Test WIIM pro+ with different power supplies

Hifi should really be about what sounds nice to the system's owner. I have everything from old 70s amps to my wiim amp, I'm sure most of them measure terribly compared to $40,000 hifi stuff shown at the trade shows, however I like how they sound and isn't that what it's all about?
Yeah. I’m sure we get used to the sound of our amps, speakers etc in our room setup and lots of us don’t like change even if we’re told it’s for the better…
 
I'm also really not convinced by the power supply argument , because the wiim pro plus works entirely in the realm of digital, it either makes a signal, or it doesn't. The only analog section is a 0.5-2v output at tiny low level. I would be concerned if changing the power supply had any effect at this level, as the signal hasn't even got to the pre-amp yet!

I can buy it making a difference with the wiim amp, as class D amps are well documented as having their power supply be a large factor in the output.
 
I'm also really not convinced by the power supply argument , because the wiim pro plus works entirely in the realm of digital, it either makes a signal, or it doesn't. The only analog section is a 0.5-2v output at tiny low level.
Signal on the digital coax output is very analog by its nature. And it's affected by the power supply to some degree.
 
Because impulse DC converters will likely be used to supply 5V DC via the USB output. I don't expect these circuits to be of high quality.
 
If anyone wants to get tweaky with power supplies, you might want to try using a battery first. I've been using a 10000maH cell phone battery and it easily lasts a whole day or more. Plus it's pure DC...no ripple or noise from a battery. And then there's cost.
 
If anyone wants to get tweaky with power supplies, you might want to try using a battery first. I've been using a 10000maH cell phone battery and it easily lasts a whole day or more. Plus it's pure DC...no ripple or noise from a battery. And then there's cost.
So one could also then use similar to this Deal of the day: Anker Prime Power Bank, 20,000mAh Portable Charger with 200W Output, Smart Digital Display, 2 USB-C and 1 USB-A Port Compatible with iPhone 15/14/13 Series, Samsung, MacBook, Dell, and More https://a.co/d/imPmYRV
To power the wiim.
 
Please note: Not all battery banks are just that as I understand from what I have read here many have SMPS or similar devices converting DC to DC and are quite noisy. I happen to have an Anker power bank as well as stock PS, iPhone PS and am using the Ifi ipower at the moment but have been tied up with our remodel project and building a new troublesome computer so not taken the time to do a decent listening test yet. At least do a search and or elsewhere to verify the power bank issue before buying one to try(not that expensive and might have other uses so not a loss if so) I used the one I have for my E30 DAC and it was better than the stock PS it came with.
 
Please note: Not all battery banks are just that as I understand from what I have read here many have SMPS or similar devices converting DC to DC and are quite noisy.
All battery banks are using dc-dc converters for efficiency.
Given their target (charging phones and other devices), it makes sense to use the cheapest approach and not caring at all about providing a clean output.
If you can find objective tests results for some battery banks, please share them.
 
All battery banks are using dc-dc converters for efficiency.
Given their target (charging phones and other devices), it makes sense to use the cheapest approach and not caring at all about providing a clean output.
If you can find objective tests results for some battery banks, please share them.
My experience with a power bank for WiiM PRO is that a good linear supply or good smps might be better sounding .
The picture is from my first comparison between three supplies - the iPad charger from 2012 sounded best , later the lt1084 based linear supply sounded slightly better , but it was a very small difference.
IMG_4359.jpeg


IMG_4513.jpeg
 
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The difference between the first wart and the linear one is big even over youtube, much more detail retrieval.
 
I'm going to assume that most any battery bank will use the cheapest way to make 5vdc from what is most likely a 12vdc battery pack...seeing as how there needs to be enough headroom to use a regulator. Using a couple cheap capacitors and a LM7805..or better a LM340A..regulator is a strong possibility. The LM7805 is a linear device so no issues there. And I do know how to spell "assume". If not, than this could easily be built and used to have pure DC. A decent sized LiFePO battery could power this easily as current draw can't be much. Perf board, caps, and LM340A reg total cost is less than $15....battery and charger another $100ish.
 
If we're talking about portable power banks, like the Samsung one posted above, in most cases they're using multiple Li-ion cells (the voltage of each cell varies from 4.2V to 2.8V as it discharges).
Also, the few ones I've disassembled have one thing in common: no room for large capacitors or heat sinks for linear regulators.
As such, I would say that if a power bank is portable then it's very likely to use dc-dc converters in a profit-oriented way.

I agree that one can build its own low-noise power supply but the final cost depends on the design decisions and the parts already owned.
 
A naïve question. In fact, how good is human hearing?🤔
A young person has, typically, better hearing than an elder. With age we lose hearing of the high frequencies.

Blind people, especially those, who have been born blind, tend to have exceptional hearing.

Musicians tend to have better hearing, at least a more realistic one. They know how the instruments sound in reality.

Everything is relative. The only fixed thing seems to be, that the human ear seems to be capable of hearing frequencies between 20Hz and 20KHz. In the best case...
 
Testing is good, great in fact, it just does nor cannot measure everything we can hear (or otherwise sense) but maybe someday gear will be invented than can do so. Humanity has a long way to go from here, we barely understand reality as it is, much more to learn:)

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Not sure I have written about this here but I have plenty of experience in test gear use as spent 20 years in the US Navy as first a Data Systems Tech then it was merged with Fire Control Tech and re-titled that. The most complex gear I worked on, one out of two left still in use, no training on it, cannot say to much but it had a large number of critical circuits that the block diagram was 20 pages long. The most important aspect took 4 scope probes to look at and if dialed in according to specs which was very difficult and hugely time consuming to do, the whole system did not work well and it was absolutely critical to the operation of the whole battle group. What did work, tuning it by ear, then it was so good we broke ever record of reliability by a far margin.

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I still have very good ears for being nearly 72 and my wife has better hearing than I do and she notices every change I make unless there is no change, she was an audiologist as well so has at least some experience in the field.

Rick
 
Nope, she has always been a civilian, I am now but but not for those 20+ years of servitude I was involved in most everything but subs, most of the time:)
 
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