My Ultra tests

Ok - thats good ! Meaning that the pro+ and pro is as good as the Ultra with the digital volumeregulation used as a digital preamp through spdif to a dac.

The analog outputs from Pro+ and Ultra was like this ( your measurements ) :

View attachment 9166

This shows a better results with the WiiM ultra than the WiiM pro+ between 10-26000 Hz . A couple of dB better on average.
Now I wonder If those 50 and 100 Hz spikes in the WiiM ultra are coming from using ne5532 on the output with 100 dB CMRR ?
A couple of opa1612 or lm4562 would have been 20 dB more unsensitive for those spikes.

Anyway, this is a very good measurement result.
with lpf onlyoneme,no ?
 
If you have both ess and akm have them blind folded you and see if you can hear difference. Decay of each songs is one my hint how I tell between songs and which chipset being played. When you been playing same song since childhood you would know if there were changes in how the music was presented. I hope you won’t be breathing down on my neck and criticize me from what I’m saying. Peace brother Steve!


Peace mate.

Just checking that you were aware of the ESS hump. Many DACs with an ESS chip have it, some don't.

Best wishes. Falling out gives me the hump.

 
I agree with your sentiment but what I’m saying is based on what I hear. I’m not saying my ear is measuring device because it is not. But having no error on blindfolded test prove someone can tell difference. How do you explain with zero error that I went in and out the room blindfolded and being sent back to listen and the guy ask me which chipset as much as 50 times? I’m with you I only go with measurements.
I prefer to avoid comments on listening impressions regardless of the results, when different devices are involved. There are too many factors which may affect results, and deep details are usually not provided.
 

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Peace mate.

Just checking that you were aware of the ESS hump. Many DACs with an ESS chip have it, some don't.

Best wishes. Falling out gives me the hump.

Does smsl do200 mkii has hump? Does smsl do400 has hump? Does smsl su 9pro has hump? All the dac I have used are from smsl 3 with ess and 3 with akm. All their own measurements shows really good numbers.
 
Not sure. Here's what it does to the Topping DX7 vs DX7s:


Topping DX7s DAC Intermodulation Distortion Measurements.png

The annoying thing is, some manufacturers appear to have 'fixed' it (the hump appears to be inherent to the ESS chip), whilst others don't.

Indeed, sometimes they've fixed it for some models but not for others.
 
Not sure. Here's what it does to the Topping DX7 vs DX7s:


View attachment 9173

The annoying thing is, some manufacturers appear to have 'fixed' it (the hump appears to be inherent to the ESS chip), whilst others don't.

Indeed, sometimes they've fixed it for some models but not for others.
The WiiM ultra has a ess hump according to onlyoneme . With a LPF it dissapears, according to onlyoneme.
Question is - If a unit has that ”hump” , is it audible ? It sure is measurable .
 
The WiiM ultra has a ess hump according to onlyoneme . With a LPF it dissapears, according to onlyoneme.
Question is - If a unit has that ”hump” , is it audible ? It sure is measurable .
All these numbers presented by measurements are good but if it’s not audible beyond human hearing then it won’t matter. In paper, having .0005 thd plus noise vs .00005 thd plus noise would give later a better answer.
 
Completely unverified and unverifiable.

Not to mention that, it of 79 testers, the three systems scored 19/31/29. The split between high end and Apple dongle was 31/29. That’s random.
Returning to this I downloaded the test files and extracted the same piece of music from each one and fed them into Deltawave software. I compared C to A and B. The results FWIW suggest C and B are a lot closer to each other than A.
CA1.jpg
CA2.jpg

CB1.jpg
CB2.jpg
 
Many of us here watch Randy, Erin, darko and Andrew which based on subjective. I listen to their comments how it was sound then I buy it to see to myself how it was sound. After that, packed and return it.
 
The WiiM ultra has a ess hump according to onlyoneme . With a LPF it dissapears, according to onlyoneme.
Question is - If a unit has that ”hump” , is it audible ? It sure is measurable .
no, not that's the subject (for the moment and will be practically nothing compared to the power supply problem)
 
Returning to this I downloaded the test files and extracted the same piece of music from each one and fed them into Deltawave software. I compared C to A and B. The results FWIW suggest C and B are a lot closer to each other than A.
View attachment 9176
View attachment 9177

View attachment 9178
View attachment 9179
How much closer ? How big is the difference ? Is it -60 or -80 dB or -100 dB between A and the others ?
How big is the difference between B and C ?
 
How much closer ? How big is the difference ? Is it -60 or -80 dB or -100 dB between A and the others ?
How big is the difference between B and C ?
I was hoping you wouldn't ask that 🤣. According to the software author the PK Metric figure gives an indication of whether the difference is audible. You can see the PK Metric is fairly consistent over the full length of the track when C is compared to B but is all over the place when C is compared to A.
 
The WiiM ultra has a ess hump according to onlyoneme . With a LPF it dissapears, according to onlyoneme.
Question is - If a unit has that ”hump” , is it audible ? It sure is measurable .

Once again, if it’s audible it’s measurable, but that doesn’t mean that if it’s measurable it’s audible.
 
Once again, if it’s audible it’s measurable, but that doesn’t mean that if it’s measurable it’s audible.

In practice even if we accept that no other thresholds exist besides the ones proposed by a forum member on asr ( highly debatable ) no dac is reaching the suggested certain transparency .

Moreover the less “transparent “ an amplifier the more it needs help from a clean signal feed . Since the more unmolested signal it receives the cleaner its output will be.

So, the state of transparency has not being reached by dacs and amps benefit from the cleanest signal possible
 
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1 - In practice even if we accept that no other thresholds exist besides the ones proposed by a forum member on asr ( highly debatable )

That’s a strawman. They’re not ‘proposed by a forum member on ASR. What they are is a list of measurable criteria which have been identified in audio science as having an affect on human perception of sound. They also happen to be the criteria that hi-fi manufacturers have been striving to improve for years.

If you feel there are other criteria, that’s great. Let us know what they are, and they can be tested in properly controlled tests.

no dac is reaching the suggested certain transparency .

That’s not true, and a few examples have already been given.

There is one more thing. We already know that many people struggle to tell DACs apart, even one one is measurably world class, and the other ‘workmanlike’, and not measuring brilliantly.

As I say, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying, if you’re right, take your proof to the audio scientists and engineers.

Who could possibly say I’m being unfair.
 
Ok here’s facts about dac from entry level to their top end the sinad, thd are about 3db difference in measurements in sinad 123db vs 120 and frequency response ruler flat and thd is .005 vs .0005. Obviously, the top end will get better paper specs but the price difference could tripled. Will the better specs would yield better sound if those are beyond human hearing? They have excuse to sell them tripled because of better specs but the buyer buying them would think could hear difference other than robbing their hard earn cash. Like most casual listeners could not hear difference let alone sell them top end. These people who claim they could hear difference between akm and ess like reviewers from you tube are not smart?
 
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