Allo Digione Signature

[LowMidHigh]

Maybe someone can share their knowledge?

 

A. Is the 5V/3A input sufficient If I connect an SDD drive (Samsung T5)?

B. Is it possible to connect my computer to the signature and play off it (Mac => UBS => Signature).

 

 

[nbpf]

2 hours ago, LowMidHigh said:

Maybe someone can share their knowledge?

 

A. Is the 5V/3A input sufficient If I connect an SDD drive (Samsung T5)?

B. Is it possible to connect my computer to the signature and play off it (Mac => UBS => Signature).

 

 

 

A. It is definitely sufficient.

 

B. It is likely possible but why would you like to do so? The RPi that hosts the DigiOne Signature is perfectly capable of both UPnP rendering (upmpdcli) and of UPnP serving (MinimServer, etc.) files? If you wan to deploy the DS as a pure UPnP or Roon network player (no server functionalities running on the DS), then  you should connect it to a computer with an Ethernet cable or via wireless.

[nbpf]

9 hours ago, wanta911 said:

 

Cool! I too will be interested in your findings, even if they are just a case of making everything neater.

 

IIRC the clean side of the Signature can take higher than 5V....have you tried 7V or 9V using the LPS 1.2?

I find it very difficult to compare different power supplies or cables when swapping A and B necessarily requires rebooting the system. That said, I have the impression that getting rid of the Allo USB C to barrel adapters and of the 2.5mm to 2.1mm adapters has improved the sound quality. I'll go through more careful listening test and report.

 

I have tried 7V when I received the LPS-1.2 and didn't notice obvious differences between 5V and 7V. Thus, I settled on 5V for safety reasons. Again, I should probably now repeat the comparison and go through more careful listening tests. Another question is whether it is possible to power the dirty side with 7V. I do not remember this to be the case and I do not want to fry my Signature but perhaps Allo could clarify.  

[LowMidHigh]

22 minutes ago, nbpf said:

 

A. It is definitely sufficient.

 

B. It is likely possible but why would you like to do so? The RPi that hosts the DigiOne Signature is perfectly capable of both UPnP rendering (upmpdcli) and of UPnP serving (MinimServer, etc.) files? If you wan to deploy the DS as a pure UPnP or Roon network player (no server functionalities running on the DS), then  you should connect it to a computer with an Ethernet cable or via wireless.

 

Thanks for chiming in. 

 

I have to confess ignorance, since I've been out of the digital game for a long while. My wish it to redirect the sound from my computer to the DS so I can use my speakers with YouTube and Skype. I envision a USB cable from my MacPro to the DS whereby the USB audio data will be converted to SPDIF and go out to my re-clocker. But may be there's a way to do it through the shared network?

 

[nbpf]

4 hours ago, LowMidHigh said:

 

Thanks for chiming in. 

 

I have to confess ignorance, since I've been out of the digital game for a long while. My wish it to redirect the sound from my computer to the DS so I can use my speakers with YouTube and Skype. I envision a USB cable from my MacPro to the DS whereby the USB audio data will be converted to SPDIF and go out to my re-clocker. But may be there's a way to do it through the shared network?

 

I can imagine that it is possible to install packages on the RPi that hosts the DS that allow it to work as a USB to S/PDIF transport. But this is certainly not the kind of application for which the DS has been designed.

 

Does your re-clocker have optical S/PDIF inputs? In this case, you just need a Toslink cable, the MacPro has an optical Toslink output integrated into its 3.5mm jack, I believe.

 

If your re-clocker only has electrical S/PDIF inputs or if your MacPro does not have S/PDIF outputs, you could buy a Meridian Explorer for about 200 EUR. It has electrical and optical S/PDIF outputs as well as a headphones output.  I have used mine to connect an old iMac to a Naim DAC but also as a portable headphone DAC for my laptop. It is a very light, plug-and-play device.

 

 

[wanta911]

4 hours ago, nbpf said:

I find it very difficult to compare different power supplies or cables when swapping A and B necessarily requires rebooting the system. That said, I have the impression that getting rid of the Allo USB C to barrel adapters and of the 2.5mm to 2.1mm adapters has improved the sound quality. I'll go through more careful listening test and report.

 

I have tried 7V when I received the LPS-1.2 and didn't notice obvious differences between 5V and 7V. Thus, I settled on 5V for safety reasons. Again, I should probably now repeat the comparison and go through more careful listening tests. Another question is whether it is possible to power the dirty side with 7V. I do not remember this to be the case and I do not want to fry my Signature but perhaps Allo could clarify.  

 

OK I thought I'd ask as I was about to try it and wondered if anyone had any experience with it.

 

In my setup the Signature sounds good but perhaps a little too smooth/warm. I tried replacing the LPS powering the dirty side with the supplied SMPS but it made little if any difference. I then thought about upping the voltage to the clean side and figured that it couldn't hurt, especially if those using the battery pack were getting good sound with what has to be quite a bit more than 5V.

 

Anyway, I'm feeding it 7V now and I like it - it sounds a bit cleaner to my ears. A bit like it was being lazy on the LPS 1.2 5V setting. It has me thinking that I might try the batteries, I bought the battery holder with my order as it was just a few bucks.

[RX8R3ROD]

IMHO it’s well worth a try, the different power sources can sound quite different... as you’ve already discovered by varying your input voltage ?

[nbpf]

7 minutes ago, RX8R3ROD said:

IMHO it’s well worth a try, the different power sources can sound quite different... as you’ve already discovered by varying your input voltage ?

But the max. voltage for the dirty side is still limited to 5V right?

 

I'll run some more tests during the next weekend but I have a strong impression that replacing the UpTone Audio cables with the shorter GhentAudio cables has made a difference in sound quality.

 

The difference might be finally due to differences in the end voltages: the UpTone Audio cables were 1.5m long and I had two adapters between the end of the cables and the USB C ports of the Signature.

 

Now I have 1m cables with USB C connectors at their end that directly go from the JS-2  and from the LPS-1.2 to the DS without adapters in between.   

[RX8R3ROD]

You are indeed correct, AFAIK it has to be 5v, I really should have made that clear.

 

It’s easy to forget when you have a pile of 5v regulators and caps to hand, plus various combinations of 2, 3 and 4 serial battery packs.

 

So thanks for flagging that up.?

 

Look forward to hearing the results of your tests on the cables ?

[LowMidHigh]

Thanks for all the help. 

 

Is it possible to set up the DS only with a browser, or attaching a keyboard/monitor is necessary? 

 

I have neither and purchasing both for occasional tweaking seems like a waste. 

[quanghuy147]

Hi,

Is it normal to enable i2s dac in Volumio settings? 

 

I am confused because I use Volumio and Signature to get digital signal then feed the external DAC. Why do I have to enable I2S DAC?  

 

I tried to disable I2s DAC then got an error message when trying to play any song.

[nbpf]

28 minutes ago, quanghuy147 said:

Hi,

Is it normal to enable i2s dac in Volumio settings? 

 

I am confused because I use Volumio and Signature to get digital signal then feed the external DAC. Why do I have to enable I2S DAC?  

 

I tried to disable I2s DAC then got an error message when trying to play any song.

What do you mean by "disable I2S DAC" precisely? In my /boot/config.txt file I have

 

#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

 

but also

 

# Configure the Allo Digione audio card
dtoverlay=i2s-mmap
dtoverlay=allo-digione

 

I understand that the DigiOne Signature is an I2S to S/PDIF transport, thus perhaps some functionalities related to I2S must be enabled?

 

 

[nbpf]

6 hours ago, LowMidHigh said:

Thanks for all the help. 

 

Is it possible to set up the DS only with a browser, or attaching a keyboard/monitor is necessary? 

 

I have neither and purchasing both for occasional tweaking seems like a waste. 

Sure, for Raspbian check https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=191252. If you use Volumio or similar distributions, setup is typically via web interface or app on mobile device.

[wanta911]

2 hours ago, quanghuy147 said:

Hi,

Is it normal to enable i2s dac in Volumio settings? 

 

I am confused because I use Volumio and Signature to get digital signal then feed the external DAC. Why do I have to enable I2S DAC?  

 

I tried to disable I2s DAC then got an error message when trying to play any song.

 

You have to have I2s enabled because that is the connection between the Pi and the Digione.

 

Remember that Volumio is only looking at the Pi....not the Digione board.

[wanta911]

19 hours ago, wanta911 said:

Anyway, I'm feeding it 7V now and I like it - it sounds a bit cleaner to my ears. 

 

Now I'm not so sure about this. I just unplugged a few things in my setup to arrange them better and started it all up again with 5V and it sounds great, no more of that over smoothness I was hearing before. (WTF?) Either my system is flaky or my brain needs a rest from critical listening ?

[RX8R3ROD]

Great to hear it’s sounding so good! ?

 

You may perhaps be experiencing variability (ripple, noise, etc.) in the power from the national grid? My supply is very variable at particular times of day when I’ve tracked it.

 

It seems the Signature is more than transparent enough to tell us stuff like that ...

[LowMidHigh]

Need a thread's end....

 

Got my DS. DietPi. Connected to power and ethernet.

I can access the device through the browser (dashboard), but I don't understand I play music from this point.

I supposed SqueezeLite is the way to go, so I tried to in stall some free Squeeze control apps on my Android phone, to no avail.

 

My ultimate goal is SoundCloud. If I understand correctly, LMS has a plugin for it. But that's how far I can get.

 

Anyone?

 

 

[RX8R3ROD]

A bit more on batteries v mains, and the effects of switches in the power feeds.

 

I replaced the existing supercap in my supply with several smaller, faster supercaps in series, so it’s running around 3Farads. Then I replaced the iPower feed into it with the Allo battery pack.

 

You can see the measurement results in the charts above. From the top (all post-capacitors and regulation) grounded iPower, grounded iPower plus DC iPurifier, 

18650 batteries. The 18650 batteries plus DC iPurifier measured under -135db in my system, so basically didn’t appear on the graph, even with a switch in-circuit.

 

So the batteries (with a lot of super-capacitor buffer and super-regulation) measure significantly better than the iPower (with similar) in my system, and with my mains supply.

 

How does it sound (bearing in mind my main thing is PRaT and noise / ripple figures arguably only tell us a little bit about power supply sound) and what’s the ranking (worst first to best last)?

 

1. iPower 

2. Batteries

3. iPower plus supercaps and superregs

4. batteries plus supercaps and superregs

 

Though 4. Sounds better than 3. to my PRaT-yearning ears, it doesn’t sound anything like as much of an improvement as the measurements might suggest, and occasionally, though not that often, it sounds a bit ‘limp’ in comparison to 3.

 

For those not so PRaT-centric, 4. Is smoother, more detailed with significantly better note decay when other loud transients are starting. So, for example, a piano note will die out more slowly and evenly, and with better pitch definition, when a singer lets rip.

 

In summary I’d say if you’re not PRaT-centric you might be likely to prefer 4. To 3. (In my system, at least) but if you are PRaT-centric, it’s a closer call.

 

 

 

[clipper]

9 hours ago, LowMidHigh said:

Need a thread's end....

 

Got my DS. DietPi. Connected to power and ethernet.

I can access the device through the browser (dashboard), but I don't understand I play music from this point.

I supposed SqueezeLite is the way to go, so I tried to in stall some free Squeeze control apps on my Android phone, to no avail.

 

My ultimate goal is SoundCloud. If I understand correctly, LMS has a plugin for it. But that's how far I can get. 

Anyone?

 

 

If you have a computer on the network that's always (or almost always) on, install LMS on it.  As of now, I recommend the latest 7.9 nightly version.  See http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/index.php?ver=7.9.

 

If you don't have a computer, you can install LMS on the Pi (via the DietPi Config menu).

 

Either way, access LMS settings (to install plugins, for instance) via a web browser (http://ipaddress:9000) and run squeezelite on the Pi as a player.

[LowMidHigh]

13 hours ago, clipper said:

If you have a computer on the network that's always (or almost always) on, install LMS on it.  As of now, I recommend the latest 7.9 nightly version.  See http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/index.php?ver=7.9.

 

If you don't have a computer, you can install LMS on the Pi (via the DietPi Config menu).

 

Either way, access LMS settings (to install plugins, for instance) via a web browser (http://ipaddress:9000) and run squeezelite on the Pi as a player.

Well, I type in the 9000 address but get "sit can't be reached."

Is it possible I have defect? the unit came with 3 loose screws, two support pillars out of place and one broken sidewall. 

When I connect the clean side, the a light show. When I plug into the dirty port, i don't see any activity. Is that normal?

[clipper]

1 hour ago, LowMidHigh said:

Well, I type in the 9000 address but get "sit can't be reached."

Is it possible I have defect? the unit came with 3 loose screws, two support pillars out of place and one broken sidewall. 

When I connect the clean side, the a light show. When I plug into the dirty port, i don't see any activity. Is that normal?

Let's start at the beginning.

 

Where did you install Logitech Media Server?  On what machine?

 

I didn't mention this before, but if the web browser you're using to try to connect is on the same machine as Logitech Media Server, connect to http://127.0.0.1:9000.

[LowMidHigh]

1 hour ago, clipper said:

Let's start at the beginning.

 

Where did you install Logitech Media Server?  On what machine?

 

I didn't mention this before, but if the web browser you're using to try to connect is on the same machine as Logitech Media Server, connect to http://127.0.0.1:9000.

 

No LMS installed yet....So that's the root of my issue, now I understand.

 

But how do I install it? Going here doesn't take any anywhere:

http://dietpi.local/allo/public/index.php

 

[RX8R3ROD]

Hi all,

 

I imagine I can’t be the only one who might be thinking ‘I wonder how the Allo Katana compares to the DigiOne Signature?’

 

My Katana arrived a few days ago (nicely packed, nothing rattling around ?) and I got it going today.

 

Initial impressions (obviously it’s not run in yet, and I haven’t yet got Roon working with a purely ‘software’ version of Dirac room correction to match my MiniDSP 22D with modded power supply, so this weights things in the Signature’s favour a little) are that it’s of a broadly similar level of performance to the Signature fed into my Teac UD501 DAC.

 

This is using the isolator v1.2 or 3?, and (almost) the 2 power supplies I am using to power the Signature currently, but without the Supercaps, which does make a difference IME.

 

However, the Katana let’s you power the analogue op-amp board with separate power supplies if you so wish. Seeing how important the power supplies have been on the Signature, and reading other comments suggests they are as important on the Katana, I think I do do wish! ?

 

Soooo ... next steps are to put together a couple of battery and supercap supplies for the + and - rails on the op-amp board, and see where that takes us performance-wise (as well as trying to get a purely ‘software’ version of DIRAC talking nicely with Roon to deliver time-and-frequency-based room correction).

 

But based on initial impressions I have high hopes ?

[clipper]

2 hours ago, LowMidHigh said:

 

No LMS installed yet....So that's the root of my issue, now I understand.

 

But how do I install it? Going here doesn't take any anywhere:

http://dietpi.local/allo/public/index.php

 

Are you installing it on a computer on the network?  Or on the Pi?

 

If on a computer, download LMS for the appropriate platform from http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/index.php?ver=7.9.

 

If on the Pi, ssh in (or hook up a monitor and keyboard) and run dietpi-software.  Then choose Software Optimized and install #35 (Squeezebox: logitech media server (lms)).

 

 

[wanta911]

On 12/18/2018 at 6:18 AM, RX8R3ROD said:

 

How does it sound (bearing in mind my main thing is PRaT and noise / ripple figures arguably only tell us a little bit about power supply sound) and what’s the ranking (worst first to best last)?

 

1. iPower 

2. Batteries

3. iPower plus supercaps and superregs

4. batteries plus supercaps and superregs

 

Though 4. Sounds better than 3. to my PRaT-yearning ears, it doesn’t sound anything like as much of an improvement as the measurements might suggest, and occasionally, though not that often, it sounds a bit ‘limp’ in comparison to 3.

 

For those not so PRaT-centric, 4. Is smoother, more detailed with significantly better note decay when other loud transients are starting. So, for example, a piano note will die out more slowly and evenly, and with better pitch definition, when a singer lets rip.

 

In summary I’d say if you’re not PRaT-centric you might be likely to prefer 4. To 3. (In my system, at least) but if you are PRaT-centric, it’s a closer call.

 

 

Interesting. As far as my main chain components are concerned I've settled on the following after a lot of changing around:

 

Digione dirty side - SBooster 5-6V

Digione clean side - Uptone LPS 1.2 5V

MiniDSP DDRC 22D - HDPlex 200W 5V 2A

Chord Qutest - Uptone JS-2 5V (running Qutest on incisive filter with BNC input)

 

I might buy some batteries one day and try them out on the clean side but at this stage it all sounds really good so I'm in no hurry.

 

On a side note - it's interesting how much warm (mid) bass the JS-2 seems to add to my particular setup compared to all my other LPSs no matter where I put it? This includes the LPS 1.2. I would imagine that the addition of the JS-2 into a colder sounding setup would make quite a nice difference but as I use room correction and had the bass sounding pretty sweet before the JS-2 arrived, I've had to adjust my target curve slightly to allow for it.

 

I've ordered a 2.1 to USB-C from Ghent for the LPS 1.2.