Allo Digione Signature

[RX8R3ROD]

I have compared battery power to an iFi iPower into a iFi Nano usb 3.0, which is measured to produce < 0.05uv noise, and the Nano apparently has excellent regulation. This is into the clean side of the Signature.

 

This stuff is driven from a Nordost Thor which is itself driven from a mains regenerator, via Nordost mains leads.

 

So noise should be loooow.

 

It doesn’t sound quite as good as the battery (2 x Samsung 3000 mAh 18650’s) power, though.

 

However I tried this previously from a power bank 5v output, and it sounded pretty rubbish from that.

 

So the type of battery and it’s connection clearly makes quite a difference; or at least it did in my system.

 

 

 

[allo.com]

Hi ,

 

  IFI power has specified that differential noise is 1uV (tested at 6uV by us especially at low current)

 

  What they don't tell you is that common mode noise is at 3mV and on top it has leakage current as well.

 

Its not really a low noise PSU..

 

 

[nbpf]

21 hours ago, olklei said:

I have compared the Digione Signature to USB over ifi silencer into a gen5 usb gumby. The schiit gen5 usb interface is essentially a eitr. I have found the digione Signature to be clearer and easier to listen to. I use a 7.4V battery on the clean side of the sig.

Thanks for the feedback olklei! Best, nbpf

[RX8R3ROD]

The iPower certainly generates some contrary views.

 

I’ve seen measurements at 1 and 2 amps (more or less ideal for the Pi) demonstrating <1uv noise and 12uv ripple, which seems pretty good to me, and then others like the ones you have quoted.

 

I guess measurement methodology, conditions and equipment can all play a part in this, as well as what is and what is not measured (or at least reported)?

 

The iPower is clearly not perfect, as if it was the sound wouldn’t be very much improved by the addition of other devices, but mine certainly are. Nano and DC iPurifier both make a significant (to me) improvement.

 

I’ve also found separating the iPower from the main system power feed to be important, which (I think) supports what you’ve sad about it feeding crud back into the mains? But used intelligently, it seems it can also do a pretty decent job.

 

I do very much look forward to seeing how the Nirvana (as an ex Linnie of ‘a certain age’ I always want to call it the Valhalla) measures and - more importantly - what it sounds like in my system.?

[SparkSpark]

Hello,

Can you please clarify the power connection son the Digione Signature? 
As I understand it these are two USB C, however, the normal RPI power connection is a USB mini B(?).

 

Also, for clean battery power, how realistic is it to power the clean side with USB battery bank (like you'd use to charge a mobile phone on the go?) I have one with 20,000 Mh, how long would it last?

 

Thank you!

[allo.com]

13 minutes ago, SparkSpark said:

Digione Signature? 
As I understand it these are two USB C, however, the normal RPI power connection is a USB mini B(?).

 

Also, for clean battery power, how realistic is it to power the clean side with USB battery bank (like you'd use to charge a mobile phone on the go?) I have one with 20,000 Mh, how lo

No need to connect RPI uUsb , connect the 2 type C on the Sig. Power requirements are 65mha so if the above is correct you should get 300h

[SparkSpark]

2 hours ago, allo.com said:

No need to connect RPI uUsb , connect the 2 type C on the Sig. Power requirements are 65mha so if the above is correct you should get 300h

 

Thank you, 

I'm asking about the RPI power connection because I have a Linear PSU with that connection... perhaps I can get an adapter? But will this introduce interference? 

Is a USB power bank a good idea from an interference POV? Do other people use it?

Lastly, do you plan on introducing a trade-in program for the older Digione boards? I have it and it's great! 

Thank you!

[allo.com]

Hi,

 

 an adaptor will work and it should not introduce too much noise. Power bank , I think it depends on the brand and how well its made. In the end most of them have switching elements inside but some are very low noise.

 

  Sorry we dont have a trade in program. Unlike competitors that are selling units for 750-2000$ our products are fairly cheap and give tremendous value for the money.

[nbpf]

Are the measurements reported in https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-measurements-of-allo-digione-signature-and-diyinhk-pro3z.4660/ saying something interesting about the DigiOne Signature or are they irrelevant? Do the measurement suggest that the DigiOne Signature outperforms the DigiOne?

[allo.com]

As far as jitter , Signatures outperforms the Digione.  Theoretical jitter of clocks are 0.7ps. Both BNC and RCA outputs come from same buffer but on the BNC (that can have the correct impedance, unlike RCA ) you can see jitter of 3.5ps at 12k and 1.2ps at frequency of the tone played. In fact , if your DAC has correct impedance of 50R on RCA (a few manufacturers implement this) both RCA and BNC will show the same graph

 

  Overall,  jitter thats quite close to theoretical performance .

[rruffin]

I am a DigiOne owner and have just ordered the DigiOne Signature. It is my understanding that the Signature Player comes with an Allo power supply and the user must provide the power supply for the clean side. My question - until I get to tweaking, can I use the iFi 5 volt that I currently use for the DigiOne to power the clean side of the Signature? (The manual states that it needs 100mA.)

 

Thanks for so many great products and product lines.

[TAV]

13 minutes ago, rruffin said:

I am a DigiOne owner and have just ordered the DigiOne Signature. It is my understanding that the Signature Player comes with an Allo power supply and the user must provide the power supply for the clean side. My question - until I get to tweaking, can I use the iFi 5 volt that I currently use for the DigiOne to power the clean side of the Signature? (The manual states that it needs 100mA.)

 

Thanks for so many great products and product lines.

 

My understanding is that yes you can use the one from original Digione.   This is from their site. 

 

"REMEBER!
The Digione Signature needs 2 PSUs to run.
The player comes with 1 x 5V 3A PSU
You can either order another PSU or provide your own in order to use the Digione straight out of the box."

 

I'm also an original Digione user and would be interested in your experiences with the Signature in comparison.    Thanks. 

[SparkSpark]

Ok So I got the Digione Signature a couple of days ago and would like to share some thoughts.

 

Firstly,

I'm disappointed with ALLO,  the case I ordered doesn't actually fit the unit (see attached images) - I spent two hours trying to assemble it in all possible combination but no way. This is ironic because I then checked my digione case and guess what that too didn't match... 

 

Also, I ordered the V5 power supply and got the 19V PSU which I almost plugged into the unit, frying it surly... 
This is not serious. 

 

As to the sound, It's ok, I hardly notice an improvement, it's definitely not in the order of moving to the digione from Hifiberry - In my view not worth £300.

 

My set up is very revealing, I think: Digione (signature) -> BNC - Yggy V2 - Shiit Freya - ATI 6002 - ML electromotion ESL S/3.

 

Just my 2p

[RX8R3ROD]

Ah yes, I had that little problem with the case, too.

 

It’s interesting how experiences vary, which I guess is what makes Hi-Fi both so interesting and frustrating!

 

How are you powering the Signature?

 

FWIW my experience is this makes a really big difference, and it’s important on both the clean and dirty sides.

 

My Sig worked from the get-go for me, and was as big a jump as the Digione was over the HIFiBerry (itself a great product) but I found those differences mostly in what was most important to me ... PRaT, and sounds not modulating other sounds.

 

But it really started to sing like a canary for me in my system when I got to something like an iFi iPower with Swenson dc grounding mod (the mod sounds very grand, but only costs 50p) for the dirty side, and batteries for the clean side.

 

I’ve worked quite hard on powering it, and with some further mods to the power side of things it sounds sensational.

 

Your system does sound like it has a high degree of resolution, so it might be worth a bit of experimentation?

 

Though that clearly doesn’t make the case fit ...

[nbpf]

19 minutes ago, SparkSpark said:

Ok So I got the Digione Signature a couple of days ago and would like to share some thoughts.

 

...

 

As to the sound, It's ok, I hardly notice an improvement, it's definitely not in the order of moving to the digione from Hifiberry - In my view not worth £300.

 

My set up is very revealing, I think: Digione (signature) -> BNC - Yggy V2 - Shiit Freya - ATI 6002 - ML electromotion ESL S/3.

 

Just my 2p

Thanks for the assessment! What have you used to power the clean side of the Signature? 

[SparkSpark]

For the clean side I use a Tomanek linear RPI PSU http://www.tomanek.net.pl - that I've had for a couple of years now and I think it sounds good. For the dirty side I'm using a USB powerbank (since I never got the ALLO power I ordered...)

Not sure I can improve on the power any further... 

 

 

EDIT: for the record, my speakers and sub are on Townshend seismic isolation bars, and I have decent cables all around, the system sounds terrific, but the new digi signature isn't showing any notable improvement. 

[allo.com]

Hello SparkSpark

 

 please contact our CS and we will rush a PSU to you.

 

If you did not get any improvement , my guess is that linear PSU is noisy. So I went and looked at the PSU  ..the first thing that jumps is that PSU was made for RPI (so 3A) with less consideration for noise. In fact the LDO they use (lm338) to regulate is not a very good LDO.

 

 It has no noise measurements..

 

Not all LPSs are very low noise.

 

  We are also checking for the casing.

[ALLOaudio]

@SparkSpark

 

I am sorry to see that you are facing some issues with your order.

I will do my best to assist you and clarify your doubts.

 

1> For the PSU:

it could be a shipping mistake... these do happen , luckily not too often, please PM me your order number and i will take a look at your order and do right by you.

 

2> For the case:

I've looked at your pictures... a few things stood out.

> you haven't removed the BNC connector ring as indicated on our tutorial video which lasts 4 min and shows step by step how to assemble these cases.

> it seems to me that when you took the picture, you actually had the TOP cover on the bottom... The bottom cover has 4 small holes for the RPI feet .

 

Please take a minute to view the video here:

 

 

 

if you are still having trouble, please let me know, we are here to assist.

 

Regards

Andre

 

 

 

[RX8R3ROD]

? ... I hold my hand up and say, as an idiot who doesn’t read instructions, I didn’t read the instructions. So I just left one side off the case - Doh! I’ll claim it was a cooling modification ... ?

[burmar]

Hi
I would like to go in the clean side with a couple of batteries 18650, but i measured them with a tester and the out voltage is 8.27V, not 7.4 like it must to be (3.7 x 2), at full charge they are 4.1 each one.
Is it safe for the digione?

[RX8R3ROD]

Hi, I measured mine at around 4 volts or just below when fully freshly charged, and they didn’t seem to do any harm as a pair, nor when I tried 4 of them into the clean side in the Allo battery pack, so I imagine you’d be fine.

 

Hope you enjoy them, I think you’ll find them a pleasant experience ?

[SparkSpark]

Ok so a quick update, 

Firstly, I change the linear PSU - used it for the dirty side and used a USB power bank for the clean side, the difference is audible and clearly improved on the old Digione - more detail, resolution and 'inky black background to the sound - good job Digione!

 

On the case front, I tried following the video but the pieces just don't match - I made sure the bottom part is in the bottom although the screws don't align with the feet -  see attached:

 

 

[burmar]

18 minutes ago, RX8R3ROD said:

Hi, I measured mine at around 4 volts or just below when fully freshly charged, and they didn’t seem to do any harm as a pair, nor when I tried 4 of them into the clean side in the Allo battery pack, so I imagine you’d be fine.

 

Hope you enjoy them, I think you’ll find them a pleasant experience ?

Thank you... i'm going to test ?

[RX8R3ROD]

Burmar enjoy ?, and do let us all know how you find 18650 battery power, if you get the chance! ??

 

SparkSpark, great to hear that you’re getting improvements by optimising the power supplies, too! I must admit with my case everything fitted just fine except for the ‘back’ because I hadn’t read the instructions (Doh!), but yours looks much more challenging ... ? Hope you can get that sorted. ?

[burmar]

Well, the battery power works perfectly, i could'not test it very well 'cause the late hour, but tomorrow i'll do it better...

Question: I know you must power on 1st the clean side and after the dirty one

what about power off? 1st dirty and then clean?

 

Another thing, it seems to me that power connectors on digione are a little fragile, is it only an impression? ?