Help with 5.1 for a noob

[kickasstrophe]

Hi! First let me say I am not an audio file. I do however. Love 5.1 surround mixes. My current setup only involves a surround soundbar with rear speakers. I also have an Nvidia shield. Using the shield I am able to get 5.1 perfectly using VLC from my NAS or Tidal. I thought it would be really cool to get a streaming device to kind of make it more seamless. The FAQ says it does support 5.1, but there is literally no documentation on how to do so. If I run an HDMI cable from Arc output on the TV to the Wiim, I can't see the picture anymore. Because that's what goes to the soundbar. I have an optical out from the Wiim the to the soundbar. Is what I'm trying to do even possible? Is there any way to get 5.1 surround using the Wiim?

 

[Burnside]

Any 5.1 signal received by your WiiM is downmixed to 2.1 as it’s primarily a stereo streamer. There’s no way it can behave as if it were a multi channel avr.

Post in thread 'WiiM Ultra'
https://forum.wiimhome.com/threads/wiim-ultra.1731/post-52110

 

[Jls]

One of the reasons AVRs exist is to manage sound and video sync

This becomes difficult to impossible if you try to mix 5.1 and 2.1.

Possibly unrelated, but Sonos says it is not possible to mix soundbars with stereo speakers.

 

[Doublej]

I do not understand. Why are you not using the NVIDIA Shield as your streaming device? It supports the Google Play store so with the Shield you should have access to most of the same streams as with a WiiM. What specifically are you trying to stream?

 

[kickasstrophe]

I do not understand. Why are you not using the NVIDIA Shield as your streaming device? It supports the Google Play store so with the Shield you should have access to most of the same streams as with a WiiM. What specifically are you trying to stream?

The Shield does what I want, but I would prefer not to have to stay on the Shield input in order to play music. I was primarily looking for a way to centralize everything in a way that would allow me to have all of my music in one place so it would play 5.1 or 2.1 all from one app on my phone. Also, the Shield doesn't support Amazon surround (I'm pretty sure only Fire sticks do). The Wiim seems to be exactly what I want, it just doesn't have 5.1. If I try to play from my NAS for example, it's just a bunch of noise. I'm not even sure what I want exists.

 

[Jls]

On the bright side, if you find a solution to mixing 2.1 and 5.1, you’ll be a hero.

If you have $1200 to spare, you can get an av preamp.

 

[kickasstrophe]

On the bright side, if you find a solution to mixing 2.1 and 5.1, you’ll be a hero.

It's just odd to me that it doesn't seem to exist. I can play everything through VLC on the shield just fine. The interface is a bit clunky, but it's at least possible. It would just be great to have an "elegant" solution.

 

[Jls]

It's just odd to me that it doesn't seem to exist. I can play everything through VLC on the shield just fine. The interface is a bit clunky, but it's at least possible. It would just be great to have an "elegant" solution.

I’ve seen a reasonably priced HDMI splitter.

It's just odd to me that it doesn't seem to exist. I can play everything through VLC on the shield just fine. The interface is a bit clunky, but it's at least possible. It would just be great to have an "elegant" solution.

here’s a wish list for Wiim:

There’s an unsatisfied niche for a 3.1 or 5.1 preamp at less than a zillion dollars.

Two niches really, but there are millions of hard of hearing people living in the same household as hearing people. We need a dialog channel, but don’t want a soundbar with its compromised audio. We want a good sound system.

There’s also a market for 5.1.

 

[kickasstrophe]

I’ve seen a reasonably priced HDMI splitter.

here’s a wish list for Wiim:

There’s an unsatisfied niche for a 3.1 or 5.1 preamp at less than a zillion dollars.

Two niches really, but there are millions of hard of hearing people living in the same household as hearing people. We need a dialog channel, but don’t want a soundbar with its compromised audio. We want a good sound system.

There’s also a market for 5.1.

Exactly

 

[Doublej]

Going back to the original post, if connecting an HDMI cable from ARC output on the TV to the WiiM causes the TV picture to disappear something is not functioning properly in your setup. ARC is supposed to send the audio from your TV to the WiiM without causing the picture on the TV to disappear.

 

[Bill Mac]

I have an Eversolo DMP-A6 which has an HDMI output and it plays 4.0 and 5.1 multichannel music files when connected to my Emotiva XMC-1 processor. The files are stored on the optional internal 4TB SSD or from a connected 5TB Western Digital hard drive.

DMP-A6 Streamers，Eversolo DMP-A6

DMP-A6 Streamers，Eversolo DMP-A6

www.eversolo.com

 

[s3igell]

I have an Eversolo DMP-A6 which has an HDMI output and it plays 4.0 and 5.1 multichannel music files when connected to my Emotiva XMC-1 processor. The files are stored on the optional internal 4TB SSD or from a connected 5TB Western Digital hard drive.

DMP-A6 Streamers，Eversolo DMP-A6

DMP-A6 Streamers，Eversolo DMP-A6

www.eversolo.com

WiiM Ultra doesn't have HDMI-Out (but I'm sure you knew that...)

 

[DRC]

We need a dialog channel, but don’t want a soundbar with its compromised audio. We want a good sound system.

The Denon Home Amplifier (and presumably the very similar Marantz M1) has a dialog enhancer that boosts the centre channel although I have not tried it.

 

[Bill Mac]

WiiM Ultra doesn't have HDMI-Out (but I'm sure you knew that...)

Yes I knew that. I’m finding that I’m not listening to the HDMI output of the DMP-A6 very often. Nice feature to have but one that isn’t used as much as I thought it would be.