WiiM Amp

Hi, if this is unfit for this thread, please delete or move to an appropriate thread:
It turns out that WiiM Ultra has a USB out. If I understood correctly, that feature is announced also for the WiiM Amp. Has it been implemented, or we're waiting for a firmware update for this?
Sorry if this has been discussed earlier.
Thanks
 
VladaJ said:
Hi, if this is unfit for this thread, please delete or move to an appropriate thread:
It turns out that WiiM Ultra has a USB out. If I understood correctly, that feature is announced also for the WiiM Amp. Has it been implemented, or we're waiting for a firmware update for this?
Sorry if this has been discussed earlier.
Thanks
Click to expand...
We’re still waiting.
 
VladaJ said:
Hi, if this is unfit for this thread, please delete or move to an appropriate thread:
It turns out that WiiM Ultra has a USB out. If I understood correctly, that feature is announced also for the WiiM Amp. Has it been implemented, or we're waiting for a firmware update for this?
Sorry if this has been discussed earlier.
Thanks
Click to expand...

The only silly question is the one you never asked.

(y)
 
granger said:
I have noted the exact same thing. My previous setup had more similar volumes. So I think the sensitivity for HDMI is just too low. The amp would never get close to full power as it is currently setup.
Click to expand...
I have also noticed this - the volume has to be set very high on the WiiM Amp when listening to audio coming over the HDMI connection. If I used the same volume when playing music off the USB drive, I'd rupture my eardrums!

I'm puzzled by something else: when the TV/HDMI is streaming some movies, then the dialogue is hard to make out. I'm guessing, but it's as if the mix down to two channels is not working well for some movie audio formats? But I'm out of my depth. E.g. in the recent Netflix Godzilla movie I had to crank the Amp volume up very high in order to hear the dialogue properly, whereas other Netflix titles' dialogue (e.g. Resident Alien) is at a good loudness. Not sure I'm explaining that very well!
 
Jjbunn said:
I have also noticed this - the volume has to be set very high on the WiiM Amp when listening to audio coming over the HDMI connection. If I used the same volume when playing music off the USB drive, I'd rupture my eardrums!
Click to expand...
It has been proven by Stereophile measurements that the WiiM Amp shows plain perfect behaviour regarding the gain structure. It will put out its maximum power only if the digital input delivers 0 dBFS. If the source (TV) never puts out a digital level of 0 dBFS even for the loudest sounds, it's the fault of the source, not the amplifier. Personally I would still like to see a per-source compensation for such cases.
However, many people are still afraid of turning the volume up higher than 50%. Why? There's absolutely no reason to believe that the Amp might sound "stressed" just because the volume dial is too far to the right. It just doesn't happen, if the gain structure is chosen sensibly. Trust me. :)

Jjbunn said:
I'm puzzled by something else: when the TV/HDMI is streaming some movies, then the dialogue is hard to make out. I'm guessing, but it's as if the mix down to two channels is not working well for some movie audio formats? But I'm out of my depth. E.g. in the recent Netflix Godzilla movie I had to crank the Amp volume up very high in order to hear the dialogue properly, whereas other Netflix titles' dialogue (e.g. Resident Alien) is at a good loudness. Not sure I'm explaining that very well!
Click to expand...
I think that this is a pretty fine explanation and many have observed similar behaviour.

Unfortunately, there's nothing the WiiM Amp can do about it. It just handles the 2 channel signal that has been dowmixed before. You can add some EQ to boost dialogue, but that's more or less it. As long as you just have to adjust the volume from one movie to another, everything is pretty fine. If you find yourself adjusting the volume constantly, because dialogue is too low and the next action scene is too high in level, that's the real problem. Some dynamic compression would be useful here, but that should - again - have ideally been applied before the signal enters the WiiM.
 
harkpabst said:
Unfortunately, there's nothing the WiiM Amp can do about it. It just handles the 2 channel signal that has been dowmixed before. You can add some EQ to boost dialogue, but that's more or less it. As long as you just have to adjust the volume from one movie to another, everything is pretty fine. If you find yourself adjusting the volume constantly, because dialogue is too low and the next action scene is too high in level, that's the real problem. Some dynamic compression would be useful here, but that should - again - have ideally been applied before the signal enters the WiiM.
Click to expand...
Some TV’s (and my Fire TV stick) have settings to boost dialogue that might help
 
harkpabst said:
Unfortunately, there's nothing the WiiM Amp can do about it. It just handles the 2 channel signal that has been dowmixed before. You can add some EQ to boost dialogue, but that's more or less it. As long as you just have to adjust the volume from one movie to another, everything is pretty fine. If you find yourself adjusting the volume constantly, because dialogue is too low and the next action scene is too high in level, that's the real problem. Some dynamic compression would be useful here, but that should - again - have ideally been applied before the signal enters the WiiM.
Click to expand...
Isn't this a fundamental "risk" when using HDMI ARC as the source for a stereo amplifier, regardless of what amp that may be?

My perception is content sources differ in how they choose to "mix" a stereo output from a native 5.1 (or higher) original audio tracks. So you may get more or less center in your L/R stereo signal, and center is where dialog is often predominantly placed.

I've noticed this myself using an NAD D3045 connected via ARC from my LG TV. The other day I was watching a WNBA game on the Ion network, and the dialog from the announcers was very low, while the background noises from the court & stadium were unusually loud. I speculated that Ion was simply feeding L and R from a 5.1 native source to the L and R for a stereo downmix, rather than mixing center into both L and R for the downmix. When I reverted to my AVR and used true L/C/R signals, the dialog was fine.

I'd like to get rid of my AVR, but situations like this make me think twice.
 
Inertiaman said:
Isn't this a fundamental "risk" when using HDMI ARC as the source for a stereo amplifier, regardless of what amp that may be?

My perception is content sources differ in how they choose to "mix" a stereo output from a native 5.1 (or higher) original audio tracks. So you may get more or less center in your L/R stereo signal, and center is where dialog is often predominantly placed.

I've noticed this myself using an NAD D3045 connected via ARC from my LG TV. The other day I was watching a WNBA game on the Ion network, and the dialog from the announcers was very low, while the background noises from the court & stadium were unusually loud. I speculated that Ion was simply feeding L and R from a 5.1 native source to the L and R for a stereo downmix, rather than mixing center into both L and R for the downmix. When I reverted to my AVR and used true L/C/R signals, the dialog was fine.

I'd like to get rid of my AVR, but situations like this make me think twice.
Click to expand...
Here are some insights into the downmix topic for those who can read German:

I am happy that the first WiiM devices with Dolby decoders are just around the corner.
 
The biggest issue with HDMI in from ARC (and it’s not just WiiM) is that, by definition, the WiiM only gets the audio after it’s been ‘processed’ by your TV.
 
Many TVs can also pass the sound through. However, the receiver must then be able to handle the sound format.
 
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