WiiM Pro Plus — Going DAC-less

[daydreamer]

I recently sold off my Bel Canto Pre5 and my Topping E70 Velvet DAC in the hopes of (eventually) acquiring something better.

Being without music was not an option, so I pressed a WiiM Pro Plus into service driving my NAD C298 power amp directly. I must admit I underestimated the sound quality this modestly-priced, nondescript black plastic box could achieve!

I even tried connecting a phono amplifier to the analog inputs of the WiiM, but unfortunately this resulted in clipping during the louder passages of an LP, so that experiment was not a success. Hopefully, future WiiM products will have 6dB additional analog headroom before clipping, albeit at the cost losing 1-bit of ADC precision.

Perhaps the WiiM Pro Plus may have been underestimated by a few others out there who, like myself, never really dared try its analog outputs, under the assumption that an external DAC would always necessary for enjoyable sound?

Just relating my experience, FWIW.

Charles.

 

[merifon]

I even tried connecting a phono amplifier to the analog inputs of the WiiM, but unfortunately this resulted in clipping during the louder passages of an LP, so that experiment was not a success. Hopefully, future WiiM products will have 6dB additional analog headroom before clipping, albeit at the cost losing 1-bit of ADC precision.

Haven't you thought of a very simple resistive divider? The signal at that point is at line level, therefore quite robust. Even a single resistor in series is enough, soldered onto the plug, with a value to be evaluated according to the input resistance of the WiiM. Or there are very trivial ready-made potentiometric regulators that can do the same thing.

 

[daydreamer]

Haven't you thought of a very simple resistive divider? The signal at that point is at line level, therefore quite robust. Even a single resistor in series is enough, soldered onto the plug, with a value to be evaluated according to the input resistance of the WiiM. Or there are very trivial ready-made potentiometric regulators that can do the same thing.

Definitely thought about two equal resistors per channel as a 6dB pad, but I don't consider the current situation as a permanent one that would warrant breaking out my soldering iron!

 

[bherren]

I recently sold off my Bel Canto Pre5 and my Topping E70 Velvet DAC in the hopes of (eventually) acquiring something better.

Being without music was not an option, so I pressed a WiiM Pro Plus into service driving my NAD C298 power amp directly. I must admit I underestimated the sound quality this modestly-priced, nondescript black plastic box could achieve!

I even tried connecting a phono amplifier to the analog inputs of the WiiM, but unfortunately this resulted in clipping during the louder passages of an LP, so that experiment was not a success. Hopefully, future WiiM products will have 6dB additional analog headroom before clipping, albeit at the cost losing 1-bit of ADC precision.

Perhaps the WiiM Pro Plus may have been underestimated by a few others out there who, like myself, never really dared try its analog outputs, under the assumption that an external DAC would always necessary for enjoyable sound?

Just relating my experience, FWIW.

Charles.

I also took out my DAC after my partner and I did some kind-of double blind tests with and without and couldn't tell the difference ;-)

I'm also using a phono on the analog input and didn't observe clipping at all. The Pro Plus input is rated 2Vrms , my preamp is a schiit Mani. Maybe your preamp is outputting too much ? Can you adjust the gain ? Normally 2V should have plenty of headroom for a line input. Also make sure you max out the sampling rate in the settings though that shouldn't affect clipping...

 

[daydreamer]

I also took out my DAC after my partner and I did some kind-of double blind tests with and without and couldn't tell the difference ;-)

I'm also using a phono on the analog input and didn't observe clipping at all. The Pro Plus input is rated 2Vrms , my preamp is a schiit Mani. Maybe your preamp is outputting too much ? Can you adjust the gain ? Normally 2V should have plenty of headroom for a line input. Also make sure you max out the sampling rate in the settings though that shouldn't affect clipping...

I would argue that 2V rms (2.83V peak) is insufficient in terms of overload margin. As a general rule, 20dB of overload margin is considered acceptable. My 2M blue cartridge outputs 5.5mV at 1 kHz, 5cm/sec, and a typical MM phono gain is 40dB. With 20dB overload margin, we need to tolerate 60dB above 5.5mV, so up to 5.5V peak. Hence we need a 6dB attenuator in front of the WiiM analog inputs to offer 5.6V peaks without clipping.

 

[Smartplug]

Does anyone use pro plus directly connected to amp and use it as preamp as well?

 

[bherren]

Does anyone use pro plus directly connected to amp and use it as preamp as well?

Yes. Very happy with the setup

 

[daydreamer]

Does anyone use pro plus directly connected to amp and use it as preamp as well?

Yes, I am currently doing that, but I am aided by the fact that my power amp has a gain trim function available. I have therefore adjusted my power amplifier gain such that 100% volume on the WiiM PP creates a volume just above comfortable listening level but well below damaging levels for speakers or ears! If you attempt something similar, I suggest using the lowest available power amplifier gain available, at least initially, and only increasing it if you can't achieve high enough volume with WiiM volume at 100%. If your power amplifier has no gain adjustment switches or pots, proceed with caution and use the volume limit capability on the WiiM Audio Setup menus to effectively limit the impact of accidental swipes to the right on the volume slider.

Edit: forgot to mention that the WiiM's ability to set the line level to 2V, 1V, 0.8V or 0.5V can used if your power amplifier lacks gain adjustment.

 

[Smartplug]

New set up, wiim pro connected to smsl do200 mkii via toslink and balanced out to power amp. 450 watt a channel make Polk legend sings to its full glory. 4 ohms and 85 db sensitivity I get decent volume not so 450 watt mono block.

 

[harkpabst]

SMSL DO200 is a DAC, right? So you're not going "DAC-less" at all, are you?