The ALLO Audio music steamer - Pic heavy review

[Kit1cat]

Hi Josie, you did not experience any of the vocal problems mentioned in the roon review? Thanks

[jehojakim]

Hi Jogchum.

On balance I'd say the BOSS because I feel the space it gives and the timing seems to be more apparent which is a good thing and there really isn't much in it between the PIANO/KALI and the BOSS.

OK, thanks, I'll wait for the BOSS!

[ALLO.com]

So what dac chip is it this time Jo?

PCM5122

[The Black Adder]

Hi Josie, you did not experience any of the vocal problems mentioned in the roon review? Thanks

To be honest, no. I've only just read that review actually.

All I can say is that I'm sure the DAC will need a good running in. It sounds a bit odd to me.

[struth]

PCM5122

Audiophonics 32bit/384kHz then.... should work with Moode then easily enough. Never did get the kali to work alas.... Sounds like a winner for you then.

[Rothchild]

What did you pay for the Boss Josie?

[ALLO.com]

Retail is 59$ USD

[LC1979]

Thanks for the review, Josie, I was getting very eager to hear it and have just signed up to comment (long time lurker).

Prior to hearing of the forthcoming “The Boss” release (great name!), I was all set to buy either a Mamboberry LS or one of the Piano DACs from Allo, plus a Kali. As soon as I heard about this DAC I held off until some reviews came out, hoping to make my choice easier. But if anything it has made it harder, because now I am wondering if any of these alternatives offer anything ‘better’ than my current IQaudio DAC+?!

Sure, they likely have subtly different sound signatures, but there seems to be little agreement among reviewers, which makes me think that it just comes down to subjective preferences for these ever so slightly different flavours.

A few people who own the IQaudio and Piano + Kali on the Rune Audio forum had suggested to me that the Allo combination was an improvement over the IQaudio. This made sense to me as I had naturally assumed that the reclocking done by the Kali (and now “The Boss”) would automatically elevate these options above the IQaudio that relies on the jittery clock of the Pi. But in your review you seem to imply that you prefer The Boss over the Piano/Kali, but that for some music you still prefer the presentation of the IQaudio?

So I am left wondering whether we can think of the differences in terms of better/best, or whether in fact the quality of these DACs has reached a kind of plateau where the best examples are all basically equally good, with only very subtle differences in audible output?

(I also suspect that psychoacoustics comes into play whenever we add a new component into the system, especially if we expect it to perform better, making it very difficult to accurately judge the subtle differences!)

I was wondering, do you agree at all with that conclusion? Could you possibly elaborate on the differences between The Boss and the IQaudio? I know this is probably very difficult without a means to do quick A-B switching. Would you be prepared to show the courage of your conviction and say that The Boss is definitively better than the IQAudio, or is it just far too comfortable on that fence?

[LC1979]

The TL,DR version

If you could only have one Pi DAC HAT, which would it be?

[mikeyb]

I have used both the IQAudio and the Piano/Kali combo and I have to say in my system the Piano/Kali was a good upgrade, wider and deeper front to back soundstage, better, tighter bass with more kick and overall I thought it sounded much better. So much so that it made me question my vinyl setup.

Mike.