Wiim amp low bass and low stage

atgis

Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2024
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10
Hello everyone,

Unfortunately my Onkyo TX-SR508 died a few weeks ago.

I now have the Wiim Amp at home on my DIY Iceboxes (8 ohms)

Unfortunately I'm a bit disappointed. Despite active EQ (hip hop profile with bass and treble boosted), the Wiim Amp plays too "thinly" for my taste at room volume.

The Onkyo was much better at that at 1/3 of the maximum volume. I didn't have to turn it up any louder. The TV was connected with a cinch and I controlled the volume with that.

I didn't miss a subwoofer before, but now I would like one. Onkyo had Audyssey sound optimization.

My question: Can I adjust more than the EQ or do I have to live with a thinner sound?
 
Hello everyone,

Unfortunately my Onkyo TX-SR508 died a few weeks ago.

I now have the Wiim Amp at home on my DIY Iceboxes (8 ohms)

Unfortunately I'm a bit disappointed. Despite active EQ (hip hop profile with bass and treble boosted), the Wiim Amp plays too "thinly" for my taste at room volume.

The Onkyo was much better at that at 1/3 of the maximum volume. I didn't have to turn it up any louder. The TV was connected with a cinch and I controlled the volume with that.

I didn't miss a subwoofer before, but now I would like one. Onkyo had Audyssey sound optimization.

My question: Can I adjust more than the EQ or do I have to live with a thinner sound?
Hi,

Did you have Dynamic EQ turned on in Onkyo?
If so, I believe that below 500hz was boosted according to volume.

It might be worth trying to adjust the PEQ on the WiiM using the frequency response of the front speakers here as a reference.
(You can see that it is boosted by up to 10dB, mainly at 80hz.)

However, I personally do not like this kind of boost.
I have a Sub set up on my WiiM amp and I have never felt the bass was thin. 🙂
(I also have Yamaha's AVR.)
 
I have never felt the bass was thin
Without my sub I'd say bass is good enough and EQ definitely helps. With sub it is full, rich and adds a whole new dimension. Must be config. Guess the lyric..... "A happy face, a thumping bass for a loving race".
 
Thanks for your answers.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about sound technology. But here is the information about the speakers: https://www.gazza-diy-audio.de/speakers/icebox/

How should I understand the frequency response of the front speakers to be used as a reference?

I tried the automatic room correction. I think the sound is richer with the normal EQ. Unfortunately, I personally miss a few presets with the PEQ.

What I have just discovered is that the Wiim Amp sounds best with an optical connection. With the RCA from the TV, the sound is so flat.
 
It looks like your Icebox speakers, when playing a frequency sweep at approx. 80db, have a 7 db to 1db dip between 20 Hz and 100 Hz. So they’ll definitely need an EQ boost in that region. Or maybe (edited to add) they’ll likely need one in your room, if your room doesn’t help them out in any way.

The difference between the RCA output from the TV and the WiiM amps optical in definitely shows that the WiiM’s internal DAC is better than the TV’s.

If your TV supports HDMI ARC, you can use an HDMI cable to connect the TV and the WiiM amp and get the ability to control the WiiM amp’s volume using the TV remote, and the sound benefits of using the internal DAC.
 
Thanks for your answers.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about sound technology. But here is the information about the speakers: https://www.gazza-diy-audio.de/speakers/icebox/

How should I understand the frequency response of the front speakers to be used as a reference?

I tried the automatic room correction. I think the sound is richer with the normal EQ. Unfortunately, I personally miss a few presets with the PEQ.

What I have just discovered is that the Wiim Amp sounds best with an optical connection. With the RCA from the TV, the sound is so flat.

This is an example of PEQ. Please try this easy way first.

1. In Audio Settings, set the volume limit to 80%~85%. In this example, set it to 80%. This is to prevent clipping when boosting.
1000000603.jpg


2. Set PEQ like this.
1000000602.jpg

Note that PEQ must be set for each input, as indicated in (1) in the photo; switch the audio input on the WiiM and then adjust PEQ individually.


"Freq" is frequency to adjust. Here it is 80hz. This value can be adjusted between 30hz~80hz, but I chose 80hz because of the frequency response of your speakers.

"Gain" is the volume. Here it is 8 dB, but it can be raised or lowered as needed.

"Q" is the range over which the volume will change. Here it is 0.56. The larger this value, the narrower the range of influence. Please leave it as it is for now.

If you did RC with WiiM, you could add this value to the PEQ after RC.

Please try this until another member has an even better suggestion. 😁


Edit: Partially corrected.
 
Last edited:
Thanks 👍. I have to tell you that CEC cannot work.

I cannot connect the Wiim Amp directly to the TV via HDMI. Here is my setup:
- the Nvidia Shield (Android Box for Live TV + Netflix) is connected to the HDMI on the Samsung TV
- Sound goes from the Samsung TV to the Wiim Amp once with a cinch cable and once with an optical cable. (so that the two can be compared)
 
If I connect HDMI from the Samsung TV to the Wiim Amp. How can I also connect my streaming box (Nvidia Shield) to the TV? The picture and sound should be output via this. I don't know how the HDMI2 input can pass the sound to the HDMI1 input on the TV?! That's not possible. Also, the TV is from 2015. As far as I know, it doesn't support ARC.
 
I don't know how the HDMI2 input can pass the sound to the HDMI1 input on the TV?! That's not possible.
As I understand it, that's what ARC does - it passes all audio back to the ARC port irrespective of its source
Also, the TV is from 2015. As far as I know, it doesn't support ARC.
What model is the TV? I think ARC has been around for a while
 
If I connect HDMI from the Samsung TV to the Wiim Amp. How can I also connect my streaming box (Nvidia Shield) to the TV? The picture and sound should be output via this. I don't know how the HDMI2 input can pass the sound to the HDMI1 input on the TV?! That's not possible. Also, the TV is from 2015. As far as I know, it doesn't support ARC.
Can you tell us what model of Samsung TV you have?
ARC is supported with HDMI 1.4.
 
The Samsung TV is UE50J5150. I cant find any description on the back with ARC. One HDMI hast the Note STB (Set top Box)
 
The Samsung TV is UE50J5150. I cant find any description on the back with ARC. One HDMI hast the Note STB (Set top Box)
No ARC on a 2015 TV is really a disappointment. But yes, in this case you cannot use the WiiM Amp's HDMI input.
Bummer.
 
What options do I have to control the volume with my TV remote control?

I can only connect the Wiim with a cinch (sounded a bit tinny and weak) or optical (sounded OK).

With optical I have to explicitly set "external speakers" on the Samsung TV menu.

When I switch that on and then adjust the volume with TV remote, a banner from Samsung appears and saying that external speakers are connected and I have to use them to adjust the volume.

Unfortunately no other universal remote control works because wiim doesn't do IR. Now the only thing I can think of is to buy an HDMI + optical splitter box for Nvidia Shield. Then HDMI to TV and optical to wiim. But that's rubbish.
 
I guess the TV was already back in 2015 near the bottom line of Samsung's portfolio. Guess only..
Yeah, but even my TV (from 2013 and carrying the "Telefunken" badge ;) ) does support ARC, already. Not very well, but at least it does.

Sorry, @atgis, but I don't see any further option.
The Onkyo was much better at that at 1/3 of the maximum volume. I didn't have to turn it up any louder.
This is by no means a sign of quality, but just a matter of gain. There's nothing wrong with turning the volume but to 60 % or 70 % or more, as long as you get the desired volume. So, if it really is just a matter of volume then don't be afraid to turn it up.

No matter how you connect your TV to the WiiM Amp, you alwant be able.tp control the volume with the TVs remote unless the TV supports ARC.

Was that any different with the Onkyo?
 
I'll summarize my setup again as it was before and as it is now:

This is how it was in the past:
- the Onkyo-AVR HDMI-out was connected to the Samsung TV (model: UE50J5150)
- sound for cable TV was connected to the Onkyo-AVR TV-in using a cinch cable on the rear jack/headphone output
- my Android box = Nvidia Shield is connected to one of the HDMI-ins on the Onkyo-AVR with HDMI.

This setup was "annoying" and was not W.A.F compatible, as I always needed 3 remote controls.

1 for classic TV,
1 volume control Onkyo-AVR,
1 to operate Nvidia Shield.

I was then able to set it up using an infrared USB adapter (Flirc2) on the Nvidia Shield so that the Samsung remote control could control the Shield. So far so good, one remote control less.
Although the Shield was connected with HDMI, to the AVR or directly to the TV, CEC never worked. I had to use Trick17 (infrared USB adapter).

The volume on the Onkyo AVR was fixed at 30% and I then controlled the volume via the Shield with the Samsung remote control. It just looks a bit strange because it shows two volume bars because the remote controls both devices at the same time. One for the TV (but it has no effect) and one for the Shield.

Now the Onkyo is broken and we no longer use cable TV, just the Shield with Waipu TV and Netflix.

Setup now:
- the Nvidia Shield is connected to the HDMI on the Samsung TV
- sound goes from the Samsung TV to the Wiim Amp once with a cinch and once with an optical cable. (so that the two can be compared)

I have already tested/found the following on the Wiim:
- the sound over cinch is flatter than over an optical cable
- the EQ at least plays music in a way that suits me, with an optical connection. I still find it a lot tinnier over cinch and therefore not good.
- I don't think either is good for films on Netflix. The TV speakers almost sound better! That can't be right!
- over optical it even sounds as if the speakers are further apart. Over cinch it sounds "closer" again and therefore better.
- if I want to use optical, I have to explicitly set the sound output on the TV to "external speakers". Then the volume is fixed and I can no longer control the volume using the remote control. (In addition, a large message window from Samsung appears telling me to control the external speakers separately)
- I can still control the volume via the RCA using the remote control
- the automatic room correction, i.e. calibration using the iOS app, works. But it's still too shallow for my taste. The parametric EQ can definitely get something out of it, but it's very complicated. The normal EQ has presets and is therefore easier to use.
- the noise comes from the RCA at 100% TV volume. You can also hear a slight "scratching" when the sound is played.

The biggest drawback, however, is that I can't control the volume with the TV remote control when I'm using optical audio. But that's the only way the sound quality is good.

I would basically have to use the poorer RCA to be able to control the volume.
 
I use the Logitech Harmony as a "one remote does all" solution but of course it's not the cheapest of solutions. You can run a "profile" of different devices depending on your activity so in your example, while watching the Shield the remote would still play/pause etc but the volume control would be directed at your Wiim (yes it deals with IR and bluetooth remotes).

Now of course they're no longer available as a new product, you may be able to pick one up 2nd hand or there are other solutions but I can't comment on how effective they are.

I'm not looking forward to the day my remote dies or Logitech remove the back end support.......
 
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