Personally, I appreciate your reviews not for a positive or negative conclusion, but for your ability to comprehensively, in detail and meaningfully describe such a delicate substance as the sound of equipment. You have a wonderful figurative language, good practice of comparison with analogues. That's why I don't miss a single episode
I purchased a Fx-audio Tube-03 preamp and modded it. I cut the chassis and put a pair of Burson V6 vivid opamps, a dedicated linear power supply and a pair of GE5654 GAN (nos) tubes. The mods are 10 times the price of tube-03 lol. But boy it kicks ass! It's super quiet even at full volume. It's a fun project which I'm totally digging. Love your videos!
What a refreshingly clear ethos and philosophy behind your process, and this coming from someone with as good an ear as he is technically knowledgeable. We're very fortunate to have you in this medium 🙏
Keep up the good work. Love your reviews. I'm impressed with your English skills. Learning another language and having complete facility with it is quite an accomplishment...at least it would be for me.
Maybe I am wrong however, I think most people that like the wiim uses it with a external dac. The software is what is really good, especially using it with amazon music for $80 and a quality dac I really don't know what would be better. Hey I am open to other peoples suggestions though. I do like and appreciate your reviews !
You know it's continually been my experience that most things in the audio hobby just work. And a lot of the negativity and bickering comes from people over or under-evaluating these products. I tend to ignore outright negative reviews in general myself, especially if they trend deep into preference or some sort of philosophical bias. Critical reviews are different. Constructed critique of a device should be welcome. You can recommend something while communicating where it has flaws or could be improved. That's why I like your reviews regardless of whether you find some to your taste or not. I want to know what something does well, not so well, or just different. So I appreciate the effort and I'm glad you don't cater to the noise. Keep up the excellent and thorough reviews!
For me, the value of the FX-Audio FX502E-L is this: By searching for reviews of it, I found your channel. I'm certain that my subscription will pay off in the future. I sense that your glowing reviews will identify to me truly great products.
I commented earlier but I want to add that I have the WIIM. It has a really good App, sits on Wi-Fi, and if you use an external DAC, sounds pretty good. Darko’s main issue with it is it doesn’t do gapless playback. If it’s not gapless, it’s no more than the gap on a vinyl album or a CD. So, after 5 mins of setup, it’s on Wi-Fi and playing your Amazon playlist with a better interface than the Bluesound Amazon interface. I’m not saying it’s better than Bluesound, because I have one of those as well. I’m just saying it doesn’t suck.
I don't understand how your audiophile ears can tell the difference of an digital signal sent by a streamer( the wiim mini for example). I own it and for 100 eu it has all the features a 500 one has with the condition of using as a digital source. Sure, it falls behind on master of tidal when you skip tracks but it will be fixed as the stutters before. It's hifi/hires to my ears if it can sends 24/192 to a dac. It sounds incredible connected to my ifi zen one. As for Darko's yt review, he never said that he used it's digital output. You" audiofiles" are sick and don't enjoy music , just praising equipment of thousands of "bucks"
I have not watched Darko's review but read it on the website instead. You can look at it here darko.audio/2022/01/dont-walk-run-to-the-wiim-mini/ As for digital sources sounding different, yes they do but the explanation why is long (electrical noise, jitter, etc.) and tiring, and I am not even the best person to do it. And finally, for us audiophiles being sick, yes we are. We were all bitten by a bat and can hear things normals can't. True story. 🤞🦇
I personally appreciate the simplicity of the WiiM streamer when using Tidal; I utilize the optical out to my DAC. For an RPi 4 Tidal solution, so far I have only found Volumio with an annual subscription as an option. I am open to other Tidal streaming solutions at the $200-300 mark that are better and don't require a subscription (or a thorough understand of programming a Rpi), The ifi streamer is $600 CDN and Bluesound node $700. I am not convinced that John Darko gave the WiiM a fair shot.; Hans Beekhuyzen's review barely mentions the optical out and only comments on the performance of the analog connectivity. The positive review from ASR was only when using the optical out ; I agree that using the internal DAC at 3.5mm connection is less that ideal. Just my thoughts.
Totally agree with your thought. I want to add that Darko and Hans reviewed the Wiim Mini many months ago and the manufacturer has been constantly developing improvements that really work. Proof of this is the forum on Armin's website, the Wiim Mini thread is very active and shows a high percentage of satisfaction with the device. But a friend of Srbojub has told him that he has the Wiim Mini and it is not HiFi sound and this is enough for him to not to be worthy of review. I have Wiim Mini with the latest update, I connect it via toslink to a modest Loxjie D30 dac with AKM and then to a fully recap Pioneer SA7800 amp and Pioneer CS88a speakers and it sounds amazing. I use Amazon Music HD that can offers 24/192 and I conclude by saying that for me it's HiFi. Cheers from Barcelona.
I have a WiiM Mini connected to Topping E30, Aiyima T9 and Wharfedales Diamond 11.4, and to me it sounds almost as good as my primary system - Bluesound Node 2i > Willsenton R8 > Wharfedale Lintons. I stream either from Spotify or Apple Music.
🤗👍 SRBOLJUB …I AM HERE ONLY TO HELP YOUR CHANNEL…and I understood that you only want to do positive reviews on the things you like 👍 and leave the negative reviews for someone else 🤔 please correct me if I am wrong 🤗👍💚💚💚
Obviously, you're just going to have to clone yourself and start more channels. It's the only way. I look forward to your review of cloning services, and clone fidelity. I wonder if they'll let you do your own tuning...
I too appreciate your reviews because you are honest. BTW just received a WiiM Mini streamer this week and yes....it sounds like crap!!! But tie in a decent Dac (I used an old Topping E 30) and it works as a pretty good streamer that I am using for a system that serves my outdoor (Deck) speakers.
Good video - it sometimes helps to clear the air, so to speak. Even the decent sounding Class D integrated amps, like the Aiyima A07 - that are really small physically - have challenges for me. Simply connecting speakers to the binding posts, is a pain in the tuckus!
We were in talks about it and they seemed eager... but time went by and it still hasn't happened. I may remind the manufacturer sometime but I hate being pushy...
It doesn't mean that directly but it indicates something else, especially with speaker amps. There is a limit to how much you can minimise certain things (power supplies, cooling, etc.) before performance starts to suffer.
Allo DigiOne HAT for Raspberry Pi... That used to cost ~130 together... But I haven't checked recently how much did the chip shortage and worldwide inflation influenced it.
@@iiWiReviews I like dirty cheap though... ;) You've essentially mastered English which is so impressive in itself. Idioms are never ending, there will always be more to learn. I'm naturally pedantic about things, but I really try to resist correcting non-native speakers. 1) because it gives character to your speech. Do we need another person on this earth sounding american? No thanks. 2) Unless the person requests it, it can be annoying. 3) sometimes mistakes lead to interesting things, like dirty cheap. ;) Keep up the good work. 🤙
all your reviews end up good because you select good product you are interested in putting through your testing and that you want to experience while being realistic about price. I believe this is the truely correct way to conduct these reviews; considering price and intended usage.
Personally, I appreciate your reviews not for a positive or negative conclusion, but for your ability to comprehensively, in detail and meaningfully describe such a delicate substance as the sound of equipment. You have a wonderful figurative language, good practice of comparison with analogues. That's why I don't miss a single episode
I purchased a Fx-audio Tube-03 preamp and modded it. I cut the chassis and put a pair of Burson V6 vivid opamps, a dedicated linear power supply and a pair of GE5654 GAN (nos) tubes. The mods are 10 times the price of tube-03 lol. But boy it kicks ass! It's super quiet even at full volume. It's a fun project which I'm totally digging. Love your videos!
What a refreshingly clear ethos and philosophy behind your process, and this coming from someone with as good an ear as he is technically knowledgeable. We're very fortunate to have you in this medium 🙏
Keep up the good work. Love your reviews. I'm impressed with your English skills. Learning another language and having complete facility with it is quite an accomplishment...at least it would be for me.
Maybe I am wrong however, I think most people that like the wiim uses it with a external dac. The software is what is really good, especially using it with amazon music for $80 and a quality dac I really don't know what would be better. Hey I am open to other peoples suggestions though. I do like and appreciate your reviews !
This is a really good video. I appreciate your candor. You’re so right. People wouldn’t watch.
Aha! I didn't know until today what iiWi stood for and I think I watched most of your videos! 🤣
Best reviewer on TH-cam. Looking forward to hearing about the Ladder DAC.
I personally prefer your approach
You are right.
I had purchased a couple of FX Audio DAC/ Headphone Amps, fairly cheap and they Don't work. FX Audio are Trash Bin Products.
What does "dont work" mean? You buy wrong products or what?
@@wemustgo What is wrong Product ? It is wrong lousy Manufacturer - FX Audio.
Still the best audio reviewer, thanks for your work.
My experience with cheap streamers is that their analog outputs are not good 😕 but their digital outputs are good as long as my DAC is good.
You know it's continually been my experience that most things in the audio hobby just work. And a lot of the negativity and bickering comes from people over or under-evaluating these products. I tend to ignore outright negative reviews in general myself, especially if they trend deep into preference or some sort of philosophical bias. Critical reviews are different. Constructed critique of a device should be welcome. You can recommend something while communicating where it has flaws or could be improved. That's why I like your reviews regardless of whether you find some to your taste or not. I want to know what something does well, not so well, or just different. So I appreciate the effort and I'm glad you don't cater to the noise. Keep up the excellent and thorough reviews!
For me, the value of the FX-Audio FX502E-L is this: By searching for reviews of it, I found your channel. I'm certain that my subscription will pay off in the future. I sense that your glowing reviews will identify to me truly great products.
I commented earlier but I want to add that I have the WIIM. It has a really good App, sits on Wi-Fi, and if you use an external DAC, sounds pretty good. Darko’s main issue with it is it doesn’t do gapless playback. If it’s not gapless, it’s no more than the gap on a vinyl album or a CD. So, after 5 mins of setup, it’s on Wi-Fi and playing your Amazon playlist with a better interface than the Bluesound Amazon interface. I’m not saying it’s better than Bluesound, because I have one of those as well. I’m just saying it doesn’t suck.
Can we see Shanling UA3 dac review. I really want to know performance of new AKM chip
The direct RCA is really nice. Bluetooth... weak sound.
yup, things do broke even if they are new esp electronics, you are wise enough though.
I don't understand how your audiophile ears can tell the difference of an digital signal sent by a streamer( the wiim mini for example). I own it and for 100 eu it has all the features a 500 one has with the condition of using as a digital source.
Sure, it falls behind on master of tidal when you skip tracks but it will be fixed as the stutters before.
It's hifi/hires to my ears if it can sends 24/192 to a dac.
It sounds incredible connected to my ifi zen one.
As for Darko's yt review, he never said that he used it's digital output.
You" audiofiles" are sick and don't enjoy music , just praising equipment of thousands of "bucks"
I have not watched Darko's review but read it on the website instead. You can look at it here darko.audio/2022/01/dont-walk-run-to-the-wiim-mini/
As for digital sources sounding different, yes they do but the explanation why is long (electrical noise, jitter, etc.) and tiring, and I am not even the best person to do it.
And finally, for us audiophiles being sick, yes we are. We were all bitten by a bat and can hear things normals can't. True story. 🤞🦇
Don't worry Srboljub: I for one appreciate your strategy for reviewing. 🙂
You and Darko are my favourite reviewers. Keep up the good work brother 🙌
Enjoyed this one so much and laughed many times especially when you were saying how you're supposed to give mediocre reviews on such products 😆
I personally appreciate the simplicity of the WiiM streamer when using Tidal; I utilize the optical out to my DAC. For an RPi 4 Tidal solution, so far I have only found Volumio with an annual subscription as an option. I am open to other Tidal streaming solutions at the $200-300 mark that are better and don't require a subscription (or a thorough understand of programming a Rpi), The ifi streamer is $600 CDN and Bluesound node $700. I am not convinced that John Darko gave the WiiM a fair shot.; Hans Beekhuyzen's review barely mentions the optical out and only comments on the performance of the analog connectivity. The positive review from ASR was only when using the optical out ; I agree that using the internal DAC at 3.5mm connection is less that ideal. Just my thoughts.
Totally agree with your thought. I want to add that Darko and Hans reviewed the Wiim Mini many months ago and the manufacturer has been constantly developing improvements that really work. Proof of this is the forum on Armin's website, the Wiim Mini thread is very active and shows a high percentage of satisfaction with the device. But a friend of Srbojub has told him that he has the Wiim Mini and it is not HiFi sound and this is enough for him to not to be worthy of review.
I have Wiim Mini with the latest update, I connect it via toslink to a modest Loxjie D30 dac with AKM and then to a fully recap Pioneer SA7800 amp and Pioneer CS88a speakers and it sounds amazing. I use Amazon Music HD that can offers 24/192 and I conclude by saying that for me it's HiFi. Cheers from Barcelona.
I have a WiiM Mini connected to Topping E30, Aiyima T9 and Wharfedales Diamond 11.4, and to me it sounds almost as good as my primary system - Bluesound Node 2i > Willsenton R8 > Wharfedale Lintons. I stream either from Spotify or Apple Music.
🤗👍 SRBOLJUB …I AM HERE ONLY TO HELP YOUR CHANNEL…and I understood that you only want to do positive reviews on the things you like 👍 and leave the negative reviews for someone else 🤔 please correct me if I am wrong 🤗👍💚💚💚
Obviously, you're just going to have to clone yourself and start more channels. It's the only way. I look forward to your review of cloning services, and clone fidelity. I wonder if they'll let you do your own tuning...
I too appreciate your reviews because you are honest. BTW just received a WiiM Mini streamer this week and yes....it sounds like crap!!! But tie in a decent Dac (I used an old Topping E 30) and it works as a pretty good streamer that I am using for a system that serves my outdoor (Deck) speakers.
Great video. Wiim streamer seems a bargain but the slightly more expensive yamaha wxad-10 I wd think sounds much better.
I have something like that but from SMSL. It doesn't have tone controls though. Sounds surprisingly good.
This was GREAT! HONEST! ….and really funny!
Hey Soul , brilliant video and great way to clear things .. thanks 🙏
Why are you keeping this broken equipment?
I was wondering why not get a replacement, then I heard the answer 5:45
Don't forget the Topping E30 II.
I enjoy your honesty. Thank you.
I follow you for the one man show!
Thanks
iiWi Reviews
Thanks!
Once again, thank you for your support! 👍🍻
Good video - it sometimes helps to clear the air, so to speak.
Even the decent sounding Class D integrated amps, like the Aiyima A07 - that are really small physically - have challenges for me. Simply connecting speakers to the binding posts, is a pain in the tuckus!
Agreed. 😊
Use banana plugs👍
@@J2I3H Yes, but they could either just install banana jacks, or stagger the binding posts a bit to make them better.
Excellent
I enjoy your reviews. Did you review the Spark Vista
Integrated Amplifier? Thanks!
We were in talks about it and they seemed eager... but time went by and it still hasn't happened. I may remind the manufacturer sometime but I hate being pushy...
@@iiWiReviews What DAC can I connect to a Marantz CD/DVD player with coaxial output? Thanks!
Weight doesn’t mean better sound tho idk why that’s important
It doesn't mean that directly but it indicates something else, especially with speaker amps. There is a limit to how much you can minimise certain things (power supplies, cooling, etc.) before performance starts to suffer.
Regarding your thoughts on chromecast audio and wiim mini, what streamer would you suggest that sounds good and doesn't break the bank?
Allo DigiOne HAT for Raspberry Pi... That used to cost ~130 together... But I haven't checked recently how much did the chip shortage and worldwide inflation influenced it.
@@iiWiReviews you'll still need to buy a raspebby pi, an enclosure and maybe a quality power supply if you want to get the most of it, right?
It's dirt cheap. 😉
Yeah, warned already... We learn as long as we live. 😊
@@iiWiReviews I like dirty cheap though... ;) You've essentially mastered English which is so impressive in itself. Idioms are never ending, there will always be more to learn. I'm naturally pedantic about things, but I really try to resist correcting non-native speakers. 1) because it gives character to your speech. Do we need another person on this earth sounding american? No thanks. 2) Unless the person requests it, it can be annoying. 3) sometimes mistakes lead to interesting things, like dirty cheap. ;)
Keep up the good work. 🤙
all your reviews end up good because you select good product you are interested in putting through your testing and that you want to experience while being realistic about price. I believe this is the truely correct way to conduct these reviews; considering price and intended usage.