Meet WiiM Ultra - The Digital Hub for Your Music

[pewe]

This is totally nonsense and shows a lack of experience, with all respect my most likely young friend

I said it's better "technically"...a Hypex Ncore simply measures much better than most other amplifiers. SINAD, distorsion etc. That doesn't mean it sounds better though. BTW I'm 57 years old

 

[Achim1811]

Ok, but thats young compared to me
Your statement was a little bit too absolute in my eyes. But I was quite sure the word "measures" will appear earlier or later. But no harm meant!

 

[Yoku-San]

You could also think about getting an AIYIMA A70. Quite complete and non-expensive Class D amp package (one of the first load-independent cheap class D stereo amps on the market).

It will have less power than the Ncore amp. So it depends on how big your room is and how sensitive your speakers are. With 85 dB sensitivity of the ELAC BS283 you might need some power to play really loud.

Here is Eric's review of the AIYIMA A70:

 

[slartibartfast]

I said it's better "technically"...a Hypex Ncore simply measures much better than most other amplifiers. SINAD, distorsion etc. That doesn't mean it sounds better though. BTW I'm 57 years old

That is young

 

[Jls]

At my age, any old Fosi will do.

 

[Smartplug]

I said it's better "technically"...a Hypex Ncore simply measures much better than most other amplifiers. SINAD, distorsion etc. That doesn't mean it sounds better though. BTW I'm 57 years old

Surely as we age our hearing get out of whack. Look like you’re close to retire soon.

 

[gvera]

Hi everybody, new in this forum.
I'm planning to get the Ultra and was reading the FAQs at Wiim support pages.
I found there that DSD is not currently supported and that WiiM is working on converting DSD to PCM for playback.
Given the Sabre chip supports native DSD, I was wondering why that conversion is necessary and also why DSD (native or DoP) is not supported on the USB output.
I'm using Roon with Tidal and my local library which has quite a few DSD albums.

 

[Mike in NY]

Given the Sabre chip supports native DSD, I was wondering why that conversion is necessary and also why DSD (native or DoP) is not supported on the USB output.

Use of the onboard DAC would entail analog output, not USB. While that onboard DAC does technically support DSD, the WiiM firmware does not.

I imagine this unit would pass through .dsf files on its USB output to a compatible external DAC, but since it hasn't yet been released we'll just have to wait and see if thats the case, and that might be limited to a certain mode of operation such as Squeezelite, Roon, or UPnP.

 

[Jls]

Looking at other threads, it seems like WIIM already plays DSD via transcoding. It also looks like DSD is not compatible with DSP, so it is unlikely the transcoding will ever go away.

 

[gvera]

Use of the onboard DAC would entail analog output, not USB. While that onboard DAC does technically support DSD, the WiiM firmware does not.

I imagine this unit would pass through .dsf files on its USB output to a compatible external DAC, but since it hasn't yet been released we'll just have to wait and see if thats the case, and that might be limited to a certain mode of operation such as Squeezelite, Roon, or UPnP.

Thanks for your answer.
I understand using the DAC would mean analog output, they were two different questions, sorry I wasn't clear enough.
Will wait to final release and see what's supported.

 

[gvera]

Looking at other threads, it seems like WIIM already plays DSD via transcoding. It also looks like DSD is not compatible with DSP, so it is unlikely the transcoding will ever go away.

I understand the transcoding is needed for DSP, but it would be nice if a 'Direct' DSD pass through mode was included.

 

[s3igell]

Looking at other threads, it seems like WIIM already plays DSD via transcoding. It also looks like DSD is not compatible with DSP, so it is unlikely the transcoding will ever go away.

Where have you found any "Official" Reference to DSD Support other than reference to the Roadmap and DSD Transcoding to PCM?? Or via "External" Servers / Services such as LMS / Squeezelite / Roon??

 

[Jls]

Where have you found any "Official" Reference to DSD Support other than reference to the Roadmap and DSD Transcoding to PCM?? Or via "External" Servers / Services such as LMS / Squeezelite / Roon??

I found lots of references, but they are references to wish lists.

Some years ago I was following news about Parasound. They cancelled development on what was to be a flagship product because they couldn’t get the software/firmware right.

I think about that when I read these threads about things WiiM is working on but hasn’t delivered.

My personal thought is that Wiim people are expecting a $7000 product delivered in a $300 bag. It’s just software, so it might eventually happen, but then I think about Sonos.

Is everyone trying to get their software done by AI?

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

I’d question the apparently automatic belief that DSD is ‘better’ than traditional digital.

 

[slartibartfast]

I’d question the apparently automatic belief that DSD is ‘better’ than traditional digital.

They generally use different masters to make it "better"

 

[Jls]

I’d question the apparently automatic belief that DSD is ‘better’ than traditional digital.

I’d question whether any commercially produced music has any content that won’t fit on a CD without loss.

Assuming it’s not true multi-channel.

But if you have files in a format that isn’t supported, that’s unpleasant. I have hundreds of movies in ISO format, but hardware players don’t support the format.

 

[Jls]

They generally use different masters to make it "better"

I suspect mastering is what makes formats sound different. Especially vinyl.

 

[slartibartfast]

I suspect mastering is what makes formats sound different. Especially vinyl.

Indeed. If they used the same masters for CD, Hi Res and DSD the Emperor's New Clothes would be exposed

 

[Achim1811]

Indeed. If they used the same masters for CD, Hi Res and DSD the Emperor's New Clothes would be exposed

But its still the Emperor! And the higher prices earns the best mastering! I invite everyone to listen to my middle class analog equipment in Düsseldorf. We can compare with (nearly) all formats with decent gear

 

[Mike in NY]

Looking at other threads, it seems like WIIM already plays DSD via transcoding. It also looks like DSD is not compatible with DSP, so it is unlikely the transcoding will ever go away.

The point was the WiiM device itself does not yet have the ability to transcode DSD to PCM, it has to happen on the server side prior to the WiiM endpoint receiving the data stream.
LMS definitely does that as does Roon, and I'd imagine most good DLNA/UPnP servers as well, so there isn't any great need for an endpoint like a WiiM device to have that capability, but it was nonetheless requested by end users and has been on the road map for almost 2 years now.