Allo Digione

[boneman]

On 2/15/2018 at 3:36 PM, rruffin said:

What are folks using for a power supply with the DigiOne?

 

I ditched the wall wart provided by Allo and am using an iFi iPower.

I power my DigiOne and RPI 3 with a diy o11 LPS.  Total cost including a metal case was about $110.  The case height could have been an inch or two lower but could not find anything with the right length and width at the lower height.  Easy build if you're handy with a soldering iron, can read a schematic and have an electric drill for the metal work.  https://www.amb.org/audio/sigma11/

 

[rruffin]

21 hours ago, boneman said:

I power my DigiOne and RPI 3 with a diy o11 LPS. 

 

Thanks for your response. I am assuming that you are happy with your sound. Not sure that I have the skills to do this dyi project and may look for the equivalent in a finished product or, as the article suggests, hire one of the services to build it. Thanks again.

[boneman]

 

32 minutes ago, rruffin said:

 

Thanks for your response. I am assuming that you are happy with your sound. Not sure that I have the skills to do this dyi project and may look for the equivalent in a finished product or, as the article suggests, hire one of the services to build it. Thanks again.

So far the sound is pretty good.  Just finished burning in the DigiOne with 200 hours of playing time so will line up some serious listening this weekend.  As for the LPS, it puts out 5.2v 2.7A and runs quiet and cool.  Sourced the Avel toroidal trannie locally as they're located a couple of towns away in Connecticut.  The board assembly, wiring of the trannie, switches, led and fuse are all easy.  Hardest part for me was and remembering that sharp drill bits for 1/4" and larger are a must.  I've attached the pics so you can see how simplicity of the build.

[rruffin]

17 hours ago, boneman said:

Just finished burning in the DigiOne with 200 hours of playing time so will line up some serious listening this weekend.

 

Thanks for the info and photos. As for burn in, I really noticed a difference after a 200 hour burn in. I posted to several boards about the effects of DigiOne burn in, but had not received many responses. Are you using CAT 6a (high frequency) ethernet cabling?

[boneman]

7 minutes ago, rruffin said:

 

Thanks for the info and photos. As for burn in, I really noticed a difference after a 200 hour burn in. I posted to several boards about the effects of DigiOne burn in, but had not received many responses. Are you using CAT 6a (high frequency) ethernet cabling?

At this time using CAT 5E generic bulk cable that I terminated as the NAS is in a room next to the listening room.  Have you found an audible improvement using 6A vs 5* cable?  I see myself going down another rabbit hole!

 

As a side note, a friend bought an Aurrender N10 recently and had someone covert all his CDs into FLAC and AIFF files,  duplicate libraries with one for each format, a bit under 1TB in total and he was kind enough to lend it to me.  All loaded onto my NAS now.  Hopefully will be able to compare AIFF and FLAC from CDs to my own FLAC from vinyl.  Will no doubt be interesting.

[jaynyc]

Is there a general accepted POV on sound quality differences for the different Digione Player protocols?

 

For example, is playback via Roon vs. uPNP (GMrender) known to be better vs worse etc..

 

Very curious; any guidance greatly appreciated.

[rruffin]

On 2/21/2018 at 9:34 AM, boneman said:

Have you found an audible improvement using 6A vs 5* cable?

 

When I first set up the DigiOne, I was using two 3 ft ethernet Cat 5 cables (computer to router/router to DigiOne). I then purchased 0ne 2ft and one 20ft  Blue Jean Cat 6a cables (moving the DigiOne and dac across the room closer to the amplifier). At first the Cat 6a's sounded dark and rolled off. After about a three day break in, the sound brightened, the top end became more airy, the bass tightened and the soundstage widened. There was a big change with break in. I have not switched back to the Cat 5 to test, but my memory, after the 6a broke in, is that that the 6a were slightly more open in the high end and the bottom was less pronounced, but tighter. The cables were inexpensive ($50 total in eBay). YMMV.

[boneman]

1 minute ago, rruffin said:

 

When I first set up the DigiOne, I was using two 3 ft ethernet Cat 5 cables (computer to router/router to DigiOne). I then purchased 0ne 2ft and one 20ft  Blue Jean Cat 6a cables (moving the DigiOne and dac across the room closer to the amplifier). At first the Cat 6a's sounded dark and rolled off. After about a three day break in, the sound brightened, the top end became more airy, the bass tightened and the soundstage widened. There was a big change with break in. I have not switched back to the Cat 5 to test, but my memory, after the 6a broke in, is that that the 6a were slightly more open in the high end and the bottom was less pronounced, but tighter. The cables were inexpensive ($50 total in eBay). YMMV.

Thanks.  I buy from Blue Jean's and at .95 x 12 feet it's a pretty easy and cheap upgrade.

[Johnjc]

I got the DigiOne in Oct. I was using a fanless PC server with BugHead before this, so a big change of approach for me.

I have a few suggestions to improve sound quality further

1) Battery I use a 12v battery with a 12v to 5v dc converter. I am using a motorcycle battery. Its a nice cheap upgrade and a nice step up in performance.

2) I also use the IFI USB Silencer on the USB output. This adds a similar level of improvement. Not sure how that helps but does. 

3) Worth using decent isolation, more subtle in affect 

4) Defiantly worth using a Ethernet cable rather than using the wireless network 

[rruffin]

7 hours ago, Johnjc said:

1) Battery I use a 12v battery with a 12v to 5v dc converter. I am using a motorcycle battery. Its a nice cheap upgrade and a nice step up in performance.

 

Thanks for your DigiOne tweaks. Would you mind giving more info on the dc converter - Maybe a link?

[Johnjc]

Loads on eBay I am just using a cheap one 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Output-Power-Adapter-DC-DC-Converter-Module-12V-To-5V-3A-15W-With-Micro-UK/272911543494?epid=1494362959&hash=item3f8acbacc6:g:cREAAOSwlptZ-oBj

I know someone who got this and upgraded the cap and perhaps a better board too 

http://theaudiostandard.net/thread/3704/allo-digione-cables-interesting-experience

[r11bordo]

On 2/15/2018 at 9:36 PM, rruffin said:

What are folks using for a power supply with the DigiOne?

 

I ditched the wall wart provided by Allo and am using an iFi iPower.

The 5V 3A provided by Allo works fine, better a ifi ipower imo. I have tried and compared both on my system. With ipower, it's smother and less live than the allo psu.

[Johnjc]

I agree the IFI power supply is not that great with the DigiOne 

The battery solution is cheaper and a nice step up from the standard power supply 

[musicfreak]

2 hours ago, r11bordo said:

The 5V 3A provided by Allo works fine, better a ifi ipower imo. I have tried and compared both on my system. With ipower, it's smother and less live than the allo psu.

A few weeks ago I asked Allo through their contact form the following question about their 5V 3A power supply:

In the description you mention 'specifications guaranteeing the lowest ripple and noise possible'. I don't know how this is achieved. Can you give me some explanation and maybe compare your power supply with the Ifi iPower?

I get the following reply:
Our PSU is an off the shelf PSU not specifuically designed to have very low noise not meant to be compared with IFI

On this ground I ordered the iPower. Now with your experiences maybe it's a good idea to also buy the Allo PSU to compare both.

[rruffin]

20 hours ago, rruffin said:

I am using a motorcycle battery.

 

Is there a specific motorcycle battery  (any particular ampage)?

[Johnjc]

I use a 7ha battery but no specific size just got a cheap motorcycle battery from eBay. Bigger battery longer lasting you need to add a battery charger to re-charge I charge about twice a week and listen to music a few hours a day. 

[r11bordo]

11 hours ago, musicfreak said:

A few weeks ago I asked Allo through their contact form the following question about their 5V 3A power supply:

In the description you mention 'specifications guaranteeing the lowest ripple and noise possible'. I don't know how this is achieved. Can you give me some explanation and maybe compare your power supply with the Ifi iPower?

I get the following reply:
Our PSU is an off the shelf PSU not specifuically designed to have very low noise not meant to be compared with IFI

On this ground I ordered the iPower. Now with your experiences maybe it's a good idea to also buy the Allo PSU to compare both.

Hi,

Not sure allo has used ipower to compare with their own psu... And they can't provide bad feedback for another brand.

I had shared my good surprise on a french hifi forum. Some guys has tested and confirmed the very good result. 

I have even proposed to use the allo psu as external psu for the mutec, on this topic... But I have never received feedback. :-)

[musicfreak]

21 hours ago, r11bordo said:

Not sure allo has used ipower to compare with their own psu... And they can't provide bad feedback for another brand.

I had shared my good surprise on a french hifi forum. Some guys has tested and confirmed the very good result.

Thats true. And these testing on that French forum sounds good, can you provide me a link of that forumtopic?

[r11bordo]

Hi,

This is a link : http://forum-hifi.fr/thread-4520-post-108330.html?highlight=digione#pid108330

[jaynyc]

On 2/22/2018 at 8:48 PM, jaynyc said:

Is there a general accepted POV on sound quality differences for the different Digione Player protocols?

 

For example, is playback via Roon vs. uPNP (GMrender) known to be better vs worse etc..

 

Very curious; any guidance greatly appreciated.

After extensive listening, with an Allo Digione as hardware endpoint feeding a DAC, I find that (bitperfect, no src)

Foobar (uPnP plugin) --> Allo Digione sounds worse than HQPlayer (NAA) --> Allo Digione.

What's lost are timing cues feeling, reverberance, nth level of clarity.

 

Does anyone here have any POVs if there's something better than NAA for streaming to a Digione?

[DomieMic65]

On 12/25/2017 at 12:42 PM, allo.com said:

In my opinion DigiOne will not benefit greatly from a ultra low noise PSU.

 

   If you want to try you could try removing the isolated DC/DC convertor and use 2 PSUs to feed the RPI and DigiOne

Can you please elaborate a little bit more on that?

You mean that there is no point in using a LPSU in the case of rpi/DigiOne.. rpi power pack is ok!?

 

Doing what you say voids any guarantee I suppose and has the risk of destroying the units no?

If it is done the DigiOne will be fed through the rpi pins or otherwise?

 

Thnx.. I am really enjoying your product anyway!!

[DomieMic65]

On 10/28/2017 at 6:50 PM, George Hincapie said:

So a Polish company called Tomanek make a superb LPSU for Pi based devices (and other audio components too). In the UK, MCRU/LongDog Audio also make superb LPSUs (around £250). I have both.

 

I have also tried this supply, which is good, but I prefer the Tomanek: https://www.collybia.com/product/mambo-power-supply/

In what way the Tomanek was better than the mambo psu?

As I saw from the link you posted above you have the entry level Tomanek psu yes?

 

Thank you!

[DomieMic65]

regarding the SPDIF cables..

if the DAC has no BNC input, just RCA, is there any point to use a BNC(Digi)/RCA(DAC) SPDIF cable or a BNC/BNC with an adapter to RCA?

 

Thnx

[Johnjc]

I am just using a Coax cable from the SPDIF output and sounds great. Most DACs do not have a BNC input 

[allo.com]

On 3/6/2018 at 12:32 AM, DomieMic65 said:

Can you please elaborate a little bit more on that?

You mean that there is no point in using a LPSU in the case of rpi/DigiOne.. rpi power pack is ok!?

 

Doing what you say voids any guarantee I suppose and has the risk of destroying the units no?

If it is done the DigiOne will be fed through the rpi pins or otherwise?

 

Thnx.. I am really enjoying your product anyway!!

We don't recommend it but technically its feasible .