new small adc ...

[harkpabst]

Yes, that's a nice little device, but I'd like to avoid any domain conversion in the signal path from phono preamp out to power amp in - while still enjoying the benefits of the WiiM Pro (namely, ability to select from among several inputs (all digital, of course, including Internet music services).

If you want to keep the phono signal in the analogue domain (for whatever philosophical reasons), then no ADC on this planet can ever be the solution, for obvious reasons (ADC = analogue to digital converter).

Just discovered this ADC from MiniDSP: https://www.minidsp.com/products/usb-audio-interface/adept for $299. Built-in phono preamp! Very tempting!

This explicitly includes the ADept, of course.

Too bad (1) I already have an excellent phono preamp, and (2) want to stay in the analog domain. My apologies if this device has already been discussed in this thread.

You must either give up at least the second prerequisite or this thread is not for you.

 

[xgrep5]

OK, I see that the ADept has been discussed in this thread. Definitely a very good product (reviews around the Internet seem to agree).

So I have one more device to mention, which is a pro ADC that I currently own, and which has way more bells and whistles than anyone here wants or needs: the Radio Design Labs (RDL) HR-ADC1 (https://rdlnet.com/product/hr-adc1/). At the moment, You can find it on Amazon at https://a.co/d/irwKspS for just under $1,000. I got one on eBay for $250, which is a very good price, but I don't think anyone here is looking for this kind of equipment. It's not exactly user-friendly unless you're an audio engineer (I'm not), and is totally unnecessary for anything you'd want the PocketADC for.

I got it a year ago to digitize my record collection (about 3,000 vinyl discs in very good to excellent condition). As you surely know, it's not like ripping a CD at 24x playback speed, you have to do it in real time. So if you've guessed that I haven't finished after a year, you'd be correct. I'd like to say that it's a labor of love, but the love wore off a while ago and it's now just a chore to be done when time and mood permit.

So you can see that I have a large commitment to vinyl (and vacuum tubes), and an interest (for this particular passion) of doing everything in the analog domain. The WiiM Pro is a wonderful product at a spectacular price, and I commend anyone who has bought one and enjoys what it can do. It just doesn't currently have a pure-analog signal path for people like me. But I have no intention of getting rid of it.

 

[harkpabst]

So I have one more device to mention, which is a pro ADC that I currently own, and which has way more bells and whistles than anyone here wants or needs: the Radio Design Labs (RDL) HR-ADC1 (https://rdlnet.com/product/hr-adc1/). At the moment, You can find it on Amazon at https://a.co/d/irwKspS for just under $1,000. I got one on eBay for $250, which is a very good price, but I don't think anyone here is looking for this kind of equipment. It's not exactly user-friendly unless you're an audio engineer (I'm not), and is totally unnecessary for anything you'd want the PocketADC for.

I got it a year ago to digitize my record collection (about 3,000 vinyl discs in very good to excellent condition). As you surely know, it's not like ripping a CD at 24x playback speed, you have to do it in real time. So if you've guessed that I haven't finished after a year, you'd be correct. I'd like to say that it's a labor of love, but the love wore off a while ago and it's now just a chore to be done when time and mood permit.

Digitising your records is quite a different task from listening to records in your living room, even if both take place in real time.

If you want room correction and/or flexible EQ for other purposes, then there's no alternative to digital signal processing. If you are after after a theoretical "pure" approach (playing some LPs made from digital recordings) then you'll always need a way around any WiiM streamer.

 

[xgrep5]

Very good points. Yes, there are times when the mood calls for pure analog and others when room correction is greatly appreciated (the WiiM Pro does a very good job of this!). If I had the $$$$$ to build a wonderful listening room that was designed so as to not need correction (and speakers up to the task), well that would be nirvana. But in the meantime, there are compromises to be tolerated (budget being the biggest constraint).

 

[Valentino]

I have an ADept and I don't care... My 4-way speaker system was ready in 2009 and it's always been digital in.
Here's my take:

1. If you have a Luxman EQ-500 or some other beauty you want to keep get a pocketADC, set the switches to 96 kHz and enjoy transparent AD conversion for your WiiM device.
2. If you don't love your phono amp that much sell it and buy an ADept. On top of being an exellent phono amp with opt and coax digital outputs it's also an transparent receiver and AD converter for the analog signals from your SACD player, and it lets you do archiving to PC or Mac wity it's USB output.
3. Use theWiim Device as a streamer only and get an analog preamp to die for, like this one for example:

 

[Kefa]

I have a Teac PD-301-x FM tuner with excellent sound but only an analog RCA output from the FM Radio. So, to have its sound in my HiFi audio system, I added PocketADC into the chain, which looks like this now: Analog FM signal from Teac PD-301-X → PocketADC → SPDIF → Topping E70 Velvet (DAC) → Topping B200 (amplifier) → Dynaudio Emit 20 speakers. PocketADC is completly transparent, and now I can enjoy excellent FM Radio quality from my nice Teac tuner.
I selected 48 kHz as the sampling rate because the source signal is analog FM radio, which has a limited frequency range—typically up to around 15 kHz. A 48 kHz sampling rate comfortably captures the full audio bandwidth of FM broadcasts without unnecessary overhead. I did not see any heat from pocketADC. Also, I use a linear power supply, Keces P6, which also powers my Teac FM Radio component.

 

[harkpabst]

Analog FM signal from Teac PD-301-X → PocketADC → SPDIF → Topping E70 Velvet (DAC) → Topping B200 (amplifier) → Dynaudio Emit 20 speakers.

Why no simple analogue preamp providing the volume control in this use case?

 

[Valentino]

The PocketADC makes it possible to integrate an analog source to this digital input hifi system. The DAC is the system preamp.

 

[harkpabst]

Fair enough. But since no other sources have been mentioned, the question remains. If there are additional digital sources, then this is a very much a valid approach.

However, the quality of FM radio has suffered so much (mainly on purpose) at least where I live that I wouldn't even want to connect a Klein+Hummel tuner to my digital system. Even lowly DAB+ sounds better than FM here.

 

[canard]

Fair enough. But since no other sources have been mentioned, the question remains. If there are additional digital sources, then this is a very much a valid approach.

However, the quality of FM radio has suffered so much (mainly on purpose) at least where I live that I wouldn't even want to connect a Klein+Hummel tuner to my digital system. Even lowly DAB+ sounds better than FM here.

This is really not normal... sorry for you... (DAB+ is maxed at 88kHz in my country... roughly equivalent to 128 mp3... pathetic for somewhat demanding musical uses)
but in the car...why not...otherwise if the FM doesn't work well, stay via the internet and your Wiim
;-)

 

[Kefa]

Good question, I have an iPad mini (with Bluetooth remote) for lossless Apple music (this is the only real way to have it), so DAC with preamp is the center of my music system (and it does not have analog input). As the iPad occupies USB audio input, I use the SPDIF coax input from pocketADC to listen to FM Radio directly. Our government decided that nowadays DAB Radio is not very feasible and the costs of supporting it are too high, as almost everyone uses internet Radio or FM Broadcasting, which is already here. So, I only have FM waves or internet streaming for radio sources. But that radio station I listen to mostly has a very low quality internet stream, 80kbps Mono, much lower than equivalent FM quality. So, I created my own 48khz PCM stream from analog FM reception with the help of Teac Fm tuner and pocketADC. FM reception is perfect, as I live in the city, and the sound is just excellent, so this solution works very well for me.
It's incredible, when you have a HiFi system made from components and how you can mix and match all of them, hear the sound difference, add new capabilities, this is a real power of modularity.
By the way, Wiim could have FM and DAB radios in it too, that could be an even more versatile streaming box.

 

[canard]

Good question, I have an iPad mini (with Bluetooth remote) for lossless Apple music (this is the only real way to have it), so DAC with preamp is the center of my music system (and it does not have analog input). As the iPad occupies USB audio input, I use the SPDIF coax input from pocketADC to listen to FM Radio directly. Our government decided that nowadays DAB Radio is not very feasible and the costs of supporting it are too high, as almost everyone uses internet Radio or FM Broadcasting, which is already here. So, I only have FM waves or internet streaming for radio sources. But that radio station I listen to mostly has a very low quality internet stream, 80kbps Mono, much lower than equivalent FM quality. So, I created my own 48khz PCM stream from analog FM reception with the help of Teac Fm tuner and pocketADC. FM reception is perfect, as I live in the city, and the sound is just excellent, so this solution works very well for me.
It's incredible, when you have a HiFi system made from components and how you can mix and match all of them, hear the sound difference, add new capabilities, this is a real power of modularity.
By the way, Wiim could have FM and DAB radios in it too, that could be an even more versatile streaming box.

i not undrestand...
no wiim ( internet radio etc) and integred adc ( adc probably enough fot your use) ?

 

[Kefa]

Oh, sorry for the confusion. By saying, "I created my own 48khz PCM stream from analog FM reception with the help of Teac FM tuner and pocketADC," I mean "PCM stream over S/PDIF coaxial cable to my DAC," not by providing it to some streaming server and then using it in my streamer as Internet Radio. But that's also an interesting idea.

 

[canard]

Oh, sorry for the confusion. By saying, "I created my own 48khz PCM stream from analog FM reception with the help of Teac FM tuner and pocketADC," I mean "PCM stream over S/PDIF coaxial cable to my DAC," not by providing it to some streaming server and then using it in my streamer as Internet Radio. But that's also an

Wiim streamers...all...have a small ADC input...

(although a modest ADC, for use with a tuner/DAB...a mini (or pro), would allow this...and much much more...for barely more money )

 

[s3igell]

Very good points. Yes, there are times when the mood calls for pure analog and others when room correction is greatly appreciated (the WiiM Pro does a very good job of this!). If I had the $$$$$ to build a wonderful listening room that was designed so as to not need correction (and speakers up to the task), well that would be nirvana. But in the meantime, there are compromises to be tolerated (budget being the biggest constraint).

Any reason that you aren't in search of a high quality Analog Audio 2:1 Switch to sit in front of your Tube Amp with selectability for both your Phono Pre-Amp and your WiiM Streamer DAC?? (No, I haven't researched available units - as I'm not in the market.)

 

[Kefa]

Is there any reason you aren't in search of a high-quality Analog Audio 2:1 Switch to sit in front of your Tube Amp with selectability for both your Phono Pre-Amp and your WiiM Streamer DAC? (No, I haven't researched available units, as I'm not in the market.)

Yes, you can use, for example, Topping Pre90, which is the cheapest option in the highest-quality sector (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-pre90-review-preamplifier.18283/). Still, it's 600 to 800 USD, but adding a high-quality ADC is just 100 (including shipment and taxes), and the result will be the same.

 

[s3igell]

Yes, you can use, for example, Topping Pre90, which is the cheapest option in the highest-quality sector (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-pre90-review-preamplifier.18283/). Still, it's 600 to 800 USD, but adding a high-quality ADC is just 100 (including shipment and taxes), and the result will be the same.

Not talking about a Pre-Amp, rather a quality Passive Switcher Rolls SS421or SS32. Else, one can spend Pre-Amp money for an audiophile Active Switcher Manley Skipjack RCA Switcher.

 

[Kefa]

Is here any passive switcher which takes xlr and rca INPUTS and has xlr outputs, as my amp has only xlr inputs