Allo Digione Signature

[allo.com]

9 hours ago, RyanC said:

Hi, I think this has been mentioned before but couldn't see a resolution. I have the Signature player running DietPi + Allo GUI (unmodified  from the factory) and using the Allo supplied 5v PSU powering the dirty side.  The red power LED on the Pi switches off and on every few seconds randomly.  I assume that means the Pi is at times not getting the required volts.  Assistance would be appreciated.

 You can see that software will not report under voltage , unfortunately the LED will report undervoltage at a higher threshold . Still the unit works without any issues

[RyanC]

1 hour ago, nbpf said:

Do you have a USB drive attached to the device?

 

No nothing connected.

[nbpf]

5 hours ago, RyanC said:

 

No nothing connected.

In this case I would not worry if the system has no failures. As Allo say, the LED in the RPi 3B+ is probably a bit fussy. You can also have a look at the cpu load (with top or htop if you can login remotely) and at the cpu frequencies. These should be constant and can be reduced via config.txt directives, see my previous posts on the subject. 

[allo.com]

John Darko review of Signature

 

 https://darko.audio/2018/11/a-short-film-about-the-allo-digione-signature/

[pjmcos]

2 hours ago, allo.com said:

John Darko review of Signature

 

 https://darko.audio/2018/11/a-short-film-about-the-allo-digione-signature/

 

Allo,

 

Is there a fool proofing in your part to avoid toasting the batter power pack? Is it intrinsically safe device to use in RPi?

Darko's video is quite scary.

[burmar]

Well, normally in all batteries the negative pole stands on the springs of the holder 

[RX8R3ROD]

21 minutes ago, pjmcos said:

 

Allo,

 

Is there a fool proofing in your part to avoid toasting the batter power pack? Is it intrinsically safe device to use in RPi?

Darko's video is quite scary.

Just follow the instructions given by Allo and you’ll have no problems. This is just (IMHO) part of dealing with small, dynamic companies... inevitably some things are just a little bit rougher around the edges.

 

Allo putting the updated polarity markings is definitely a good thing ?

 

But what a great review, and knowing as we do that:

 

a) it’s quite possible to get better sound than via the battery pack on the clean side

b) what and how we feed the dirty side also makes a difference 

 

Darko hasn’t even yet experienced the Signature at its best, if indeed any of us have. ?

 

 

 

[nbpf]

3 hours ago, allo.com said:

John Darko review of Signature

 

 https://darko.audio/2018/11/a-short-film-about-the-allo-digione-signature/

It does not seem like a review to me: no comparisons with other I2S to SPDIF transports, no listening tests, nothing interesting in the test. I have not watched the video, the text was boring enough. Too bad because I find the DigiOne Signature really great!

[RX8R3ROD]

I thought that too reading the text, but the review content is in the video. I think I picked it up about half way in ...

[burmar]

28 minutes ago, nbpf said:

It does not seem like a review to me: no comparisons with other I2S to SPDIF transports, no listening tests, nothing interesting in the test. I have not watched the video, the text was boring enough. Too bad because I find the DigiOne Signature really great!

And in addition he also wronged the battery verse, not bad as a reviewer ?

[nbpf]

44 minutes ago, RX8R3ROD said:

I thought that too reading the text, but the review content is in the video. I think I picked it up about half way in ...

Right, the second part is quite entertaining ... 

[RX8R3ROD]

?

[allo.com]

20 hours ago, pjmcos said:

 

Allo,

 

Is there a fool proofing in your part to avoid toasting the batter power pack? Is it intrinsically safe device to use in RPi?

Darko's video is quite scary. 

Yes we have added the right indications on the battery pack (very clear and visible)

[SparkSpark]

Hello people,
I'm using batteries to power the digione signature, it sounds great but having to constantly charge and swap them is a pain - I often have music playing 24 hours... 

I tried using a bigger USB power bank, several actually but they often cut out (possibly because the signature clean side draws so little power - did you have better luck with USB power banks? If so can you share the exact model? Many thanks!

[nbpf]

11 minutes ago, SparkSpark said:

Hello people,
I'm using batteries to power the digione signature, it sounds great but having to constantly charge and swap them is a pain - I often have music playing 24 hours... 

I tried using a bigger USB power bank, several actually but they often cut out (possibly because the signature clean side draws so little power - did you have better luck with USB power banks? If so can you share the exact model? Many thanks!

I cannot offer any recommendation on power banks. If you often play music for 24 hours a day,  perhaps a decent power supply would be a meaningful investment. If funds permit, get an UpTone Audio LPS-1.2. It's expensive but I think it is worth the money. Good luck and, if you play around with different PSUs, please report your findings! 

[dmormerod]

On 10/21/2018 at 4:57 AM, RX8R3ROD said:

Just to add to the question of what the iPurifier does, here's a pic of the output from the iPower 12v regulated to 5v and further filtered, followed by the addition of the DC iPurifier 2.

 

Quite a worthwhile improvement, and from these you maybe wouldn't be surprised to learn you hear somewhat moredetail and ambience?

 

Would an iPower 5v + iPurifier give similar results? I already have a iPower 5v and adding an iPurifier will be cheaper than jumping to an Ultracap LPS 1.2.  I've ordered the battery pack but ideally want to keep the unit on 24/7.

[RX8R3ROD]

I would imagine that the iPurifier would give a similar measurable improvement after a 5v iPower, though I haven’t actually measured it and I unfortunately can’t at present as am working away for a bit.

 

IME the 12v iPower regulated to 5v gives a rather more ‘gutsy’ and solid sound then the 5v iPower, but preferences (and quite probably experiences) vary, ... just as our power supplies do. ?

 

Have you tried the 5v iPower into the Signature and, if so, how did it sound to you?

 

The iPurifier IME adds more detail and air, but not drive / better timing.

 

If you find the 5v iPower powering the Signature already times well enough and sounds sufficiently grounded and solid, the iPurifier could be a really good upgrade. If you’re seeking improved timing and weight I’d say perhaps it might not give you quite what you’re looking for (at least based on my experience with my electricity supply).

 

Hope that helps a bit?

[dmormerod]

7 minutes ago, RX8R3ROD said:

I would imagine that the iPurifier would give a similar measurable improvement after a 5v iPower, though I haven’t actually measured it and I unfortunately can’t at present as am working away for a bit.

 

IME the 12v iPower regulated to 5v gives a rather more ‘gutsy’ and solid sound then the 5v iPower, but preferences (and quite probably experiences) vary, ... just as our power supplies do. ?

 

Have you tried the 5v iPower into the Signature and, if so, how did it sound to you?

 

The iPurifier IME adds more detail and air, but not drive / better timing.

 

If you find the 5v iPower powering the Signature already times well enough and sounds sufficiently grounded and solid, the iPurifier could be a really good upgrade. If you’re seeking improved timing and weight I’d say perhaps it might not give you quite what you’re looking for (at least based on my experience with my electricity supply).

 

Hope that helps a bit?

Yes, Thanks.  I don't have the Signature yet, it's ordered and I'm awaiting delivery.  I currently use the iPower to drive a USBridge.

[RX8R3ROD]

Ah, maybe give it a whirl with the Signature then and see how you find it? ? ... and enjoy, ... however you power it I think you’ll find the Signature sounds great! ? I would say it’s well worth doing the Swenson grounding mod on the iPower, though, if you’ve not done so already, as it’s really easy to do and only costs about 50p ?

[dmormerod]

2 minutes ago, RX8R3ROD said:

Ah, maybe give it a whirl with the Signature then and see how you find it? ? ... and enjoy, ... however you power it I think you’ll find the Signature sounds great! ? I would say it’s well worth doing the Swenson grounding mod on the iPower, though, if you’ve not done so already, as it’s really easy to do and only costs about 50p ?

 

I've not done the mod, I'll have to google it!

[dmormerod]

I noticed in the Darko video he was using flat-top batteries in the battery holder.  Does the battery holder accept both regular & flat-top 18650 batteries?

[nbpf]

3 hours ago, dmormerod said:

Yes, Thanks.  I don't have the Signature yet, it's ordered and I'm awaiting delivery.  I currently use the iPower to drive a USBridge.

In this case just use the iPower, ideally grounded. You can then try other power supplies once the DigiOne Signature is run in if you fancy to do so. I have received the LPS-1.2 on the same day as the DigiOne Signature and therefore I have not played around with other alternatives. 

[RX8R3ROD]

58 minutes ago, dmormerod said:

I noticed in the Darko video he was using flat-top batteries in the battery holder.  Does the battery holder accept both regular & flat-top 18650 batteries?

That’s a really good question to which I don’t know the answer. I used flat top 18650’s as I understood they are supposed to be ‘the best’ ? etc (and they do sound really good IME) but have never tried regular rechargeables.

[Jakub]

Dear Allo,

I recently purchased the Digione Signature HAT (order 4312 placed on 11/1/2018 03:24:27). However, I am having difficulties with getting a signal from the device.

The HAT is connected to a RPi 3B, running piCorePlayer (Linux piCorePlayer 4.14.26-rt19-pcpAudioCore_v7 #1 SMP PREEMPT RT Wed Mar 14 23:23:12 EDT 2018 armv7l GNU/Linux).

I am following the correct powering sequence, with the clean power connected first (powered by 5V/3A linear power supply), followed by the dirty side (official Raspberry pi 5V/2.5A switching power supply). The device is correctly recognized during the boot:

[  122.891013] snd-allo-digione soc:sound: ASoC: CPU DAI (null) not registered - will retry
[  122.972669] snd-allo-digione soc:sound: ASoC: CODEC DAI wm8804-spdif not registered - will retry
[  123.239751] wm8804 1-003b: revision E
[  123.272988] snd-allo-digione soc:sound: wm8804-spdif <-> 3f203000.i2s mapping ok

As well as visible by ALSA:

$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: sndallodigione [snd_allo_digione], device 0: Allo DigiOne HiFi wm8804-spdif-0 []
 Subdevices: 1/1
 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

SPDIF output is connected to an Electrocompaniet ECD-2 DAC.

Upon the assembly of the device, since the very first try, I was not able to get any sound/signal from the device. However, after many minutes of silence (while playback still on) the sound suddenly appeared. The playback however only lasted for 30-40s, after which a garbled noise followed, subsiding into a faint rhythmic clicking which couldn’t be stopped, only by disconnecting the RPi/DigiOne. 

After numerous reboot sequences, I managed to get the playback working, for a couple of hours it seemed OK. The sound was fine, as expected. However, I took the device today to a friend of mine, where a similar behaviour occurred - the card was visible on the system, but no sound via SPDIF (this time connected to a PS Audio DirectStream DAC). Again after numerous reboot sequences, different power supplies, cables etc. the sound suddenly appeared. The playback was OK for 2-3 hours as we were listening, but upon my arrival back home, I am facing the same problem at my setup - I can’t get any sound out of the device. Again, tried several reboot sequences, powering on and off both the DAC and the device (still maintaining the correct power sequence), yet no luck. I was searching for a pattern how I can get the sound from the device, however I couldn’t find any (e.g. first powering the DAC, then the DigiOne etc.). I am unable to get any playback from the device since Sunday, when I originally wrote this e-mail to [email protected].

This certainly doesn’t seem as a normal behaviour. The previous DigiOne, from which I upgraded seemed to work flawlessly on the very same setup.

I’d be grateful for any help.

[ALLOaudio]

15 hours ago, dmormerod said:

I noticed in the Darko video he was using flat-top batteries in the battery holder.  Does the battery holder accept both regular & flat-top 18650 batteries?

hello,

the adapter will support both.

The positive terminal is protruding enough to connect to flat and regular tops.

 

regards

Andre