Test WIIM pro+ with different power supplies

I will do a variety of tests and the main one will be with my wife as she has exceptional hearing and loves great music on a great system, she bought Frank Zappa stuff when she was in Jr High. I have pretty good ears as well from my car audio comp days, even did a bit of judging on some of the best installs ever. I beat a prior world champ in SQ on my tune then had Eric Stevens tune it, way better, he used to go to finals and tune at least half the cars there, nearly all top finishers were tuned by him. If you have never heard one of the all time great car audio systems you are in the majority of those I feel sorry for because it can be quite enlightening:)

For now I can only test with the WiiM either optical or dig coax out since it seems the DSP on my only setup at the moment is not playing the right tweeter when using the RCA inputs. I am debating spending a considerable sum to buy a new DSP board. Maybe I will setup my KEF little line arrays and do a test with my tube amp once I get the roof finished on our place, they are in storage and no sub right now so a bit dead below 80hz.
 
If that is what you want them to do I suppose anything is possible:)

I like to post a bit of info about my real life experience versus the average arm chair quarterback that just re posts stuff somebody else said which happens far to often. (Not saying you are one, I do not know what you know) I was very blessed to meet some very amazing people in my life that I paid a great deal of attention to and learned then applied it in my way. I have also been into DIY since around 5 or 6 years old, built my first speakers at around 12, built and designed many things all my life, almost all self taught which I believe most anyone can do it they just do it, I am 71 and looking toward many more years of great fun and super cool my wife loves it all, even when I spent a fortune building race cars. I also spent 20 years in the Navy and worked on some of the most difficult gear they ever had, one took 5 scope probes to look at the complex signal and you could not dial it in, nearly 100 circuits the same, by the specs, it simply would not work. Only way and it worked beyond specs, was tuning by ear so the probes were just eye candy once I figured that out. It was one of the most critical pieces of gear in the battle group, maybe the most critical one but I cannot say more.
 
RAAM said:
If that is what you want them to do I suppose anything is possible:)

I like to post a bit of info about my real life experience versus the average arm chair quarterback that just re posts stuff somebody else said which happens far to often. (Not saying you are one, I do not know what you know) I was very blessed to meet some very amazing people in my life that I paid a great deal of attention to and learned then applied it in my way. I have also been into DIY since around 5 or 6 years old, built my first speakers at around 12, built and designed many things all my life, almost all self taught which I believe most anyone can do it they just do it, I am 71 and looking toward many more years of great fun and super cool my wife loves it all, even when I spent a fortune building race cars. I also spent 20 years in the Navy and worked on some of the most difficult gear they ever had, one took 5 scope probes to look at the complex signal and you could not dial it in, nearly 100 circuits the same, by the specs, it simply would not work. Only way and it worked beyond specs, was tuning by ear so the probes were just eye candy once I figured that out. It was one of the most critical pieces of gear in the battle group, maybe the most critical one but I cannot say more.
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Will be interested in your results/opinion. The ifi power supply seems to be one of those 'marmite' products...you either love it or hate it. 😀
 
Have you actually tried marmite? I found it quite awful but I supposed if I grew up eating it I might like it but not entirely sure I would :)

I have rarely come up with something new and even then really just an adaptation of something already figured out by others but I always thought if others have done is so can I if I put myself into it. I also figured that most could do this but many simply stay in their self limited version of reality. Experience, I have some pretty serious stories about my own or others even far more involved in the highest levels of engineering that are quite interesting to say the least. Experience, earned with open mindedness, can lead to things way beyond what seems possible compared to what most come out of even the top institutions believing they know.
 
I am quite new here and just did not see the other much more in depth thread about power supplies, etc so I could of done things a bit differently. I do have to say I am not in the measurements are everything camp as already explained from real world experience(sometimes in quite hostile situations) and will add that measurements alone would of resulted in devastating results to the entire battle group if we had been attacked.
That plus in my car audio comp days I used a high end RTA, upgraded, studio grade 31 band analog EQ's and Crossover with 20V balanced out from at the time very high end ladder DAC, best car audio DAC at $2500 25 years ago when new. Amps custom modded to handle the high level input voltage and the most expensive car audio speakers available, real works of art and $7500 for a two way set I did not use the crossovers for as each speaker had its own amp channels, 100 per tweeter, 200 per mid, dual custom mid bass drivers 300W each, two custom assebled subs at 1kw each and not built to be super loud though I certainly did get there, it was all about dynamics. Tuning strictly with the RTA using the best test tracks available, test tones, and more...tuned flat, it sounded just that, flat, it would of been laughed out of any serious competition event. The RTA was used to get into a ballpark area and mainly to find and peaks, valleys not that big an issue unless big. Tune down he peaks and work out a nice curve bring up the bottom end, dipping down in the middle a bit, gradually rising top end and then tune to ones preference. Biggest issue of all was install, getting all the drivers to work together with the best possible imaging, I never used TA even when I had gear with it, a band aid compared to proper install which I learned from masters I was again so bless to get to know. When my business took off after getting a 7 page major magazine review I needed money to help fund the growth so sold it all and installed at the time retail maybe a $1500 system and it still had the same exact imagine, stage height and width, would easily beat nearly any competitor because the foundation was done right, it is more important than the gear.

Measurements are very interesting and are of course important but always take second place compared to how it sounds, to you and if you care, to others.

I have been honored to have had the original founder of the oldest home audio "HiFi" shop in the US, a syphony conductor, drummer that has been on over 600 albums and is a recording engineer of big name bands have a turn listening to the top end system and all were blown away by it, The drummer said I blew his mind, he had hundreds of thousands invested in his studio and home systems and said they could not do what mine did, sounded and felt exactly like playing the Improve track by Jim Keltner. I could never of achieved this level without a huge effort and expense on my part far more importantly, help from the masters I learned it all from and they could tune if far better than I ever could and they did so by ear.

This is not meant to be about ego, etc. it is to explain why just measurements are an important tool they are simply not enough

Rick
 
when someone post better power supply makes the pro sound day and night, how about provide test data before and after the new power supply. Does better power supply makes 1 and 0 cleaner? This is why objective and subjective will never agree particularly on hifi.
 
This also pops up with great regularity on the FB WiiM Fan Page and I often cut and paste this response - same for optical v coax, plastic or glass fibre etc etc etc:
"Briefly, if you want to try it, use it with your system for a week then go back to the original power supply for another week. If after that time, you feel you're missing something that you felt the new power supply offered, by all means keep it otherwise return it and save yourself the money."
 
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.
 
GusGusNFT said:
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.
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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. :)
 
Brantome said:
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. :)
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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 🍮.
 
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