Wiim Pro optical out to Fiio K13 issue

[cristoo]

Hi,

I just bought second hand WiiM Pro to use as steamer for FiiO K13 which I use as HP Amp.

Before that, I used my phone connected by usb and it worked well especially detection of bit rate etc

When I hooked WiiM Pro right after configuration when listen to music I heard like beeps when playback, not on track switching. Sometimes once 30 sec, sometimes 1-2 times in 10 sec.
WiiM is attached by optical, and I initially chose variable 24/192 settings, test tone was played with no issues.

I tried different tricks like with latency (I got the feeling that changing this setting is making things even worse) or even disabled fade in/out.

Which seems to work is setting optical to fixed resolution but i guess in such scenario I don’t get bit perfect but up-sampled quality.

Does anyone have similar experience and can help what to do ? I played with this setup only for a while but I am bit confused as in simple setup with phone (although through usb) everything worked well.

K

 

[Mr Ee]

I've been using a Mini into a K13 for headphone usage for a few weeks and haven't noticed anything like you're describing.
The K13 is currently fed from an amp ultra (usb, obviously), but I'll hook my Pro up via optical too.
My Mini and Pro settings match yours - no fade in/out; no latency; 24/192 max, not fixed (the mini doesn't support fixed anyway).

Is there any pattern to it, e.g. just on some tracks, just high sample rate tracks etc?
What optical cable are you using? Is it tightly bent? Is it fully seated both ends?
Is there any chance you could record the sound?

 

[cristoo]

Hi,

Thanks for reply.

I use stock WiiM cable, it seems to be properly attached, i have other ones (I guess, so I can try tło check on different cable but tomorrow).

I can’t at the moment track the pattern, the max resultion in variable mode is 24/192. I just played Dire Straits in such resolution and it was fine all track but then I played other track with 24/48 and problems started right away.

These noises accur with different frequency during playback.

The sound is weird, it is not pop, rather click or beep or short sqeek but what is important it is audible during playback.

I rebooted device but no effect.

I don’t know whether device is broken coz evening else works fine.

K

 

[Mr Ee]

Pro optical to K13 for a couple of hours, no issues at all.
What else have / can you try?

Pro coax out?
Pro analog out?
Differerent dac?

What / how are you playing to the pro?

 

[Harry]

I‘ve the same issues with k13 R2R over usb to Laptop (Qobuz) and tried many things without success, too. Yesterday I deleted the FiiO/ Asio driver and it seems to Play good. Currently I wait for an answer from FiiO Support.

 

[cristoo]

So I finally had to some time for testing

I hooked up the Wim Pro to Wim Ultra firstly though external dac and than to line out as one setup and than directly to Ultra's optical In for other try. In both cases I used new optical cable. I played couple of minutes (few samples from tracks) and everything works fine. But honestly I did it only for few minutes.

That I reconnected Wim Pro to Fiio using the same optical cabe I used for above testing (so used other that initially from Pro's box) and I did short testing. I was about to report that the reason was faulty cable but then during longer session I noticed that strange things still remain to happen.

So, to problem seems to be for hi-res track on 48khz - CD quality or 192 seems to play fine. Hard to say whether it is related to 16/24 depth. This bizarre behavior is stuttering which is audible as click/beep. It happened quite fast when playback is initiated and with high frequency. But only for tracks in certain hi-res resolution.

I don't have coax cable to check, the only option is to have at the moment optical connection.

For playback I used JPLAY app (that uses DLNA protocol) and Wiim Home app, I don't think that it matter what app I use. I stream from Tidal and Qobuz.

I am even more confused what is going on and how to fix it.

 

[cristoo]

Quick update - it might be the most bizarre case I have ever had.

I again replugged wiim pro to my main setup and check all problematic hi-res songs - they played with no issues.

So I retest it again with Fiio K13 - as last resort I used power power adapter from testing setup to power wiim and I changed power strip that I use to plug more than one device to single power plug in the wall I have nearby my listening place (this is called power strip or sth). I used previously very simple and cheap 2 ports and now switched to more advanced power strip.

And again after few minutes of testing the tracks that were problematic before now play flawlessly. I have to have longer session to confirm it coz I had though I found the solution before, but as for now results are promising.

 

[Aquaman]

You mean to tell us that you are having a simple electrical problem?

What do we learn from that?
Never use old power strips, especially not those that have been lingering in your sister‘s room for a decade. Besides the usual dust and grime one’s likely to find crusted traces of coke, crisps and perhaps the one or other grain of grass in there. I wonder if that might not have a relaxing effect on music reproduction.

 

[cristoo]

Actually the power strip I used (and might be foulty/problematic) was brand new from shop but indeed simple/cheap one. The one that I replaced it with is not also sophisticated to be used to send people to moon, but seems to be sufficient and works.

I will do some further testing to find out if solution was that simple but no so obvious in the same time.

 

[Mr Ee]

I don't have coax cable to check

Any rca cable should do, even one half of the rca that came with the pro.
I used an 'analog' rca cable for a while before switching to a 'digital' one. Sounded the same to me...

 

[dangermouse]

Any rca cable should do, even one half of the rca that came with the pro.
I used an 'analog' rca cable for a while before switching to a 'digital' one. Sounded the same to me...

There's no non-foo difference as far as I can see. It's just marketing.