Allo Audio Piano DAC for Raspberry Pi

[lovejoy]

Andre (Audiohdwr) has very kindly sent me a Piano DAC and Kali reclocker board to evaluate with my Raspberry Pi. The package arrived yesterday and I've just plugged the DAC into my existing Raspberry Pi 3 setup running RoonBridge in Raspbian. No setup issues I'm pleased to announce, it was a straight swap out of the board so tonight I'm settling in for an evening of listening.

A full review will come in a few days once the dust has settled, but initial impressions:

MASSIVE sound stage that you could get utterly lost in. Solid, sturdy bottom end, not overblown, not boomy, not exaggerated, just tight, agile and confident. Oh and that timing - Incredible timing you can't help but tap your feet along with.

and this is just the DAC board. Intrigued to know what the addition of the Kali board will do, but that's for later.

I'll go out on a limb right now and say I have a new favourite Pi DAC.

[The Black Adder]

Sounds good, Richard.

Any pics?

[lovejoy]

I shall be sure to take some on Sunday morning and post them.

For now I'm scouring Roon for tracks I've not played in ages and this is thoroughly addictive. It almost feels like I've been out and spent a lot of money on HiFi today, only I haven't ;-). I don't think returning this is going to be an option, one way or another!

[struth]

does this work on the rpi2b as well?

[lovejoy]

Yes it'll work fine on a Pi2. Come to think of it, that's what I'm running it on. I used my spare Pi2 instead of my Pi3 (which is already set up with a DAC) just in case I ran into difficulties and had to go back to the working unit.

Which means I'll have to pop it on to the Pi3 for a try at some point, although I can't say I noticed a difference when I moved from a Pi2 to a Pi3 in the first instance.

[struth]

Yes it'll work fine on a Pi2. Come to think of it, that's what I'm running it on. I used my spare Pi2 instead of my Pi3 (which is already set up with a DAC) just in case I ran into difficulties and had to go back to the working unit.

Which means I'll have to pop it on to the Pi3 for a try at some point, although I can't say I noticed a difference when I moved from a Pi2 to a Pi3 in the first instance.

cheers... got a link to it or has it not been released yet

[lovejoy]

It's not fully released yet as far as I know. From what I've heard so far though, the DAC is most definitely ready for market, although what it lacks is a nice case at the moment. All the information I got was from this thread:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...Audio-Hardware

[struth]

I see.. its Andre. I thought his stuff was just external dacs etc. would the board not fit in a pi box; i take it its a piggyback fir like the rest. maybe everything in wrong place.. anyway, it good you feel it a big improvement....

[lovejoy]

Yes that's right - It's a piggyback board, but there are 4 phono outputs, labelled for sub outputs, but I guess with a bit of software crossover tuning you could probably make a rather nice 2 way active system out of it. If I had another power amp I'd be trying that.

Just fitted the Kali reclocking board, which is another extra layer which is where a case starts to become something of a challenge beyond the simple top and bottom with spacers screwed between them.

On top of a thoroughly enjoyable (and late) evening of tunes last night, fitting the Kali this morning has brought some wide grins this morning. Another lengthy listening session will be in order this evening and a full report (with photos) tomorrow.

[struth]

Yes that's right - It's a piggyback board, but there are 4 phono outputs, labelled for sub outputs, but I guess with a bit of software crossover tuning you could probably make a rather nice 2 way active system out of it. If I had another power amp I'd be trying that.

Just fitted the Kali reclocking board, which is another extra layer which is where a case starts to become something of a challenge beyond the simple top and bottom with spacers screwed between them.

On top of a thoroughly enjoyable (and late) evening of tunes last night, fitting the Kali this morning has brought some wide grins this morning. Another lengthy listening session will be in order this evening and a full report (with photos) tomorrow.

Thought there would be a catch. 4 outputs is strange for a board. Guess you could blank 2 off. But if its not going to fit into normal boxes then it is going to be held back sales wise.