UPDATE:
Power requirement:
Stock wall wart is rated at 5vdc and 2.0 amps
Specs state will run on 1..5 amps
I prefer a bit higher rating so 2.5-3.0, etc....
Deep into a multiyear complete rebuild of our to be very high end(but very reasonable cost) full time RV and just no time or brain power for DIY right now(maybe ever I just need a decent streamer, plug and play, and have seen reviews of the WIIM Pro Plus with the supplied wall wart, IFI SP and more costly linear supplies but no budget for an expensive one at this time due to the money pit we live in and love.
Looking for a good assembled PS board, I can make up a case easily enough, or in a case, best for the money I can get but want to keep it under $100 so please help me out with your recommendations, it will be much appreciated
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I have quite a bit of great audio gear, DIY and factory including horns, tubes, D class, OB, etc.....and always roll my own cables for decades now. I be testing many speaker designs to see what I can make work the best when I get much more of the remodel done as well as playing with DIY amps, maybe DACs, streamers, etc but that is at least two years away.
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NOTE: I am highly shielding the RV and only plan to use wired internet, blue tooth on certain occasions and no wifi so the WIIM might not work with our Tablet or phone but have not found that out yet, I would consider BT if possible or go wired so please let me know of any advice you can offer.
Thanks!
Rick
Power requirement:
Stock wall wart is rated at 5vdc and 2.0 amps
Specs state will run on 1..5 amps
I prefer a bit higher rating so 2.5-3.0, etc....
Deep into a multiyear complete rebuild of our to be very high end(but very reasonable cost) full time RV and just no time or brain power for DIY right now(maybe ever I just need a decent streamer, plug and play, and have seen reviews of the WIIM Pro Plus with the supplied wall wart, IFI SP and more costly linear supplies but no budget for an expensive one at this time due to the money pit we live in and love.
Looking for a good assembled PS board, I can make up a case easily enough, or in a case, best for the money I can get but want to keep it under $100 so please help me out with your recommendations, it will be much appreciated
------
I have quite a bit of great audio gear, DIY and factory including horns, tubes, D class, OB, etc.....and always roll my own cables for decades now. I be testing many speaker designs to see what I can make work the best when I get much more of the remodel done as well as playing with DIY amps, maybe DACs, streamers, etc but that is at least two years away.
------
NOTE: I am highly shielding the RV and only plan to use wired internet, blue tooth on certain occasions and no wifi so the WIIM might not work with our Tablet or phone but have not found that out yet, I would consider BT if possible or go wired so please let me know of any advice you can offer.
Thanks!
Rick
Last edited:
Modify a heavy duty cell phone charger, effective and economical.
Add filters if needed.
That is SMPS, you should buy a 3A / 9V transformer, then use a zener to control a switching regulator, big brother of 317, I will have to see the part number, good to 3A.
You can also use a transistor based design, 2N3055 works.
Use heat sinks.
Add filters if needed.
That is SMPS, you should buy a 3A / 9V transformer, then use a zener to control a switching regulator, big brother of 317, I will have to see the part number, good to 3A.
You can also use a transistor based design, 2N3055 works.
Use heat sinks.
If you want to get off the mains for lowest noise you can use a Power Bank of course.
But all Power Banks and wall warts are switchers.
That's not an issue because the first thing that happens inside the WiiM is that the incoming supply is chopped up by an internal switcher.
You can probably convince yourself that a linear supply sounds better, but that's a matter of perception.
And it's just fun to build a supply.
Jan
But all Power Banks and wall warts are switchers.
That's not an issue because the first thing that happens inside the WiiM is that the incoming supply is chopped up by an internal switcher.
You can probably convince yourself that a linear supply sounds better, but that's a matter of perception.
And it's just fun to build a supply.
Jan
If it's just another wall wart you're looking for: Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 use a 5V wall wart rated at 3 amps or higher.
I have had a pretty bad flue for a week now (grand kids visits are the only times I ever get sick) so not at my best when posting so hopefully this will be more clear.
The WIIM comes with a wall wart, I want to upgrade to a cleaner power supply, minimally as good as the switching IFI but for that price or a bit more I hope to find a good linear supply instead.
I seek a good middle ground when it comes to upgrades in most cases like the two dedicated, double shielded circuits I wired in for the audio system in our RV. I use hospital grade outlets, not nuts priced "audiophile" stuff. Also doing a pretty affordable shielding of the entire RV, we are right next to a bank of smart meters and some neighbors with very high powered WiFi setups. We will be installing just enough pretty costly high CRI led lighting with high frequency PWM dimmers and I make my own low cost shielded power cables and interconnects as well. Of course the whole place is getting a high level of thermal and noise insulation and acoustical treatments as required for the audio system. This is my end game "house" that is permanently located but maintaining the ability to move it if ever needed with just a few days effort, never deal with the real estate and bank BS again, property taxes, even permits to remodel, very liberating
I spent 20 years in the US Navy as a tech and worked on some of the most intense gear ever developed so I figure I have a pretty good idea of where I am going and know I am not an engineer but I have out engineered a few in my lifetime as well. There is a point of diminishing returns in all things and I like to go to the tip of that point in most of what I do and usually outperform most others I come across no mater how much they spent, from building race cars to world champion beating car audio installs, lightest full suspension mountain bike in the world by 20%....Now I just want a really cool RV to hang out and get back into DIY "RV" audio, camping at natural hot springs, rock hounding, growing a lot of food in a small space(half way there for now) and enjoy my 70's
I just have to much going on to build a PS right now, all my extra space is setup for the remodel and storing tons of tools and materials so hope to at least find a really good linear PS fully stuffed board or completely finished in a case.
Thanks
Rick
The WIIM comes with a wall wart, I want to upgrade to a cleaner power supply, minimally as good as the switching IFI but for that price or a bit more I hope to find a good linear supply instead.
I seek a good middle ground when it comes to upgrades in most cases like the two dedicated, double shielded circuits I wired in for the audio system in our RV. I use hospital grade outlets, not nuts priced "audiophile" stuff. Also doing a pretty affordable shielding of the entire RV, we are right next to a bank of smart meters and some neighbors with very high powered WiFi setups. We will be installing just enough pretty costly high CRI led lighting with high frequency PWM dimmers and I make my own low cost shielded power cables and interconnects as well. Of course the whole place is getting a high level of thermal and noise insulation and acoustical treatments as required for the audio system. This is my end game "house" that is permanently located but maintaining the ability to move it if ever needed with just a few days effort, never deal with the real estate and bank BS again, property taxes, even permits to remodel, very liberating
I spent 20 years in the US Navy as a tech and worked on some of the most intense gear ever developed so I figure I have a pretty good idea of where I am going and know I am not an engineer but I have out engineered a few in my lifetime as well. There is a point of diminishing returns in all things and I like to go to the tip of that point in most of what I do and usually outperform most others I come across no mater how much they spent, from building race cars to world champion beating car audio installs, lightest full suspension mountain bike in the world by 20%....Now I just want a really cool RV to hang out and get back into DIY "RV" audio, camping at natural hot springs, rock hounding, growing a lot of food in a small space(half way there for now) and enjoy my 70's
I just have to much going on to build a PS right now, all my extra space is setup for the remodel and storing tons of tools and materials so hope to at least find a really good linear PS fully stuffed board or completely finished in a case.
Thanks
Rick
Mostly I want to "see" if I can hear a difference(actually an improvement) with a linear supply as have not used one before but do not want to spend a bunch of money on one. I am on AGone and shocked to see how many are duped into spending up to tens of thousands on cables, etc...........I know there can be improvements up to a point then mainly differences and then bias to try to justify the crazy expenditures and often I can tell when it is really just bragging rights....it seems the more money spent the less the comments are about the music, more focused on the sound of the system, sad.
I have been using a power bank on my DAC for quite some time, DAC died recently, looking into a new DAC to buy, not build, the current DAC was temp use by decision, just Topping E30 which did get better with the bank compared to stock wall wart. Looking at many DACs, considering the E70 Velvet as I like AKM but also might try an R2R later on.
I had a very rare Image Dynamics R2R in my highest end car audio build, 20V balanced out to custom modded ID (made by Yamaha) balanced EQ's and Xovers, Custom modded amps, nuts $$$$ mids and tweets, custom midbass and subs, very high powered system, exceptionally dynamic.....$20k retail system nearly 25 years ago just in parts....I ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly meals to afford to build it....my interconnects where $10 DIY, battery cables welding cable, good dist blocks but not crazy expensive ones, Wire King speaker wires....massive sound deadening and at least 1,000 hours of build time to get it right, I wish I could share it with others as was dang fine in all aspects, height, width, separation, listed to by a symphony conductor, some top musicians, recording engineer, owner and manager of oldest high end audio store in the US, all blown away by it (I learned from masters I paid a lot of attention to and then did the work over and over in some aspects, to get it right. I had been at events with people standing in a long line just to get a few minutes of listening time, it was such great fun to share it with them.
I have been using a power bank on my DAC for quite some time, DAC died recently, looking into a new DAC to buy, not build, the current DAC was temp use by decision, just Topping E30 which did get better with the bank compared to stock wall wart. Looking at many DACs, considering the E70 Velvet as I like AKM but also might try an R2R later on.
I had a very rare Image Dynamics R2R in my highest end car audio build, 20V balanced out to custom modded ID (made by Yamaha) balanced EQ's and Xovers, Custom modded amps, nuts $$$$ mids and tweets, custom midbass and subs, very high powered system, exceptionally dynamic.....$20k retail system nearly 25 years ago just in parts....I ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly meals to afford to build it....my interconnects where $10 DIY, battery cables welding cable, good dist blocks but not crazy expensive ones, Wire King speaker wires....massive sound deadening and at least 1,000 hours of build time to get it right, I wish I could share it with others as was dang fine in all aspects, height, width, separation, listed to by a symphony conductor, some top musicians, recording engineer, owner and manager of oldest high end audio store in the US, all blown away by it (I learned from masters I paid a lot of attention to and then did the work over and over in some aspects, to get it right. I had been at events with people standing in a long line just to get a few minutes of listening time, it was such great fun to share it with them.
I misunderstood, my bad. I wanted an upgrade for the wall wart of my Cambridge DAC and so I went looking for a linear power supply. They're pretty expensive for what they offer in my opinion. So I bought a small stabilized power supply that can be adjusted from 0-15V and has a max output of 5A, reasoning that if it doesn't improve the DAC, it's always handy to have a power supply around.I have had a pretty bad flue for a week now (grand kids visits are the only times I ever get sick) so not at my best when posting so hopefully this will be more clear.
The WIIM comes with a wall wart, I want to upgrade to a cleaner power supply, minimally as good as the switching IFI but for that price or a bit more I hope to find a good linear supply instead.
I seek a good middle ground when it comes to upgrades in most cases like the two dedicated, double shielded circuits I wired in for the audio system in our RV. I use hospital grade outlets, not nuts priced "audiophile" stuff. Also doing a pretty affordable shielding of the entire RV, we are right next to a bank of smart meters and some neighbors with very high powered WiFi setups. We will be installing just enough pretty costly high CRI led lighting with high frequency PWM dimmers and I make my own low cost shielded power cables and interconnects as well. Of course the whole place is getting a high level of thermal and noise insulation and acoustical treatments as required for the audio system. This is my end game "house" that is permanently located but maintaining the ability to move it if ever needed with just a few days effort, never deal with the real estate and bank BS again, property taxes, even permits to remodel, very liberating
I spent 20 years in the US Navy as a tech and worked on some of the most intense gear ever developed so I figure I have a pretty good idea of where I am going and know I am not an engineer but I have out engineered a few in my lifetime as well. There is a point of diminishing returns in all things and I like to go to the tip of that point in most of what I do and usually outperform most others I come across no mater how much they spent, from building race cars to world champion beating car audio installs, lightest full suspension mountain bike in the world by 20%....Now I just want a really cool RV to hang out and get back into DIY "RV" audio, camping at natural hot springs, rock hounding, growing a lot of food in a small space(half way there for now) and enjoy my 70's
I just have to much going on to build a PS right now, all my extra space is setup for the remodel and storing tons of tools and materials so hope to at least find a really good linear PS fully stuffed board or completely finished in a case.
Thanks
Rick
It's relatively cheap and in my opinion it does seem to improve the DAC's performance somewhat, mainly causing the bass to become a little bit tighter, but it's very subtly and so it might be wishful thinking from my part. The power supply I bought is from a brand called K.E.R.T. and if I remember correctly it cost me around €50. For that money I'd say it's almost a no-brainer.
Hope this helps you,
T.J.
Thanks T.J.
I do have a cheap old 12vdc supply for general use and a really good one I have never actually used but having a solid variable supply has always been something I should of bought decades ago, upgrade as needed as time passed. I have looked at quite a few videos of more reasonable budget minded reviewers and tend to believe there is room to improve over the stock all wart but not worth it to spend hundreds or sure as heck not thousands on a supply.
I did comment about cables and tend to believe there is also a limit to how much one can gain and they do not have to cost much, especially DIY. After that is seems just another way to do a few things, make signature sound difference using different materials and techniques to "tune" ones system to a particular taste but still not at a huge cost. The rest seem more about keeping more money in circulation and making obscene margins for those offering such jewelry, more bragging rights for those with higher budgets. I have been fairly well off in the past and spent years living in a very effluent neighborhood and finally had to leave so I could around more "real" people as higher the net worth the less they seemed to have any soul, personality, kind of zombie like. I did meet a few, very few, that were still human and some quite cool ones at that. If someone has tons of money to burn, and does some good with at least some of it, then I am totally fine with them spending whatever they want on whatever they want as long as not hurting others but I would imagine I would have little interest in every meeting them nor getting to know them but maybe a few are OK.
Back in my more income days I spent $$$$$$$$$$ on cars yet had around $3k into my home system and loved it.
Edgarhorn Slimlines with huge mil spec oil filled caps, copper foil caps, upgraded tweeters, Doc Edgars beat up old demo set I had $800 into
Fully DIY upgraded Baby Sophia 10 watt push pull tube amp(I am goind to look into converting it to a SET amp if possible) bought used for $500
Oppo BD83SE bought new.
Huge old church organ folded horn(required a lot of stiffening!) sub with dual Image Dynamics 15's and I was a dealer so around $350
Used Dayton 1000SE of something like that, class H sub amp
DIY cables
I never wanted for more except I would of loved a pair of EH Titans, never had the right space for them,
I could bought gear costing 10-30 times more but saw no point and my main focus was on cars during those years but I have built a few street/track/audio comp cars that were very good at all three at the same time
I guess I am "preaching to the choir" here a bit, I have felt like saying most of this on a couple of "audiophile" sites but that would just stir up more.......
I do have a cheap old 12vdc supply for general use and a really good one I have never actually used but having a solid variable supply has always been something I should of bought decades ago, upgrade as needed as time passed. I have looked at quite a few videos of more reasonable budget minded reviewers and tend to believe there is room to improve over the stock all wart but not worth it to spend hundreds or sure as heck not thousands on a supply.
I did comment about cables and tend to believe there is also a limit to how much one can gain and they do not have to cost much, especially DIY. After that is seems just another way to do a few things, make signature sound difference using different materials and techniques to "tune" ones system to a particular taste but still not at a huge cost. The rest seem more about keeping more money in circulation and making obscene margins for those offering such jewelry, more bragging rights for those with higher budgets. I have been fairly well off in the past and spent years living in a very effluent neighborhood and finally had to leave so I could around more "real" people as higher the net worth the less they seemed to have any soul, personality, kind of zombie like. I did meet a few, very few, that were still human and some quite cool ones at that. If someone has tons of money to burn, and does some good with at least some of it, then I am totally fine with them spending whatever they want on whatever they want as long as not hurting others but I would imagine I would have little interest in every meeting them nor getting to know them but maybe a few are OK.
Back in my more income days I spent $$$$$$$$$$ on cars yet had around $3k into my home system and loved it.
Edgarhorn Slimlines with huge mil spec oil filled caps, copper foil caps, upgraded tweeters, Doc Edgars beat up old demo set I had $800 into
Fully DIY upgraded Baby Sophia 10 watt push pull tube amp(I am goind to look into converting it to a SET amp if possible) bought used for $500
Oppo BD83SE bought new.
Huge old church organ folded horn(required a lot of stiffening!) sub with dual Image Dynamics 15's and I was a dealer so around $350
Used Dayton 1000SE of something like that, class H sub amp
DIY cables
I never wanted for more except I would of loved a pair of EH Titans, never had the right space for them,
I could bought gear costing 10-30 times more but saw no point and my main focus was on cars during those years but I have built a few street/track/audio comp cars that were very good at all three at the same time
I guess I am "preaching to the choir" here a bit, I have felt like saying most of this on a couple of "audiophile" sites but that would just stir up more.......
Yes, audiophiles can be a passionate bunch. I've spent quite some money on my stereo in the past too, ending up with a Conrad-Johnson CJ-5 and a Cary SLA-70 Signature driving a pair of Dynaudio Harmony's. And I also spent a huge amount on different cables, hunting for that teeny tiny bit of improvement.
These days I'm not so well off, so everything is on a budget. That being said I'm pretty happy with my present setup, a pair of Dutch Driade 22.2's driven by a Harman-Kardon PA2200, both bought second hand. The HK is driven by a cheap Chinese tube pre-amp that sounds surprisingly well for its money. The front-end is an RPi-3B with a Rpi-Hat feeding into a modified Cambridge Audio Dacmagic 100. The Cambridge is hooked up to the power supply instead of its wall wart and like I said it makes a subtle, but to me noticeable difference.
Getting the most out of affordable equipment has replaced my old habit of getting the best sound with more expensive equipment. What I've learned over the years is that the first 70-80% of the sound is relatively affordable to achieve, but after that it becomes a game of spending ever increasing amounts of money for ever decreasing improvements in the sound.
As I'm nearing 60 now and my hearing isn't what it used to be, spending all my money on expensive equipment doesn't make any sense, so back to tweaking on the cheap it is. And personally I'm having a lot of fun with it. Running the DAC on a €50 adjustable power supply instead of buying a "specialized" audiophile 12V linear power supply for €250-300 and in my opinion already getting a sound improvement just makes me happy.
As to preaching to the choir, let's say I left the big choir and joined a much smaller one, where the road to improvement is as important as the result.
These days I'm not so well off, so everything is on a budget. That being said I'm pretty happy with my present setup, a pair of Dutch Driade 22.2's driven by a Harman-Kardon PA2200, both bought second hand. The HK is driven by a cheap Chinese tube pre-amp that sounds surprisingly well for its money. The front-end is an RPi-3B with a Rpi-Hat feeding into a modified Cambridge Audio Dacmagic 100. The Cambridge is hooked up to the power supply instead of its wall wart and like I said it makes a subtle, but to me noticeable difference.
Getting the most out of affordable equipment has replaced my old habit of getting the best sound with more expensive equipment. What I've learned over the years is that the first 70-80% of the sound is relatively affordable to achieve, but after that it becomes a game of spending ever increasing amounts of money for ever decreasing improvements in the sound.
As I'm nearing 60 now and my hearing isn't what it used to be, spending all my money on expensive equipment doesn't make any sense, so back to tweaking on the cheap it is. And personally I'm having a lot of fun with it. Running the DAC on a €50 adjustable power supply instead of buying a "specialized" audiophile 12V linear power supply for €250-300 and in my opinion already getting a sound improvement just makes me happy.
As to preaching to the choir, let's say I left the big choir and joined a much smaller one, where the road to improvement is as important as the result.
Just got the WIIM Pro Plus working, optical out for now, line level not working for some reason, using my Galaxy 10S for the moment, working and sounding very good. I plan on an outboard DAC but wanted to hear the onboard one first, sure I will upgrade. APP is very good, using Qobuz.
I need to see if I can get a tablet or something to work as controller without having the home WiFi on as never use it, prefer Ethernet for all things inside the home which I am shielding for EMF, etc as I remodel each area.
As for power supply, found a few reviews and it seems the iFi ipower2 works very well with the WIIM, also looking at the ipowerx as an option.
Found an open box E70 Velvet I might give a try for now until I can do something more like and R2R DAC.
Have a great day
Rick
I need to see if I can get a tablet or something to work as controller without having the home WiFi on as never use it, prefer Ethernet for all things inside the home which I am shielding for EMF, etc as I remodel each area.
As for power supply, found a few reviews and it seems the iFi ipower2 works very well with the WIIM, also looking at the ipowerx as an option.
Found an open box E70 Velvet I might give a try for now until I can do something more like and R2R DAC.
Have a great day
Rick