Allo Digione Signature

[wanta911]

19 hours ago, dmormerod said:

Thinking I’ll give this a go for the clean side given the price...

 

US $65.80 | STUDER900 upgrade 15W Talema PSU DC Linear power supply 5V 7V 9V 12V 15V 18V 24V
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/b9LLySZS

 

Yeah - I ordered a 5V one yesterday based on a recommendation I saw on another thread here where they tested a heap of other LPSs including some well known more expensive ones and this unit came out on top.....I can't remember the thread title or the poster 🙄

 

I have four 5V applications that are already using LPS but I am curious in comparing this (cheap) one to my current units.

[InfinitelyBaffled]

On 1/2/2019 at 3:49 PM, InfinitelyBaffled said:

So here's my take on the DigiOne Signature. I've been running the regular DigiOne with Ropieee for six months and it has been rock solid with Roon, so I figured I'd try out the Signature. With all the discussion on power supplies, I decided to go with 2 Twisted Pear Centaur linear power supplies to power both sides through independent transformers to maintain galvanic separation. Overkill for the clean side power-wise, but keeps things simple. Also installed an EMI filter on the power inlet. Finished it up yesterday, letting it run for a few days to settle in. 

 

 

 

So I have had this new Signature running steady now for five days and have spent a few hours listening to it. Comparing it to my standard DigiOne setup with the Pi's switched power supply, I have found the Signature to be more resolving and to have a noticeably better soundstage. The Signature paired with my Yggdrasil DAC is a good combo. Higher resolution is very evident on voices and percussion instruments like the vibraphone or bells.

The Centaur power supplies were an easy build, I initially set them both at exactly 5 volts, but I noticed the red light on the pi would go on and off intermittently while booting, signaling a drop below 4.63 volts. I cranked the power supply up to 5.2 volts and it is now solid through the boot process as well as during operation. The 2.5 amps seem to be plenty enough to power the Pi. On the "clean side" I have the same power supply but set at exactly 5 volts. With 15k uF smoothing capacitors on these power supplies, I think I am providing some clean and steady power to both sides of the Signature.

The only thing that presented a challenge on this build were the USB C connectors - I wish Allo would also provide some solder pads on the board to wire power directly - I had to dig up some 90 degree angled adapters to get this setup to fit in the case.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this setup - I think it was worth the expense and effort. I might grab a battery setup and compare that to the Centaur supply on the clean side, but I doubt I will hear any improvement - this thing is dead silent and overpowered as it is (clean side has 2.5 amps available to it) - I had planned to add copper shielding around the DS, but I don't think it needs it.

[RX8R3ROD]

15 minutes ago, InfinitelyBaffled said:

 

So I have had this new Signature running steady now for five days and have spent a few hours listening to it. Comparing it to my standard DigiOne setup with the Pi's switched power supply, I have found the Signature to be more resolving and to have a noticeably better soundstage. The Signature paired with my Yggdrasil DAC is a good combo. Higher resolution is very evident on voices and percussion instruments like the vibraphone or bells.

The Centaur power supplies were an easy build, I initially set them both at exactly 5 volts, but I noticed the red light on the pi would go on and off intermittently while booting, signaling a drop below 4.63 volts. I cranked the power supply up to 5.2 volts and it is now solid through the boot process as well as during operation. The 2.5 amps seem to be plenty enough to power the Pi. On the "clean side" I have the same power supply but set at exactly 5 volts. With 15k uF smoothing capacitors on these power supplies, I think I am providing some clean and steady power to both sides of the Signature.

The only thing that presented a challenge on this build were the USB C connectors - I wish Allo would also provide some solder pads on the board to wire power directly - I had to dig up some 90 degree angled adapters to get this setup to fit in the case.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this setup - I think it was worth the expense and effort. I might grab a battery setup and compare that to the Centaur supply on the clean side, but I doubt I will hear any improvement - this thing is dead silent and overpowered as it is (clean side has 2.5 amps available to it) - I had planned to add copper shielding around the DS, but I don't think it needs it.

Thanks for the update 👍

 

Great to hear you’re enjoying the Signature so much! 😁

 

It is a fab bit of kit IME. (And so’s the Katana).

 

If you go down the battery ps experiment route have fun, and you may find that it’s worth adding Supercaps and / or regulation to the batteries.

 

IME the batteries sound absolutely great, but in relative terms can perhaps be be described as a little bit slow and ‘dirty’ (best way I can describe it) compared to adding Supercaps/ Superregs (in my system, with my PRAT-based musical preferences). I also find that bass dynamics can potentially be improved with really good regs and fast caps.

 

Enjoy the music!! 😁

 

And power to Allo 👍

[Spenagio]

Is anyone located in the UK, ideally central that could assist in testing my DS before I return it? I would be happy to travel to determine if the unit is faulty.

Looks like stocks are low, so would like to avoid sending it back if it’s not defective.

 

Just a thought.

[RX8R3ROD]

I am in East Midlands near Nottingham though not again until next weekend (might be weekend after). But if that’s any help ... 

[Spenagio]

6 minutes ago, RX8R3ROD said:

I am in East Midlands near Nottingham though not again until next weekend (might be weekend after). But if that’s any help ... 

Thank you, will see how I go with batteries.

Dont want to give upon using a DS! 

[RX8R3ROD]

I can well understand that! 😁 

[Spenagio]

6 minutes ago, RX8R3ROD said:

I am in East Midlands near Nottingham though not again until next weekend (might be weekend after). But if that’s any help ... 

Thank you, will see how I go with batteries.

Dont want to give upon using a DS! 

[nbpf]

Some energy consumption figures: in my setup, the dirty side (RPi running MinimServer, upmpdcli and MPD at fixed 1GHz in a minimal Raspbian system) requires between 500 and 800 mA at between 4.80V and 4.91V while transcoding 24bits/192kHz .flac files stored in a 1TB Samsung T5 SSD drive connected to the RPi via USB to .wav. This is far less than the 2.5 to 3A made available by popular SMPS like the Allo or the ifi iPower. Measurements with  https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01NAWYSVK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

 

 

[kotlarix]

7 hours ago, analogmusic said:

Not sure what is going on with Allo. I placed an order on 24th December, and have been promised twice now that my digione signature would ship on Friday.

 

Am getting a bit worried about them missing their deadlines twice. I was told that they had some delays due to customs imports but surely promising me that the shipment would leave and missing the deadline is strange.

 

21st December I placed order at internet shop who sales Allo products in Poland and then got message that approx delivery time is over 6 weeks so I canceled order and I placed my order at allo.com 22nd December, no answers about dispatch since then (zero contact). I was thinking that they as a manufacturer will have own stock filled with their new product but it looks they don't.

 

My plan was build it with alu case so I bought lot of stuff to complete that (and I thinking now if it was good idea because total price is over SOTM SMS-200 NEO and good LPS)

 

Just hope that they will not vanish with our money 🤣

[Spenagio]

Out of interest has anyone powered the clean side successfully with the provided Allo 5v PS? 

 

[kotlarix]

3 minutes ago, Spenagio said:

Out of interest has anyone powered the clean side successfully with the provided Allo 5v PS? 

 

 

Thought that was quite a few that was powering Digione signature with two PS.

[RX8R3ROD]

31 minutes ago, Spenagio said:

Out of interest has anyone powered the clean side successfully with the provided Allo 5v PS? 

 

I did when I first bought the DS, with an iPower on the dirty side, then swapped them over and started really experimenting.

 

The Allo 5v supply is, IME, actually surprisingly decent, given it doesn’t cost a fortune.

 

I’ve seen ripple figures of just a few mv quoted, which is on a par with a good few LPS’s.

 

To me it had a character broadly similar to the battery supply (where, say, a raw iPower is somewhat brighter, a bit more detailed, and more Hi-Fi sounding), sounding quite ‘organic’ (whatever that means 🙄) but just wasn’t as good overall.

[dmormerod]

8 hours ago, wanta911 said:

 

Yeah - I ordered a 5V one yesterday based on a recommendation I saw on another thread here where they tested a heap of other LPSs including some well known more expensive ones and this unit came out on top.....I can't remember the thread title or the poster 🙄

 

I have four 5V applications that are already using LPS but I am curious in comparing this (cheap) one to my current units.

 

Yes I saw the same posts in another thread on here. I eventually ordered this 
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cy2TZZA

 

Mainly because I also have a USBridge and wanted 2 outputs. I’ll be curious to hear how the other model compares to your other LPS.

[wanta911]

I ordered this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/STUDER900-Regulator-linear-power-supply-DC12V-2-5A-30W-DAC-Audio-Decoder-Professional-Power-Adapter/32821841363.html?spm=2114.11010108.01008.4.37c2649bRX5VWf

 

I'll report on how it goes.

[analogmusic]

So allo confirmed my DigiOne Signature is shipping today

 

I am really looking forward to it.

[kotlarix]

Just now, analogmusic said:

So allo confirmed my DigiOne Signature is shipping today

 

I am really looking forward to it.

 

Lucky you😉, in my case still have no answer after contacting two different persons from customer service.

 

Thinking to cancel order and buy from audiophonics (it looks like they have it in stock)

[dmormerod]

19 minutes ago, kotlarix said:

 

Lucky you😉, in my case still have no answer after contacting two different persons from customer service.

 

Thinking to cancel order and buy from audiophonics (it looks like they have it in stock)

 

I think they may have just started back up after holiday vacation.  I got a support email answer today as well, so maybe see how today plays out before canceling.

[Spenagio]

So after a lengthy troubleshooting session, it seems I have a DigiOne Signature with a fualty board. Annoying, as I would have expected Allo to have at least the level of quality control that would catch such issues.

 

Sending the unit back to Audiophonics today, have asked for a replacement. Going to give it one more go, then I’ll have to consider something more mainstream.

 

has anyone compared the Digione against a Lumin D1/2, or Aries with LPS? 

[keihin]

16 hours ago, dmormerod said:

Yes I saw the same posts in another thread on here. I eventually ordered this 
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cy2TZZA

 

I am using this same Weiland Audio LPS product with my RPi/DigiOne Signature's clean power tap. I ordered mine off of eBay.  The seller was responsive and it shipped in a timely manner and was well packaged.  It was delivered via DHL just 15 days after ordering.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50VA-HIFI-Ultra-low-Noise-Linear-Power-Supply-DC5V-9V-12V-15V-18V-24V-LPS-PSU/163166483418

 

I can only compare it's performance to the small SMPS (Apple 1A phone charger) that I was using while I waited for the Weiland to arrive. The Weiland unit seems to provide nice clean power, with all of the usual sonic benefits.  I don't have the equipment to measure it, but the subjective results are excellent.  At 50VA rated power, the available current reserves are a bit ridiculous for this application, but the price and performance are right, and I have the second tap available for other uses.  Except for being oversized, I'd say it's a good enough match for the RPi/DigiOne Signature, and a very good value at only a small cost premium above the iFi iPower option.

 

FWIW, the RPi/DigiOne Signature actually sounded quite good using the little Apple SMPS.  I've read elsewhere that these chargers have tested pretty well for low-noise performance. So, perhaps that combines with the excellent power circuitry in the DigiOne Signature to deliver this good result.  I knew that my own curiosity about potential gains from a better PS would eventually drive me to upgrade, so I never considered using this long term, but the low cost and efficiency may appeal to some.  Give it a shot if you're curious.
 

[keihin]

On 1/6/2019 at 10:56 AM, InfinitelyBaffled said:

The only thing that presented a challenge on this build were the USB C connectors - I wish Allo would also provide some solder pads on the board to wire power directly - I had to dig up some 90 degree angled adapters to get this setup to fit in the case.

 

I don't know whether this would have helped you, as it sounds like more of a space/packaging issue inside your shared enclosure, but there are alternate power cables available with USB Type-C plugs.  If for no other reason but to eliminate the messy adapter use and overly long cables that were packed with the Weiland, I've ordered a cable from Ghent Audio to take power from my Weiland Audio LPS to the DigiOne Signature board. 

 

In my case, the cable is a Ghent model number DC36 (Aviation GX12/GX16 to USB DC Cable) with these options:

LPS-end Connector: Aviation: GX16-2(1+): pin1(VCC +), pin2(GND)
Allo-end Connector: USB: Type-C
Cable Length: 0.5m

 

It has not yet arrived.  I'll post about it once it's installed.

[01svtL]

I may be looking to unload my brand new Signature if anyone reading this is interested.  I havent even gotten it set up yet, but am thinking another route might be better suited to my needs/wants.  I’m in the US, so let me know if anyone is interested.

[InfinitelyBaffled]

10 hours ago, keihin said:

 

I don't know whether this would have helped you, as it sounds like more of a space/packaging issue inside your shared enclosure, but there are alternate power cables available with USB Type-C plugs.  If for no other reason but to eliminate the messy adapter use and overly long cables that were packed with the Weiland, I've ordered a cable from Ghent Audio to take power from my Weiland Audio LPS to the DigiOne Signature board. 

 

In my case, the cable is a Ghent model number DC36 (Aviation GX12/GX16 to USB DC Cable) with these options:

LPS-end Connector: Aviation: GX16-2(1+): pin1(VCC +), pin2(GND)
Allo-end Connector: USB: Type-C
Cable Length: 0.5m

 

It has not yet arrived.  I'll post about it once it's installed.

 

Thanks for sharing that, but you are right - my issue was one of space - I had to fit the AC socket/EMI filter, the Ethernet jack and the Digione across the back of the case and it was a tight fit. I found some decent quality 90 degree USB C adapters and heat-shrink wrapped them to the connectors provided with the DigiOne.  I thought about unsoldering the USB C connectors from the DigiOne board to hard wire it directly, but those pads under the USB C connector look awfully small.

 

Let us know how that cable works out for you....

[keihin]

14 minutes ago, InfinitelyBaffled said:

Let us know how that cable works out for you....

 

Nice work with the packaging. Very clean to have it all in one box. And I think you made the right decision not to mess around with those tiny pads.

 

Cable was delivered today. Very nice quality. The Canare 4SC star quad wire is so much more substantial than the wire used in the stock cables provided with the Weiland LPS. Should have lower resistance and capacitance, as well as better EMI rejection.  All good things. Plugged it right up, it’s working great. Not sure there’s a noticeable change in sound, but I’m happy just to have removed an extra adapter connection, gotten rid of unneeded cable length, and cleaned up the sloppy looking wiring.

 

https://www.ghentaudio.com/part/dc36.html

[Shangri-La]

Is it okay to use a normal Android phone USB charger on the dirty/clean board, in terms of +/- polarity? My 18650 batteries are not great so when I use the box as Airplay/uPNP endpoint, I hope I can use an external power supply.