ALLO Shanti Power Supply

[rruffin]

5 hours ago, zacho said:

Wonder how this would compare with the ciunas supercapacitor iso-ps which I am expecting in the next few days. 

 

There are folks on other sites wondering the same thing! Please feel free to give us a report about your impressions - especially what the Ciunas is replacing!

 

(Isn't this a great hobby!)

[zacho]

6 hours ago, rruffin said:

 

There are folks on other sites wondering the same thing! Please feel free to give us a report about your impressions - especially what the Ciunas is replacing!

 

(Isn't this a great hobby!)

 

I definitely will! It'll be powering a digione signature player, replacing an ifi iPower on Dirty side and 18650 batteries on the clean side. 

[Bajanboy]

Hello, Allo always stated that it was important to power up the Digione Signature board before powering up the RPI. How is this possible using the Shanti with a single switch for both sides of the supply?

[wanta911]

1 hour ago, Bajanboy said:

Hello, Allo always stated that it was important to power up the Digione Signature board before powering up the RPI. How is this possible using the Shanti with a single switch for both sides of the supply?

 

To clarify, they pointed out that the Signature board (clean side) clock will engage first if it and the RPi (dirty side) are powered up at the same time, as the RPi takes a while to start. So the caution is really about not powering the dirty side before the clean side. If you leave the Digione Signature on 24/7 as I do, it isn't something you need to worry about too often and TBH I have no issue with connecting/disconnecting the live DC cables anyway.

[wanta911]

Also keep in mind that if you are turning the Shanti off at the switch that it takes a long time for the caps to power down, so if you are going to do something that definitely needs the power off completely then pulling the DC cable would be a good move. 

[Bajanboy]

I understand and thank you for your comprehensive reply.

[rruffin]

So, anyone receive a Shanti power supply and able to compare it to your previous power supply system (batteries, linear power, switching power or anything else)?

[AyJay]

Does the Allo Shanti also run on 100V AC input voltage? I am asking as Japan has 100V (50/60Hz) mains voltage.

[uniquesnowflake]

12 hours ago, rruffin said:

So, anyone receive a Shanti power supply and able to compare it to your previous power supply system (batteries, linear power, switching power or anything else)?

 

The "dirty side" of my DigiOne Signature was powered by an ebay'd "Studer 800" lps, and I used a Jung-type super regulator for the "clean side". The Shanti wiped the floor with my previous setup without mods or burn-in. It wasn't even close.

 

Having recently auditioned the popular dCS Network Bridge, I feel that with the Shanti, the DigiOne Signature player can finally play with the big boys. Will return with more details and mods performed on my Shanti.

[RX8R3ROD]

I have received my Shanti, but not yet had time to listen to it. Public holiday this weekend, so with luck can provide some feedback early next week relative to regulated battery super capacitor supplies, and iPower.

[RX8R3ROD]

These comments are based on comparison of the Shanti and regulated supercap batter supplies powering an Allo Katana. 

 

My DigiOne Signature Board appears to have crashed and burned. I cannot get a sound out of it, so looks like I’ll have to order another one. ☹️ I hope this isn’t something that’s happening to other people, but the occasional failure is, I guess, to be expected?

 

Anyhow, as far as the Shanti goes on Katana, I’d say (for my system and my musical preferences) it’s excellent value, particularly if you don’t fancy faffing around with batteries and regulators. 👍🏻

 

Timing appears to me very good, and that’s what I mostly worry about, though even I might say that the Katana in my system is really quite an unforgiving sound ... but a very well-timed unforgiving sound ... 😄

 

Hole that helps a bit?

[dtossan]

On 8/22/2019 at 1:59 AM, uniquesnowflake said:

The "dirty side" of my DigiOne Signature was powered by an ebay'd "Studer 800" lps, and I used a Jung-type super regulator for the "clean side". The Shanti wiped the floor with my previous setup without mods or burn-in. It wasn't even close.

 

Hi unique

Do you mean Studer 900?

Is you Jung-type super reg DIY or a purchased product? Which?

 

When you say Shanti wiped the floor with the previous setup - you mean Shanti was dramatically better?

 

I'm considering Studer 900 as well as Jung-type super reg. But maybe Shanti is the better way.

Den

[AbsolutK]

On 8/21/2019 at 10:59 PM, uniquesnowflake said:

Having recently auditioned the popular dCS Network Bridge, I feel that with the Shanti, the DigiOne Signature player can finally play with the big boys. Will return with more details and mods performed on my Shanti.

😮 Watching this with great interest.

 

I've been using a DigiOne (base) with my Micromega M150. The sound is alright. Then this weekend, my friend brought over his Lumin U1 Mini with an external LPS, and my jaw dropped. I could simply not fathom what this amplifier+DAC was capable of. Sound coming from places I had not heard before. We ended up moving the speakers about 12" apart to take advantage of the separation. Just too musical to want to hit "next" on the track.

 

This friend also auditioned the dCS NB and wishes to get one, convincing me that that's the way to go. But I'm not feeling exactly flush with $$ with now, and if Shanti + DigiOne Signature even remotely plays in this weight class, then this is a game changer. 

[RX8R3ROD]

The Signature is quite an improvement over the standard Digione, and it is extremely rewarding IME of due care paid to its power supplies.

[uniquesnowflake]

On 8/26/2019 at 11:22 PM, dtossan said:

 

Hi unique

Do you mean Studer 900?

Is you Jung-type super reg DIY or a purchased product? Which?

 

When you say Shanti wiped the floor with the previous setup - you mean Shanti was dramatically better?

 

I'm considering Studer 900 as well as Jung-type super reg. But maybe Shanti is the better way.

Den

 

Hi Den,

 

Yes I meant Studer900, typo  The Jung type super reg is diy based on the "ucc golden reference regulator" kit. TBH I was very happy with my old setup, but I felt Shanti took it to a different level.

 

I've had my share of experience with different supplies. Take the famous Paul Hynes SR for example. Used it on the I/V of my old Buffalo DAC, there was an improvement over the "golden reference", though not as dramatic as what the Shanti did to my Digione sig player. This is obviously comparing apples to oranges, but I feel that Shanti is great at what it does regardless of price.

[matthias]

1 hour ago, uniquesnowflake said:

 

Hi Den,

 

Yes I meant Studer900, typo  The Jung type super reg is diy based on the "ucc golden reference regulator" kit. TBH I was very happy with my old setup, but I felt Shanti took it to a different level.

 

I've had my share of experience with different supplies. Take the famous Paul Hynes SR for example. Used it on the I/V of my old Buffalo DAC, there was an improvement over the "golden reference", though not as dramatic as what the Shanti did to my Digione sig player. This is obviously comparing apples to oranges, but I feel that Shanti is great at what it does regardless of price.

 

Thanks for sharing.

Which DAC do you use now?

 

Matt

[dtossan]

13 hours ago, uniquesnowflake said:

Take the famous Paul Hynes SR for example. Used it on the I/V of my old Buffalo DAC, there was an improvement over the "golden reference", though not as dramatic as what the Shanti did to my Digione sig player...

 

Thanks for the reply. Understand what you say about apples and oranges. I also believe that great power supplies make big difference. It's notable that the improvement the PH PSU brought to the credible Buffalo DAC is less dramatic than the improvement Shanti brought to the DigiOne Sig.

(BTW, which Paul Hynes? SR4? SR1? Probably not SR7 right?)

 

Shanti's topology and use of R-Core, choke, superlow noise reg, super capacitor etc is attractive enough. Did you open up the Shanti to see the actual parts used?

[Istvan]

On 8/21/2019 at 6:51 PM, rruffin said:

So, anyone receive a Shanti power supply and able to compare it to your previous power supply system (batteries, linear power, switching power or anything else)?

 

Hello,

 

Shanti arrived two days ago, heavy and big 5V power supply unit. 3A rail connected to Chord Qutest and the 1A rail to DigiOne Signature clean power.

 

The result is outstanding. Much better than Chord Qutest with stock SMPS and DigiOne with battery pack. Better resolution, details come from deeper, it seems dynamic range is better, timing, transient speed is outstanding, plus I can let DigiOne in idle during the day, battery pack was not as user friendly. 

 

I can recommend it to DigiOne or to 5V powered DACs to replace stock power supplies. Shanti is much better than I expected for 180EUR.

 

[uniquesnowflake]

On 8/28/2019 at 4:34 PM, matthias said:

 

Thanks for sharing.

Which DAC do you use now?

 

Matt

 

Hi Matt,

 

I've had several DACs in my system through the past few years, including the excellent T+A DAC DSD 8.

 

I'm currently infatuated with the Sparkler S504u, an antithesis of the state-of-the-art T+A DAC. I have a similar source+amp combo as this review, except (obviously) I have a standalone RPi+Digione Signature transport.

 

I'm still amazed by this particular implementation of the TDA1543. The truthfulness of its presentation makes the sound feel a lot closer to real performance compared to anything else I've auditioned. 

 

This may be pure speculation, but I find the S504u a lot more sensitive to transport quality (or IOW susceptible to jitter) compared to DACs with modern chips. Every improvement I make to the Digione Sig player seems to have a magnified effect on the sound. After upgrading to the Shanti, I feel that the Sparkler combo is now comparable with the T+A in terms of "hi-fi qualities", i.e. details, sound staging, imaging.

 

Thanks for reading,

Alex

[uniquesnowflake]

On 8/29/2019 at 5:04 AM, dtossan said:

 

Thanks for the reply. Understand what you say about apples and oranges. I also believe that great power supplies make big difference. It's notable that the improvement the PH PSU brought to the credible Buffalo DAC is less dramatic than the improvement Shanti brought to the DigiOne Sig.

(BTW, which Paul Hynes? SR4? SR1? Probably not SR7 right?)

 

Shanti's topology and use of R-Core, choke, superlow noise reg, super capacitor etc is attractive enough. Did you open up the Shanti to see the actual parts used?

 

Sorry if I was unclear in my previous post. I didn't use full Paul Hynes SR supplies. I ordered shunt regulators PH designed for the Buffalo I/V stage (I believe it was Legato II).

 

I opened up the Shanti to direct-solder DIY Type-C cables to the PCB and upgrade the IEC socket, but didn't really take notes of the specific parts used.  

 

The stock cables and connectors are alright, but the mod is inexpensive and brings significant sonic improvement.

 

[zacho]

where do you source your usb c connectors from? And any idea what the maximum awg they can accommodate?

[uniquesnowflake]

1 hour ago, zacho said:

where do you source your usb c connectors from? And any idea what the maximum awg they can accommodate?

I got mine from a local store.

 

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/usb-connectors/gold-plated-male-usb-c-31-diy-connector-p-13541.html

 

This looks similar to what I have. It’ll probably work with up to 18awg wires. I once tried 16awg solid core and it didn’t end well lol.

[matthias]

3 hours ago, uniquesnowflake said:

 

Hi Matt,

 

I've had several DACs in my system through the past few years, including the excellent T+A DAC DSD 8.

 

I'm currently infatuated with the Sparkler S504u, an antithesis of the state-of-the-art T+A DAC. I have a similar source+amp combo as this review, except (obviously) I have a standalone RPi+Digione Signature transport.

 

I'm still amazed by this particular implementation of the TDA1543. The truthfulness of its presentation makes the sound feel a lot closer to real performance compared to anything else I've auditioned. 

 

This may be pure speculation, but I find the S504u a lot more sensitive to transport quality (or IOW susceptible to jitter) compared to DACs with modern chips. Every improvement I make to the Digione Sig player seems to have a magnified effect on the sound. After upgrading to the Shanti, I feel that the Sparkler combo is now comparable with the T+A in terms of "hi-fi qualities", i.e. details, sound staging, imaging.

 

Thanks for reading,

Alex

 

Hi Alex,

 

I really appreciate that you have Sparkler Audio gear.

I came across this manufacturer at last years X-Fi Show in the Netherlands and like it very much from all I have read about but have not been able so far to listen to it.

After your description of the musical presentation and the review on PTA I am more curious than ever.

So may I ask you where did you get your Sparklers from?

Did you manage to have some listening prior purchase?

Thank you.

 

Matt

 

 

[uniquesnowflake]

2 hours ago, matthias said:

 

Hi Alex,

 

I really appreciate that you have Sparkler Audio gear.

I came across this manufacturer at last years X-Fi Show in the Netherlands and like it very much from all I have read about but have not been able so far to listen to it.

After your description of the musical presentation and the review on PTA I am more curious than ever.

So may I ask you where did you get your Sparklers from?

Did you manage to have some listening prior purchase?

Thank you.

 

Matt

 

 

 

Hi Matt,

 

I've been very impressed by the work of Mr. Tsukahara even before Sparkler Audio was founded. Technically, it wasn't even a finished product, but sold as a kit under the 47 Treasure brand.

 

While it wasn't as refined or detailed as my main amp at the time (a Brinkmann integrated), the liveliness of the presentation made the music enjoyable enough that I almost didn't care about the shortcomings. Well, almost.

 

The Sparkler Ether retains the great qualities of the 0347, and checks enough boxes on the "hi-fi" list to earn a permanent spot in my main system. 

 

I ordered the equipment directly from Sparkler Audio. There seems to be a distributor in the EU, so that's also an option. I was familiar enough with Mr. Tsukahara's design philosophy that I didn't bother to listen prior to purchase, though I probably could have.

 

Hope that helps,

Alex

[AyJay]

16 hours ago, zacho said:

where do you source your usb c connectors from? And any idea what the maximum awg they can accommodate?

 

Why don't you buy a decent USB-C cable, cut it in half and solder the cable ends directly to the Shanti PCB? Would save you some soldering. I am considering this mod as I do not like the Shanti DC cables.

Alternatively, I am considering to install two DC power jacks (in the housing of the Shanti) after removing the Shanti DC cables. I would then use standard cables to route the power to my DigiOne Signature.