If this question has been posted and answered, I apologize and hope that someone can please refer me to relevant post. I am a new member. I have a Denon S660H receiver and would like to to get 24/192 resolution playback on it from a WiiM mini. Can I do this with an optical connection? How about RCA jacks? Thanks.
How to Get Hi Res with Qobuz on my Receiver?
- Thread starter mcwein50
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Brantome
Moderator
If your receiver supports up to 24/192 on its optical inputs, then both the mini and Pro can deliver that over spdif, while the Pro can also do so over coax. It doesn’t make sense to talk of digital resolution over analogue RCA connections, but you can use the WiiM’s internal DAC to convert tracks up to 24/192 into an output analogue stream.
Thanks for replying. I don't know much about any of us, although I'm sure you know what you're talking about. I know the receiver support up to 24/192 but I don't know if it does so over optical inputs. I can check the manual or call Denon. I was talking to someone at Crutchfield and they told me about the Andover Songbird streamer. The tech guy said I can connect one RCA cable to the AUX OUT on the streamer and connect to the red and white jacks at the other end into Media Player on the Denon. The Songbird only outputs cd quality with optical inputs but 24/192 with analog. If this won't work, can you please tell me why? I really appreciate it.
Mr Ee
Major Contributor
Hi,
I took a v. quick look at the denon specs, and it's not immediately obvious whether the optical inputs support 192 kHz
The unit itself does, but that might be only via heos streaming.
tbh, I'd be pretty surprised if the optical inputs didn't support 192, but can't be sure.
As for the songbird, from the songbird page:
"Regardless of input or stream, the digital out on the Songbird is resampled to 16/44.1. The internal DAC is 24/192, so the way to enjoy 24 Bit Hi-Res output is to use the analog out and the built-in DAC."
A bit confusing; where it says "so the way to enjoy 24 Bit Hi-Res output..." probably really ought to say "so the way to enjoy 24 Bit Hi-Res content...".
I'd fully expect the dac in the denon to be superior than that in the songbird (and the wiim).
In my opinion, you won't be getting the best out of a songbird / denon pairing due to either having to use the songbird dac or the downsampled songbird digital output.
I've no idea what the songbird app is like, so have not considered the usability factor.
I took a v. quick look at the denon specs, and it's not immediately obvious whether the optical inputs support 192 kHz
The unit itself does, but that might be only via heos streaming.
tbh, I'd be pretty surprised if the optical inputs didn't support 192, but can't be sure.
As for the songbird, from the songbird page:
"Regardless of input or stream, the digital out on the Songbird is resampled to 16/44.1. The internal DAC is 24/192, so the way to enjoy 24 Bit Hi-Res output is to use the analog out and the built-in DAC."
A bit confusing; where it says "so the way to enjoy 24 Bit Hi-Res output..." probably really ought to say "so the way to enjoy 24 Bit Hi-Res content...".
I'd fully expect the dac in the denon to be superior than that in the songbird (and the wiim).
In my opinion, you won't be getting the best out of a songbird / denon pairing due to either having to use the songbird dac or the downsampled songbird digital output.
I've no idea what the songbird app is like, so have not considered the usability factor.
Mr Ee
Major Contributor
You'd connect the wiim to the denon via optical.
Airplay - no. That would be a 44 (or 48?) khz signal into the wiim, so 44 out to the denon.
I don't use airplay myself so am not as well qualified to comment as some others, but I'm 99.9% sure it's limited to 40 something.
The mini can definitely output 24/192 from its optical out.
The only question is whether the denon accepts 192 via its optical in.
You'd either have to try it, or ring denon. Maybe more googling will help, but the spec sheet is not explicit about this.
Finally, even if the denon does only support up to 96, the wiim can be configured to downsample anything higher than 96 down to 96.
Note that this would only affect a 192 (or 176) stream - a 96, 88, 48 or 44 stream can be sent out exactly as it came in.
Airplay - no. That would be a 44 (or 48?) khz signal into the wiim, so 44 out to the denon.
I don't use airplay myself so am not as well qualified to comment as some others, but I'm 99.9% sure it's limited to 40 something.
The mini can definitely output 24/192 from its optical out.
The only question is whether the denon accepts 192 via its optical in.
You'd either have to try it, or ring denon. Maybe more googling will help, but the spec sheet is not explicit about this.
Finally, even if the denon does only support up to 96, the wiim can be configured to downsample anything higher than 96 down to 96.
Note that this would only affect a 192 (or 176) stream - a 96, 88, 48 or 44 stream can be sent out exactly as it came in.
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Absolutely. I get it. But based on what you've read about the Songibrd, the same connection (songbird to denon via optical ) would NOT produce 24/192, right? And again, with the WIIM, it's assuming that the Denon accepts 192 via optical. Do I have it right?
Mr Ee
Major Contributor
Correct.
Songbird optical out to denon would be 16/44.1 all the time, regardless of what you stream to it.
Wiim can be configured to effectively pass through whatever you stream to it (24/192 max) to the denon.
Songbird optical out to denon would be 16/44.1 all the time, regardless of what you stream to it.
Wiim can be configured to effectively pass through whatever you stream to it (24/192 max) to the denon.
To get the best possible signal to your Denon you should
1. Connect via Optical cable
2. On the Mini use the sample rate tester to determine the highest resolution the Denon can handle
3. Turn off all EQ on the Mini
4. Set the volume on Mini to be fixed 100% and control the volume using the Denon remote
Which streaming service do you intend to use - there are additional steps required to activate 24/192 dependent upon service?
Trust your ears and don't worry too much if the WiiM reports 16/44.1 or 24/96 sometimes!
1. Connect via Optical cable
2. On the Mini use the sample rate tester to determine the highest resolution the Denon can handle
3. Turn off all EQ on the Mini
4. Set the volume on Mini to be fixed 100% and control the volume using the Denon remote
Which streaming service do you intend to use - there are additional steps required to activate 24/192 dependent upon service?
Trust your ears and don't worry too much if the WiiM reports 16/44.1 or 24/96 sometimes!
Is it correct to say that the DAC in WiiM mini sends out the 24/192 bit rate sample to the Denon, whose DAC then converts it to play back at 24/192? So the sound that I'm getting from my speakers, which are attached to the Denon, is coming from the Denon DAC ? Sorry, just very new to all this stuff.
No.
The WiiM's internal DAC converts the 24/192 digital signal to analogue and delivers a standard analogue signal to Denon.
If you use Optical the WiiM delivers 24/192 digital signal to the Denon's internal DAC which then delivers it as analogue to the amplifier stage in the Denon.
Brantome
Moderator
I’d say on the contrary - many users find the supplied cable works fine, like I did. Having said that, I had to move my Mini and got a replacement cable, not because it’s better but because I needed a longer cable - a £8.99 one from Amazon was more than sufficient. Others might want to change it for a cosmetically better looking cable or maybe for another that’s a better fit into their DAC, but the sound can’t be improved imho - as said, 1s are 1s and 0s are 0s…
Thanks. I have one more problem... I have successfully connected the WIIM mini to my Denon, but in the process of setting it up, I clicked on the wrong bit sampling on the test. 16/44. I just went too fast in the setup process. So, is my sound now defaulting to 16/44 when I play hi res on Qobuz, or, since the Denon can play back at up to 24/192, will the WiiM recognized that? If the answer is no, how do I go back and adjust the output quality? This whole process has made me feel like the dumbest person in the universe -- and I'm sure the heads in this forum are nodding.
Brantome
Moderator
Just go back into the Wiim app device settings, audio settings, spdif output resolution and change it to 24/192 and redo the test
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