New Allo USBridge SIG - is it Roon Ready?

Thanks guys I sold mine off.

Was thinking of purchasing another but think I will stick with my Win10 clone PC as Roon Server and Bridge to playback files from my Bryston BDA-3 via USB. Since installing a lower noise power supply it really sounds amazing. Much more detailed then I remember USBridge sig being but with all the popping who knows.
Now if Bryston would release their firmware update for hardware mute on HDMI inputs…
Enjoy the music.

PS I stopped using DietPi on other projects I still run and use Raspberry Pi OS instead. My PiHole runs much better since not using Dietpi. I have seen others say they use Gentoo which has driver built in for USBridge sig nic driver and supports Roon. https://gentooplayer.com/
Remember the popping can also be the source as was the case with my Qnap as a Roon Server tasks to scan drives for errors and raid array for bad blocks were some of my problem. I now backup my music to my qnap but use another computer as my Roon Bridge and Server.

Hi Derek

Did you get this working in the end ? Looking to buy the Allo usb signature but slightly out of my depth.

Any advice welcome as to exactly what I will need. Cheers Adam

Hi @Adam_Hextall, Yes … I reverted to Ropiee (not) XL which works great then a few months later RopieeXL worked. Its a fine product YET in terms of SQ not a giant leap over a Pi 3 or 4 if you use the USB out to a Digital to Digital Converter (DDC) then use SPDIF as a DDC will clean and re-clock Allo DigiOne Sig is THE product for Pi. Yet USBridge out to a USB DAC - depends. If your DAC is say a PS-Audio hi-end DAC then IMHO the USBridge offered a small SQ+, if your USB DAC is midFi then the SQ+ will be larger. I have found some DAC implement USB very well and some less so. Modern DACs seem to implement USB better. BTW: the Allo USBridge will not support the 7" touch screen. Bang per Buck the Pi 3 & 4 are better over the USBridge. YET if you have a USB DAC and do want to spend on filters and de-crappifiers big LPS etc etc etc then the USBridge is the way to go … IMHO… I have a CHORD Reference system with Wilson Benesch Act speakers (Tactic drivers) which is very revealing. Hope this helps. Note these are just my views and we all hear things differently. Low cost digital products are treating us all these days.

Hi and thanks so much.

I’m in between a rock and a hard post and tbh I’m having to rejig my bedroom for this upgrade.

I have got a Hugo2 with the 2go and it’s brilliant but I’m really wondering if I need all the extra expense and hassle taking a Hugo TT 2. I will use this in the bedroom and have my Auralic G1 downstairs but I really feel the aurlaic sbe upstairs ! Just don’t know and very confused and ita a lot more money hoping that the sound is even better

Any thoughts /. suggestions on this ?

Stop sweating it.

That was helpful. Thanks

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Auralic G1: I have had this on shop-loan-at-home and IMHO its a very fine product indeed and feel the USBridge may surpass the G1 for SQ maybe = or very close??? did not do an A/B test. (did not buy the G1 as my home built streamer sounded no worse if having less features). At the G1 price point the USBridge for USB only out is a bargain with the Shanti LPS + Ropieee. BTW IMHO NO power products made any differance to Chord products SQ in fact a mains power re-generator I tried was a disaster to the Chord High Frequency power supply.

Interesting.

So I may just sell the Auralic and get 2 usb signature. As I have roon lifetime ive got the interface and job done…

I’ll go with the stock 5v power as well and save some cash which all helps. I seriously now question what I spent much in the Auralic although as you say it’s a great piece of kit.

Most welcome. Really: stop worrying, and breath. It’ll be fine.

There’s no hurry, and no need to overthink. @EnjoyTheMusic is giving you excellent advice. Assembling a Pi if that’s what you have to do is Duplo-level complexity. Yes, Allo’s website sucks even more than their industrial design, but it’s fairly simple: if you’re driving something that’s got USB input, get their USB device, and get the power supply from them (so the nirvana or the shanti) if you think that’ll make a difference. If you’re driving something that’s SPDIF, get their SPDIF product (or another).

As long as your DAC wasn’t designed by muppets, the USB products probably won’t make an audible difference compared to a Pi, and Pis are cheaper and have nicer case options. Same applies to the PSU. The SDIF bridge is more debatable to a degree, but with modern, well-designed DACs, you should be good with even cheaper options (like those from HiFiBerry). In any case, it won’t be major, and if someone claims it is, demand hard evidence, at DAC output, because that’s the one thing that matters.

As you’ve been told, low cost digital products are fine. That’s the beauty of digital: you aren’t dealing with the finnicky crap of analog. If you’re part of the “there are gains at the same level as different cartridges to be made from digital decrapifiers” cult, then there isn’t much anyone can do for you other than gently steer you back towards reason by reminding you that the world’s financial system would’ve collapsed if any of those claims were true, and hope that you’ve got ample disposable income if you don’t listen.

If you’d rather spend more money and want pre-made, you’ve already be pointed towards a list of stuff that works and has been tested.

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Yes and agree entirely with your rationale. Thanks

LPS: I have tried the Shanti and also TeraDak U9 for the USBridge. Yet suspect the Nirvana LPS maybe better value. I do hear differences with LPS’s yet never had a WOW moment of “vail have lifted, more air, space…” etc… I do hear more detail and a sense of more black (what ever all that means, which I can not qualify or quantify!!!) @Adam_Hextall if you can afford a spare Raspberry pi 3 or 4 buy that first. The USB out of a Pi 3 has a bad reputation yet IMHO the SQ is good to my ‘ears’. I suspect your Hugo2 straddles the line of benefit of Pi3 or USBridge Sig for worthwhile SQ. Chord implement USB well so its up to you. You have the G1 and I have heard both at home AND its close for SQ which means USBSig or G1 = great SQ from both.

Got my Allo USBridge Signature today and plugged it into my Michi PreDAC with a AudioQuest Cinnamon USB cable, it was running the Preinstalled DietPi and Allo GUI and Roon found it straight away and it sounded fine for Streaming and playing local FLAC files. I have a few DSD 256 albums but it only seemed to support DSD over PCM or Convert to PCM. DOP seemed to have lots of pops and crackles and Convert to PCM option was much better but quality didn’t quite seem there.
So next I flashed a new SDcard with Ropieee and swapped them out turned the USBridge Sig on and left it for 10 minutes to do its updates etc. Once it was up and Roon found it I had native DSD support and my DAC reported full DSD 256 streams and the quality was much better. I am not sure if I missed something in configuring the DietPi OS but I couldn’t find any way to get native DSD which obviously the hardware can handle. Have to say I’m very impressed with the unit running Ropieee for both streaming and local files from my Synology NAS running Roon Core.

Hey Dave, Did you ever try a RPI-4 USB port yet? Currently using a PC / Win10 and the MSI mother board USB to send streams to a USB Dac. This works fine but after reading this thread I am thinking about using RPI-4 or ALLO Sig USB.

Although the ALLO Sig USB is very interesting!
Before I spring for it did you ever compare the RPI-4 to the ALLO Sig USB?

If so can you tell me how it sounds?

I understand ALLO’s hot button is less noise but the RPI-4 design seems to boast the same over the older RPI-3 generations. With that said what do you think ?

Thanks for the time
Ricky

Yes. Since then, I’ve switched from the Allo USBridge Signature to using RPi4s running VitOS. I go into more detail than most reasonable people want to see in this video:

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Thanks for your time. Holy-Moly…Vitos is the only OEM that considered this variable. Hmmm…I will give it a try. Thanks

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VitOS is indeed good! After struggling with my Ethernet switch for a long time, I entirely forgot VitOS, but after swapping the switch , I re-installed VitOS and it sounds really, really good! Dead easy to install!

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Tell me about the struggle…what was the problem and how did you solve it.
Thanks

Dave, So 8Gig RPI is a problem ? I have a 8g PI, so I loaded it and the cell app is not finding it.
I did see the PI in my network monitor and I can ping but the app is not seeing it when I hard code the IP too. Both on the same net . Well I can order another Pi. Please send comments

God knows, Re-loaded the IOS-Manage-App and did a fresh burn of the OS on the stick.
Working great.

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It was a switch configured in access mode that turned out to inject noise into my system that made listening to Roon very fatiguing. After I found out, I replaced the switch with a simple unmanaged ZyXel switch. That immediately removed the noise and Roon is now purring along!
Both, the switch and the Raspberry Pi 4 running VitOS are powered with the Shanti linear power supply.
Roon runs momentarily on a general purpose Mac mini 2018 located in my study but it’s clear I need to migrate Roon to a dedicated computer. I am yet undecided of going the NUC or the Mac M1 route!