Allo Katana DAC

Audio Gear Talk Raspberry Pi
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It’s my understanding that in the coming weeks, @allo.com will be launching a new high-end DAC for the Raspberry Pi. There is a nice discussion and even a photo on this forum: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s-bazaar/310338-dac-allo-ess9028q2m-rpi.html

Anyone have any inside information about whether this will be a Roon-ready/tested DAC?

I didn’t see any other threads about this, so I thought I would start one–in between refreshing the allo.com page looking for a pre-order link. (Maybe if I show enough enthusiasm, @allo.com will even send me one for evaluation. :grin:)

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Watching! :slight_smile:

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Well the Pi running Roon Bridge is already Roon Ready, so the question is really if Diet-Pi and Ropieee will have the drivers ready (if they haven’t already)? The 9028 has been used before with a PI, so it should be straightforward but I recall there were some issues with DSD. There is a thread on it here somewhere.

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I believe Allo have already submitted the drivers and they are in Linux now. Don’t know what version of the kernel though.

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No info, but I have to say I’ve been very pleased with the Allo DigiOne since they fixed the issue that was crashing the Pi. I’ve had a Pi running for about 3 months now and it hasn’t crashed once. It sounds far more expensive than is decent !

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Katana dac info are coming in about a week

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Don’t worry guys, it’s already in my kernel. Idea is that RoPieee will release an update on the day that Katana launches.

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For info, this is the thread I was referring to:

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Any updates?

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The link to the conversation in the OP is gone.

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A few more days on testing…

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The Allo Katana is available for order on the Allo site now. $329 plug & play.

It doesn’t explicitly say Roon Ready, yet: “Ready to use with DietPi, Volumio. By end of July: Max2Play, Picoreplayer, Moode and more.” (This section is where their Boss page specifies “Roon Ready”.) I don’t know if that’s an oversight, or still pending.

They offer an acrylic case, but no aluminum case is listed yet.

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If there’s driver support, it should work with Roon. Perhaps the volume control doesn’t work? Or maybe they haven’t tested it – or they just forgot. But any DAC is “Roon ready” if there’s a way for the OS to talk to it.

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I expected a DAC HAT.

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The link is to a Player which includes the Pi. There is a separate page for the DAC HAT alone here for $249.

DietPi has an option to install Roon Bridge which will enable Roon to see this device as an output. Edit: Ropieee also supports the Katana.

It’s a pretty impressive bit of kit (382 kHz/32 bit, DSD 128 by DoP), quite amazing at this price point. It will be interesting to hear user reviews.

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OP here. Standing by if you want to send me one to review, @allo.com. I’d love to compare it to my Boss 1.2. :grin:

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RoPieee supports the Katana as well.

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Review here, no doubt many more to follow:

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I think letting the Katana burn in over two weeks will make a big difference and look forward to reading the reviewers thoughts following burn in.

Although I have no clue about the physics involved, I know from experience that new gear often feels overly detailed and glarey, causing listening fatigue. A few weeks later, after burn in, the sound is far more integrated and natural. I suspect our old friend the capacitor should take a fair bit of the blame. As many audiophiles will attest, the best capacitor is the one you can leave out.

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Nevermind the burn in, think of all the fun you can have trying endless combinations of power supplies with it. There are plenty of options to keep the tweakers busy.