USB output

Sorry if it's been mentioned in this thread before (my eyes went blurry, really) but one very important reason is to control the volume of the USB DAC from the WIIM. Called a USB gadget, I believe. Using just the WIIM remote, one could control the possibly analog volume control in the DAC.

To me, this is huge. Eliminates need to have DAC remote at the ready. And if DAC has multiple inputs, helps prevent potentially blown speakers.
 
Left said:
To me, this is huge. Eliminates need to have DAC remote at the ready. And if DAC has multiple inputs, helps prevent potentially blown speakers.
Click to expand...
Yes, this is a feature many want, but on a device with an integrated DAC and speaker amp?

Hopefully a new device will emerge soon with a USB output, and this is a promising sign at least.
 
Left said:
Sorry if it's been mentioned in this thread before (my eyes went blurry, really) but one very important reason is to control the volume of the USB DAC from the WIIM. Called a USB gadget, I believe. Using just the WIIM remote, one could control the possibly analog volume control in the DAC.

To me, this is huge. Eliminates need to have DAC remote at the ready. And if DAC has multiple inputs, helps prevent potentially blown speakers.
Click to expand...
Volume control (for those who want it) is available in the app. Not for me as that destroys bit perfect signal delivery to an external DAC.
 
adias said:
Volume control (for those who want it) is available in the app. Not for me as that destroys bit perfect signal delivery to an external DAC.
Click to expand...
Some DACs support hardware volume control, which I think is what Left is referring to, which would allow the Wiim to control the DAC volume the same as using the volume control on the DAC itself. I don't know if this can be supported by the Wiim.

In any case my preference if available is to run the DAC at 100% and control volume at the analog stage.
 
FreakyKiwi said:
Some DACs support hardware volume control, which I think is what Left is referring to, which would allow the Wiim to control the DAC volume the same as using the volume control on the DAC itself. I don't know if this can be supported by the Wiim.

In any case my preference if available is to run the DAC at 100% and control volume at the analog stage.
Click to expand...
No DAC worth listening too should offer a digital volume control. LowFi stuff sure.
 
adias said:
No DAC worth listening too should offer a digital volume control. LowFi stuff sure.
Click to expand...
That's not the question, it is whether the DAC volume control is available via USB control.
The alternative is for the source to manipulate the PCM signal to lower volume which should be avoided if bit perfectness is wanted.
 
Last edited:
Some contributors here question why someone might want to have USB out in a product which already has a DAC and amplifier. I can foresee a significant proportion of buyers subsequently wishing to upgrade from the WiiM Amp at some point with a better DAC and/or amp. As things stand it means (at best) having to repurpose the Amp and buying another streamer. At least having USB out means they can still use their Amp purchase as a streamer into the new kit, which I think is good thinking.
 
I think users have some reaction on usb that can switch between input and output. Take a look at blusound node, it’s one of the requested feature because not everyone like the sound of internal dac so node gave them the option to use of their choice. If flexibility is available why not have it? Once this implement, I have various dac that will try. The dac analog out will be feed to analog input on wiim amp.
 
Hiphiman said:
Some contributors here question why someone might want to have USB out in a product which already has a DAC and amplifier. I can foresee a significant proportion of buyers subsequently wishing to upgrade from the WiiM Amp at some point with a better DAC and/or amp. As things stand it means (at best) having to repurpose the Amp and buying another streamer. At least having USB out means they can still use their Amp purchase as a streamer into the new kit, which I think is good thinking.
Click to expand...
Truly did not think my post would be contentious. After reading Hiphiman's post I understand why. The subject of this lengthy thread is "Feature Requests for WIIM Pro and Pro Plus." Not just for the WIIM amp. Many DACs have either analog volume controls attenuated via resistor ladders and similar, or digital volume controls that pad the bit lengths to at least 32 bits and fill the low bits with a dithered signal. These DACs are then fed directly to a power amp.

In this increasingly common case, a Wiim that lacks USB out and cannot control the volume of the downstream DAC is at market disadvantage. As Smartplug said, it provides flexibility if one wants to upgrade
 
Smartplug said:
Once this implement, I have various dac that will try. The dac analog out will be feed to analog input on wiim amp.
Click to expand...
This implies you're waiting to use the wiim amp as a streamer to send its usb output to an external dac, and then back into the same wiim amp.
Wiim have not confirmed if the amp will support such a dac loop function.
It'd be fantastic if it could do this, but I won't hold my breath...
 
Mr Ee said:
This implies you're waiting to use the wiim amp as a streamer to send its usb output to an external dac, and then back into the same wiim amp.
Wiim have not confirmed if the amp will support such a dac loop function.
It'd be fantastic if it could do this, but I won't hold my breath...
Click to expand...
You might be impressed what these people can do, they just surprised you without even knowing it. Even it’s not possible, the internal Dac is transparent.
 
WiiM Support said:
Hi Team,

Regarding the USB audio output feature, we are thrilled to share some exciting news with you! Our team is actively working on this for WiiM Amp.

Mark your calendars! We're targeting late January for the release of this feature. We appreciate your enthusiasm and support.
Click to expand...
Dear WiiM,
Does the technology allows for a port on streamer portfolio like the Pro ?
Kindly
 
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