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Post by MikeMusic on Mar 25, 2018 9:47:10 GMT
Thanks for the info Clive
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Post by MartinT on Mar 30, 2018 21:20:24 GMT
I'm using an IFI Silencer and don't even use USB drives! It still quietens the noise.
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Post by John on Apr 3, 2018 3:56:24 GMT
It is worth going into playback settings and playing with the upsampling I am using very high quality 32 bit 96 Going higher causes a bit of distortion on Spotify in my system
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Post by MartinT on Apr 3, 2018 7:19:52 GMT
That's interesting, John. I didn't try the upsampling for very long as it seemed to stress the RPi's CPU unduly, but that was when I was using a RPi 2.
So you're upsampling to 32/96? With which DAC?
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Post by John on Apr 3, 2018 18:00:13 GMT
What I did was work backwards from the highest setting still not sure if 24/96 will be better but worth a play
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Post by MartinT on Apr 3, 2018 20:44:19 GMT
I've been trying 24/88.2 tonight and it's a nice improvement. Will try 24/96 tomorrow and compare.
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Post by John on Apr 4, 2018 3:48:52 GMT
I prefer 32/96 over 24/96 but on the occasional album can be to much
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Post by MartinT on Apr 4, 2018 4:51:29 GMT
For Spotify (48kHz) 24/96 should sound better. For CD files (44.1kHz), 24/88.2 should sound better. I'm still experimenting with it, though.
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Post by John on Apr 4, 2018 17:17:20 GMT
For Spotify I still prefer 32/96 Not done enough testing with files to know where I stand
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Post by MartinT on Apr 4, 2018 19:05:42 GMT
I helped Mike setup his DigiOne into a Caiman Mk.II today. We tried 24/96 upsampling from Spotify and instantly preferred it.
I will keep experimenting.
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Post by John on Apr 4, 2018 19:08:15 GMT
I think this is going to be system specific so worth figuring out what works for you. But great to have another upgrade option
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Post by MartinT on Apr 4, 2018 19:14:38 GMT
I think this is going to be system specific ...and especially DAC specific.
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Post by John on Apr 4, 2018 19:19:20 GMT
Try it with the Caiman. I know the Caiman not 32 bit but it is picking up the signal and is quite a big change to the sound, which you may or may not like.
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Post by MikeMusic on Apr 4, 2018 19:21:00 GMT
I helped Mike setup his DigiOne into a Caiman Mk.II today. We tried 24/96 upsampling from Spotify and instantly preferred it. I will keep experimenting. As is my usual place.... I sat back bemused and listened - and prefered it for sure
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Post by Clive on Apr 19, 2018 20:39:35 GMT
I thought I'd report back about my Pi and Volumio experiments. I'd previously used a USB drive into the Pi. The drive was self-powered in such a way as to prevent the HDD PS back-powering the Pi. I've now managed to get ethernet to my Pi and have created a Windows share which also is fed by ethernet - huge relief that I got it to work! There is a slight extra authority with the ethernet setup, I believe my USB tweaking around the power feeds helps the USB HDD a great deal.
Next I messed with upsampling having read what John and Martin have tried. This differences 88.4k upwards are significant.....more so than ethernet vs self-powered USB drive which for me is still worth doing.
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Post by liffy99 on Apr 19, 2018 21:47:27 GMT
Well, having finally got my system back together after an almost futile attempt to tidy the nest of wires, i started to turn my attention to a comparison between my RPI3 with HifiBerry digi+ spdif card and my new RPI3 with Allo digione spdif card.
But before i’d got very far i noticed i was getting a random pop/click/scritch (sounds as if a stylus has suddenly encountered a bit of debris in a groove) . Flip, what could be causing it ? Happens with both RPIs but not with optical output from TV to amp. I need to investigate further but the only changes i can think of are; 1) substitution of home made 10 way distribution block with two 7 way blocks (each fitted with neon switch). 2) addition of second RPI into the system (using identical connections to second digital input on amp). 3) rearrangement of plugs - straight mains plugs into onr block, SMPS type warts, and 2 home plugs for ethernet connection, into the other.
I did suspect the neon switches but could see no sign of flickering, or any simultaneous variation with the offending sound.
Any ideas ? All was fine before these changes and its a pig to need to dismantle the rig and redo.
Anyway, set up the two RPIs in identical fashion - same SMPS PSU, same rca coax cable, running Picoreplayer v3.5, into identical digital inputs on my DAC/amp. Controlled through LMS on my Ipad so all i had to do is switch source to compare.
Its early days but first of all I would say the differences are quite subtle (only tried 44/16 Flac files so far). I favoured the Allo, the wife the Digi + ( although SWMBO had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the listen8ng chair).
For me the Allo exhibited two principal differences. Firstly was a slightly smoother treble with less emphasis on sibilants and more delicate cymbal work for example. Second was just a feeling of a little more ‘air’ around instruments and notes. Ambience retrieval seemed a tad better and the overall illusion just fel5 a little more natural.
But, as i said, the differences so far have not been huge. Is the Allo worth triple the cost of the Digi+ ? Probably, its a small improvement for not a great deal of money. However, the supplied Allo case for the combo is dire. For some reason someone thought to extend the curved case beyond the edges of the cards the case contains. Why ? It does not add enough weight to stop the stability of the case being affected by wires. More importantly it makes it very fiddly to access the varios sockets. Plugging in the power supply lead is bad enough, but i could not get anywhere near the Sdcard slot without tweezers. Worse still there was a small gap between the case aperture and sccard slot itself which meant it was very easy to slide the microsd card past the card slot and into the innards of the case ! Mad.
Anyway, more listening to do and will provide more updates. I will be interested in trying some higher res files.
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Post by ChrisB on Apr 19, 2018 22:33:07 GMT
Well I am glad it's not just me! The principle reason for my not yet trying the Allo card has been the case. I took a close look at one and was singularly unimpressed. I know that we are supposed to be pursuing the best sound but if something looks shoddy to me, then I usually have a tough time coming to terms with owning it. I spent ages waiting for a decently built metal case for the Pi/Digi One and I rather like it. Does anyone make an equivalent for the Pi/Allo?
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Post by John on Apr 20, 2018 5:46:42 GMT
They are pre production Chris. They should be out soon Clive adding a decent Ethernet cable will take things further I was using cat 7 and now use an Meicord cable I am thinking of adding an Acoustic Revive lan isolator but a bit expensive I was not successful in mounting my drive via the Ethernet just using the Ethernet cable for Spotify
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Post by MartinT on Apr 20, 2018 5:53:27 GMT
For me the Allo exhibited two principal differences. Firstly was a slightly smoother treble with less emphasis on sibilants and more delicate cymbal work for example. Second was just a feeling of a little more ‘air’ around instruments and notes. Ambience retrieval seemed a tad better and the overall illusion just fel5 a little more natural. I'd agree with your observations. It's definitely in the naturalness of treble playback, which leads to an overall reduction in harshness and, together with the extra air and space, brings it a lot closer to how good CD sounds in my system. The case is a bit of a problem and I mirror your experience with the inaccessibility of the SD card socket. Also there's all that sodding paper attached to both sides of each piece to remove before assembly. However, it does look nice and is substantial enough to put a granite coaster on it to keep resonances away. Ultimately, it's of no consequence to me as the DigiOne is such a good performance upgrade.
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Post by John on Apr 20, 2018 6:11:51 GMT
For me like other the sd card slot is a pain but I do not play around with different music players
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