Should I move to Allo-ed ground?

[Mr.Ian]

I keep seeing posts raving about Allo dacs and have finally found some time to look into them a bit further. I am still old school, transport to Young Dac with LPS. Sounds good to me and has multiple inputs and accepts via a Squeeze box Touch 192/24. I have most of my music ripped to a separate hard drive inside my somewhat old PC. Mixture of Flac and non compressed. Sound wise I found the transport dac route better than streaming via the Touch so am still using CDs.

The big question is , would an RPI Katana option give me a step improvement in sound quality and is it worth the hassle.

As I understand it with the Katana option I would need.

Katana/RPI Player combo, Isolater, and dual PSU all in a dust attracting case. Plus an external touch sensitive screen attached via USB to the RPI to control it and some player software loaded somewhere ? not quite sure where? To avoid having my PC switched on I would need a NAS and move the music files to this. I have a CAT6 cable running from my router to a switch near the hifi.

I would then be able to play music via the Katana in a similar way to the Touch but with better quality? but what about other sources, cd, dvd, tv etc that also feed into the young dac; is there any way to connect them to the RPI, eg coxial/optical to USB ?

Looking for basic easy to understand suggestions and advice to help me understand the allo approach better

many thanks

Ian

[Jimbo]

Hi Ian,

The Katana would I am sure be a great option but to get the best out of it you need multiple power supplies and it then gets a bit expensive and complicated although I am sure it would sound great. however I think you would be far better off using the Rpi 3 + Boss 1.2 Dac with Isolator 1.3 with just two Linear power suppliers as it sounds very impressive indeed. It is a much more simple set up at a fraction of the cost to the Katana.

There is a Rpi Boss Dac for sale here :eyebrows:

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?65237-Pi-3-Boss-DAC-v1-2-2PSU-for-sale

[Pepperamip]

Hello Ian, you don't necessarily need the USB attached screen if you have a smart phone? If so everything can be controlled by that using your RPI's IP address.

I use Volumio as my player and I've added its IP address as a shortcut to my home screen. So whenever I want to use it a quick tap on the shortcut brings up Volumio and it's ready to go.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

[Mr.Ian]

Hello Ian, you don't necessarily need the USB attached screen if you have a smart phone?

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

Makes sense.

Ultimately i think this sounds like a buy used and see how i get on, if its too much hassle or improvements are marginal then sell it on again. I have dropped a PM to James

[Bonky]

[QUOTE=Jimbo;1111304]Hi Ian,

The Katana would I am sure be a great option but to get the best out of it you need multiple power supplies and it then gets a bit expensive and complicated although I am sure it would sound great. however I think you would be far better off using the Rpi 3 + Boss 1.2 Dac with Isolator 1.3 with just two Linear power suppliers as it sounds very impressive indeed. It is a much more simple set up at a fraction of the cost to the Katana.

I agree with that.

Perhaps only one LPS needed as one 'side' doesn't mind somewhat dirty power input (?)

[Bigman80]

I used Boyses Katana with two linear psu's and it sounded fantastic.

In all honesty, the the difference between Allo Boss (with isolator) and Katana isn't huge.

In fact, I haven't bothered buying a Katana and stuck with the Boss.

What I'd suggest from experience is to try the Allo stuff as it's great value, especially the one Jim is selling as it has everything you need to give you an idea as to how the sound suits you.

If that does the job, then if you feel the need to wring a bit more quality out of the rig, go for the Katana.

The Katana is about $500 once you add in the isolator and Case. That's before you get to power supplies.

[Bourneendboy]

What does the isolator bring to the Boss v1.2?

[Bigman80]

What does the isolator bring to the Boss v1.2?It brings focus mainly. Cleaner sound imo.

[Bourneendboy]

It brings focus mainly. Cleaner sound imo.

I've been using an Iqaudio Pi-Dac Pro in another system and when I come back to the Boss, it sounds a bit tiring and I sort of hoped the isolator might tame it a bit.

I'll have to try the Iqaudio in my main system as it might be more to my liking.

[Bigman80]

I've been using an Iqaudio Pi-Dac Pro in another system and when I come back to the Boss, it sounds a bit tiring and I sort of hoped the isolator might tame it a bit.

I'll have to try the Iqaudio in my main system as it might be more to my liking.Tame it?

I haven't found the Boss to be at all tiring in any way, which is why I'm such a fan. I avoided digital for years because I found it hard to listen to.

I might suggest there may be a different reason. What that is, I don't know.

[Bourneendboy]

Tame it?

I haven't found the Boss to be at all tiring in any way, which is why I'm such a fan. I avoided digital for years because I found it hard to listen to.

I might suggest there may be a different reason. What that is, I don't know.

I loved it until I got the Iqaudio recently and now I find myself listening to it more than the Boss, maybe I just prefer a slightly more layed back sound.

[Bigman80]

I loved it until I got the Iqaudio recently and now I find myself listening to it more than the Boss, maybe I just prefer a slightly more layed back sound.I've never heard that one so you may be right.

[mikmas]

I loved it until I got the Iqaudio recently and now I find myself listening to it more than the Boss, maybe I just prefer a slightly more layed back sound.

I have the Allo Boss v1.2 and an (original) IQAudio DAC+ and to be honest find little to choose between the two - apart from the BOSS costing twice as much :rolleyes:

At the moment I am using the IQAudio as main player but solely because it has a very decent headphone output I can use of an evening.
The Boss is languishing in the shed system ....

To be fair I haven't gone in for all the multi-linear-PSU palaver or the isolator - one of the reasons I first got the RPi set-up was that it was good quality sound, versatile .... and cheap :lol: