Hello, General Wiim Questions? Looking for guidance..

[RoyHifi]

Hello I'm new to Wiim. I'm a bit of an old school audiophile looking to digitize my CD collection. Perhaps I'll just outright ask some questions and I'd appreciate your thoughts.

-If I rip my CD's on my Mac and store them on a portable hardrive, can that portable hardrive be connected to the Wiim to be played? Is there some kind of playback software on the Wiim that I can control from my iPad?

-If so, should I rip them in AIFF or WAVE? Will the Wiim play AIFF? Because I would also have an iCloud backup as well. I would hate have spent all the time ripping my CD's and loosing the hardrive.

-Can I use the regular Apple Music app to play my ripped CD collection or should I look into Audirvana or some other playback software like that? Or, would I play them through the Wiim App on my iPad? (I do realize Wiim will not work with an Apple Music streaming service, and that's ok).

-I'm using a simple tube preamp-Dac, and tube equalizer to a tube amp. So, I'm thinking of the Pro Plus, because I like the idea of using airplay sometimes for YouTube music etc..

 

[d6jg]

1. You don't say which WiiM you have. The answer to question 1. depends on the type you have. See 4.

2. Rip in FLAC compression level 5. It is the recognised default and will work across system types.

3. If the USB is attached to the WiiM then you would play via the WiiM Home App on your iPad.

4. Pro Plus will not allow storage USB to be attached. You will need an Ultra or an Amp but as you have a Tube amp your choice is limited to Ultra. You Tube Music has just been added to WiiM so lack of Airplay on Ultra isn't a show stopper.

 

[RoyHifi]

Thank's d6jg! Ok, that's good info. The usb storage is a must for me. So, like you say the Pro or Pro Plus is out of the question (no, I've not purchased one yet). And I understand the Youtube option. One more question if I may? Since the Ultra has hdmi, does that mean anything I see on my TV (the sound)will be sent to the Ultra? Or would fibre optic out on my tv to the Ultra do that anyway? It would be for watching YouTube music videos, and perhaps airplay through my tv's airplay, that then would pass the sound-on via hdmi or fibre optic to the Wiim Ultra. Does this make sense?

 

[d6jg]

Thank's d6jg! Ok, that's good info. The usb storage is a must for me. So, like you say the Pro or Pro Plus is out of the question (no, I've not purchased one yet). And I understand the Youtube option. One more question if I may? Since the Ultra has hdmi, does that mean anything I see on my TV (the sound)will be sent to the Ultra? Or would fibre optic out on my tv to the Ultra do that anyway? It would be for watching YouTube music videos, and perhaps airplay through my tv's airplay, that then would pass the sound-on via hdmi or fibre optic to the Wiim Ultra. Does this make sense?

If your TV has ARC (audio return channel) then yes you can use HDMI for audio otherwise Optical will also work. If using HDMI you may need to set TV to send PCM.

 

[RoyHifi]

Ok. Thanks again d6jg! I think this will work out very well.

 

[DazST]

The other advantage of the hdmi connection over optical on the ultra is that you can use the tv remote to control volume on the wiim.
And playback of flac files on a usb device works great on the wiim ultra, with the app also having really good functionality for managing your music library.

 

[Ol Bolt Dan]

If your TV has ARC (audio return channel) then yes you can use HDMI for audio otherwise Optical will also work. If using HDMI you may need to set TV to send PCM.

My tv is an older Bravia, so I don’t think it has ARC?
So…? I’m using a fire stick max for video content into the tv via hdmi.
I was using the headphone/line out to the Wiim amp, but I think the tv’s “preamp??” quit working, so I tried the optical out to the Wiim, and now I get audio, but now the volume has to be adjusted via the Wiim remote. Before, the fire stick remote would handle the volume.

I even bought a hdmi splitter to run the fire stick into the tv and Wiim, but the volume does not seem to come over the hdmi, no matter how I set the audio using the tv menus, either tv speakers or pc audio (only two choices here)
Maybe I have an older hdmi version?

I assume? The PCM you refer to is pc audio?

Also, it seems like the optical volume level is not changeable.

Thought, please!

BTW, I luv, luv, luv my Wiim!!!!
(Wifey won’t let me upgrade the tv, yet… Maybe next year?)

 

[harkpabst]

My tv is an older Bravia, so I don’t think it has ARC?

I would thoroughly check this first.

My TV is 12 years old and was very cheap (it's labelled "Telefunken", once an important German company, but even in 2013 it was just a brand name used by various OEMs) and it already has an HDMI ARC port.

 

[Ol Bolt Dan]

Omg! I’m such an idiot, lol!

Years ago, I just assumed the blu-ray “needed the best port”, ie the first port.
On e I pulled that cable, I see the hdmi/arc…. WTH, YAY!!!

So… I’m thinking the first port will now be considered as an hdmi “out” going to the hdmi “in” on the Wiim.

Then I just reconfigure the other hdmi ports in the input menu of the tv.
Blu-ray, plex pc, firestick tones port locations!

Bada, bing!

Thank you sooooo much!