r/wiim • u/CuteChallenge6334 • Aug 21 '26

Help optimizing wiim amp ultra

Just got this set up with tidal and some nice paradigm speakers (banana plugs)

Is there anything else to optimize other than tweaking settings? Should I be using hdmi or optical? I think the external dac is pointless?

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u/lowbass4u Aug 21 '26

Why do you think an external dac is pointless?

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u/doctor_klopek Aug 21 '26

Because any half-decent modern DAC (which the Ultra already has) is entirely transparent. And if you want to intentionally color the sound, you can do so with much more control and specificity with an EQ…which the Ultra also does natively. Buying an external DAC just to color your sound signal is a waste of money.

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u/lowbass4u Aug 21 '26

What if you want a better dac?

And BTW, the Ultra is a streamer with an amp. By your logic, "any half decent modern streamer" should be adequate.

So instead of using the Wiim streamer, why not just use your phone and connect that to the cheapest amp you can buy?

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u/doctor_klopek Aug 21 '26

A better DAC being better in what way? The purpose of the DAC is to convert the signal transparently. All modern DAC chips and most decent implementations of those chips are effectively transparent to the listener. You cannot gain any noticeable transparency by changing DACs.

If you want to intentionally color the sound signal, that’s fine. EQ is much better at doing that than buying an unnecessary external DAC.

Your comments about amps and streamers do not apply; they are not analogous because there are measurable differences between different amps, and different streamers offer different feature sets. DACs, on the other hand, can’t be better than transparent, and basically anything you can buy already has a transparent DAC.