My sound will improve or not?

[Maurizio53]

I have a question for those who are more knowledgeable than me in the hi-fi field. I have a Wiim Pro along with a Topping E30 II. My amp is an old Onkyo TX DS-474. I ask if you get better sound by combining the two devices or if the Wiim Pro alone is enough to have more than good sound. I mean, with the combined Topping do I improve the sound quality or not?

 

[Mr Ee]

I have a question for those who are more knowledgeable than me in the hi-fi field. I have a Wiim Pro along with a Topping E30 II. My amp is an old Onkyo TX DS-474. I ask if you get better sound by combining the two devices or if the Wiim Pro alone is enough to have more than good sound. I mean, with the combined Topping do I improve the sound quality or not?

The standard, and correct, answer is that only you can decide which you prefer - using the pro's dac or going via the topping.
However... if it's a pro (not a plus) then use the topping .. or is it a usb only dac? In which case you have no choice.

Edit - seems it has both coax and optical inputs.
Try them!

 

[Maurizio53]

The standard, and correct, answer is that only you can decide which you prefer - using the pro's dac or going via the topping.
However... if it's a pro (not a plus) then use the topping .. or is it a usb only dac? In which case you have no choice.

You answered to my question.. i have a pro so i will use the topping (not only a usb only DAC).
BTW i will wait other technical nerd...

 

[Mr Ee]

BTW i will wait other technical nerd

No worries... @Maurizio always agrees with me

 

[Maurizio]

I have a question for those who are more knowledgeable than me in the hi-fi field. I have a Wiim Pro along with a Topping E30 II. My amp is an old Onkyo TX DS-474. I ask if you get better sound by combining the two devices or if the Wiim Pro alone is enough to have more than good sound. I mean, with the combined Topping do I improve the sound quality or not?

@Maurizio53 Go with Topping E30Ii. Anyway @Mr Ee told the right thing.
You are the only one that can judge

 

[Maurizio53]

@Maurizio53 Go with Topping E30Ii. Anyway @Mr Ee told the right thing.
You are the only one that can judge

Ok, thanks, but i was referring only about technical judges... The DAC inside Wiim Pro is better in terms of quality or not than the one in Topping?

 

[FreakyKiwi]

Ok, thanks, but i was referring only about technical judges... The DAC inside Wiim Pro is better in terms of quality or not than the one in Topping?

Your receiver has digital inputs too so you could also connect the Wiim directly to it and bypass the Wiim (and topping) DAC.

As it is a receiver it almost certainly converts the analog input back to digital for further processing in the digital domain (DSP, bass management etc), and then out through its DAC to the amplifier stage.

If it was my system I would bypass any external DAC and unnecessary conversions and feed digital directly in.

 

[wunderkind]

Try the various combo to determine what you like. That's the beauty of separates.

 

[Maurizio]

Ok, thanks, but i was referring only about technical judges... The DAC inside Wiim Pro is better in terms of quality or not than the one in Topping?

Internal DAC of WiiM better than Topping DAC? Absolutely not. WiiM's DAC is far away from Topping.
Of course i'm talking about Pro. Pro + has an AKM DAC, should be better, but i don't have it, so i have not tried it.
Waiting for WiiM Pro Ultra. I'll buy it when it will be on the market. Should have the same AKM DAC with Velvet Sound. Anyway this is not the reason why i'll buy the Ultra. Real reason is the USB audio out that it should have. My DACs have USB audio in and i'm curious to try this connection.

 

[Maurizio53]

Your receiver has digital inputs too so you could also connect the Wiim directly to it and bypass the Wiim (and topping) DAC.

Sorry, i don't understand completely what you mean. I actually have my Wiim Pro connected through optical to the Topping and this through RCA to my ampli. Is it what you mean?

If it was my system I would bypass any external DAC and unnecessary conversions and feed digital directly in.

How?

 

[d6jg]

Sorry, i don't understand completely what you mean. I actually have my Wiim Pro connected through optical to the Topping and this through RCA to my ampli. Is it what you mean?

How?

He means connect the WiiM Pro by optical directly to the Onkyo but he perhaps doesn't realise that the Onkyo is old and that it's DAC chip is probably inferior to that in the Pro let alone the one in the Topping and probably limited to 24/96 if not 24/48.

My advice (in order of preference but 1 and 2 could be reversed).
1. WiiM Pro Optical out -> Optical in on Topping -> RCA in on Onkyo
2. WiiM Pro Coax out -> Coax in on Topping -> RCA in on Onkyo
3. WiiM Pro RCA out -> RCA in on Onkyo
4. WiiM Pro Optical/Coax out -> Optical/Coax in on Onkyo

 

[Maurizio53]

Thanks for the explanation... ok, i will try all those settings.... and then choose which is the best for my ears.

 

[FreakyKiwi]

Sorry, i don't understand completely what you mean. I actually have my Wiim Pro connected through optical to the Topping and this through RCA to my ampli. Is it what you mean?

How?

No, try optical directly from the Wiim to the Onkyo. I can't find any detailed info on the Onkyo DAC but it seems to support 24/96.

 

[Wiimer]

Hi, @Maurizio53.

I don't think your Onkyo receiver has a "direct mode" to avoid DSP. Presumably, all inputs of the receiver will use the built-in DAC.

For this reason, as @FreakyKiwi said, you have the advantage of being able to avoid the ADC by using the digital input of the receiver. However, as @d6jg said, the receiver's DAC is old, so I can't really tell which one has better sound quality.

In any case, enjoy all the connection methods.

 

[FreakyKiwi]

I don't think your Onkyo receiver has a "direct mode" to avoid DSP. Presumably, all inputs of the receiver will use the built-in DAC.

Exactly.
I don't think you can avoid the receivers DAC as it will probably be an audio path through the receiver like this
RCA - ADC - DSP - DAC - Amp - Speaker
even when using an external DAC.

You can avoid this, and the redundant Wiim or Topping DAC stage, by going direct digital from the Wiim to the receiver.
Wiim: digital out
Receiver: digital in - DSP - DAC - Amp - Speaker

Maybe the Topping DAC will add some magic and the receiver's analog audio path will be transparent, you can only try it out and see.

 

[d6jg]

As the owner of 2 similar but newer Onkyo’s I don’t think that is correct. Both of mine have direct mode which bypasses the DSP. They also both have “Pure Direct” which switches off the video circuits for improved SQ.
The older is an TX-SR606 I think

 

[FreakyKiwi]

As the owner of 2 similar but newer Onkyo’s I don’t think that is correct. Both of mine have direct mode which bypasses the DSP. They also both have “Pure Direct” which switches off the video circuits for improved SQ.
The older is an TX-SR606 I think

Direct mode may bypass the DSP (i.e. no eq, no bass management, no timing adjustment) but do you really think it it bypasses the digital audio path (ADC and DAC)?
I can't believe the design is complex enough to allow switching to a direct analog path.

"Pure direct" is a different thing altogether.

 

[Wiimer]

As the owner of 2 similar but newer Onkyo’s I don’t think that is correct. Both of mine have direct mode which bypasses the DSP. They also both have “Pure Direct” which switches off the video circuits for improved SQ.
The older is an TX-SR606 I think

I read the manual for TX DS-474 but I couldn't find the direct mode. Am I missing something?

ONKYO TX-DS474 RECEIVER INSTRUCTION MANUAL

View and Download Onkyo TX-DS474 instruction manual online. Audio Video Control Receiver. TX-DS474 receiver pdf manual download.

www.manualslib.com

 

[FreakyKiwi]

I read the manual for TX DS-474 but I couldn't find the direct mode. Am I missing something?

Nothing useful, unless you have perfectly tuned speakers, good room treatment, or an external DSP.