ALLO USBridge Signature

[matthias]

27 minutes ago, biosailor said:

OK, finally got it to work that Roon streams via Squeezelite to moOde (see attached file)!!!

 

I can now use Roon and combine it with moOde. Great!

 

I shall do some critical listening later on.

 

Thanks for everyone's help!

 

Best regards,

 

Paul

 Congrats,

did you get to work Audirvana via UPnP to MoOde as well?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

[biosailor]

19 minutes ago, matthias said:

 Congrats,

did you get to work Audirvana via UPnP to MoOde as well?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

Will tackle that tomorrow. At least I saw that Audirvana recognised moOde as UPnP, but I couldn't get Audirvana to play. I'm sure it'll work. More tomorrow.

[matthias]

4 minutes ago, biosailor said:

Will tackle that tomorrow. At least I saw that Audirvana recognised moOde as UPnP, but I couldn't get Audirvana to play. I'm sure it'll work. More tomorrow.

 Nice,

I am curious about your impressions:

Roon vs. Audirvana both with moOde and UBS.

 

Matt

[dtossan]

The latest review of USBridge Sig by Hans Beekhuyzen has just been posted 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV03z6kQq7w

 

I very much concur with the observations - Allo has knocked it out of the park with USBridge Sig when paired with the excellent Shanti LPSU.

 

Denis

[biosailor]

3 hours ago, matthias said:

 Nice,

I am curious about your impressions:

Roon vs. Audirvana both with moOde and UBS.

 

Matt

Got the problem with Audirvana solved: somehow my remote app was corrupted. I re-installed and it works fine.

 

Just one first short impression combining Roon with moOde: through Squuezelite UPnP one loses a lot of detail! Maybe not the way to go, but I‘ll listen more tomorrow.

 

I am also curious to see how Audirvana pairs with moOde, setting up UPnP with Audirvana is a piece of cake!

 

More to come tomorrow.

[Bigga]

4 hours ago, allo.com said:

Only use 4.14 is your DAC has native DSD and its not compatible with Linux .

 

 Yours does not accept native DSD , so you can use main image

 

 

Thanx a lot!

[suzywong]

3 hours ago, dtossan said:

The latest review of USBridge Sig by Hans Beekhuyzen has just been posted 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV03z6kQq7w

 

I very much concur with the observations - Allo has knocked it out of the park with USBridge Sig when paired with the excellent Shanti LPSU.

 

Denis

Really not much of a review; he didn’t actually say anything  other than repeating the generic (manufacturer’s) blurb.

 

 

[blueninjasix]

On 10/22/2019 at 3:39 PM, allo.com said:

There seems to be a problem with Chord Mojo and Hugo with USBridge Sig (and RPI3) due to the latest kernel move (4.19)

 

  We are investigating and hopefully we can have a solution rather fast

 

In any case the 4.19 kernel seems to be rather unstable on USB audio . We will post news asap.

 

https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/3204

Any news on this issue? I use a Chord Qutest and moOde 6.3 software and generally love the sound. I've had one big dropout but lots of little annoying clicks when streaming from the SSD in my fanless pc.

[nbpf]

16 hours ago, suzywong said:

My thanks here to Allan (Aprobin) for his assistance with mounting my existing DigiOneSig onto a USBridgeSig.

 

@Allo

You need to include details of the diode(s) mod in your documentation.

OTOH, delivery from Europe to the UK was phenomenally quick - ordered following Boris’s shenanigans in Parliament on Tuesday, delivered on Thursday!

 

Thanks to all.

 

oh, and I almost forget, the ADS+UBS combo sounds pretty d@mn fine!

I am interested in assessing the advantages/disadvantages of using a USBridge Sig instead of a off-the-shelf RPi3 or RPi4 as host system for a DigiOne Signature, please also see   

.What is your take after having tried the DigiOne Signature on the USBridge Sig? Have you found significant differences in sound quality, usability, etc.? Will you leave your DigiOne Signature on the USBridge Sig or put it back on a RPi? Thanks, nbpf 

[nbpf]

On 10/24/2019 at 10:26 PM, matthias said:

 

For streaming from Qobuz the best solution for me:

 

WiFi >>>Mac>>>wired ethernet>>>USBridge Sig>>>Revolution DAC

 

Matt

Interesting, I have never heard of the Revolution DAC. Who is the manufacturer? Any pointer or specifications? Thanks, nbpf 

[seeteeyou]

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/329911-getting-allo-coms-katana-dac-37.html#post5880594

Quote

Allo's Revolution is a USB-input DAC and not at all compatible or interchangeable with the Katana. Will it be better? Allo learned a lot of new tricks in developing the Katana and has added a number of additional tricks since and will apply them liberally on the Revolution. BUT the Revolution will have less flexibility in providing it good power. AND it will be a significantly less expensive DAC, which tells you a bit about how Allo is positioning it.

 

[matthias]

1 hour ago, nbpf said:

Interesting, I have never heard of the Revolution DAC. Who is the manufacturer? Any pointer or specifications? Thanks, nbpf 

 

This DAC is after Shanti and the UBS the third new product from Allo. 

Not yet launched but upcoming this year it is an USB DAC which can be powered from the second output of Shanti.

For info search on diyaudio for "revolution" and user "cdsgames".

 

Matt

[nbpf]

@seeteeyou, @matthias: thanks for the clarifications. Thus, what are you currently using as DACs and @matthias, why do you think that WiFi > Mac > wired ethernet > USBridge Sig > Revolution DAC will be the best solution for you?

[Aprobin]

5 hours ago, nbpf said:

I am interested in assessing the advantages/disadvantages of using a USBridge Sig instead of .What is your take after having tried the DigiOne Signature on the USBridge Sig? Have you found significant differences in sound quality, usability, etc.? Will you leave your DigiOne Signature on the USBridge Sig or put it back on a RPi? Thanks, nbpf 

I’ll just reply here to say it was a worthwhile upgrade for me and certainly no regrets or desire to go back to using the RPi. I was only expecting a subtle improvement with the very modest DAC I use in this particular system but was genuinely surprised at the degree of improvement I heard. For me, what was immediately apparent was the vibrancy and tonality of instruments and voices which seemed to just “pop” against an inky black background, which all sounds a bit cliche’d but that's what immediately sprung to mind, plus soundstage appeared less congested as sounds became more clearly defined in their own space.

 

in terms of degree of improvement, I thought when I upgraded from two stock 5v power supplies to a Shanti, the degree of improvement was like going from Digione to Digione Signature (perhaps Shanti might even have been slightly bigger than that), going from RPi to USBridgeSig was about the same again.

 

This is all using a.Schiit Audio Modi Multibit DAC ($249/£275). It’s just ridiculous the level of performance I’m seeing from this DAC just by making improvements to the digital source. Just when I thought I was getting everything it had to give, it just got better!

 

in my other system I’m using the USB output from a USBridge Signature into a Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC (the one with the new in house developed Unison USB input). In that system, when I compared it, using USB from the USBridgeSig was better than SPDIF from my RPi hosted Digione Signature. Now I’ve re-hosted that DigioneSig into it’s own USBridge I’ll do the shootout again and see how I feel. I’m hoping the USB chain is still better, otherwise I’ll only end up having to buy another Digione Signature to put in that USBridge as well!

[matthias]

1 hour ago, nbpf said:

@seeteeyou, @matthias: thanks for the clarifications. Thus, what are you currently using as DACs and @matthias, why do you think that WiFi > Mac > wired ethernet > USBridge Sig > Revolution DAC will be the best solution for you?

 

Have to and want to go Wifi from IAP in my UR to my system which are on different levels of my house.

Want to stream Qobuz/Audirvana to UBS.

Use at the moment a Khadas TB as DAC and think the Revolution DAC might be an upgrade.

 

Matt

[matthias]

@Aprobin

Nice systems according Source First:-)

Please share your impressions about Unison vs. SPDIF with the Allo devices.

Thanks

 

Matt

[biosailor]

Tried To get Audirvana to UPnP to moOde. Even thhough Audirvana recognizes moOde‘s UPnP, it wouldn‘t start playing tracks! I have to get advice from the moOde community.

 

As pointed out yesterday, Roon via Squeezelite zone is no good. Whatever you gain with the USBridge Sig is lost and the sound becomes less detailed.

 

For the moment, the simplest solution is Ropieee XL on the USBridge Sig. This allows to use either Roon or Audirvana. From the two, I prefer Audirvana. Although the difference between Roon and Audirvana is slight, I find Audirvana to be a tad quieter and a bit better in bass. Also, Audirvana‘s new remote app is more reliable than Roon‘s, at least on my iPad Mini.

[matthias]

20 minutes ago, biosailor said:

Tried To get Audirvana to UPnP to moOde. Even thhough Audirvana recognizes moOde‘s UPnP, it wouldn‘t start playing tracks! I have to get advice from the moOde community.

 

As pointed out yesterday, Roon via Squeezelite zone is no good. Whatever you gain with the USBridge Sig is lost and the sound becomes less detailed.

 

For the moment, the simplest solution is Ropieee XL on the USBridge Sig. This allows to use either Roon or Audirvana. From the two, I prefer Audirvana. Although the difference between Roon and Audirvana is slight, I find Audirvana to be a tad quieter and a bit better in bass. Also, Audirvana‘s new remote app is more reliable than Roon‘s, at least on my iPad Mini.

 

Thanks for sharing, It is a pity that Audirvana does not work with moOde so far. 

Interesting your findings related to Squeezelite. @clipper found  Roon via SL sounding superior but using Gentooplayer not moOde.

I am glad that your set-up works and you are happy with UBS.

Enjoy:-)

 

Matt

[suzywong]

7 hours ago, Aprobin said:

I’ll just reply here to say it was a worthwhile upgrade for me and certainly no regrets or desire to go back to using the RPi. I was only expecting a subtle improvement with the very modest DAC I use in this particular system but was genuinely surprised at the degree of improvement I heard. For me, what was immediately apparent was the vibrancy and tonality of instruments and voices which seemed to just “pop” against an inky black background, which all sounds a bit cliche’d but that's what immediately sprung to mind, plus soundstage appeared less congested as sounds became more clearly defined in their own space.

 

 

Pretty much aligns with my own thoughts.

 

(DigiOneSig mounted on USBridge, powered by a Cuinas Audio Supercapacitor PS and feeding a Naim DAC.)

[Aprobin]

8 hours ago, matthias said:

Please share your impressions about Unison vs. SPDIF with the Allo devices.

 

It’s close. Very close.

 

More listening to do ...

[Aprobin]

Ok, it’s done.

 

These are nuances, slight shades one way or the other. USB from the USBridgeSig sounds rich and robust, SPDIF from USBridgeSigDigioneSig sounds clearer, sharper, more incisive. Just preferences one way or the other at this point and probably downstream amps and transducers will likely impact the verdict on this one one way or the other. I’m feeding the Bifrost 2’s balanced outputs into a Schiit Mjolnir 2 balanced headphone amp, which in itself is a bit dark and chunky in comparison with the Lyr 3 in my other system which has that clean, clear, incisive character. SPDIF into the Bifrost 2 might be a bit much if the Lyr 3 rather than the Mjolnir 2 was in place for this comparison.

 

However, what swings it in favour of SPDIF for me is that I’m finding it just that bit more gripping, engaging and musical. One of the tracks that I used in the comparison sounded great on the USB input, but gave me goosebumps second time through on SPDIF.

 

Will I buy another Digione Signature? Probably ... sooner or later, but will just do a couple more comparisons tomorrow from fresh again.

[Tintinabulum]

Thanks for the writeup. Do you select allo-digione as the sound card when using DigiOne Sig on the USBridge Sig? I'm just having a listen but not quite working yet. Clean power to Digione sig and other power to USBridge Sig presumably.

[matthias]

7 minutes ago, Aprobin said:

Ok, it’s done.

 

These are nuances, slight shades one way or the other. USB from the USBridgeSig sounds rich and robust, SPDIF from USBridgeSigDigioneSig sounds clearer, sharper, more incisive. Just preferences one way or the other at this point and probably downstream amps and transducers will likely impact the verdict on this one one way or the other. I’m feeding the Bifrost 2’s balanced outputs into a Schiit Mjolnir 2 balanced headphone amp, which in itself is a bit dark and chunky in comparison with the Lyr 3 in my other system which has that clean, clear, incisive character. SPDIF into the Bifrost 2 might be a bit much if the Lyr 3 rather than the Mjolnir 2 was in place for this comparison.

 

However, what swings it in favour of SPDIF for me is that I’m finding it just that bit more gripping, engaging and musical. One of the tracks that I used in the comparison sounded great on the USB input, but gave me goosebumps second time through on SPDIF.

 

Will I buy another Digione Signature? Probably ... sooner or later, but will just do a couple more comparisons tomorrow from fresh again.

 

Interesting,

so Unison does not seem to be the last word for USB or the output of the DS is superior to the output of the UBS?

 

Matt

[Aprobin]

@Tintinabulum I’m using Ropieee here. For the USBridge with the Digione Sig installed, USB is disabled in the general configurations page and Allo Digione selected as the HAT.

 

If you are not using the Allo case, you can plug in both power supplies into the Digione Signature as before, or plug the dirty supply into the USB-C connector of the USBridge Signature if that’s easier. If you read back through the thread you’ll see that a couple of us have older Digione Signature boards that won’t work when powered from the USBridge, in which case there is a simple mod needed to the middle board 

[zacho]

what case options does one have if not for the allo aluminium case. the extra umbilical cord connecting the ubs to the digisig irks me after making the effort of getting USB C connectors to terminate diy DC cables.