[bcowen]

News at 11:00

This is what happens when you don't use waterproof cardboard. What a maroon.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

Some thermal images of the MJ3 today...

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-mjolnir-3-impressions-thread.969416/post-17698553

 

[Paladin79]

@Paladin79 is just testing to see if I'm awake!

These are very generous donations by Tom for the Pitsboro, NC meeting on September 9th.

His Western NC contributions were also spectacular!

We are fortunate to have folks who give so generously on this forum.

Thanks Tom!

Whatever I send to you use lol.

 

[Paladin79]

No royalties required as long as you use cheap wood. If you go upscale though and start using premium materials like cardboard, we'll have to talk.

I try to use wood that Finnegan will not bite chunks out of, he can destroy a cardboard box.

 

[adias]

RE: My Wiim use; I use Wiim as a client on my wired RJ45 network, output being only the coax SPDIF connection. SPDIF to my Gumby DAC is through 1:1 pulse transformer for isolation. Microphone is disabled, removed. Since I am only using digital circuitry, power supply goodness is not that important, but I have a linear 5V supply available. Could not tell the difference. In this configuration, it sounds fine. Is it as good as a CD played on Urd? No way. YRMV.

Urd CD vs same recording on streamer, Urd wins but imo in soundstage and separation. I attribute that to Unison. Wiim is SPDIF, coax in my case.

It would be nice someone compare a WiiM Pro connected to a Schiit DAC, to a kilobuck streamer side by side connected to the same port spdif of the same DAC.

 

[roadcykler]

What are they listening to?

According to their website, "The on-device microphone is used to measure the entire audio path latency automatically when it's connected with the receiver or speaker. The latency value will then be used to maintain the perfect audio synchronization in the multi-room audio playback with HomePod, Echo, Google Home or other WiiM devices."

Sounds like marketing mumbo jumbo to me.

 

[adias]

Seriously… they do that. Their device has a multi room mode and mics are used for syncing them, i.e., measuring latency is the way to do it.

So it does that. The question is does it listen to other things?

 

[Balthazar B]

Urd CD vs same recording on streamer, Urd wins but imo in soundstage and separation. I attribute that to Unison. Wiim is SPDIF, coax in my case.

It would be nice someone compare a WiiM Pro connected to a Schiit DAC, to a kilobuck streamer side by side connected to the same port spdif of the same DAC.

It will be interesting to test USB output to a Unison-equipped DAC when WiiM comes out with that oft-mentioned variant.

I can at least imagine there might be a difference in S/PDIF via optical, since it's been mentioned that whatever part WiiM uses is not the best. At least it could be less reliable than an alternative, even if there's no sonic difference.

 

[theeclone]

I try to use wood that Finnegan will not bite chunks out of, he can destroy a cardboard box.

https://tenor.com/bVkeA.gif

 

[Balthazar B]

Seriously… they do that. Their device has a multi room mode and mics are used for syncing them, i.e., measuring latency is the way to do it.

So it does that. The question is does it listen to other things?

Good question. Would be a best practice to disable the mic if you're not running multiroom audio. And consider doing so even if you are.

While you're at it, if you have any listening devices at all operating in your home -- I'm looking at you Amazon, Nest, Apple, Android, Logitech, Netgear, and too many etc.s tom mention -- operating your network on a single physical/WiFi LAN, or running apps on your devices that may just be capturing keystrokes or other information -- like what podcasts or YouTubes you subscribe or listen to -- I would suggest you could be at some unquantifiable risk, even if you subscribe to CISA/CERT alerts and are otherwise obsessively paranoid. Hell, could be somebody is analyzing posts you make here and adding that analysis to your profile that's been developed. Almost certainly someone -- more than one someone, perhaps -- knows more about you than you know about yourself.

While I'm not suggesting we all move to Susanville and pepper our property with IEDs in case SHTF, it's at least a good idea to realistically assess your vulnerabilities and address the ones that make sense. And recognize that thinking you're insulating yourself from harm by not using a WiiM streamer, while Alexa is listening to you 24x7 may not be exactly true.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

Personally, and regardless of what WiiM is saying, I consider it highly questionable whether the microphone is being used for some sort of multi-room sync feature.

Here are my reasons why I have such strong doubts:

1) Apple has been doing synchronized multi-room audio for 20 years, ever since the first-gen AirPort Express came out. And they don't use microphones for this, they rely on something much more reliable: time codes. I know that this works just fine because about a decade ago I've written software that does something similar.

2) Using actual audio and microphones to keep your streams in sync between rooms can't work. Because: physics.
Imagine you play audio in another room down the hall, and you use that audio to sync the stream to the room you currently are in. Let's say that the sound takes about a tenth of a second to travel from that other room to the one you're in. Perfect, your device adjusts the stream by delaying it by a tenth of a second, and now both audio sources are in sync.
Or are they?
Because now you walk over to that other room. You will notice that you now hear a pretty pronounced echo. Why? Because the the sound you hear coming from the room you were in first is now two tenths of a seconds late! Why? Because your microphone-based synchronization feature adjusted your local playback by introducing a tenth of a second of delay to offset the tenth of a second of time the audio takes to travel from your other room, but now you're in that other room and the already software-delayed audio takes yet another tenth of a second to travel to you.

So, no. If they actually use a microphone to keep multi-room audio in sync instead of a network-based timestamp, then they're even dumber than I thought.

 

[O8h7w]

In this regard, stationary devices are way more limited than mobile phones. Those, wait I mean these, I'm typing on one right now of course... yep, these things hear waaaay too much. Whether they are listening or not I do not know. Probably not, at least for most of us, most of the time.

 

[mystaiced]

https://tenor.com/bVkeA.gif

FTFY

 

[styler]

Can anyone comment on pros v. cons of eq-ing with Roon DSP parametric eq vs. using a Schiit Loki Max? I’m trying to very slightly tame the mids on my speakers. I also have the necessary equipment to use REW though I’ve not tried it yet and don’t know how to add it’s result to Roon.

 

[artur9]

But for me, it's a HARD pass.

I say this in much sincerity, but I'd watch your U-tube channel.

Reminds me of the Person Of Interest episode where the genius said, "I created social media because I needed more data on human behavior." Self-funded gubmint surveillance is fundamental