Does anyone know whether Roon bypasses WiiM’s PEQ settings?
If there are filters set in WiiM’s PEQ, Roon’s signal path indicator will be inaccurate unless Roon bypasses WiiM’s PEQ. Also, unless Roon bypasses WiiM’s PEQ, there is the risk of doubling up on room correction if filters are accidentally set in both places.
I understand the advantage of using WiiM’s PEQ is that it is global across all sources, whereas setting filters in Roon only works with Roon. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether WiiM’s PEQ sounds as good as Roon’s?
I don’t have a WiiM currently to test this with, so any comments would be helpful.
For reasons only known to WiiM and Roon, any EQ setup on a WiiM Pro Plus (which I have) isn’t reflected within the signal path on Roon.
Also worth noting, not all Roon DSP works with the WiiM Pro Plus. Like speaker setup DSP. If I apply a -120dB to the left channel it should be completely silent. Nope, both left and right channels dip about -6dB.
I need a -2.8dB to the left channel due to room layout. I could not achieve this with Roon and the WiiM.
I have a WiiM Pro driving a couple of Audioengine A2 actives on my desktop via a little SMSL SU-1 DAC.
Initially I used HouseCurve on iPad to generate a convolution filter for Roon. Subsequently I used WiiM’s DRC (before it became RoomFit) to generate a PEQ instead, as I wanted it to apply across all sources.
TBH I can’t hear the difference, though admittedly it’s hardly a highly resolving setup. Roon’s signal path is aware of a small L-R balance adjustment in the WiiM Pro, but not of its in-built PEQ settings.
My observations with my Pro Plus is that whilst the PEQ is within the digital domain, it’s slightly more noticeable when using the analogue outputs rather than optical or coax outputs to an external DAC.
My recommendation would be to use Roon for any DSP needs. Using HouseCurve to produce convolution filters.
I’m using a Wiim Pro as one of my Roon endpoints. The Wiim is connected to my network via Ethernet, and to my pre/pro via optical spdif.
When using the Wiim Pro as an endpoint, I’m using Roon Muse as well as the EQ in Wiim. Although Roon’s Signal Path doesn’t show what Wiim EQ is doing, both Muse and Wiim EQ are being applied. (Note; the reason I’m using EQ in both is that I wanted 11 filters and Wiim only offers 10).
I also use only Roon Muse EQ for other endpoints (outputting to the same system/speakers), using the same EQ settings, and I can’t tell a SQ difference.
(For reference, my system includes an Anthem pre/pro, Parasound amp, Magnepan speakers, and Power Sound Audio sub.)
Thanks for the reply. It answers all my questions. I’m pleased to read that you don’t find any audible differences between Wiim’s EQ and Roon’s. It is especially reassuring that is the case on a system as resolving as I imagine yours is. It makes Wiim’s PEQ very appealing as a global EQ that captures everything vs Muse that is limited to everything within Roon. Shame Roon’s signal path indicator is bypassed but I guess this is to be expected.
How did you come up with 11 different filters? That sounds like a lot. I use one!
Also, what made you go for optical over coax out of the Wiim, did you compare their performance?
Initially, I used the Wiim’s auto EQ feature which got me close to results I was happy with. A friend of mine came over with his REW measurement rig and helped me tweak the results to my satisfaction (this is when we discovered the 11th filter helped).
In my system, I’ve never noticed a difference between coax and optical performance, assuming the source is sending a clean signal, which the Wiim Pro does via digital coax and optical according to measurements I’ve seen.
How much does ROON know about the endpoints connected to it?
I know that ROON can tell if I am using a WASAPI, ALSA, or Sonos endpoint.
In the case of ALSA, ROON knows the device name and hardware capabilities. Not sure about WASAPI and whatever WiiM is using.
I doubt that ROON has a mechanism to know what kind of EQ and other parameters are being applied downstream, or even if those parameters are fed back to the host by the driver.
This depends on what the device reports to Roon and is different for different devices. There is the option in RAAT but it doesn’t seem to be a requirement in Roon Ready specification to do it.
With my Roon streamer and Wiim Pro connected to the network via ethernet, and the Wiim Pro connected to my pre/pro via optical spdif, the Speaker Setup filter in Roon Muse behaves as expected; ie setting the left channel to -120db results in silence in the left channel.
Same. As I remarked in an earlier post, I originally used a HouseCurve-generated convolution filter in Roon with a WiiM Pro – which is connected optically to an SMSL DAC – and it all worked entirely as expected.
But when I applied -2.7dB reduction to the left in speaker setup it didn’t via coaxial output. Set it to -120 and it should have been completely silent. It wasn’t. Same volume as right, but both were down in gain.
Tested today via analogue output and works as expected
I’ll test again later with Roon. Currently busy working on a LMS plugin.
Edit: tested and now working as expected with a coaxial connection
As to why now and not before is a mystery
I’ve given up trying to understand why “computer stuff” does crazy things. With almost everything being “computer stuff” now, it makes reliability a roll of the dice.
I have an add-on question to use of WiiM PEQ. I just added the ULTRA and set up the PEQ. My system output to B&W Nautilus 804s and REL T9i. I noticed after the PEQ setup that the system seems to dramatically dampen the REL to the point where it is barely running. Anyone else experience this?
With almost everything being “computer stuff” now, it makes reliability a roll of the dice. 