Ever had your Wiim turn on & then off with a huge BANG?

[guy48065]

I'm not a fan of the way a Wiim will turn on by itself, check for updates or whatever, then go back to sleep.
Just now mine did that 2X in quick succession. Problem is my 250wpc amp is connected to turn on remotely and since it didn't have time for the power supplies to bleed off from the first power cycle, the 2nd time produced a LOUD crack like a gunshot.

When I composed myself I turned on the system to make sure my tweeters weren't shot.
Everything is ok but I want to know if i can disable this behavior?
I don't mind the Wiim doing it's thing but it's stupid that this also activates the remote amp.

 

[Wiimer]

I'm not a fan of the way a Wiim will turn on by itself, check for updates or whatever, then go back to sleep.
Just now mine did that 2X in quick succession. Problem is my 250wpc amp is connected to turn on remotely and since it didn't have time for the power supplies to bleed off from the first power cycle, the 2nd time produced a LOUD crack like a gunshot.

When I composed myself I turned on the system to make sure my tweeters weren't shot.
Everything is ok but I want to know if i can disable this behavior?
I don't mind the Wiim doing it's thing but it's stupid that this also activates the remote amp.

I have never heard a gunshot. Can you reproduce the issue by continuously rebooting the Ultra with the amplifier volume turned down?

 

[guy48065]

It never occurred to me to try.
Honestly I would expect a deep "whump" from dc offset (Adcom amp is completely dc-coupled). The gunshot "snap" I heard was more like turning a preamp on or off with the amp still powered. Which is pretty much what is happening.

I've done that in years past and blown speaker fuses as a result of my absent-minded mistake. No such fuses in my current system (Wiim Ultra, Geek Pulse Infinity dac, Adcom 5800, Thiel CS7). No muting relays either. I'm concerned my sources are full digital with no traditional volume control or muting, feeding into a high-current dc-coupled amp. No safeties at all other than supply rail fuses in the amp. The potential of some digital glitch sending a full 2V signal to the amp is always lurking... And now I've experienced it.

 

[guy48065]

And last night after I'd gone to bed it did it again in the empty living room.
I'm surprised this is only happening to me. The BANG, that is. I've seen others complain about the excessive insomnia of the Wiim.

 

[goodmore]

That doesn't sound normal at all. WiiM should help you out.

 

[harkpabst]

The BANGing problem appears to be related to the power amp.

 

[guy48065]

The BANGing problem appears to be related to the power amp.

The amp is simply amplifying what it's sent. It's acting normal.

This BANG is a new issue since I installed a DAC after the Wiim. That DAC is always on and Lord knows what digital signal the Wiim is sending it when it wakes up for just a second, then goes back to sleep. Even THAT hasn't been an issue 99.9% of the time. It's this rare instance when the Wiim cycles 2X in quick succession when hell breaks loose.

Why would it need to do that?
Why does it "need" to turn on/off several times every day? This has been asked here before but Wiim hasn't answered.
And my question: Does the remote trigger HAVE TO come on when the Wiim does it's frequent network peeks?

I'm considering adding a 10-second delay on the trigger line. I think I can accept the minor inconvenience of waiting a few extra seconds vs. the huge inconvenience of repairing speakers from a company that's been out of business for years.

 

[Burnside]

None of my WiiM devices turn on/off several times a day that I’ve ever noticed, nor am I aware of “frequent networks peeks” that turn on the trigger. Time to submit a ticket to WiiM I think

 

[guy48065]

None of my WiiM devices turn on/off several times a day that I’ve ever noticed, nor am I aware of “frequent networks peeks” that turn on the trigger. Time to submit a ticket to WiiM I think

Submitted a ticket.
Described it's activity in detail.
Their suggestion is that I disable auto-sense on all inputs in case external connected devices might be waking up my Ultra.

It's unacceptable that I disable major features to keep Wiim from waking up several times per day.

How about Wiim ignore network activity when in standby, or off?
How about Wiim NOT activate the remote amp trigger when it's in standby?

 

[harkpabst]

How about Wiim NOT activate the remote amp trigger when it's in standby?

With auto-sense not disabled, how do you expect the device to distinguish between an external source waking it up from stand by on purpose or in error?

 

[Wiimer]

Submitted a ticket.
Described it's activity in detail.
Their suggestion is that I disable auto-sense on all inputs in case external connected devices might be waking up my Ultra.

It's unacceptable that I disable major features to keep Wiim from waking up several times per day.

How about Wiim ignore network activity when in standby, or off?
How about Wiim NOT activate the remote amp trigger when it's in standby?

Would removed the DAC from your system cause issues?

 

[sNc]

It happens for me from time to time when amp - V3 Mono is already turned ON, the output is USB to DAC, and I change on DAC input to USB from something else. On that moment I hear "gunshot". But rearly

 

[guy48065]

It happens for me from time to time when amp - V3 Mono is already turned ON, the output is USB to DAC, and I change on DAC input to USB from something else. On that moment I hear "gunshot". But rearly

I have a friend that has experienced the huge transient as well. He powered up his amp to warm it up before a listening session. Then went to make a sandwich. The amp and DAC were the only things on when he heard POW from the listening room. His Ultra apparently woke itself up and sent who-knows-what to the DAC before returning to standby.

 

[guy48065]

Would removed the DAC from your system cause issues?

Can you explain?

 

[slartibartfast]

Can you explain?

You said it was a new issue after adding the DAC. Does that mean if the DAC is removed then the issue disappears?

 

[Wiimer]

You said it was a new issue after adding the DAC. Does that mean if the DAC is removed then the issue disappears?

I appreciate for interpreting

 

[guy48065]

PART of the problem goes away. The unnecessary Wiim power-cycling remains. The trigger still turns on my amp each time the Wiim wakes itself up. The tweeter-threatening POP probably stops.

I'm assuming the Wiim analog-out is muted during these wakeups. The Geek DAC doesn't have this feature.

 

[guy48065]

I'm getting more convinced my Ultra is defective.
This 'gunshot' anomaly is happening more frequently, and under more common circumstances.

Recently it POPped when the Wiim woke up from OFF.
Earlier today my wife was watching tv (sound playing thru the Ultra) and it POPped. I wasn't near.
AND just a few minutes ago my wife was watching tv and I was next to her on the couch. POP it went again. Amp peak LEDs light up (250wpc!), sound stops. I look at the Ultra & see it's screen shows a source change. App wasn't running, remote was untouched.

Unless Wiim commanded a source change from the mother ship I have no explanation for why it would do this.
I reported it to Wiim, stating the date & time in case they wish to view the log.

Is the log something I can view in the app?

 

[Burnside]

Is the log something I can view in the app?

Not directly, but if you’re on iOS and have a third party tool that can extract files from a backup, or if you delve deep enough into the system folders on an Android phone, you might be able to extract the logs. Whether they have any tracing information that an end user could understand without reference to the app source code is another matter…

 

[robtw62]

The gunshot "snap" I heard was more like turning a preamp on or off with the amp still powered. Which is pretty much what is happening.

I've done that in years past and blown speaker fuses as a result of my absent-minded mistake. No such fuses in my current system (Wiim Ultra, Geek Pulse Infinity dac, Adcom 5800, Thiel CS7). No muting relays either. I'm concerned my sources are full digital with no traditional volume control or muting, feeding into a high-current dc-coupled amp. No safeties at all other than supply rail fuses in the amp. The potential of some digital glitch sending a full 2V signal to the amp is always lurking... And now I've experienced it.

I read this with interest as I suspect something like that described here may have happened ito me.

I've got:
2 x NAD 218 THX amps running in mono mode capable of delivering 700w RMS per channel @ 8 ohms;
Schiit Kara preamp with volume always at 100%:
Schiit Bifrost 2/64 NOS DAC connected via USB to:
Wiim Ultra (set to 2 vrms line out level) with sub-out crossover @ 90hz and connected to;
2 x Speed woofer 12S.

Except for the RCA connection from Wiim Ultra to subs and the USB connection to DAC all connectors are XLR (balanced).

The Wiim Ultra 12v trigger turns all components other than the subs on and off.

This system only has sufficient gain to deliver 684w RMS per channel @ 8 ohms at Wiim max volume and at Wiim max volume I've never seen its VU meter screen exceed -3db as all Pre-gain settings are set to -10db, so no digital clipping there either.

I turned on the system using the Wiim app to find I had lost my right channel: the right channel NAD had blown its final slow burn fuse and the right Yamaha NS-1000m woofer was blown: Queensland Speaker Repairs (QSR) found that "voice coil in the woofer is severely burnt" on inspection.

Now I didn't hear anything unusual:
- the system was working well one day when I paused the Wiim Ultra and it would have turned everything off 5 minutes later. I do recall I left home immediately, so I wasn't at home when it switched off; and
- the next time I switched on I had lost my right channel.

But reading this, whatever happened may have happened when I wasn't at home at the time.

It hasn't escaped me that the Schiit Kara preamp has its power button at the rear - it is recommended that it stay on 24/7 - maybe I should disconnect that from being controlled by the Wiim's 12v trigger.

Fortunately replacing the fuse on the NAD amp has fixed that.

I've also got a spare new woofer I bought over 25 years ago from Yamaha when they still stocked spares for the NS-1000m. I don't quite trust using that new woofer yet, all things considered, so I'm getting the damaged woofer repaired by QSR.