Wiim Ultra as a pre amplifier

[Joseespona]

Yep. And a passive pre-"amp" is even more of a waste of money, if you ask me.

In an attempt to fight the unfounded fear of digital volume control people introduce some real electrical problems due to non-constant resistance leading to unpredictable problems, depending on actual cable capacity.

And I still love the way you play with words. True poet

 

[harkpabst]

The wiim ultra is awesome. I have tested it thorougly and its probably the best value combo you can get in your hands right now. But your statement is not completely true. I have tested it as a digital preamp hooked to my rokna wavedream and its solid. But Im one of those guys that owns a passive/active preamp which I can toggle whith just a switch. And let me tell you that if the preamp is good enough it will blow your mind. You cant compare dsp driven volume control to ladder resistor analog volume control. The choice of passive or active is up to you. If you need a boost in the signal with colour in the signal or transparent sound with no boost. I have invested enough in equipment to know that preamps are probably one of the less regarded weak points in an audio chain. The wiim lineup is awesome as a streamer. Cant find anything more convenient. But as good as you may think or measure its digital volume control is, you really need to hear a very good preamp before making assumptions.

Needless to say that we won't reach common ground here. But thank you for your kind words.

I went from a (high quality) analogue preamplifier with top notch analogue volume control to digital with my Lyngdorf amp and yo didn't look back since. In a fully analogue setup there's no sense in artificially introducing digital volume control, of course. But doing it the other way around with good quality is a rather expensive way of gaining ... nothing, in my book

 

[slartibartfast]

Needless to say that we won't reach common ground here. But thank you for your kind words.

I went from a (high quality) analogue preamplifier with top analogue volume control to digital with my Lyngdorf amp and yo didn't look back since. In a fully analogue setup there's no sense in artificially introducing digital volume control, of course. But doing it the other way around with good quality is a rather expensive way of gaining ... nothing, in my book

Magical thinking trump's engineering and physics etc

 

[WeeDee]

When connecting the Ultra to an integrated amp, how do you disengage the pre amp on the Ultra?

 

[aguzz132]

When connecting the Ultra to an integrated amp, how do you disengage the pre amp on the Ultra?

You activate the Fixed Volume Output in the Audio Settings section

 

[Doublej]

You activate the Fixed Volume Output in the Audio Settings section

I don't think doing so bypasses the preamp function of the Ultra. I believe all inputs are still subject to digitization and the signal processing in the WiiM.

 

[slartibartfast]

I don't think doing so bypasses the preamp function of the Ultra. I believe all inputs are still subject to digitization and the signal processing in the WiiM.

I guess it depends what you mean by disengaging the preamp. All you can do is fix the volume. Analog inputs will always be digitised.

 

[Smartplug]

I guess it depends what you mean by disengaging the preamp. All you can do is fix the volume. Analog inputs will always be digitised.

Fictional character should be promoted to wiim tech support.

 

[harkpabst]

I guess it depends what you mean by disengaging the preamp. All you can do is fix the volume. Analog inputs will always be digitised.

Yep. An finally it depends on the definition of what a preamp might be.

 

[Kirpo]

The wiim ultra is awesome. I have tested it thorougly and its probably the best value combo you can get in your hands right now. But your statement is not completely true. I have tested it as a digital preamp hooked to my rokna wavedream and its solid. But Im one of those guys that owns a passive/active preamp which I can toggle whith just a switch. And let me tell you that if the preamp is good enough it will blow your mind. You cant compare dsp driven volume control to ladder resistor analog volume control. The choice of passive or active is up to you. If you need a boost in the signal with colour in the signal or transparent sound with no boost. I have invested enough in equipment to know that preamps are probably one of the less regarded weak points in an audio chain. The wiim lineup is awesome as a streamer. Cant find anything more convenient. But as good as you may think or measure its digital volume control is, you really need to hear a very good preamp before making assumptions.

Hey,
I’m using the WiiM Pro Plus would you consider a ‘good preamp’ to use with a WiiM pro plus?

 

[Joseespona]

Hey,
I’m using the WiiM Pro Plus would you consider a ‘good preamp’ to use with a WiiM pro plus?

Well that depends on the sound you are looking for. If you want the least coloration possible passive preamps are great, but they have no added gain so depending on your speaker and amp they may work or not. For this category khozmo and hattor are amazing. You can add an active stage +6db an even a tube buffer +8db if you want sound coloration. An affordable yet great option that measures very well and is very transparent for active preamps is the topping. And finally you have tube preams. Those give you the most coloration in sound and depend on tube rolling etc. Too hard to give you an option here

 

[Doublej]

Hey,
I’m using the WiiM Pro Plus would you consider a ‘good preamp’ to use with a WiiM pro plus?

Depends on your budget. The Rokna Wavedream DAC that Joseespona mentioned starts at $8,000. I expect Joseespona's other components to be similarly priced.

 

[Joseespona]

Well thats not completely true. I am using the khozmo preamp with the active stage that is not in tha same price category compared to the dac or the speakers. I am using the wiim ultra as a streamer and ddc because of how flexible it is. My main setup is in the living room and I want to have my tv hooked up to the system so hdmi arc is a must. It has usb out and even room correction and I can’t find major differences with more expensive gear. So what I basically do is test the gear and decide if it makes sense spending more. The preamp in the wavedream doesnt make the cut. The digital preamp in the wiim ultra sounds way better to set an example. I just like r2r when it comes to dacs, although I am curious to test the new gustard delta sigma flagship

 

[cooky560]

I did some experiments, the pro plus sounds amazing as a pre-amp using it with the "power in" jacks of my integrated.

Makes me think an ultra a good power amp would sound great!