marantz then you try a couple of different interconnects to give it a fair shout.
And again, my opinion, but I didn't find different digital cables to make any noticable difference in my setups.

 

[Mr Ee]

And another thought...

You asked about optical vs coax.
Well, the wiims come with an optical lead

But slightly more seriously, I haven't actually tried optical vs coax into the 6006. Only ever used optical.
It's quite possible that one could be 'better' than the other. And quite possible there's really no difference at all.

Into my Hegel amp/dac I did try this, and couldn't tell optical/coax apart. So why do i use coax for the Hegel and optical for everything else?
Purely for convenience - on the Hegel, coax is one input away from analog. One input + - button press. One click on the selection knob.

Have fun experimenting.