Wiim Pro with what Ext, Dac??

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musicguru99

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Hi trying to decide what dac to buy my set up...Speakers are Paradigm premier 800's with a c-600 center...Polk surrounds,Marantz Cinema 40.....music streaming Apple Music or Tidal(still trying to decide...any input would be appreciated!!). the dac i am thinking of is the topping velvet 70 if there is a very good option at a cheaper price point open to ideas!!!I live in Canada so prices here are pricier,LOL.Thanks for any idea's on these ?!!!
 
Brantome said:
I’d forget Apple Music if you want lossleess hi res streaming - it’s often been discussed here. And even with the impending demise of MQA in Tidal where they’re moving to hi res FLAC, I’d consider Qobuz over that.
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Ok....I listen to classic rock,alt rock R & B...a bit of jazz....is qobuz's library as good as tidal's?Why do you suggest it over Tidal?Thanks..
 
musicguru99 said:
Ok....I listen to classic rock,alt rock R & B...a bit of jazz....is qobuz's library as good as tidal's?Why do you suggest it over Tidal?Thanks..
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I disliked Tidal because if their association with the abomination that is/was MQA and felt all it recommended me was Rap music and similar which I don’t like.

Do the usual - take a free month’s trial of each service one after the other (and don’t forget Amazon Music Unlimited) and decide if you like them, from the app thru to their recommendations.
 
I'm using WiiM mini with an SMSL DO100 and never had any quirks. Hoping to still go smoothly with Nad 3050LE I'm gonna probably take in few days...
After trying all the streaming services I'm going with Tidal. I preferred its interface, its lyrics management and its special offers prices (I. E. Student) that made it the best price for me. Now it offers hi-res Flacs and even MQA was not bad, despite the bad way they wanted depict it.
I find tidal suggestions less mainstream than others and anyway not rap oriented, maybe it lacks on Playlist side but the button "play similar music", let me discovers interesting proposal. It learns with use...
On Qobuz I did not like the interface, missing play similar button, missing lyrics and the bad behavior on android auto (at least one year ago). To me, was more expensive than tidal...
Apple music doesn't play lossless almost on every system.
Amazon music has bad and confused app, not constant quality of song, even in the same album, limited texts support.
At the end You shoud try any service, then follow your preference...
 
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You could just use the built in DAC of your Marantz. That Also has HEOS so you don't even need the WIIM.
 
D1N0 said:
You could just use the built in DAC of your Marantz. That Also has HEOS so you don't even need the WIIM.
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Yes but WiiM software is better and HEOS, in case of Tidal use, don't support hi-res flac yet. Just to say, I'm planning to continue to use WiiM, even if NAD offers Bluos...
 
I have tried all of the well-known streaming services available in Canada in the last year and half-ish (Including Apple Music and Qobuz) – and currently I have Spotify, Amazon HD and Tidal Hi-fi Plus via the Wiim Pro and other streamers I own. My own conclusion (so far) is that Tidal Hi-Fi is probably the best bang for the buck, if you want all of CD quality, wide musical selection, and reasonably functional app/connectivity and musical recommendations. If you want “hi-res” then it’s the extra cost of Tidal Hi-Fi Plus or Qobuz, or the lesser cost but maddening app of Amazon HD. I tried Qobuz for about 3 months, and I liked it, but it is a different experience compared to the others, because it does not push personalized recommendations like the others do. Qobuz also has less of the of the obscure rock bands I like, which can be found on Tidal and Spotify. I still regard Spotify as easily the best of all of them re app functionality/connectivity, personalized playlist recommendations and selection of music – but no CD quality. (Until Spotify “Supremium” shows up – but it is only vaporware for now). As suggested, free trials make it easy for you to draw your own conclusions with no risk.
 
Guess I'm mostly agreeing, so maybe a pointless post... but I'm doing it anyway.

Spotify -- maybe I just want to believe that 320kbps doesn't sound as good as 'CD'.

Amazon - the app drove me mad, and My Music (I think that's what is was called) got fixated on only playing songs of the single genre you last liked, and played the same songs over and over. And over.

Qobuz - didn't get on too well with the app, the weekly suggestions were really, really bad despite me 'seeding' qobuz with maybe 50 artists and 1,000 tracks. And it seemed that even though I listened to just 20 secs of these suggested songs before skipping them, it gave me similar recommendations again the next week.
Native app meant chromecast, with gaps, wiim app integration (at least at that time) wasn't great. Bubbleupnp integration was much better.
But did I mention that the recommendations were weekly? And bad?

Deezer - well, Deezer Flow was even worse than Amazon My Music. Same native / wiim app issues as qobuz.

I settled on Tidal hifi (not plus). So called hi res just doesn't do anything for me. A good song is a good song, and if recorded and mastered well it's even better (especially through Paradigm speakers ;)). If done poorly then more samples are irrelevant.
Native app with tidal connect; daily (not weekly!) recommendations that I find pretty good and quite varied; the My Mixes are pretty good, and pretty well split by music genre - they contain quite a lot of already favourited songs (as do spotify mixes) but also a reasonable number of other songs.
I do like the artist radio and track radio options, although sometimes I do wonder at how some artists get clumped together!

But as @Brantome sagely advises, try for yourself!


As for the dac, there are so many options!
Good luck with that one, and I hope it's different enough from the cinema 40.
 
dangermouse said:
HEOS streaming software is positively prehistoric compared with the WiiM software.
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Whenever I mention the Heos app, I always describe it as execrable so much so the words almost go together now ;) Plus their firmware development and bug fixing rate is glacial compared to WiiM’s.
 
I stream Tidal Hifi via my WiiM Pro to my Audiolab amp using coax. Try the various connections and both WiiM and amp DAC to see which you prefer, and even whether or not you need another DAC.
As others have said IF you want/need hi-res lossless then Apple Music is really difficult to achieve it.
Most services offer a free trial so you could try before you buy.
For me Tidal, now it’s changing over to FLAC from MQA and at £6 per month is a great deal
 
Yanto said:
at £6 per month is a great deal
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True, it is ridiculously cheap.
Made me think of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels...
It's a deal, it's a steal, it's the sale of the ******* century! In fact, **** it Nick, I think I'll keep it!
 
I did try Tidal for a while, quality was excellent, but the music suggestions it kept giving me were completely crazy and bore no relationship to what I was actually listening to.
 
dangermouse said:
I did try Tidal for a while, quality was excellent, but the music suggestions it kept giving me were completely crazy and bore no relationship to what I was actually listening to.
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I think Spotify is easily the best for its recommendations and library. But not sq
 
Short and I know tricky question. Is a package Pro & SMSL C100 comparable to a Pro Plus? I would say yes, as far as my memory tells me the truth. (I need a present and the little DAC is already here and not in use, so I could save a few Euro 😉)
 
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