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I'm scratching a Hi Fi separates itch I've had for a while.
I've just bought a 35 year old Pioneer Amp (A400 if your interested) and I have my eye on a pair of KRK R6 studio monitors.
Now I just need to get the tunes into it. So I need a bluetooth receiver, I'm not looking for absolute perfection, but I don't want to bring the whole system down (including directional speaker cables) with a rubbish BT receiver, so what do you recommend and why?
TIA
The Wiim of your choosing, pure bluetooth isn't going to sounds as good as a wiim.
with a rubbish BT receiver, so what do you recommend and why?BT receivers are pretty much all rubbish, especially if you're running them through anything halfway decent. Get (at the very least) a WiFi receiver, think chromecast audio as a minimum. I'm using an assortment of Chromecast audios and Raspberry pi's running volumio with various amplification options, depending what they are attached to, the only bluetooth one i had went in the bin after about a month.
Another vote for Wiim. The Wiim Mini would do what you need.
I had a Wiim Pro which I really liked but upgraded to the Wiim Ultra when it came out. A very good looking box!
As mentioned above, the smarter choice would be to go with a streamer. Find a budget one (either of the two cheapest Wiim models) and try it out. Sound quality will be better and it will also mean that you aren't tying up your phone or tablet to play the music. You just use them to run the app that controls the streamer which is the device that actually plays the content.
Agree with the streamer comments, if you really do however want to stick with bluetooth, then get something like the ifi zen blue which supports aptX and LDAC.
edit- this https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/ifi-zen-blue
I recently got a £15 bluetooth 6.0 dongle from Amazon. It supports LDAC and I think it sounds pretty good. There are larger £20 versions with RCA connectors.
For me not needing to faff with an app is a bonus.
I don't know exactly what it is about later Bluetooth protocols that is considered inferior to WiFi for this kind of datastream? Personally I'd be more worried about the DAC and power regulation.
Slight thread hijack
I have some Edifier S1000W's, which are great and support Hi Res Audio to 24bit/192kHz - but only 44.1kHz/16bit via wifi I've recently found out. Tidal Connect displays as FLAC, but loses the 24bit/192kHz label, so I guess it's downmixing (if that's the correct term). If I use Spotify and try to select the new lossless settings, it says device not compatible with lossless, so presuming it's just going to play at the pre-existing normal/high Spotify resolution?
Tidal definitely sounds a lot better than vanilla Spotify - however, given the two as a library, I'd choose Spotify for a few reasons.
Currently having subscriptions to Spotify and Tidal, I'd like to ditch Tidal if possible.
So - looking at Wiim's - Pro, or Ultra. The Edifiers will do full 24/192 over Co-Ax or Optical. The question now is - Wiim to speakers, are there any pros/cons to using optical vs co-ax or vice versa? Or which would be the better DAC, the speakers or the Wiim - if the Wiim, then just line out to the speakers?
Regarding DAC's, the Pro Plus has the AKM 4493SEQ, the Ultra has the more advanced ES9038 Q2M SABRE.
My guess, due to the price point of the Edifier's, is that both will be superior to the DACs in the speakers.
However, it's all very subjective.
I use an external Audiolab M-DAC with my Ultra, which is an older unit than the Sabre DAC in the Ultra. However, to me, it has a more pleasant sound than the Ultra by itself. YMMV.
Worth noting that Chromecast Audios do not do Spotify lossless - spotify haven't adapted their chromecast protocol to cope with the lossless bitrate. So you only get Spotify high which is a bit pants.
Wiims are spotify lossless compatible apparently.
Spotify connect also doesn't allow WASAPI exclusivity on a PC so everything goes through the PC sound engine rather than lossless to the DAC, so that doesn't deliver hires either
I've dicked about with Tidal and Qubuz, and have a spotify family sub, so thought i could get away with just spotify lossless, but the chromecast compatibilty and WASAPI issue is such an odd omission. I have gone back to Tidal.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DSPXCBNX
I got one of these over the summer as a stop gap and haven't had any cause to start thinking about a "proper" update since. Goes into a Marantz amplifier that drives some big old KEF floor standers and sounds fairly good to my slowly aging ears.
Edit: FFS, when has ANYONE ever tried to share a ****ing kindle preview on here. Try this:
A lot of people like WiiM, I have heard mixed reviews though.
Personally when I was building my newest hifi setup I bought a Fosi preamp and amp just to see what they're like and I've been pretty damn impressed considering the form factor and quality. Fosi MC351 amp with the 45w PSU, powering a couple of Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 and have been impressed with the bluetooth streaming.
Edit: FFS, when has ANYONE ever tried to share a ****ing kindle preview on here. Try this:
Why would folk use a kindle for browsing?
Why would you buy studio monitors to listen to music?
Wiim Pro bought and setup and it sounds great; thanks for the recommendation. Just waiting on another 4 banana plugs to tidy it up.
How does Wiim mini or Pro compare to Chromecast Audio?
Why would you buy studio monitors to listen to music?
Why not? The classic BBC LS3/5A, a highly regarded bookshelf speaker, made by Rogers, Spendor, among others, and 50-odd years old, was designed as a studio monitor speaker. Yamaha do a similar size studio monitor, my Røde NTH-100 headphones are designed for studio use, the point being they’re very neutral and uncoloured which makes them ideal for use in small spaces. They are, after all, designed for listening to music, by definition!
Why would you buy studio monitors to listen to music?
why not? - what is your impression of studio monitors? . although I figure some folk may prefer the coloured anti-measurement home hifi speakers pos that are sold with fancy veneers to hide the failings in audio reproduction.
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Why would you buy studio monitors to listen to music?
Why not? The classic BBC LS3/5A, a highly regarded bookshelf speaker, made by Rogers, Spendor, among others, and 50-odd years old, was designed as a studio monitor speaker. Yamaha do a similar size studio monitor, my Røde NTH-100 headphones are designed for studio use, the point being they’re very neutral and uncoloured which makes them ideal for use in small spaces. They are, after all, designed for listening to music, by definition!
The LS3 was specifically designed with a boost in vocal frequencies for use in outside broadcast vans (my mate was studio engineer for R3) , I've heard them and they are pretty shit for modern music
The Wiim Mini would do what you need.
Unless you want to use YouTube music. Wiim Mini doesn't play YT music.
Why would you buy studio monitors to listen to music?
Isn't that what they're for?
Much better, but either 3 (mini) or 5 (pro) times the price. If you can even find a chromecast audio! (I've got a few at home still, most i've swapped to Volumio/RPi though)How does Wiim mini or Pro compare to Chromecast Audio?
Thanks, we've got Chromecast audio and it's playing up a little since the recent reset after the infamous bricking