Stream through Wiim to Yamaha AVR

[DarrenH]

HI all,

In my living room I have a Yamaha RX-V585, which I use for movies and music. Front L&R and centre are Scansonic HD M20. Rears are Definitive Technology D7s. Sub is Polk PSW111.

I’ve been using Spotify Connect to stream directly to the Yammy. I’m testing Qobuz but I can’t use Qobuz Connect to stream to the Yammy. I can send it through Airplay 2 but would rather not as it’s a bit unreliable. I have all sorts of trouble accessing Qobuz directly from the Musiccast app. I think the wifi functions of the Yammy are showing its age, in terms of connection reliability and options.

What would be the best Wiim option for me to stream to and then feed audio to the Yammy, presumably through optical?

I run a Wiim Amp Pro in another room so am familiar with the app layout, etc. I don’t want another Wiim Amp in the living room due it being limited to 2.1, which does not cut it for movies. Also, I tried the Wiim Amp Pro with my existing speakers - it tried, but the difference in quality of the output compared to the Yammy was noticed.

If I can’t find a Wiim solution I may look at a new Yammy AVR, but that is much higher cost.

TIA.

 

[d6jg]

That sounds like a strange usage of "Pure" and "Direct" . Must have come from the marketing department

If you Google it you will find that it is a common misconception that applying it means that the signal stays in the analog domain when usually it doesn't. It depends on the manufacturers implementation but most simply switch off all DSP and anything video related. The pathway stays ADA.

 

[slartibartfast]

If you Google it you will find that it is a common misconception that applying it means that the signal stays in the analog domain when usually it doesn't. It depends on the manufacturers implementation but most simply switch off all DSP and anything video related. The pathway stays ADA.

This thread seems to show that Yamaha technicians can't even agree what the situation is

Yamaha's Pure Direct mode: It is analog per a...

While talking on the telephone today with a Yamaha tech on an unrelated matter, I later asked about how the Pure Direct mode is implemented on their receivers. As many here know from past threads, there have been discussions about whether Pure Direct is purely analog or not. The tech said that...

www.avsforum.com

 

[rccarguy]

Not sure Pure Direct means what you think it does. On my Onkyo Pure Direct means switch off video circuitry, apply no DSP but the audio is still routed from analogue to digital then back to analogue

Pure direct shouldn't be doing ADC then DAC. Pure direct shouldn't do any bass management, time alignment, tone controls, or room EQ.

Not sure how you can check if any ADC to DAC is going on, I guess through an oscilloscope?

 

[d6jg]

This thread seems to show that Yamaha technicians can't even agree what the situation is

Yamaha's Pure Direct mode: It is analog per a...

While talking on the telephone today with a Yamaha tech on an unrelated matter, I later asked about how the Pure Direct mode is implemented on their receivers. As many here know from past threads, there have been discussions about whether Pure Direct is purely analog or not. The tech said that...

www.avsforum.com

It is the same for most AVRs.
The key thing though is that Pure Direct should make the ADA signal path transparent and 2.0
It is subtly different to Direct mode where typically the screen stays illuminated and sub-woofer support remains i.e. 2.1.

 

[d6jg]

Pure direct shouldn't be doing ADC then DAC. Pure direct shouldn't do any bass management, time alignment, tone controls, or room EQ.

Not sure how you can check if any ADC to DAC is going on, I guess through an oscilloscope?

Have a Google around and you will find that it is ADA but as you say everything else gets switched off.

 

[Ruediger]

Still not sure it's true for the Yamahas although it could be.

Different infos out there on the topic.

I have an A-S301 too and would be disappointed if it puts everything through it's very basic TI DAC. And it's sounding too good for that. But maybe they just implement this very good.

 

[Wiimer]

Still not sure it's true for the Yamahas although it could be.

Different infos out there on the topic.

I have an A-S301 too and would be disappointed if it puts everything through it's very basic TI DAC. And it's sounding too good for that. But maybe they just implement this very good.

To my understanding, the A-S301 differs in design from the AVR. The A-S301's analog inputs bypass the ADC and are output directly without digital conversion. The A-S301's Pure Direct mode is a bypass mode that circumvents features like tone control.

 

[DarrenH]

Just a follow up on this. I ended up getting a Pro Plus and connecting to the Yammy via RCA. I did some simple testing and compared streaming via 3 methods:

1) Tidal app in iphone directly to Yammy using Airplay (the Yammy does not have Tidal Connect)
2) Tidal streaming from within the MusicCast app to the Yammy
3) Tidal streaming from within the WiiM app from the Pro Plus via RCA to the Yammy

I was quite surprised by what I found. The improvement from 1 to 2, was very noticeable. I’m not sure how to put it into words but using Airplay it sounded muffled / flatter. The phrase that comes to mind is dynamic range - the highs were higher and the lows were lower. Even my wife picked a difference and preferred 2 over 1. When I compared 2 to 3, I still picked something but not as much as 1 to 2. To my ears 3 sounded a bit better than 2, but my wife didn’t really pick any thing and didn’t have a preference.

I think if the Yammy had Tidal Connect, I would not keep the Wiim as the difference is not significant enough. Makes me consider getting the current RX-V6A and moving the WiiM to another room.

I didn’t test using Wiim out to Yammy using coax or Toslink as I would expect that would sound the same as streaming directly using the MusicCast app as it would be using the Yammy DAC.

I saw a YouTube reviewer connect his Ultra to an Onkyo (not sure which one) via RCA, and turning the Ultra on also turned the Onkyo and selected the RCA input. Has anyone worked out if that works on the Yammy? I don’t think it can.

 

[Wiimer]

Makes me consider getting the current RX-V6A and moving the WiiM to another room.

In my opinion, if your V585 isn’t broken, I don’t think there’s much point in upgrading to the V6A.

Has anyone worked out if that works on the Yammy? I don’t think it can.

Since the Yamaha doesn't have a trigger input, this isn't possible. You can use Alexa to turn the power on and off. By using an Alexa routine, you can turn on the AVR at the same time as music playback on the Pro. However, you can't automatically switch the AVR's input. Also, this only works if Alexa supports Tidal.

In my home, I use a smart IR remote to control the "Scene button" on my Yamaha AVR via Alexa. This allows for automatic input switching.

 

[DarrenH]

Thanks. The advantage of the RX-V6A is it has Tidal connect, so I wouldn’t need the WiiM. I’m not sure yet if that’s enough to make the switch.

I don’t use Alexa so that’s not an option. I found it interesting that the Onkyo could be triggered by receiving a RCA input, not a normal cabled trigger.

 

[s3igell]

That's not possible, but I believe the V585 is compatible with Alexa.
If you set up a routine in the Alexa app, you can turn on the Yamaha using voice control while holding down the microphone button on the WiiM Remote.
E.g., saying "Play music" will start Spotify playback and turn on the V585 simultaneously.

Yamaha has announced that it is deprecating its support of Alexa Voice Commands - citing the growing stringency that Amazon is demanding and relatively low usage take-up by Yamaha AVR Owners. This is to start March 2026 and be completed by June 2026. https://faq.yamaha.com/...

 

[Wiimer]

Yamaha has announced that it is deprecating its support of Alexa Voice Commands - citing the growing stringency that Amazon is demanding and relatively low usage take-up by Yamaha AVR Owners. This is to start March 2026 and be completed by June 2026. https://faq.yamaha.com/...

Thanks, I didn’t know that.

But in my case, I’m using the SwitchBot Hub Mini to press the scene buttons on my Yamaha remote, so I’ll still be able to use this method going forward.
(I’m not using Yamaha’s Alexa.)

 

[d6jg]

Have you tried a digital connection from WiiM to Yamaha? Many devices support input detection on digital but not on analogue.

 

[DarrenH]

Have you tried a digital connection from WiiM to Yamaha? Many devices support input detection on digital but not on analogue.

I will test again but I think the sound using the WiiM DAC and feeding the Yammy via RCA is better that feeding from WiiM to Yammy using digital and the Yammy DAC doing the conversion.