Allo DigiOne - A Short Review

Bart posted:

I’m loving Roon on my ND555 and wanted to add it to my Qute2 which of course is not Roon Ready. The little DigiOne is a slick little device. Right out of the box all I did was connect it to the Qute digital input, connect it to my switch and then connect the power. By the time I picked up my iPad the Roon app saw it and was happy to play to it. Zero setup required. 

This morning I’ve been playing with it on my ND555 just to  listen to it. A friend came over who loves music but he’s not a hi fi guy. His and my views are that Ethernet direct to the ND555 sounds better, especially more transparent, than the DigiOne. Not unreasonable!  But this little box sounds phenomenal for its price and is totally viable as a Roon endpoint for those who want an out of the box, no build solution. 

Yes, the DigiOne is a great small device. It is worth powering it with a clean power supply. The DigiOne Signature, with separated power supplies for the RPi host and for the I2S to S/PDIF interface brings a significant improvement over the standard DigiOne, according to reports.

I run MinimServer and upmpdcli on the RPi that hosts the DigiOne: this makes it a very simple and fuss-free UPnP server + renderer solution with support for Tidal, Qobuz, Gmusic, etc.     

"I run MinimServer and upmpdcli on the RPi that hosts the DigiOne: this makes it a very simple and fuss-free UPnP server + renderer solution with support for Tidal, Qobuz, Gmusic, etc. "

I'm thinking about setting up a good streaming digital source for a 2nd system, possibly something like this. Couple of questions about this setup if I may ... Will it do gapless playback? Will it stream internet radio?

Allan Probin posted:

"I run MinimServer and upmpdcli on the RPi that hosts the DigiOne: this makes it a very simple and fuss-free UPnP server + renderer solution with support for Tidal, Qobuz, Gmusic, etc. "

I'm thinking about setting up a good streaming digital source for a 2nd system, possibly something like this. Couple of questions about this setup if I may ... Will it do gapless playback? Will it stream internet radio?

Yes, yes

Allan Probin posted:

"I run MinimServer and upmpdcli on the RPi that hosts the DigiOne: this makes it a very simple and fuss-free UPnP server + renderer solution with support for Tidal, Qobuz, Gmusic, etc. "

I'm thinking about setting up a good streaming digital source for a 2nd system, possibly something like this. Couple of questions about this setup if I may ... Will it do gapless playback? Will it stream internet radio?

Yes, upmpdcli supports both gapless playback and internet radio. It is an MPD front end. Thus, you will also be able to control playback with MPD clients if you fancy to do so or if you do not have a UPnP control point at hand.

And if you don’t want to convert the signal to S/PDIF for a digital input, then the Sonore UPnP Bridge is just as easy to setup, zero fuss. This directs the stream directly into the Ethernet input of a Naim Network player.

It can be run on all Sonore products, plus there is low cost dedicated box available 

I have Raspberry Pi2/Hifiberry Digi + going into a Chord 2 Qute and for the money it is unbeatable. Tidal Qudos Tune in everything you would want. Must try separate PSU though. 

Hi Bart,

I think this is the point, that phenomenal SQ can be achieved for little money, but that the increments above that are costly. In my experience:

DCS Network Bridge > ultraRendu > microRendu > Raspberry Pi3.

However, the quality gap is not as large as I would like for the money .....but, I still know which I would prefer!

That said, to get the quality sound from the DCS, and I believe from the Naim, is FAR more plug and play. With the cheaper devices a lot more attention to detail is required and the whole thing looks Heath-Robinson.

M

nbpf posted:

Allan Probin posted:

"I run MinimServer and upmpdcli on the RPi that hosts the DigiOne: this makes it a very simple and fuss-free UPnP server + renderer solution with support for Tidal, Qobuz, Gmusic, etc. "

I'm thinking about setting up a good streaming digital source for a 2nd system, possibly something like this. Couple of questions about this setup if I may ... Will it do gapless playback? Will it stream internet radio?

Yes, upmpdcli supports both gapless playback and internet radio. It is an MPD front end. Thus, you will also be able to control playback with MPD clients if you fancy to do so or if you do not have a UPnP control point at hand.

Thanks iconoclast and nbpf. Will look into this. One of the plug and play options I was considering was Auralic Aries, perhaps the new Aries G1, but a Raspberry Pi based option might be just as good and considerably cheaper.

Mr Underhill posted:

Hi Bart,

I think this is the point, that phenomenal SQ can be achieved for little money, but that the increments above that are costly. In my experience:

DCS Network Bridge > ultraRendu > microRendu > Raspberry Pi3.

However, the quality gap is not as large as I would like for the money .....but, I still know which I would prefer!

That said, to get the quality sound from the DCS, and I believe from the Naim, is FAR more plug and play. With the cheaper devices a lot more attention to detail is required and the whole thing looks Heath-Robinson.

M

Again this is converting to S/PDIF with jitter, for connection into a Digital input. The SonoreUPnP Bridge uses the Ethernet input and there is no conversion.

Ypu can also run it alongside other UPnP server based streams.

Mr Underhill posted:

Hi Bart,

I think this is the point, that phenomenal SQ can be achieved for little money, but that the increments above that are costly. In my experience:

DCS Network Bridge > ultraRendu > microRendu > Raspberry Pi3.

However, the quality gap is not as large as I would like for the money .....but, I still know which I would prefer!

That said, to get the quality sound from the DCS, and I believe from the Naim, is FAR more plug and play. With the cheaper devices a lot more attention to detail is required and the whole thing looks Heath-Robinson.

M

Hmmm ... not sure what you are comparing. The DCS Network Bridge has, among others, S/PDIF outputs. The Rendus and a bare Pi3 only have USB outputs. The DigiOne and the DigiOne Signature are I2S to S/PDIF interfaces. They are meaningfully used togetehr with DACs that have S/PDIF inputs. If one is looking for less expensive alternatives to the Rendus, then the Allo USBridge is an option but not the DigiOnes.

The main disadvantage of many "plug and play" commercial devices is their lack of features and transparency. Some commercial products have been found to violate GPL licences or to rely on very old versions of crucial open source software, like for instance MPD. But there are also good commercial products, of course and, as you point out, cheaper devices tend to require more attention to isolation, power supply, etc.

All in all, I think it is a difficult call. I would not mind investing more money on commercial systems but, when I look at their software, I inevitably come back to off-the-shelf devices and open source solutions. Perhaps things will improve in a couple of years but what we are offered now is, in my view, hardly acceptable.   

Allan Probin posted:

nbpf posted:

Allan Probin posted:

"I run MinimServer and upmpdcli on the RPi that hosts the DigiOne: this makes it a very simple and fuss-free UPnP server + renderer solution with support for Tidal, Qobuz, Gmusic, etc. "

I'm thinking about setting up a good streaming digital source for a 2nd system, possibly something like this. Couple of questions about this setup if I may ... Will it do gapless playback? Will it stream internet radio?

Yes, upmpdcli supports both gapless playback and internet radio. It is an MPD front end. Thus, you will also be able to control playback with MPD clients if you fancy to do so or if you do not have a UPnP control point at hand.

Thanks iconoclast and nbpf. Will look into this. One of the plug and play options I was considering was Auralic Aries, perhaps the new Aries G1, but a Raspberry Pi based option might be just as good and considerably cheaper.

One of the advantages of starting with an inexpensive solution like the DigiOne or the DigiOne Signature is that it gives you a very good sound quality and the best flexibility and interoperability software wise. This is a solid basis which you can then carefully compare to (and perhaps replace with) more expensive commercial solutions. I think this is a better evolution path than starting with a very expensive solution and then finding out its software to be lacking or its sound quality not to be significantly better than that of more economical, open source solutions.

simes_pep posted:

And if you don’t want to convert the signal to S/PDIF for a digital input, then the Sonore UPnP Bridge is just as easy to setup, zero fuss. This directs the stream directly into the Ethernet input of a Naim Network player.

It can be run on all Sonore products, plus there is low cost dedicated box available

Hmmm, does this allow gapless replay of Qobuz on Naim streamers? I would be a little bit careful with SonicorbiterOS. They are using GPL licenced software but, to the best of my knowledge, they have not so far made their sources available, see MPD/commercial. This is not a GPL violation as they have not been asked to do so. But it's a matter of taste: I prefer to stay away from products that rely on open software but do not openly acknowledge its usage and the contributions of the main developers.  

[@mention:6776267697733081] - I have noticed that even the Allo needs a few weeks of run in to lose its edge...

nbpf posted:

simes_pep posted:

And if you don’t want to convert the signal to S/PDIF for a digital input, then the Sonore UPnP Bridge is just as easy to setup, zero fuss. This directs the stream directly into the Ethernet input of a Naim Network player.

It can be run on all Sonore products, plus there is low cost dedicated box available

Hmmm, does this allow gapless replay of Qobuz on Naim streamers? I would be a little bit careful with SonicorbiterOS. They are using GPL licenced software but, to the best of my knowledge, they have not so far made their sources available, see MPD/commercial. This is not a GPL violation as they have not been asked to do so. But it's a matter of taste: I prefer to stay away from products that rely on open software but do not openly acknowledge its usage and the contributions of the main developers.  

Hi,

i think you are missing the point, the whole OS for a RPi is Open Source, so Volumio, DietPi, Jessie etc. These are just Linux distros.

The SonicOribiterOS is Open Source based, along with the UPnP Bridge etc. It is complimented by a bespoke GUI to provide the setup & configuration on top of libraries/modules, to make it easy to setup and configure.

The Core OS is an embedded Fedora Distro, I understand cut down to just provide the support for headless operation through the custom GUI, a Lean OS.

As such provides the perfect platform for running the applications such as the Sonore UPnP Bridge and Roon Ready module for USB output (which is unrequited for a Naim Network Player as only the Ethernet connections are used. You are harnessing the optimized input of the Naim Network players and a specialized operating environment for the Bridging software.

simes_pep posted:

nbpf posted:

simes_pep posted:

And if you don’t want to convert the signal to S/PDIF for a digital input, then the Sonore UPnP Bridge is just as easy to setup, zero fuss. This directs the stream directly into the Ethernet input of a Naim Network player.

It can be run on all Sonore products, plus there is low cost dedicated box available

Hmmm, does this allow gapless replay of Qobuz on Naim streamers? I would be a little bit careful with SonicorbiterOS. They are using GPL licenced software but, to the best of my knowledge, they have not so far made their sources available, see MPD/commercial. This is not a GPL violation as they have not been asked to do so. But it's a matter of taste: I prefer to stay away from products that rely on open software but do not openly acknowledge its usage and the contributions of the main developers.  

Hi,

i think you are missing the point, the whole OS for a RPi is Open Source, so Volumio, DietPi, Jessie etc. These are just Linux distros.

The SonicOribiterOS is Open Source based, along with the UPnP Bridge etc. It is complimented by a bespoke GUI to provide the setup & configuration on top of libraries/modules, to make it easy to setup and configure.

The Core OS is an embedded Fedora Distro, I understand cut down to just provide the support for headless operation through the custom GUI, a Lean OS.

As such provides the perfect platform for running the applications such as the Sonore UPnP Bridge and Roon Ready module for USB output (which is unrequited for a Naim Network Player as only the Ethernet connections are used. You are harnessing the optimized input of the Naim Network players and a specialized operating environment for the Bridging software.

My concerns are about SonicOribiterOS, not about the software driving RPis. Also, I am not sure that SonicOribiterOS supports gapless replay of Qobuz streams on Naim streamers. Internet radio and gapless replay of Qobuz, Tidal, etc. streams is what the poster is interested in, however.