seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 162
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Post by seanm on Jul 23, 2018 10:10:17 GMT
Dear All, Allo released their new high end DAC (Katana) on the 17th of July. I have not tried one, and I will not be in a position to do so for the foreseeable future. In relative terms, this is an expensive DAC (Circa 200-300 Euro/USD) which is 3-4x the going rate for most DACs. However, I do believe that Allo are an innovative company and their products are usually worth looking at. As I have said before, while Pi based systems already offer significant sound quality and VFM, I also think that the technology is still in rapid evolution, with each new iteration offering a jump in sound quality for little upgrade cost. I also accept that many of the Pi users on here are using a "digiOut" board with external DACs www.allo.com/sparky/katana.htmlCheers Sean
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Post by MartinT on Jul 23, 2018 10:23:31 GMT
Very interesting, Sean, especially as it's a HAT board for the Pi. It would make a hell of an all-in-one streamer. Who's going to try one?
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Post by The Brookmeister on Jul 25, 2018 21:31:36 GMT
High end DAC? £300 euro? Is this a piss take?
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Post by MartinT on Jul 26, 2018 5:16:10 GMT
If you've heard any Allo products, David, you'll know that they work to a very high standard.
Since when does price indicate quality?
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seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 162
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Post by seanm on Aug 4, 2018 14:40:35 GMT
There is a review here....
While the review goes into a lot of detail about power supply options (lots and lots), the multiple daughter boards and in particular the discrete rather than IC opAmp board, Hans does not go into his usual level of detail about sound quality IMHO.
The multiple board and discrete OpAmp with hand trimmed offsets probably justifies the relatively high cost for this Pi DAC. For Pi DACs this is a "high end" product, firstly AFAIK, it is the most expensive Pi DAC daughter board produced and is 10-15x the cost of entry level ones.
Cheers Sean
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Post by The Brookmeister on Aug 5, 2018 18:56:06 GMT
If you've heard any Allo products, David, you'll know that they work to a very high standard. Since when does price indicate quality? "High End" does not apply to a product costing 300 EU end of chief.
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Post by MartinT on Aug 5, 2018 19:20:58 GMT
Oh dear, you're letting your dealer preconceptions go to your head. What I'm hearing is of very high quality, Pi or not. Remember, a Pi is more powerful than many microprocessors used inside high end equipment.
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Post by ChrisB on Aug 5, 2018 19:28:28 GMT
If you've heard any Allo products, David, you'll know that they work to a very high standard. Since when does price indicate quality? "High End" does not apply to a product costing 300 EU end of chief. Define "high end".
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Post by Slinger on Aug 5, 2018 20:20:09 GMT
Put the same thing in a blinged-out box and slap a price of four and a half grand on it. Voila! High end!
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Post by MartinT on Aug 5, 2018 21:26:58 GMT
My thoughts exactly.
It's not always the case, but there have been some glaring examples recently, for instance Oppo kit has been used in several badge designs at vastly inflated prices.
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Post by mikeyb on Aug 5, 2018 22:25:36 GMT
Put the same thing in a blinged-out box and slap a price of four and a half grand on it. Voila! High end! Bryston Pi system at £1300 is one that sticks out for me.
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seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 162
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Post by seanm on Nov 24, 2018 12:16:50 GMT
Allo's Katana DAC has been off of the market for a few months while they re-worked the board to v1.2.... It is back.... I might have missed it last time around, but the 3rd board, the analogue output stage is now available in 2 flavours : Quoting from their website Katana gives you the choice between 2 stages: "Pure THD+N": At -112.9 Thd+n 1Khz A weighted, this stage will satisfy those that want no distortion in music. Board sounds very good. "Sound quality" stage: 100.5 Thd+n a weighted 1Khz, this board has been optimized for sound quality. While sacrificing some thd+n numbers we found the subjective experience to be, in a word, closer to analog sound. The difference between the output stages depend on your system and your personal preference. We really like both. www.allo.com/sparky/katana.htmlI do not own one, I have not heard one but as always I find the developments from Allo very interesting Cheers Sean
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 24, 2018 12:24:22 GMT
Thanks Sean, I've been well impressed with my new digione so always interested to see what latest developments are with Allo.
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simon
Rank: Duo
Posts: 71
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Post by simon on Nov 24, 2018 14:37:28 GMT
Really looking forward to seeing some reviews of this new version.
I'd be very interested in how it compares to a hot roded SEG like Martin's
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seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 162
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Post by seanm on Nov 24, 2018 14:45:31 GMT
Simon,
I agree.... ditto a comparison with the "Primo", the new Volumio all in one streamer....
Obviously, in the fullness of time, I suspect both will be further pimped to improve things
Cheers Sean
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Post by MartinT on Nov 24, 2018 16:43:26 GMT
Yes, I'd like to hear both the Katana and Volumio Primo solutions.
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Post by MartinT on Feb 10, 2019 5:38:29 GMT
For an all-in-one solution, the Allo Katana could be hard to beat. This from the Allo site...
The ESS9038 chipset is the one used in my LKS DAC (albeit the full blown higher power version in dual-mono configuration). The sound quality and general detail extraction are superb.
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Post by John on Feb 10, 2019 6:33:27 GMT
It does look like it could be a real bargain
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Post by julesd68 on Apr 10, 2019 22:04:22 GMT
I'm wondering if anyone here has heard the Katana?
I'm looking into the 'Katana Player' but very difficult to know how it stacks up against standalone DACs.
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Post by wannarock2 on Apr 11, 2019 17:09:47 GMT
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