you’re right about TuneIn…forgot about that.
That Digione that you have allows streaming for everything right? Or how does that work?
I’m heavily considering trying the DigiOne based on price alone.
I’m just running DietPi and Roon Bridge on the DigiOne. I’ve had some luck enabling UPNP as well, making it possible to stream other services from my smartphone via the BubbleUPnP Andriod app.
and what about on desktop/imac? that’s how I’m going to be controlling most of my setup.
How is installation, etc?
Hmmm…so, the Allo devices just run Roon Bridge…which is just one of the 3-4 components required to make a Roon system work. A complete and optimal implementation requires these components, ideally running on independent hardware:
Here, you see a NAS for storing a local music library (optional, since you could just use TIDAL streaming, but most people have their own music that they’d like to play also). Next is an Intel NUC for running Roon Server. These two components should be connected to the home network but placed far from the listening room.
Next, you see the Allo USBridge, running DietPi and Roon Bridge. It serves as the output device for the configured zone in Roon. Finally, there’s a USB connected DAC.
To control all of this, most people use the Roon Remote app on a smartphone or tablet.
You could also run the Roon desktop app on a laptop. Roon covers this in more detail in their knowledge base: http://kb.roonlabs.com/Sound_Quality
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I have the DigiOne as well, but the Ambre is slightly better.
The Ambre is also pre-assembled and pre-installed, but with Ropieee. You literally pull them out of the box, plug in Ethernet, i2S, AES/EBU or S/PDIF, and power, and they show up as an output ready to enable in Roon!
One important difference between the DigiOne and the Ambre, for the Ambre you don’t need a linear psu or dc purifiers. There is already a very good linear psu in the box.
Soundstage from the Ambre is wider than the DigiOne and vocals are better to understand.
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You folks are made of sterner stuff than I am.
The Ambre would never work for me. I’d be trying to listen to the music, but all I’d be thinking is that I just wasted $1000 on needless embroidery (or $900, if I felt I needed Ethernet and got the Ambre instead of the USBridge). I’d keep kicking myself. I’d never even hear the music. I know how computers work, and this is a computer, and I’d keep saying to myself that RoPieee is RoPieee, and since all it is doing is pulling the packets off the network and dispatching them to the USB connection, not much can possibly be different.
That would be my subjective impression. It would drive me nuts in short order. Heck, I’m already kicking myself for buying the $60 Pi instead of just using a $25 Chromecast Audio which I already have! But I wanted to hear what “authenticated” music sounded like.
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It’s not “just” a computer, none of these devices can be evaluated that way. The reason is that DACs are not totally immune to electrical noise carried along with the electrical encoding of digital signals from a digital source. Whether this matters or not depends on a variety of factors, from DAC design to connection method (USB vs S/PDIF vs AES vs I2S) to the resolution of downstream components. Having used a wide range of streamers, from super-cheap ARM-based things (including Pi devices) to >$1000 devices, with a range of DACs, and having evaluated different combinations with a test subject who did not know which was which (my wife), I’m convinced the differences are real. OTOH, a Pi with a Pi2 Designs 502DAC and an entry-level linear power supply (total cost ~$250) connected via S/PDIF coax is a very good choice with a suitable DAC.
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I agree with wifi. Less noise transmitted to the. shared usb, I’ve found.
I understand your point and completely agree with it, as I’ve tried to point out elsewhere. I guess I’m taking an engineering viewpoint here, which is that it’s the DAC’s job to keep any of that noise out of the signal. If the computer matters, it’s the DAC’s fault. I just couldn’t bring myself to see it differently. Just the way my brain is wired. I would feel that I’d been fleeced by highbinders. Not that I know what a highbinder is. Just like the euphony of the phrase. Perhaps I’m not cut out for the audiophile culture. Perhaps I’ve been reading too many of Archimago’s posts.
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I ended up picking up the Ambre after chatting with the company on facebook for a longtime yesterday. I’m excited to try it…30 day trial anyway!
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I’ve experimented a lot with different concepts to connect my DCS Puccini + Scarlatti Clock (I know, totally weird combo…) with Roon. I’ve tested with very simple RPi + Hifiberry Digi up to dedicated Roon servers or network players like the Auralic Aries and the Roon Nucleus.
The best sounding one for the money in my system is actually the Allo USBridge with a low-noise power supply from iFi. This runs more or less plug-and-play directly from the box and is (in the latest version) very stable. I could’t notice any consistent difference between this option and the Auralic Aries in my system (B&W 800 + Ayre K1xe/V1x). The cost difference is significant (the USBridge + iFi powersupply is about EUR 275). It feels like a ridiculously cheap solution compared to the rest of my system, but I haven’t found something that sounds better yet.
All SPDIF based network players sounded less good than the USB ones. The second best option after the Allo and Auralic was my Macbook connected via USB and no power adapter.
I think this also is related to the USB implementation of the DAC. In my case there is the DCS Scarlatti Clock serving the USB connection, I assume a pretty high-end implementation. This could be the main reason that in my case the USB connection appears to be the best solution, if properly implemented.
I’ve also noticed that bad power supplies and regular RPi boards already interfere with the sound quality even if I am listening to vinyl on the analog part of my system. The Sparky + USBridge seem to be a good, low noise, hardware implementation.
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Jimmy, I could advice a QNAP 253-A and run Roon app on it. Although I have a Mac mini also the QNAP works great too! Anyone more with this setup?
Philip
A NAS as an endpoint/streamer doesn’t seem the best idea to me. It is quite noisy to have that in the listening room.
I do use a QNAP TVS-473 as server, which works brilliantly in my situation but I would never use it as a streamer.
Hi Jochem,
I agree with you that the NAS is really noisy. I forgot to mention that I have a Devialet Expert Pro with a Core Infinity streaming board inside. My QNAP is therefore only connected with an ethernet CAT7a cable and placed in another room. @ [jimmy_stabler may want to connect with a USB cable so this is a little different.
The addition of i2s and AES/EBU, internal linear power supply and the gorgeous chassis are nice additions vs. the Allo DigiOne Player. The Ambre and Nucleus make for an extremely attractive pair!
Performance of DigiOne Player (and the Signature version) is definitely improved with a nicer power supply. Even the little iFi DC iPurifier2 makes a difference with soundstage and vocal clarity.
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Frank thanks for the information. My understanding is that the Raspberry PI 3+ is noisy and can effect the sound from the USB out on the Raspberry. Have you had any issues with the noisy from the Raspberry Pi? I checked on the Allo Signature one and it is only SPDIF out. Any add reasonable price alternatives. Thanks for your help. Greg
That appears to be an “urban legend” (audiophile legend?). The only actual research into this that I’m aware of is Archimago’s, which found no extra noise:
The Raspberry Pi 3 playing to the USB DAC is indeed "clean" ; as in just as noise-free and “bit-perfect” as other computer-based servers sending to a good asynchronous DAC (no surprise and further discussed here last summer).
I run the USB out from a Pi3 into a Mytek Liberty without any issues. However, I had to switch that Pi3 from Ethernet to WiFi to get that to work, because of the engineering mis-design of the Pi3 – the USB ports and the Ethernet port share too many resources, so using them both at the same time can cause issues. However, the Pi4 seems to be free of that problem.
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Bill thanks very much for the information. Good idea. I will also checkout the Pi4. Considering using Roon with USB DAC and needed Roon EndPoint. By using WiFi I assume the sound would be as good as using the Allo USBridge? Just learning about the Raspberry Pi. Thanks for your help. Greg