The ALLO Audio music steamer - Pic heavy review

[Emmings]

My bass was a little light and recessed as well, but I SSH'd into the Pi and set the alsamixer to -4.50db which was I think must be near 100 on the scale as next notch up was into the red, as it was originally way down at the bottom of the scale, as soon as I did that, oh boy bass was back big time, made me jump lol

Thanks for this - just been trying this out and changing the alsamixer setting 'Playback [dB gain:]' from -6.00 to 0.00 and the bass is back with a vengeance. Very nice - all sounding good. And I've still to try the KALI Reclocker in the system.

Interestingly (possibly) I've tried playing with the alsamixer setting 'PCM' which in my system was set to around '80' I think - increasing this to '87' or '88' has a similar effect to boosting the 'Playback [dB gain:]'. Not sure which is the correct/proper thing to do but may be worth experimenting with.

Either way enjoying what I'm listening to

[The Black Adder]

Great to hear you guys are enjoying the system.

[ALLO.com]

Thanks for this - just been trying this out and changing the alsamixer setting 'Playback [dB gain:]' from -6.00 to 0.00 and the bass is back with a vengeance. Very nice - all sounding good. And I've still to try the KALI Reclocker in the system.

Interestingly (possibly) I've tried playing with the alsamixer setting 'PCM' which in my system was set to around '80' I think - increasing this to '87' or '88' has a similar effect to boosting the 'Playback [dB gain:]'. Not sure which is the correct/proper thing to do but may be worth experimenting with.

Either way enjoying what I'm listening to

good to hear!

[ALLO.com]

Here's my initial thoughts/feelings about this system/components.

Andre (Audio Hdwr) offered that I could test/review the following:
Piano Hi-Fi DAC 2.1
Volt AMP
KALI Reclocker

Not a full-blown VANA system but since I already have a spare Raspberry Pi 2 Model B with an IQaudIO DAC+ installed it would be an interesting comparison.

So using that as a base I removed the IQaudIO DAC+ and installed the Piano Hi-Fi DAC 2.1. Dead simple - fits onto the Raspberry PI as per the IQaudIO DAC+ and so good to go - fingers crossed.

I have been using Squeezebox Server and a Squeezebox Classic for years now so that is the environment I am testing in – I don’t stream from the internet so won’t be looking at that side of things.

The Raspberry PI is running Max2Play v2.37 – I’ve been using that for about a year or so now since it offers a good web interface to control the PI and it’s installed software (Squeezebox Server and SqueezePlug) plus it has specific extensions/packages for the IQaudIO DAC.

After rebooting the PI I checked the IQaudIO settings in Max2Play to specify the DAC I’m using – well since the Piano Hi-Fi DAC 2.1 isn’t actually an IQaudIO product I guessed/crossed fingers that the setting of IQaudio Pi-DAC+ would work.

And it did Fired up the system, switched on the amp and selected the Raspberry Pi as the input – went to the iPad and started iPeng (SqueezeBox control app) to browse some music on the Raspberry Pi. I’ve got a playlist that I use to test whenever I change something in the system and chose that. No problem – all worked as expected, DAC recognised and working as expected.

Initial impressions are very good – usually everything goes through an Audiocom modified Squeezebox Classic into an M2Tech Young DAC. Using the Pi/Piano Hi-Fi DAC 2.1 the bass has less impact and the soundstage is not quite so wide but for something that costs significantly less than my usual system it does not disgrace itself. If I was just beginning to get into the world of digital/streaming music, then I would have been more than satisfied with what I was hearing and very happy with my system.

One thing I noticed is that the RCA binding posts and not quite as robust as those used on the IQaudIO DAC. The Piano Hi-Fi DAC 2.1 uses a single post for each cable whilst the IQaudIO DAC uses a double unit. When I was taking the connects off the Piano DAC I noticed that there was a degree of movement/flex as I pulled the connect off – maybe I’m a bit ‘rough’ with the connect but might be worth bearing in mind when changing cables/connecting the system.

The next stage is to install the KALI Reclocker to see what impact that has on the system – but I need a suitable power supply for the KALI and am waiting for Andre to get back to see if the power supplies I have lying around are suitable.

DAVE,
good to see you are up and running and that you sorted out the PSU question.
Please let me know if you have anymore comments or questions.

[Emmings]

Just have to source/get some suitable power supplies - don't have anything lying around at the moment

[5acan]

Hi,
Do you still have a bundle offer available?
;-)

[The Black Adder]

How are things going guys?

I'm currently playing SYRO by Aphex Twin.

lol... it's completely bonkers, wonderful dynamics, texture and the bass is chest punching good.

This system is really starting to amaze me now.

[Emmings]

Finally got around to putting all the pieces together today – and I have to say I’m very impressed with the system.

Took me a while to find some suitable power supplies – ended up with this one:

LINDY Multi Country Switching AC Adapter - 5V DC, 3A, 2.5mm Inner / 5.5mm Outer DC Jack
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

for the KALI Reclocker and this one:

19V 3.42A 5.5x2.5mm POWER CHARGER REPLACEMENT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

for the Volt Amp.

Andre had arranged to have a 2.5mm to 3.0mm adapter included in the kit for the Volt Amp so everything went together no problem.

Tried Moode 2.7 first – never really tried this before but thought it would be a change and was curious to see how it performed. Installed and booted up fine and after a bit of tinkering, hooking up to my NAS and the like started to have a listen. All sounded fine for a couple of tracks – until I tried to pause a track. Then I had the same problem that jonners was experiencing – the last second or so of the track is repeated before pausing. After checking out the thread relating to this and not wanting to bother Andre with replacing the unit (DAC I guess) I switched to using Max2Play instead.

My main system is based around SqueezeBox so am familiar with this and have a number of apps that I can use to control the server. So installed Max2Play (version 2.37 now), set up a mount point to the NAS, got SqueezeBox Server to do a full scan and away we go.

Brilliant – sounds better than I expected. For a system with such a small footprint it really does exceed expectations – the quality is excellent. I’m running this into a set of Q Acoustics 2010i speakers and the bass/tone/seperation is really good – only running at low volume at the moment (don’t want to annoy the neighbours) but the detail is very good.

I’ll try this in my main system later this week to see how it fairs but I’m guessing it’ll sound excellent.

[The Black Adder]

Hi Dave.

Glad you are finding it good. It is a superb bit of kit. The KALI really does make the difference with the dac.

I am now running mine with the RPI 2 running Moode. It's really quite stunning. I just can't get on the LMS so Moode is better for me.

The Volt amp is a superb little thing too... I was so very surpised and at 50wpc it's flexible for a good percentage of speakers.

[Emmings]

Think I'll be sticking with LMS - using Orange Squeeze on an Android tablet to control the playback or iPeng on an iPad.

It's true that big surprises come in small packages - might be a late night listening to some music - what's not to like