I'm using optical out from my mini to optical in on a Marantz pre/pro(no external DAC yet) The Marantz says it's receiving a PCM signal, but if I use HEOS which is built into the Marantz, it says it's receiving a FLAC file. I've enabled HD output on Amazon Music and and Tidal. I pay for premium subscriptions on both, and they're set to the highest streaming capabilities. Does anyone know why I'm not getting a FLAC signal from the Wiim? Do I have something set up wrong or is this normal? I'm using a brand new SKW optical cable. Any help is appreciated.
PCM only output from Wiim mini
- Thread starter SmokeDawg
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That's exactly what I wanted to know. Thank you. I thought I was doing something wrong. This is all new to me. So if the music service(Amazon/Tidal) say it's an Ultra HD or Master track, that's what is being streamed, even though the Marantz says PCM. Is that correct? Also, I'm getting an MQA enabled DAC in a few days. Will I need to change any settings to get it to work(decode) MQA? MQA beta is already enabled in the Wiim home app.
This information does not replace each other. "Ultra HD" tells something about the quality of encoded pcm stream.
Regarding the mqa DAC, it depends. DAC can be able to fully unfold the mqa data, so there is nothing to be done on the WiiM. Or it can be capable to perform additional unfolds after the first one - in this case you would like to have mqa decode enabled on the WiiM to get the first unfold. So possible options are mqa disabled on the WiiM or mqa enabled with the setting that your DAC is mqa enabled. For proper transfer of unfolded mqa to the DAC you must set the resolution on the digital output to at least 96/24.
Mr Ee
Major Contributor
What dac are you getting? Might be helpful to know, to know how to configure the wiim options properly.
Well, it's a matter of personal preference I think. I choose Amazon over Tidal because highest subscription plan on Amazon is cheaper that the one on Tidal, and because Amazon provides hi-res lossless flacs and I do not have an equipment to fully unfold Tidal's mqa content.
That's understandable. A decent DAC that unfolds MQA and has balanced outputs(both requirements for me)are fairly expensive. I'm trying to determine if it's worth it. I'd really like a Denafrips Aries 2 but it doesn't do MQA, so I'm trying to find people who have personal experience with it to get their opinion. I've never had a DAC either, so I'm hoping to make the best decision on a purchase, without actually being able to audition any of them. I'll probably buy 2 DAC's from Amazon. One with MQA unfolding and one without, and return which ever one I don't like. Thanks again. Now I know I'm at least on the right track.
Mr Ee
Major Contributor
The problem with asking for someone's personal experience is just that - it's personal.
And if you ask for someone's opinion on a product like an Aries that they own, well, of course they'll say it's fantastic, otherwise they'd have sold it on and got something else.
Like onlyone, I don't have an mqa capable dac in my main system, where my mini is. But I still chose Tidal (hifi, not plus) over Amazon, Deezer and Qobuz for various, personal, reasons.
And if you ask for someone's opinion on a product like an Aries that they own, well, of course they'll say it's fantastic, otherwise they'd have sold it on and got something else.
Like onlyone, I don't have an mqa capable dac in my main system, where my mini is. But I still chose Tidal (hifi, not plus) over Amazon, Deezer and Qobuz for various, personal, reasons.
Thank you for the reply. I've watched and read enough reviews on the Aries to know its a great DAC. As far as MQA goes, that's debatable. Some like it. Some don't. I'll just have to try it and see. I personally, prefer Amazon HD for streaming. I have a free trial of it, and Tidal's highest tier right now. I honestly can't tell much difference between the two. I've had a few people say Qobuz is better than any of the others as far as sound quality goes. I'm going to give it a shot when my other free trials run out. I do have another question though. Is the Wiim Pro better at streaming than the Mini? I looked at the features, and I didn't see any I'd use. I'm speaking strickly as far as sound quality goes. It seems they'd be exactly the same to me.
Brantome
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Your question is a bit of a non sequitur, but if you “like” an album in Amazon Music, it then appears under albums in your Library. So while it’s not called a favourite, it largely accomplishes the same thing.
Not exactly. I want to have quick Access to favorite albums and amazon is adding every album (even from my fav songs) to those list. So when I am clicking + sign on album site it just add all songs and on album favs list there is a mess because there are albums I added but also albums from songs I added even if I like one song only from some record.
Brantome
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I didn’t ask the question…
Brantome
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No problem, kinda guessed that
Mr Ee
Major Contributor
To get back on track (although kevinek's query is one of the reasons I didn't stick with amazon), this is something I'm asking myself too...
I don't need ethernet; thought I might want chromecast for Deezer or Qobuz, but gapless is a thing for me. Qobuz connect should overcome that, and, at the moment at least, there's no indication that QC will be a pro only thing.
However, for the pretty small price difference I'll probably buy a pro over another mini (when finally available!).
I don't recall anyone here who has both saying the actual sound quality is any different / better. There are some who prefer coax over optical who might attest to it being better due to that.
There were also some techy graphs comparing the mini and pro. iirc, the pro had slightly better (lower) jitter?
Thank you so much for confirming this. I, too, have the WiiM Mini connected to my Onkyo receiver via Toslink optical, and was wondering why the Onkyo display showed "PCM". It does show "PCM 88.2k" or "PCM 96k" when I feed it higher resolution FLACs, so that gave me some comfort.
Shouldn't make a bit of difference, sound quality-wise, then.
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