Allo Katana DAC

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.

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

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 !

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:

Any updates?

The link to the conversation in the OP is gone.

A few more days on testing…

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

As soon as you start factoring in, say, four power supplies for the different stages the value proposition would need retesting against more conventional DACs.

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Not to 2nd guess Allo but going from a single to 4 x PSU’s, it’s possible you’re adding more potential for ground/leakage current loops. Also more potential for adding more mains RF with more PSU’s. There’s no free lunch with anything in this fun hobby of ours.

That’s all a rather long way of saying, I’m sure the Katana Player will sound really nice with just a single PSU. I’ve been impressed with a lot of the Allo stuff. I’ve tried most of it myself already and will probably take Katana for a spin at some point.