Not trolling at all. The question is if anybody has experience that says a higher-end streamer would do a better job -- and from some of the answers, there's the power supply to consider.
Pass-through Roon Endpoints
Hello All,
In my main system I use Roon for most playback; the endpoint is a Wiim Pro that outputs to an Yggdrasil+ DAC via coax. The Wiim does nothing to the data; it just passes it through directly. Roon’s ’signal path’ indicator reads Lossless.
Question: is there any advantage to using a fancier (i.e., pricier) streamer than the Wiim Pro for this purpose? It does nothing except pass the digital data through to the DAC, nor would a fancier one do anything beyond that.
Showing 4 responses by scottlfinsf
It seems to me that there can be some adventure to be had with something this seemingly basic. I have two home systems, one the 'big' downstairs system and the other the 'media' system that also serves with a flat-screen TV and movies and all that. To date I have two streamers: a Wiim Pro, and a Bluesound Node (2024 model). Each outputs to a DAC -- one DAC is a Bryston BDA-3 and the other an Yggdrasil+. I've done some swapping. Three takeaways: 1. The Wiim Pro + the Bryston BDA-3 didn't get along all that well. At streaming rates over 96K the Bryston started stuttering and couldn't sustain. I wondered if it might be a network thing since that system uses WiFi, but then I swapped the Bluesound Node in for the Wiim Pro and everything settled down. The Bluesound and Bryston work smoothly together, even at high streaming rates. 2. Both the Bluesound Node and the Wiim Pro work perfectly with the Yggdrasil+ at all streaming rates. To be sure, that's a wired Ethernet connection. When I added the Bluesound Node to the 'small' stereo with the Bryston, I moved the Wiim Pro to the 'big' stereo with the Yggy. All works just fine. That's where I am with the two systems now. 3. I can't tell any difference in the sound quality with either streamer connected to either DAC+rest of the system. It was this little adventure that led me to ask this particular question. I can't as of yet discern any sonic difference between the Bluesound Node and the Wiim Pro when connected to the same DAC, with both set to act solely as bridges. I can attest that there was an operational difference between the two, at least in terms of their respective synergy with the two different DACs, which are both quite good products. |
Thanks for all this great information. WiFi is an important issue; I rather wonder if the Bluesound Node works better upstairs than the Wiim Pro because the Bluesound has a more robust WiFi implementation -- that's the 'quality of components' issue right there. I'm fascinated by how small changes can have big impacts. But mostly, just in how much my ear is happy and, in the long run, as you said, how happy I am with this stuff. That's the reason for exploring audio, after all. It's fun. I've upgraded my downstairs system almost entirely over this past year, but like you, I have kept my original pair of speakers through it all; in my case, B&W 803Ds. (Upstairs has B&W 805s models, also very nice.) So it's a continuing journey. These days I'm not only having fun exploring streamers and their impact, but recently I've started using Roon. |
Is WiiM Pro a certified Roon endpoint now? Yes. Or are you streaming from Roon to WiiM using AirPlay? No. Roon to Wiim Pro is over standard Ethernet, Cat7 cable to be precise. How are you streaming to Bluesound? Via home network with WiFi.
NAS with local files, connected to home network via Ethernet; MacMini (M4) on Ethernet runs the Roon Server. Active endpoints include Wiim Pro (Ethernet), Bluesound Node (WiFi), a MacBook Pro computer (Ethernet), and an Apple HomePod (WiFi). What sources are you using? Qobuz, Tidal, Spotify, local music files? All of the above except for Spotify. Worth mentioning: I'm in the process of upgrading part of the system now. Look like I'm going to be replacing the Wiim Pro in the main downstairs unit with a HiFi Rose RS130. This should be a big, big change. |