USB out - extremely low volume
- Thread starter Rjar
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- wiim ultra
I think you may be correct. Although, I believe I’ve heard of other people using PO 100 without having this issue. My next step is to try a DAC that has its own power inout.
Joseespona
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I just experienced the same issue you are having. I think there is a bug when setting the volume bypass.I had the volume set to 30 before activating it. I set the volume to 100 before activating the bypass and voila, volume is loud again
Interesting! I’ll have to give this a try. I sent the little DAC back assuming it was faulty. I’ll have to get another.
Joseespona
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I was about to return a pair of fossi V3 monos because they sounded super low. I got them to play around with opamps and as a backup for my main amplifiers this black friday and I thought they were faulty. Then I realized the vu meter was only reaching about 25% although I had fixed volume output set to 100%. That made me scratch my head. So it seems it kind of “remembers” your last volume setting
Hi I plugged my WiiM Ultra into my DAC using usb and it was full volume, I wasn’t impressed with the sound though it was very sibilant.
So you need a better DAC now?
I am having this same issue with my Ultra. I have a Topping D70 Pro Octo, and when I output from the optical cable I get a "normal" volume level, but if I switch to USB out the volume is nearly half of what it is via optical. I'll send a message to WIIM through the app and see what they say...
hgo58
Major Contributor
The volume of the USB output is implemented by the DAC but controlled by the Ultra via the USB protocol.
I guess I'm a bit dense, but I'm not following what you're saying here... Can you spell out the implications of what you're pointing to and how they would create the issue being pointed out?
hgo58
Major Contributor
I think (but don't know for sure) that the WiiM Ultra provide the same volume control data to all external DAC's. So if some models sound louder than others it's down to the DAC implementation.
What is the volume settings on the Ultra and on the DAC?
The DAC is set up in DAC mode, which just passed the signal straight through at 100%, I'm controlling the volume via the Ultra. I would consider switching things so I just control the volume via the DAC, but then I lose sub settings that I appreciate on the WIIM side of things
hgo58
Major Contributor
It is still the DAC that do the volume control, based on the volume data provided by the WiiM Ultra in the USB Control Transfers. The USB audio data should always be unaltered regarding audio volume.The DAC is set up in DAC mode, which just passed the signal straight through at 100%, I'm controlling the volume via the Ultra. I would consider switching things so I just control the volume via the DAC, but then I lose sub settings that I appreciate on the WIIM side of things
We need to ask WiiM if they follow this rule.
Joseespona
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You can do it both ways. You can use the Wiim as a digital preamp with volume control to feed a dac or you can bypass that volume control. There is a toggle switch in the app. I had the same issue and I was able to fix it by activating the volume control, setting the volume to 100 and then activating the bypass. Make sure that when you do that the usb output is active
But, then the WIIM sends 100% volume to the sub, and adjusting the volume on the DAC has no impact on the sub volume.
Joseespona
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I don’t have a sub so it works for me. Anyhow I thought usb output and sub output were not working yet. Wasn’t it in a beta stage?
It was until today - see: WiiM Ultra Firmware Release Notes : Audio Help Center https://search.app/UNzEoKqCh6k64WTV7
Joseespona
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So you have low volume when using wiims volume control? Then its a different case than what I was having. In my case it was just when selecting volume bypass. It was supposed to be at 100 but it wasnt. I control volume through an external preamp. Just tried to make you aware of that bug in case it happened to you
Okay, I borrowed a friend's bluesound node and connected it to my D70 Pro Octo via USB, and had similar results, pointing to an issue with the DAC vs the WIIM. I'm personally considering this issue solved.
That said, the volume is not so low that the volume when well below 100 is plenty loud enough, at least in my specific scenario as I have very efficient speakers (98db@1w)