WiiM into Outboard DAC

It's definitely not bypassing the internal SMPS because..........

there is no internal SMPS in the Pro Plus that I use (or the Mini, or the straight Pro for that matter). So you don't need to bypass what is not there and the Mini, Pro and Pro Plus can very easily and simply be used with a linear power supply. 

The Ultra does have an internal power supply-it would require some surgery to be used with a LPS (and there are some aftermarket options available but they're pricey). 

Signed, 

"Basking in the mediocrity, enjoying the placebo effect."

hdm

Has anyone here used the Sbooster linear power supplies (sold by Upscale)? Are the Chinese cheapo’s just as good? I have a Wiim Pro Plus and will soon be running it into a DAC as the sound wasn’t good enough. I have a CD player with built-in dac (Emotiva CR-4) but am leaning to an external DAC for both the Wiim and CD player.

BTW I also have an older Monarchy Audio DIP 24/96 that I used as a re-clocking device from my old CD player (that only had toslink out), but that source is gone. Do modern dac's reclock as the signal comes in, or would this still be a worthwhile addition in the chain before the dac?

Cooperdude: I have not used the Sbooster, and by most accounts it is pretty good, just a little bit too much money for me. 

As to the Chinese linear power supplies there is a pretty big difference in performance between, say for example, the ultra cheap BRZHIFI or Weiliang 15W transformer based LPS’s (even with the upgraded Talema based transformer as opposed to the less expensive Bingzhi transformer) and the marginally more expensive R-core based power supplies that sell for just a little bit more on Aliexpress. 

I would avoid the low cost Weiliangs/BRZHIFI's (generally around $70-$100 Cnd. and step the price up slightly into the $115-$150 Cnd.  (about $90-$110 USD) R-Core supplies with a decent power cord. Much better performance for not many more $$. 

IMO based on owning both. All linear power supplies are not created =. 

I've had an Ultra for about a year now.  It replaced my JRiver/NUC system with FLAC files on a NAS.  The Ultra was out of the box, so much easier to use, no Win10 updates to foul things up, no fiddlyness from JRiver, which is a decent program but falls well short of the intuitive WiiM GUI.  I use the internal DAC to drive a vintage system, and optical out to a slightly higher end DAC to drive Magnepans.  Both systems in the same room but different preamp/power amps in play.  I could use the USB out on the Ultra but I found it was even faster if I used a USB connected drive.....didn't want to use the single USB and a switch....that seemed a bit too much.  When I initially a/b tested the DACs, internal vs external, the difference on the vintage system was pretty subtle, while the Maggies benefitted by the better DAC.  YMMV, as always, but I just bought another Ultra to stream from the drive on the first Ultra for a different room.  Internal DAC is fine for that system as well.  I also bought a Pro to add to the network to supply the mediocre ceiling speaker system elsewhere in the house with the same song files as are on the main Ultra.

From a slightly different (entry level) perspective, I went from YouTube Music and Chromecast Audio to Wiim Pro and Amazon Music Ultra HD.

I can hear the difference. It sounds better, yes. But to me it’s not life changing, and not night and day difference.

Everything I googled including multiple AI agents- say that an upgrade from lossy YouTube music to lossless Amazon music would be far more noticeable to me than an update from a Wiim dac to an external dac. Which could be zero difference based on my amp, speakers, room treatment and so on.

Specifically for my speakers (HPM-100) AI said it would be zero difference regardless of dac.

I’ll take their word for it, as personally I was 99 percent happy before switching to lossless, and I’m 99.9 percent happy now