UR27 and UR23 Windows guide with Wiim Ultra as source

The following guide was contributed by Charlie (thank you!)

First thing is to plug the UR27 USB output into your PC/Laptop and make the optical connection to your source.  Check that the indicator light comes on when the PC/Laptop is powered up. If your source and your PC are far apart, keep the optical link as short as possible and use a good quality USB extension.

You’ll then need to check that the sampling frequency and bit depth match in three areas of settings: your operating system (in this case Windows); your recording software (e.g. Audacity); and your source.

1. Operating system:

Windows 10

 – Select Windows/Settings/System/Sound.

 – Under “Input”, you should see “Choose your input device”.

 – The drop-down list should now include “SPDIF Interface (UR27 SPDIF Rx HS)”.  Select this.

 – If your previous selection was the microphone you use for Zoom/Teams calls, remember that you will have to re-select this before making a Zoom/Teams call, or disconnect the UR27.

 – Select “Device properties”.

 – The UR27 will show up as “SPDIF Interface”.  You can try renaming this, but it will default back to this name.

 – At the top right of your screen, you’ll see “Related settings”.  Select “Additional device properties” under this.

 – You should now see a screen with four tabs: General; Listen; Levels; and Advanced.

 – You can adjust the level using the “Level” tab, but you must click the “Advanced” tab to check that the sampling frequency and bit depth are right for the UR27 and for your source.  You’ll see the drop-down list offers everything from CD quality to 32 bit, 192kHz. Both the UR27 and Audacity accept this range, but the limitation may be your source, e.g. in the case of the optical output of a WiiM Ultra, 24 bit, 192kHz.  Select the highest bit depth and sampling frequency to match your source, or a lower one if you want to record smaller files.  But all three devices – the UR27, software and source – must be set to matching bit depth and sampling frequency.

 – Ensure both “Exclusive Mode” boxes are ticked.

Windows 11 

 – Select Windows/Settings/System/Sound.

– Under “Input” you will see “SPDIF Interface/UR27 SPDIF Rx HS/Default device”.

– Click the right arrow, to the right of this.

– Under “General”, it should say “Audio/Allow apps and Windows to use this device for audio”. Click the “Allow” button if it doesn’t.

– Under “Input settings/Format” you’ll see a drop-down list, which offers everything from CD quality to 32 bit, 192kHz. Both the UR27 and Audacity accept this range, but the limitation may be your source, e.g. in the case of the optical output of a WiiM Ultra, 24 bit, 192kHz.  Select the highest bit depth and sampling frequency to match your source, or a lower one if you want to record smaller files.  But all three devices – the UR27, software and source – must be set to matching bit depth and sampling frequency.

2.  Software. 

If you’re using Audacity:

 – Open the app.

 – At the centre top of the screen you’ll see “Audio Setup”.  From the drop-down list on this you can select Host, Playback Device, Recording Device, Recording Channels and Audio Settings.

 – For Host, MME is the oldest and possibly most stable, with Windows WASAPI the most recent. Try Windows WASAPI and work back through the list if you have problems.

 – For Playback Device, leave to your default speaker, unless you want to change this.

 – For Recording Device, you should now see “SPDIF Interface”.  Check the connections and rescan if you don’t, then select this.

 – For Recording Channels, select stereo (unless you want to make a mono recording).

 – Under Audio Settings, the “Quality” box is where you can set the bit depth and sample rate to match your overall setup. 

3.  Source (e.g. WiiM Ultra):

 – Make sure the Audio Output is set to “Optical Out”.

 – Under Audio Settings, select the Optical Output Resolution, and this opens the screen where you can select your preferred sample rate and bit depth.

When the settings on all three match, audio from the source should show up cleanly in Audacity when you click the red “record” button.  Given the importance of the quality of the connection when using the highest sampling frequency and bit depth, you might see some noise spikes in the Audacity waveform.  Investing in a better quality optical link will almost certainly remove these.