WiiM mini at 100% volume but still need 70% on receiver

[Fellowrupert]

My Denon DRA-900H (100 wpc) (2024) stereo receiver sounds wonderful after using the WiiM Mini RoomFit to balance sounds to the rooms they're in (I have 4 of them). However, even if I'm just using the one connected to the receiver, I have to go 70% on the receiver volume (WiiM Mini is at 100% volume) to get the volume I need. VRMS is at the max 2 on the Wiim. I have tried TosLink optical, Aux In and CD inputs- all are the same. If I disconnect the WiiM and use the native Denon HEOS app only in the receiver for streaming, 30% volume will be quite loud.

I'm using Tidal for streaming.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mr Ee]

Welcome.
Do you have Volume Limit set to 100%? (Audio Settings screen)
Do you have pre gain set (reduced) for the input? (Audio Input screen)

 

[Fellowrupert]

Welcome.
Do you have Volume Limit set to 100%? (Audio Settings screen)
Do you have pre gain set (reduced) for the input? (Audio Input screen)

Thank you for the reply.

-Volume Limit at 100%.

-Screenshot attached of my Audio Input screen. I just toggled on the Per-Source Volume Control but see no adjustments, which I'd not done before. There is no Pre-Gain option. I checked online and saw a screenshot of the various sources with sliders that I believe you're referencing, but I'm unable to find those settings. What am I missing here? Could it be that the Mini does not support that? I checked the manual for both the Mini and Pro. The Mini manual does not show that option, but the the Pro manual does. Looks like I have to get a WiiM Pro if I want to fix this. Can you confirm or am I just missing something?

Thanks

 

[Mr Ee]

It could well be that the Mini doesn't have the pre gain option. My Mini wasn't turned on at the time I wrote that!
You shouldn't need a pro - for me the optical output of all my wiims at 100% gives the same volume into the same dac / amp.

Do you have anything else at all you can use as a source into the denon?
CD player, tv optical out?
i.e. is heos somehow amazingly loud compared to everything else?
Is there a heos volume setting somewhere?

But even then, I'd expect 100% optical volume into the denon at 70% denon volume to be pretty loud!

 

[harkpabst]

I never owned a WiiM Mini, but Per-Source Volume Control doesn't make much sense when you want a fixed output from the Mini. Just to be on the safe side, please disable it.

It might or might not make a difference, but it's free and easy to try.

 

[Fellowrupert]

Thank you for the suggestions.

I have ordered a Pro version. I prefer controlling the volume and music from the WiiM app, so not having 100% WiiM volume is still the goal.

I was in another part of the house earlier and at that time I was only using the WiiM Mini which is connected to the receiver and I ended up with the WiiM at 100% volume and the receiver was 80% volume to get where I wanted- not much headroom left on the receiver. Again, if only using the native HEOS app, 30-35% volume on the receiver gives me the same volume as that 100/80%. I hope the Pre-Gain adjustment in the Pro gets me there.

I appreciate the help- it got me pointed in the right direction!

 

[Mr Ee]

The pre gain will make it louder, but a pro won't (well, shouldn't) fix the root cause.
If 80% volume on the denon gets you where you want it and 100% is more than loud enough then you don't need any more headroom.
Pre gain introduces its own issues, especially at higher volumes.

 

[Fellowrupert]

Great help all.

I got the Pro installed and made some changes, including going optical instead of RCA, which in total gave enough volume boost that at 60% each on WiiM and receiver, I get the volume I need. I can use the WiiM as my music controller without going in and out of the Denon receiver app to adjust volume, which is perfect for my needs.

I appreciate the help in getting me pointed in the right direction.

All good now.

Thanks