Tech Tuesday: Achieving Bit-Perfect Playback on Your WiiM Devices

[wiimamp user]

@dtc i wonder those wanting bit perfect if they will be offered a cd being played bit perfect or playing perfect with EQ done by someone who knows what he,s changing, to make it , perfect,.... would they choose the bit ,perfect, one? I have my doubts...if you know what i mean.
It begins all by a perfect and well done recording i think..if this , lacks, one would make changes. And then on which hardware you are listening is important too. And bit perfect for what hardware? Because this could influences the sound too.
But a good recording is the start of it all.

 

[slartibartfast]

They make it all so difficult sometimes in this industry..
Bit perfect..and so on..take for instance DSD..what i often heard it seems to be so much better than PCM. But most of the customers just want to have the best quality. Ok better hardware reveals differences more.. i honestly hear difference between a cd and spotify but some dont..even on better hardware they dont? But ok some hear it some dont doesnt matter i do.

If DSD was the best there is why didn,t they record all the music from now on this way?
I know mainstream listens via bleutooth but why not offering the best for those are willing to invest in good hardware.
Its about the recording being made perfect in the first place thats where it starts and then we go to the hardware..dac,speakers.
But i guess how this industry works i guess maybe its often about time and money..

The main reason DSD is perceived as being better than CD etc is probably down to different mastering.

 

[wiimamp user]

Think about this.. the bit perfect playback of a bad recording. Or maybe a recording what could be way better.
Change the recording first but hey..its already on the market.. better work done did cost more money and time but they choose to cut on that.
There goes the bit perfect term..

 

[Wiimer]

That is what I have seen. I certainly know that high resolution files like 24/192 are converted to 24/48 when 2 devices are linked. I think that applies to 16/44 files as well. Certainly something to check. I know maintaining high resolution sample rates when linked has been on the roadmaps for a while.

I believe it was well known that streaming services such as Amazon music will select and play the appropriate file based on the device's performance.

If WiiM is limited to 24/48 by MRM, Amazon will play files up to 24/48. 16/44.1 tracks will play as 16/44.1. if there is a 24/96 or 24/129 track, the 24/48 file will play. My understanding is that WiiM does not downsample Amazon's 24/192 tracks to 24/48.

 

[waves]

Bit perfect dsd is not possible. It converts dsd to PCM.

Thanks. I realize that dsd is converted to PCM, but my question is do all the requirements need to be met in order for Wiim pro to convert? I'm trying to get the device to even recognize the.dsf files. Right now it doesn't even show the files in my folder that are .dsf. I'm ok with the conversion, I just want to play the dsd files.

 

[dtc]

I believe it was well known that streaming services such as Amazon music will select and play the appropriate file based on the device's performance.

If WiiM is limited to 24/48 by MRM, Amazon will play files up to 24/48. 16/44.1 tracks will play as 16/44.1. if there is a 24/96 or 24/129 track, the 24/48 file will play. My understanding is that WiiM does not downsample Amazon's 24/192 tracks to 24/48.

My comment was that when 2 Wiim devices are linked the sample rate is limited to 24/48. And, yes, a single device will play up to 24/192, but once it is linked to another device, they both play at 24/48. Again, my comment is about linked devices. Give two linked devices a try.

 

[onlyoneme]

I believe it was well known that streaming services such as Amazon music will select and play the appropriate file based on the device's performance.

If WiiM is limited to 24/48 by MRM, Amazon will play files up to 24/48. 16/44.1 tracks will play as 16/44.1. if there is a 24/96 or 24/129 track, the 24/48 file will play. My understanding is that WiiM does not downsample Amazon's 24/192 tracks to 24/48.

Actually the MRM group will be resampled downsampled to 48 kHz regardless of the original or requested sample rate.

 

[hgo58]

My comment was that when 2 Wiim devices are linked the sample rate is limited to 24/48. And, yes, a single device will play up to 24/192, but once it is linked to another device, they both play at 24/48. Again, my comment is about linked devices. Give two linked devices a try.

Are you sure that the master device in a group (link) is also down sampling?
I thought it was only in the transport over network the data rate was changed.

 

[Burnside]

Are you sure that the master device in a group (link) is also down sampling?
I thought it was only in the transport over network the data rate was changed.

I would expect all devices in a group to play the same as I’d imagine trying to sync playback would be unnecessarily complicated if they were playing different bitrates.

 

[Wiimer]

Actually the MRM group will be resampled to 48 kHz regardless of the original or requested sample rate.

Are you sure?

When I play Amazon Music 16/44.1 track on my Ultra and Pro MRM, the WHA shows 16/44.1. And the DAC connected to the Ultra also shows 44.1.

 

[Burnside]

Are you sure?

When I play Amazon Music 16/44.1 track on my Ultra and Pro MRM, the WHA shows 16/44.1. And the DAC connected to the Ultra also shows 44.1.

Yeah, I wouldn't expect the Alexa app to show 24 bit UHD for a 16 bit HD track just because it was in an Alexa MRM. Perhaps @onlyoneme me was talking about a LinkPlay MRM group

 

[onlyoneme]

Are you sure?

When I play Amazon Music 16/44.1 track on my Ultra and Pro MRM, the WHA shows 16/44.1. And the DAC connected to the Ultra also shows 44.1.

I'm pretty sure I've seen such behavior when I was testing it last time. Let me check it again.

You are.right, looks actually like downsampling only, not upsampling.
So 48 kHz maximum.

 

[onlyoneme]

Yeah, I wouldn't expect the Alexa app to show 24 bit UHD for a 16 bit HD track just because it was in an Alexa MRM. Perhaps @onlyoneme me was talking about a LinkPlay MRM group

Yes, Linkplay group I meant

 

[hgo58]

Yeah, I wouldn't expect the Alexa app to show 24 bit UHD for a 16 bit HD track just because it was in an Alexa MRM. Perhaps @onlyoneme me was talking about a LinkPlay MRM group

Can someone check the sample rate on the master WiiM device on a connected DAC? And also maybe the linked device. When Master is playing 24/192.

Unfortunately I don't have the equipment.

 

[Wiimer]

Of course I am talking about Linkplay MRM too.

 

[Burnside]

Can someone check the sample rate on the master WiiM device on a connected DAC? And also maybe the linked device. When Master is playing 24/192.

Unfortunately I don't have the equipment.

Unfortunately at the moment neither do I as my linn amp’s speaker output is kaput, but I’d be very surprised if I am wrong in the statement I made for the reason I gave.

 

[Wiimer]

Can someone check the sample rate on the master WiiM device on a connected DAC? And also maybe the linked device. When Master is playing 24/192.

Unfortunately I don't have the equipment.

When playing 24/192 tracks on AM with Linkplay MRM on Amp Pro (master) and Ultra (slave), WHA will show 24/48; Ultra's DAC will also show 24/48.

Likewise, if I play 16/44.1, WHA and DAC will show 44.1. There are expected behavior.

 

[hgo58]

When playing 24/192 tracks on AM with Linkplay MRM on Amp Pro (master) and Ultra (slave), WHA will show 24/48; Ultra's DAC will also show 24/48.

Likewise, if I play 16/44.1, WHA and DAC will show 44.1. There are expected behavior.

What if you play with Ultra as master?

 

[Wiimer]

What if you play with Ultra as master?

Same.
AM plays at 24/48 instead of 24/192, and the Ultra's DAC is also 24/48.

 

[Wiimer]

You are.right, looks actually like downsampling only, not upsampling.
So 48 kHz maximum.

As far as AM is concerned, I don't think it does downsampling either. If limit of the playback device is 24/48, AM will play a 24/48 file .