Questions about volume knob and max volume

[Fralle]

Hi everyone,

I have just purchased a Wiim Ultra and I'm waiting for it to arrive. I see in the Q&A section that the answer is yes to the question "Will it be possible to deactivate the volume control on the knob/wheel of the Ultra, and what will the options be, if so? Same as Pro plus - skip between tracks?" My question is, will I still be able to use the remote and/or phone for volume control then?

I also have a question about the "volume limit" feature. If I set it to 20%, 30%, or 40%, will it negatively affect the sound quality? The reason I ask is that I will be pairing it with a 250 watts Ncore from Audiophonics, and I have a one-and-a-half-year-old baby who loves to turn volume knobs and walk off with phones.

 

[Mr Ee]

Will it be possible to deactivate the volume control on the knob/wheel of the Ultra

I don't believe this has been implemented (yet).

If I set it to 20%, 30%, or 40%, will it negatively affect the sound quality?

I'd argue no more than an analog volume control would; probably less.

 

[Fralle]

Thank you! The setting a quite low max volume value will probably be the best solution for the moment.

 

[Musician]

Hi everyone,

I have just purchased a Wiim Ultra and I'm waiting for it to arrive. I see in the Q&A section that the answer is yes to the question "Will it be possible to deactivate the volume control on the knob/wheel of the Ultra, and what will the options be, if so? Same as Pro plus - skip between tracks?" My question is, will I still be able to use the remote and/or phone for volume control then?

I also have a question about the "volume limit" feature. If I set it to 20%, 30%, or 40%, will it negatively affect the sound quality? The reason I ask is that I will be pairing it with a 250 watts Ncore from Audiophonics, and I have a one-and-a-half-year-old baby who loves to turn volume knobs and walk off with phones.

The volume limit is just the same as the digital volumecontrol, but it sets a limit. You loose some resolution from 24 bits.

You can do the gain mod to lower it to 13 dB . I did it for my Audiophonics ncore 125. Two resistors needs to be unsoldered.
The buffer becomes a unitygain buffer . Now, the digital volume control is at about 70 % when listening to music rather loud. Before the mod it was like 45%.

If you dont want to modify:
You can use the volume limit function and set it to 50%. This way you have protection but its not optimal using a digital volumecontrol mostly at 50% or lower. And buying attenuators make the sound slightly worse.

 

[Fralle]

You can do the gain mod to lower it to 13 dB . I did it for my Audiophonics ncore 125.

How do I do that?

 

[Musician]

How do I do that?

Theres another option :
If you use the internal dac of the WiiM ultra you can select max output from the dac in the WiiM app between 500 mv, 1V to 2V .
If the gain is to loud you could try 500 mv.

 

[Musician]

Here is the mod . You need skills and equipment to desolder two SMD resistors.
I did email Hypex before I did it , Im not sure the 250 model is the same as 125 , so better ask Hypex first.

WiiM pro as volumecontrol + Rega dac R + Audiophonics MPA s125 nc with lower gain

Hi. I have just finnished a modification of my audiophonics ncore 125 amplifier , lowering the gain to 13 dB instead of 25,5 dB. Two SMD resistors had to be desoldered. The sound got better from the ne5532 in the ncore working only as a buffer with no amplifying. This modification is verified by...

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[Fralle]

Theres another option :
If you use the internal dac of the WiiM ultra you can select max output from the dac in the WiiM app between 500 mv, 1V to 2V .
If the gain is to loud you could try 500 mv.

There won't be any soldering for me, that's for sure. So setting it to 500 mv should be safer then? Do you also recommend setting a max volume to 40% or something like that?

 

[Musician]

There won't be any soldering for me, that's for sure. So setting it to 500 mv should be safer then? Do you also recommend setting a max volume to 40% or something like that?

500mV should be enough as a start I think .
If its still to loud then also use the volume limiter at 80-90%.

Setting the gain correct is important . You should set the max volume limit right below the point where your speaker start to distort with music material .

 

[Fralle]

Thank you! Yes it actually makes me a little nervous since this amp is such a powerhouse. Actually I think of not using the trigger cable since it seems safer to turn the volume all the way down on the Ultra before powering on the amp.

 

[Fralle]

500mV should be enough as a start I think .
If its still to loud then also use the volume limiter at 80-90%.

Setting the gain correct is important . You should set the max volume limit right below the point where your speaker start to distort with music material .

So I got the amp today and there is really no need to use 500mV or use volume limit. In fact I could turn the volume way up to 50% before it started to get loud. Something must be wrong right? I mean this is the 250 watt version and my speakers are easy to drive. Using my 70 watt Technics it started to get real loud at around 25, and now with 250 watt I can push it to 50.

Since you have almost the same amp and seem knowledgeable - do you got any idea what could be wrong?

 

[slartibartfast]

So I got the amp today and there is really no need to use 500mV or use volume limit. In fact I could turn the volume way up to 50% before it started to get loud. Something must be wrong right? I mean this is the 250 watt version and my speakers are easy to drive. Using my 70 watt Technics it started to get real loud at around 25, and now with 250 watt I can push it to 50.

Since you have almost the same amp and seem knowledgeable - do you got any idea what could be wrong?

Why is anything wrong. The amps must have different gains.

 

[Fralle]

Why is anything wrong. The amps must have different gains.

I was just not prepared to have to push the Wiim to 50% of the volume using a powerful NCORE amp. But I am the first to admit that my knowledge about these things are very limited.

 

[Mr Ee]

I was just not prepared to have to push the Wiim to 50% of the volume using a powerful NCORE amp.

Don't worry, 50% isn't pushing anything.
You should actually be happy - the less the wiim attenuates the better, right

As suggested, it's likely to be due to different gains between the amps. Just a few dbs can make a significant difference.
What Technics amp? The Audiophonics ncore, I believe, has a gain of 25db

 

[Fralle]

Thank you! It is the Technics SU-G700 fully digital amp.

 

[slartibartfast]

I was just not prepared to have to push the Wiim to 50% of the volume using a powerful NCORE amp. But I am the first to admit that my knowledge about these things are very limited.

I found the same with my Audiolab 8000A. The volume control was always at the low end. It took me by surprise when I was setting the WiiM amp volume to 50%. In the case of the WiiM amp 100% volume can be used with no fear of clipping distortion (with no EQ). The ideal situation would be where 100% is as loud as you would ever want it.

 

[Mr Ee]

Thank you! It is the Technics SU-G700 fully digital amp.

Looks to me like the Technics has a much more sensitive line input (lower mV) than the Audiophonics.
200mV (Technics) vs 1.6V (Audiophonics).
i.e. the Technics will seem louder than the Audiophonics for the same input.
What wiim output setting were you using with the Technics?

btw, that Technics seems to be a fair beast in its own right!

 

[Fralle]

Looks to me like the Technics has a much more sensitive line input (lower mV) than the Audiophonics.
200mV (Technics) vs 1.6V (Audiophonics).
i.e. the Technics will seem louder than the Audiophonics for the same input.
What wiim output setting were you using with the Technics?

btw, that Technics seems to be a fair beast in its own right!

I actually used the Wiim pro+ coax out to the Technics. I sold it a couple of days ago to try something different, something cheaper actually. First time ever that I am actually replacing a unit with something cheaper. I'll give it a few days but as of right now I am starting to miss the SU-G700. It's a great and beuatiful amplifier really!

 

[Fralle]

Looks to me like the Technics has a much more sensitive line input (lower mV) than the Audiophonics.
200mV (Technics) vs 1.6V (Audiophonics).
i.e. the Technics will seem louder than the Audiophonics for the same input.
What wiim output setting were you using with the Technics?

btw, that Technics seems to be a fair beast in its own right!

But I did try using the line in to the Technics also and it was just as loud then. So it must be like you say that the line input was just way more sensitive.

 

[Musician]

So I got the amp today and there is really no need to use 500mV or use volume limit. In fact I could turn the volume way up to 50% before it started to get loud. Something must be wrong right? I mean this is the 250 watt version and my speakers are easy to drive. Using my 70 watt Technics it started to get real loud at around 25, and now with 250 watt I can push it to 50.

Since you have almost the same amp and seem knowledgeable - do you got any idea what could be wrong?

Your Technics has an abnormally high sensitivity at 200mV , your new ncore has a normal sensitivity . There is nothing wrong with your Hypex and it will work fine.

However , because its a digital volumecontrol, optimal gain is probably getting the loudest volume you will ever use at about 90 on the Ultra, and more average used volume levels at about 60 . Thats why I did the resistor mod on my ncore power amp, lowering the gain about 13 dB, from the more normal 25,5 dB.

Use the PEQ shelving function in the ultra If the ncore sound slightly different in timbre than your technics. + or - 1 dB at 3 KHz tilt can make a big difference. You can safely try 1V or 500mv max rca output on the ultra.