WiiM Amp Ultra with external DAC?

[richbutler1]

Hmm, after some time I decided to stay with WAU’s DAC. It doesn’t play bad. It’s really awesome. Apparently, even a super super hi-end DAC is not able to radically change the sound. It should be flat. R2R sounds slightly different due to distortion. I prefer clear sound to artificial distortion.

That's a good choice. In my rig, I installed an a/b rca switch. I feed the Wiim ultra line out into A, the Fiio K13 R2R into B. Two of my friends who aren't audiophiles stopped by and while here we walked through a bunch of songs. Asked them to describe each. They said WU dac is clear, precise, brighter. The K13, they said warm, relaxed. Basically, it's like having more than 1 flavor where you really like both, and enjoy them in different ways. For me, I love the K13 for non-critical listening and/or long listening sessions. It has that vintage analog feel many chase. There are no wrong choices, it's just what you enjoy and sounds good to you. Don't let anyone sway you. Listen yourself and do what makes you happy. Have fun!

 

[hgo58]

That's a good choice. In my rig, I installed an a/b rca switch. I feed the Wiim ultra line out into A, the Fiio K13 R2R into B. Two of my friends who aren't audiophiles stopped by and while here we walked through a bunch of songs. Asked them to describe each. They said WU dac is clear, precise, brighter. The K13, they said warm, relaxed. Basically, it's like having more than 1 flavor where you really like both, and enjoy them in different ways. For me, I love the K13 for non-critical listening and/or long listening sessions. It has that vintage analog feel many chase. There are no wrong choices, it's just what you enjoy and sounds good to you. Don't let anyone sway you. Listen yourself and do what makes you happy. Have fun!

I use the Ultra DAC and some EQ (and RoomFit) and get the same "warm" results. Only thing I can't get from the WiiM is the distortion of the external DAC.

 

[richbutler1]

I use the Ultra DAC and some EQ (and RoomFit) and get the same "warm" results. Only thing I can't get from the WiiM is the distortion of the external DAC.

 

[Groove Catcher]

That's a good choice. In my rig, I installed an a/b rca switch. I feed the Wiim ultra line out into A, the Fiio K13 R2R into B. Two of my friends who aren't audiophiles stopped by and while here we walked through a bunch of songs. Asked them to describe each. They said WU dac is clear, precise, brighter. The K13, they said warm, relaxed. Basically, it's like having more than 1 flavor where you really like both, and enjoy them in different ways. For me, I love the K13 for non-critical listening and/or long listening sessions. It has that vintage analog feel many chase. There are no wrong choices, it's just what you enjoy and sounds good to you. Don't let anyone sway you. Listen yourself and do what makes you happy. Have fun!

Are you saying you took the Amp ultra’s DAC and fed it into amplifier “a” then took the Amp Ultra’s DAC and fed it into K13’s DAC via its line in?

 

[Goodnews]

How was the volume determined to be exactly the same when comparing R2R and WAU?

 

[EddNog]

I got enough warmth changing from LS50 Metas to SourcePoint 8s. The money spent on an expensive DAC for barely perceptible changes is better spent dollar-for-dollar on the speakers.

-Ed

 

[poldark]

Does anyone now using the K13 R2R have any personal knowledge of how it compares to the K11 R2R?

I'm interested to try the "distortion" of R2R but being budget conscious I'm wondering if the K11 (now at bargain prices) would be sufficient in my modest system. I don't need balanced output.

Thanks

 

[Aquaman]

Does anyone now using the K13 R2R have any personal knowledge of how it compares to the K11 R2R?

I'm interested to try the "distortion" of R2R but being budget conscious I'm wondering if the K11 (now at bargain prices) would be sufficient in my modest system. I don't need balanced output.

Thanks

@Mr Ee ?
I think he‘s got the K11.

 

[Mr Ee]

@Mr Ee ?
I think he‘s got the K11.

I do, k11, k11 r2r and am seriously thinking of getting the k13 in a couple of weeks, and although it (k13) would probably be mainly for headphone listening I'm sure it'll have a stint in the main setup too.
If (we all know it'll be when) I get one I'll comment in case anyone cares to hear my thoughts on what is charitably a 13 bit dac

I used the two k11s with a variety of wiims, mainly pro, ultra, amp ultra for both headphones and feeding them into my Hegel H190 I had at the time.
Liked the k11 for headphones. Significant improvement over the (OG) Ultra headphone socket.
Didn't like the k11 as a dac at all. Strange.
k11 r2r, I preferred the OS mode over NOS. Fairly subtly, but noticable, difference. I think that's 'cos I prefer a cleaner, more precise sound. So why even bother with an r2r dac then...?
I do think the k11 r2r was easier to listen to at loud volumes for longer than the H190 dac.
I listen to a lot of rock, metal, pop, dance and appreciated the clarity of the H190 for those, but I specifically liked the k11 r2r for slightly more mellow music, such as Dire Straits. Private Investigation - sounded sublime on the k11 r2r.

A couple of issues with the k11 r2r (and maybe the k11, tbh I can't remember as that's now in another, less frequently used headphone setup).
Using usb I sometimes (often?) got a slight click between tracks, even when the sample rate didn't change.
Using optical, even though specs say 96 max I often had issues with 96khz. And yet a few weeks ago I put the k11 r2r into my main setup for a few days and I'd swear 192 worked over optical. I can't imagine the firmware update I recently applied fixed that, surely?

And to bring this slightly back on track - using an external dac with an amp ultra, which is what the thread is about.
I have an amp ultra usb out to an rme adi 2, and I still haven't got to the bottom of why as soon as I make this connection I get a lot of reasonably loud clicking from the speakers. So for now the rme is fed optical from a pro. Good job I have too much Wiim stuff! (Is too much even possible? Seems to depend whom in the house you ask.)

In the next few weeks I'll be completely dismantling / moving around / reconnecting everything in the lounge so will see if I can resolve the amp ultra usb issue then.
It's surely something to do with everything else plugged in there as when I had the amp ultra in the office in a much simpler setup I had no such issues using usb with the rme or k11 r2r.

Well, not quite the quick, consise post I imagined when I started..