Jump to content
IGNORED

ALLO USBridge Signature


Recommended Posts

13 minutes ago, allo.com said:

Today/Tommorow we will release Moode 5 with 4.14 kernel on our website

Thank you. I've switched over to Volumio in the meantime, but I'll definitely download this version of moOde and give it a go.

i5 7600 fanless pc running Ubuntu 22.04 and HQPlayer Desktop > Cisco switch > 10Gtek fibre network > Raspberry Pi4 HQPlayerNAA > IFi purifier 3 > SRC-DX > Chord Qutest > Jotunheim 2 preamplifier > Ncore monoblocks > KEF R5 speakers.

Link to comment

Hi all,

 

Long-time listener, first-time caller (and a serial pest on many other audio forums out there!)

 

To the team at allo, congrats on the release of the USBRIDGE Signature!

 

I am considering purchasing one to replace my ageing Logitech Squeezebox Touch, which currently outputs digital audio to my DAC vis its USB connection.

 

I have two questions:

 

1.   My DAC features the Amanero Combo 384 OEM USB board. Are there any known conflicts/issues/incompatibilities with the USBRIDGE Sig and the Amanero? And is there a preferred or compatible OS for the Amanero board, or can I simply choose which best suits my needs as an end user?

 

2.   Apart from adding a Wifi USB dongle to the USBRIDGE Sig (probably the recommended Comfast unit), I will not be adding any other HATs/boards/extras. With this kind of setup, do you have an estimation of the maximum current draw and thus the amperage of the power supply?

 

I have two nice linear 5V power supplies in my system at the moment - a SBooster BOTW 5V 3A unit, and a Gieseler Audio 5V 1.5A unit powering the Squeezebox Touch. I note, of course, that the specs of the USBRIDGE quote 3A but I assumed this also included headroom to power attached USB devices.

 

I would prefer to use the Gieleser if I can, but I guess this depends on the current draw, particularly during boot-up.

 

I note the lovely Shanti PSU, but I only require a single 5V rail so this is overkill for my needs.

 

Any shared wisdom would be great!

 

cheers,

Pete

 

Link to comment

@allo.com Dear allo,

 

i decided to wait with bying the new USBridge Signatute until your kernel patch for you network chip is included into rasberry kernel.

Because there is no activity at the kernel development i asked if and when they would include your patch to the main rasberrypi kernel. The answer is very clear.

 

i asked in raspberry forum at github at  your issue #2942:

 

Dear all,

sorry for my question. Some people i know want to buy the new allo USBSig. But because we don't want to buy hardware without any proper software support, we want to know if there is a chance for that pull request to be merged into kernel soon. Is it?

Thanks for your answer

 

the answer was:

pelwell commented 11 hours ago

Until Allo or Asix come up with a patch that has a chance of being accepted upstream, the answer no.

 

 

Does that mean neither allo nor asix cares about a patch that could be accepted by the developers of raspberry pi kernel?

This mean for me, the biggest advantage of using PI3+, the usage of standard kernel instead of an outdated kernel for sparky, doesn't work.

That's bad news for all customers here. How do you deal with that?

 

Link to comment

Senior God

 

 

 we are talking about 2 things .

 

First , we have a driver for Asix ethernet IC that we submitted (above link) to Rasbian . Unfortunately , Rasbian says that we have to submit upstream. Problem is that Asix behaves somehow diffrently with Linux x86 then it does with Linux ARM. So Asix company did make a new driver but they are not ready to submit upstream .

 

  So we did the next best thing. We spoke to all players (Moode, Ropiee , DietPi , Max2play , PCP etc) and simply they updated the Axis driver direct in the players .

 

 It has NOTHING to do with kernel..

 

  We will discuss with Asix and hopefully they will submit the updated driver upstream (but it depends on them)

 

  The second issue , is that kernel 4.19 has an issue with DACs (rpi3) that have Linux non native DSD. Rasbian is working on that and it will be fixed , rather soon . So on next kernel release , it should be fixed.

 

   Like I said , 2 issues . One is the driver that Axis and Rasbian seem to throw the ball to each other (and we try to mediate) , and Kernel thats purely an issue with Rasbian (and we are waiting for the fix)

 

  Please feel free to comment on the thread https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/3204

 

 

 So USBridge Sig will give you the latest kernels (unlike Sparky)

Link to comment
6 hours ago, pete_mac said:

Hi all,

 

Long-time listener, first-time caller (and a serial pest on many other audio forums out there!)

 

To the team at allo, congrats on the release of the USBRIDGE Signature!

 

I am considering purchasing one to replace my ageing Logitech Squeezebox Touch, which currently outputs digital audio to my DAC vis its USB connection.

 

I have two questions:

 

1.   My DAC features the Amanero Combo 384 OEM USB board. Are there any known conflicts/issues/incompatibilities with the USBRIDGE Sig and the Amanero? And is there a preferred or compatible OS for the Amanero board, or can I simply choose which best suits my needs as an end user?

 

2.   Apart from adding a Wifi USB dongle to the USBRIDGE Sig (probably the recommended Comfast unit), I will not be adding any other HATs/boards/extras. With this kind of setup, do you have an estimation of the maximum current draw and thus the amperage of the power supply?

 

I have two nice linear 5V power supplies in my system at the moment - a SBooster BOTW 5V 3A unit, and a Gieseler Audio 5V 1.5A unit powering the Squeezebox Touch. I note, of course, that the specs of the USBRIDGE quote 3A but I assumed this also included headroom to power attached USB devices.

 

I would prefer to use the Gieleser if I can, but I guess this depends on the current draw, particularly during boot-up.

 

I note the lovely Shanti PSU, but I only require a single 5V rail so this is overkill for my needs.

 

Any shared wisdom would be great!

 

cheers,

Pete

 

If your Amanero has latest firmware it is DSD native in LInux and you can use any player. (Kernel 4.14 and 4.19 work)

 

  OS does not matter (even though people have sounds preference for specific OS)

 

 I would say at least 1.5A

 

 

Link to comment
1 hour ago, allo.com said:

If your Amanero has latest firmware it is DSD native in LInux and you can use any player. (Kernel 4.14 and 4.19 work)

 

  OS does not matter (even though people have sounds preference for specific OS)

 

 I would say at least 1.5A

 

 

 

Brilliant - thanks for the quick response. Greatly appreciated.

 

One final thought... do you suppose that the USBRIDGE Sig might draw more current at boot-up, or do you think that a power supply of 1.5A *may* be sufficient for both boot-up and then during normal use? Of course, this may be difficult to answer with any degree of certainty!

 

cheers and thanks,

Pete

Link to comment
28 minutes ago, allo.com said:

May be sufficient but not possible to know for sure until you try

 

 What I know is at 1.2A it will fail .

 

Yes, the best way to know for sure would be to try both power supplies.

 

I do like the idea of the larger 3A supply idling away, rather than the smaller 1.5A unit being a little closer to the edge of its maximum capacity.

 

Thanks again for your help!

Link to comment
20 hours ago, allo.com said:

Yes but this is kernel 4.14

 

  We need a new kernel that fixes the issue on 4.19...it will be done by RPI foundation

I've downloaded the version 5.? of moOde from your website and it's all working correctly over ethernet. I'm struggling with WiFi though and wonder if there might be a driver missing for my Comfast CF-912 adapter? I know that it's there in moOde 6.3?

i5 7600 fanless pc running Ubuntu 22.04 and HQPlayer Desktop > Cisco switch > 10Gtek fibre network > Raspberry Pi4 HQPlayerNAA > IFi purifier 3 > SRC-DX > Chord Qutest > Jotunheim 2 preamplifier > Ncore monoblocks > KEF R5 speakers.

Link to comment

Hello @allo.com. I am considering a purchase of the USBridge Sig. I had a USBridge but experienced some issues with it (outboard network nic not functioning, software updates causing issues)

 

I love that you are using the Pi compute module now. I assume that this will make updates easier and more current. I have a couple of questions for you:

 

- I am planning to use this as an HQPlayer NAA endpoint and Roon Endpoint. Will Diet PI with the Allo GUI allow me do do this?

- With the current version of Allo GUI + Diet Pi, is the Ethernet network functionality working correctly?

- I am planning to use this with an iFi iPower 5V 2.5A adaptor. Will this combination work?

- I am planning to use this with a Singxer SU-1 which uses the XMOS XU208 chip. Will this work with USBridge Sig?

 

Thank-you in advance for your help.

 

= J

Link to comment
7 hours ago, allo.com said:

May be sufficient but not possible to know for sure until you try

 

 What I know is at 1.2A it will fail .

This is a bit disappointing if you consider that a RPi3 + DigiOne Signature combination can be setup to consume less than 0.3A when streaming over the wireless! Why does the USBridge Sig not have wireless onboard? This would make the USBridge Sig much more usable and a serious alternative to devices like the Sonore and SOtM streamers and the new Primare NP5 network player.   

Link to comment
1 minute ago, nbpf said:

This is a bit disappointing if you consider that a RPi3 + DigiOne Signature combination can be setup to consume less than 0.3A when streaming over the wireless! Why does the USBridge Sig not have wireless onboard? This would make the USBridge Sig much more usable and a serious alternative to devices like the Sonore and SOtM streamers and the new Primare NP5 network player.   

 

Man, we get it, you wish it had WiFi built-in. 

Link to comment
32 minutes ago, dontfeedphils said:

 

Man, we get it, you wish it had WiFi built-in. 

Sure I do. With WiFi on board and good software support, the USBridge Sig could become a true alternative to microRendu, UltraRendu, etc. Without, it will be another niche product. Good for tinkerers but finally of limited popularity like its predecessor, I am afraid. 

Link to comment
2 minutes ago, nbpf said:

Sure I do. With WiFi on board and good software support, the USBridge Sig could become a true alternative to microRendu, UltraRendu, etc. Without, it will be another niche product. Good for tinkerers but finally of limited popularity like its predecessor, I am afraid. 

 

My point being, you don't have to parrot the same thing over and over.  

Link to comment
1 hour ago, nbpf said:

This is a bit disappointing if you consider that a RPi3 + DigiOne Signature combination can be setup to consume less than 0.3A when streaming over the wireless! Why does the USBridge Sig not have wireless onboard? This would make the USBridge Sig much more usable and a serious alternative to devices like the Sonore and SOtM streamers and the new Primare NP5 network player.   

 

 

 We tested WIFI on Usbridge Sig board and rejected the idea based on the ammount of interference that it generated . Sorry but its not good enough for us (while we do understand that its more convenient )

 

  Meanwhile , on USbridge Sig you can always use a wifi dongle if you really need to go that way

 

 

Link to comment
17 minutes ago, nbpf said:

Sure I do. With WiFi on board and good software support, the USBridge Sig could become a true alternative to microRendu, UltraRendu, etc. Without, it will be another niche product. Good for tinkerers but finally of limited popularity like its predecessor, I am afraid. 

NFB , we understand your point of view.

 

  Everyone has an opinion and thats yours. Moving on.

Link to comment
1 hour ago, JTS said:

Hello @allo.com. I am considering a purchase of the USBridge Sig. I had a USBridge but experienced some issues with it (outboard network nic not functioning, software updates causing issues)

 

I love that you are using the Pi compute module now. I assume that this will make updates easier and more current. I have a couple of questions for you:

 

- I am planning to use this as an HQPlayer NAA endpoint and Roon Endpoint. Will Diet PI with the Allo GUI allow me do do this?

   Yes

Quote

- With the current version of Allo GUI + Diet Pi, is the Ethernet network functionality working correctly?

 Yes

Quote

- I am planning to use this with an iFi iPower 5V 2.5A adaptor. Will this combination work?

Yes...but IFI is not the best SMPS. Lots of leakage current .

Quote

- I am planning to use this with a Singxer SU-1 which uses the XMOS XU208 chip. Will this work with USBridge Sig?

Yes Amanero is DSD native on Linux

Quote

 

Thank-you in advance for your help.

Welcome

Quote

 

= J

 

Link to comment
4 minutes ago, allo.com said:

...

We tested WIFI on Usbridge Sig board and rejected the idea based on the ammount of interference that it generated . Sorry but its not good enough for us (while we do understand that its more convenient )

...

Interesting, does onboard WiFi generate more noise than onboard wired Ethernet interfaces? What about HDMI? Is it supposed to be used for high quality audio output or is it there just for convenience? What is the motivation for a (non audio dedicated) HDMI output in an audio device? Perhaps I am misunderstanding the purpose and the design of the USBridge Sig ...        

Link to comment
36 minutes ago, dontfeedphils said:

 

My point being, you don't have to parrot the same thing over and over.  

Given the difference between 1.2A and 0.3A, a bit of repetition is at place, in my view: higher energy consumptions potentially imply more electromagnetic interference. Thus, I am not happy with a design that require a (relatively) high energy consumption just to support a wireless connection. As the design of the RPi3 demonstrates, there are more energy effective ways to do so. That said, it is perfectly conceivable that Allo have very good reasons to support (non audio dedicated) USB, HDMI and wired Ethernet but not WiFi. In this case, they have here a very good opportunity to explain their design choices and make the USBridge Sig more appealing to perspective buyers. 

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...