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[Antony67]

Hello to all
I bought the WIIM PRO and I would like to have some information.
I I will connect the WIIM PRO to my amplifier with RCA cable as my AUDIOLAB 8300A has no other inputs. But will this do the music output at 192kHz/24bit or won't it go through your internal DAC?
I currently connect my iPhone LIGHTING - RCA cable to the amplifier.
I'm afraid that by doing so I wouldn't notice any improvement, right?
Thank you.

 

[Brantome]

I guess it dépends in how good the iphone’s internal DAC is compared to the WiiM Pro. What music service/ app are you using? I see the Audiolab only has analogue inputs so you have to rel on what you’re connecting to do the digital to analogue conversion.

 

[Antony67]

I use Spotify Premium. My only question is whether the WIIM's RCA output goes through its DAC. So if the music going to AUDIOLAB is 192kHz/24bit.

 

[Brantome]

Yes, the WiiM’s DAC is used to convert a digital stream to analogue for output over its RCA outputs. But since those outputs are analogue, it doesn’t make sense to talk of them as having a bit depth and sample rate. Also, Spotify tracks are compressed OGG vorbis tracks at rates up to 320 kbps and are not upsampled to higher rates as they are converted to analogue.

If however you used a lossless service like Amazon Music, Qobuz, Tidal etc, you could then talk about bit depths and sample rates of up to 24/192 which the WiiM’s internal DAC would convert into a much higher quality analogue output signal.

 

[Antony67]

Then the WIIM's RCA outputs pass through its DAC. If I subscribed to Amazon Music or Qobuz or Tidal I could enjoy this setup for higher resolution audio. It's correct? Thank you.

 

[Brantome]

Then the WIIM's RCA outputs pass through its DAC. If I subscribed to Amazon Music or Qobuz or Tidal I could enjoy this setup for higher resolution audio. It's correct? Thank you.

To be pedantic, the WiiM’s digital input stream (whether that be lossy Spotify or lossless Amazon Music, for example) passes thru the WiiM DAC, is converted to analogue and is output via its RCA outputs and then into your amp‘s RCA inputs.

You could always take a trial of the lossless services mentioned and compare them to what you’re used to with Spotify and decide what sounds better to your ears. You will find the app experience different between the services and that will likely figure into your overall experience with each service - I only mention that as many think the Spotify app and service (leaving lossy/lossless sound aside) is hard to beat.

 

[Antony67]

Thanks. You have clarified my doubts perfectly. I will subscribe for a month to a better service than Spotify to understand the real differences.

 

[Brantome]

Thanks. You have clarified my doubts perfectly. I will subscribe for a month to a better service than Spotify to understand the real differences.

Most of them offer a free trial month

 

[spacegrass]

to answer your question in a different way, I have a Wiim Pro, connected to an old Denon receiver via the RCA connections, and when I played an Amazon Music Unlimited track that was a 192/24 track, the wiim home app displayed it playing as "Ultra HD - 192/24" - meaning that was the digital data going into the Wiim Pro DAC, and the sound coming out of the Denon was whatever the Wiim Pro DAC decided was the analog version of the 192/24 digital input.

 

[Antony67]

Perfect. Thanks.

 

[hoppy]

Here is what I don't understand:

I currently connect my iPhone LIGHTING - RCA cable to the amplifier.

Just to clarify, your would not use your WiiM Pro this way.

With the WiiM Pro, you would connect the WiiM to your Audiolab 8300A from the WiiM's analog "line out" output into one of the inputs (like "aux") of your amplifier using a stereo RCA interconnect cable (two cables, one for each channel L and R). The WiiM includes one of these cables in the box.

You would use your iPhone to control the WiiM and what songs you are streaming. With one of those hi-rez music services, you can stream it at up to 192 kHz / 24 bit depending on the source material. The WiiM's internal DAC will convert the digital signal to an analog signal to output into your amplifier. So, yes, you will be streaming at that high rate.

You can also play Spotify this way through your WiiM but Spotify doesn't go higher than 44.1 kHz / 16 bit

 

[Antony67]

I'm doing exactly what you explained. Works

 

[Brantome]

You can also play Spotify this way through your WiiM but Spotify doesn't go higher than 44.1 kHz / 16 bit

And that is lossy, not lossless CD quality 16/44.1