Test WIIM pro+ with different power supplies

I apologize for getting more than a bit long winded but I stand by my very long time learning to be open minded, listen, put into practice, etc things I know not always accepted by those seemingly locked into their beliefs (which is quite different than knowledge). I am only willing to go so far as to how much to spend on upgraded PS, cables, etc.....the law of diminishing returns does come into play sooner rather than later and then I am pretty sure there are just differences in sound and perception more than actual improvements. I do not state this is the absolute truth, it is my opinion and subject to change if I come across something more substantial.

If it was just ones and zeros that would be east but nothing is a simple as it seems, I could post more stories of real work, very, very high end tech to prove it, some stories I am not at liberty to tell, I held a secret clearance for 20 years that is still something I cannot break so I will just say the latest super duper one and zero system could not compete with the old analog system representing ones and zeros and tuned by ear and mounted in a giant chassis compared to the tiny all digital unit.

The HiFi shop was around before stereo. The founders wife still worked there in her 90's, her grandson was older than I was at the time and managed it, they both were stunned by what can be done in car audio.

I will do my best to keep things on track and much shorter after this, I promise:)

I like the idea of testing for a week as well as swapping back and forth, etc.....I will do what I can and report on it, actually hope to find no improvement so I can recommend to others to save their money.
 
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My employer has to provide us with hearing test yearly because 90% of employees work in very loud areas and osha requires hearing protection. I’ve been lucky and my hearing still good. It takes a lot of effort for me to hear a difference between a 16/44 and 24/192.

I spoke about this to the sound personnel doing our hearing test, and he stated that most people won’t hear a difference between 16/44 and 24/192, and even if there was a difference, you would need pretty expensive sound system with a well treated sound room to hear it.
 
My employer has to provide us with hearing test yearly because 90% of employees work in very loud areas and osha requires hearing protection. I’ve been lucky and my hearing still good. It takes a lot of effort for me to hear a difference between a 16/44 and 24/192.

I spoke about this to the sound personnel doing our hearing test, and he stated that most people won’t hear a difference between 16/44 and 24/192, and even if there was a difference, you would need pretty expensive sound system with a well treated sound room to hear it.
I wouldn’t disagree with that, but I guess we all (well, some of us) go thru a phase chasing the numbers and forgetting what we’re meant to be doing is listening to the music. :)
 
I wouldn’t disagree with that, but I guess we all (well, some of us) go thru a phase chasing the numbers and forgetting what we’re meant to be doing is listening to the music. :)
At first, I was going to buy some expensive equipment because I “knew” I could hear a difference. Then I asked my wife and friends if they could hear a difference. I even had MQA equipment, and all of them said they couldn’t really tell the difference between 16/44, 24/192 or MQA. The only thing all of them said was that MQA sounded like it had more bass.
 
Mqa has a very characteristic sound . Dark sound and more bass indeed ( at least perceptually). 16/44 sounds brighter than high res
 
Next week a LPS (Linear Power Supply) should arrive for the Wiim Pro, which I am using as a streamer only, connected to a separate DAC. I will let you know if I hear an improvement in sound quality. I hope so, but proof is in the 🍮.
 
My wife loves great music on a great system, has excellent hearing and was an audiologist for quite a few years. I will have to do some testing with her involved not just in power supplies but also in 16/44, 24/192, etc....
 
This paper would seem to put the proverbial 'cat amoung the pigeons' 😁
I have not paid to read the whole paper, but if the gist of it is that there is a lot more to hearing than measurements, I would agree......
I would also add some of us have more highly developed Temporal Domains than others. I have a hifi buddy who is autistic. He often comes up to listen to my system and I would challenge him if he can hear any changes I have done since the last visit. He can always point them out...sometimes he likes them, sometimes he doesn't, but he can always remember what the system sounded like before I made the changes. Like some people have a 'photographic' memory, he has an 'audiographic' memory and is certainly gifted in the temporal domain department!
 
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Next week a LPS (Linear Power Supply) should arrive for the Wiim Pro, which I am using as a streamer only, connected to a separate DAC. I will let you know if I hear an improvement in sound quality. I hope so, but proof is in the 🍮.
Hi , I have done extended listening comparisons with a Linn Klimax DS/0 renew and a WiiM pro, using different power supplies for the WiiM .


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Next week a LPS (Linear Power Supply) should arrive for the Wiim Pro, which I am using as a streamer only, connected to a separate DAC. I will let you know if I hear an improvement in sound quality. I hope so, but proof is in the 🍮.
Looking forward to that review :)
 
I don't think that proves the difference in sound quality between a "cleaner lower-cost PSU" and a "more expensive and more cleaner PSU". 🙂

It is conceivable that a power supply of extremely poor quality, such as the USB of a PC, may degrade the sound quality.
If really bad , It can put back lots of switching noise back on the grid , making other components such as amplifiers sounding possible worse . This fact is often neglected . Linear power supplies also pollute the grid somewhat.

( Edit: one of the worst offenders with inbuilt switched power supply is Apple TV v.3 . Its pollution is so big that it makes analog tv picture look bad if its on the same powerblock . Noone watches analog tv nowadays ofcourse, but its interesting )
 
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Hi , I have done extended listening comparisons with a Linn Klimax DS/0 renew and a WiiM pro, using different power supplies for the WiiM .....
Interesting read, In this test an Apple iPad USB charger turned out to provide clean power with very low spikes, noise and ripple, with very good current stability. I don't have an iPad charger to compare it with my upcoming LPS from Audiophonics. Your experiment shows that a good power supply can make a difference in sound quality, even when bits are bits, there is more to it.
 
Interesting read, In this test an Apple iPad USB charger turned out to provide clean power with very low spikes, noise and ripple, with very good current stability. I don't have an iPad charger to compare it with my upcoming LPS from Audiophonics. Your experiment shows that a good power supply can make a difference in sound quality, even when bits are bits, there is more to it.
My iPad charger 5V , 2A from 2012 has been tested already , here:


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…its just slightly better than the stock supply for the WiiM if measured on the DC side ( onlyoneme has tested the stock supply ) . However , I have no clue about the switching frequency of the iPad charger , if its something that is for the better with the WiiM pro, or the amount of pollution the stock supply puts out back to the grid .

The battery powerbank didnt sound best, there was no difference compared to the stock power supply . This was a surprise for me. Again - the powerbank have switchers on the output and the ripple may be worse than the stock supply .
 
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