Review and Measurements of Allo Katana and ApplePi Raspberry Pi DACs

[wannarock2]

If you have not seen this, it is a review by the author of Volumio.
https://volumio.org/allo-katana-dac-review/

I purchased the latest Katana and am very happy with it. I went with the Pure THD+N stage. Very clean upper mid-range treble with tweeter service as clean as ringing a bell and super tight bass. Looking forward to the Allo LPS with the dual 5V output. Hopefully it will include a true dual regulator setup.

 

[Veri]

If you have not seen this, it is a review by the author of Volumio.
https://volumio.org/allo-katana-dac-review/

I purchased the latest Katana+Isolator and am very happy with it. I went with the Pure THD+N stage. Very clean upper mid-range treble with tweeter service as clean as ringing a bell and super tight bass. Looking forward to the Allo LPS with the dual 5V output. Hopefully it will include a true dual regulator setup.

NAS > Katana + Isolator 1.2 streamer > Pioneer Elite C-91 Pre-Amp > NAD M22-V2 Masters Series Amplifier > B&W 702-S2 speakers

Lovely set-up! I do wish there was more information about how THD/'Sound Quality' versions differ.

 

[audioBliss]

I took the chance of buying the Katana + Isolator 1.2 with four power supplies. I was under the impression that it was easy to connect four but I ended up just using two. I run Roon Bridge on it. Btw for anyone who has this make sure to ssh into the unit are run the updater. I got a really old version of DietPi on mine and after reading the change log it seems that there were some good changes lately.

Anyway I'm blown away by this thing -especially when using Roon. Roon is connected to my NAS as well as Tidal. I have a lot of different music in different formats which my previous setup didn't handle properly. Now I get everything in the same Roon interface - super nice! I ended up buying the sound quality board only which apparently has worse THD + N figures but nothing I'm loosing sleep over. It sounds super clean and it has a sense of being under control even at very high volumes. There is now a cleaner separation between elements in the sound stage and they stay stable. Best thing I've bought in a while.

Katana + Isolator 1.2 + Sound Quality Board(Roon bridge) -> Arcam AVR390(Dirac Live) -> speakers crossed over to six sealed subs.

 

[Music1969]

Lovely set-up! I do wish there was more information about how THD/'Sound Quality' versions differ.

You can ask @johan (of Allo) here

 

[audioBliss]

In that case I would like information on how the blue pots are tuned since if this for some reason get's messed up over time I don't want to have to send the unit away to France or something.

 

[johan]

Hi Audiobliss , we tune the pots for voltage offset in factory , unless you can measure voltage offset in 1mV you wont be able to do it . Besides , its already done and we have never seen any drift.

 

[johan]

If you have not seen this, it is a review by the author of Volumio.
https://volumio.org/allo-katana-dac-review/

I purchased the latest Katana+Isolator and am very happy with it. I went with the Pure THD+N stage. Very clean upper mid-range treble with tweeter service as clean as ringing a bell and super tight bass. Looking forward to the Allo LPS with the dual 5V output. Hopefully it will include a true dual regulator setup.

NAS > Katana + Isolator 1.2 streamer > Pioneer Elite C-91 Pre-Amp > NAD M22-V2 Masters Series Amplifier > B&W 702-S2 speakers

Yes dual output (galvanically isolated outputs)

 

[snip3r77]

Can you measure their analog amp module too?

 

[audioBliss]

It would be very interesting to see some measurements of the katana I bought: Katana + isolator 1.2 + sound quality card running at least two power supplies.

 

[orchardaudio]

Here is a write up of Katana with Isolator and two linear power supplies total cost of ~$470

The comparison is made to my company's PecanPi Streamer which is currently $399 with power supply included.

https://theartofsound.net/forum/sho...oor-of-HiFi-Auditioning&p=1088995#post1088995

 

[johan]

Please note that this is misleading .

Katana streamer is 370$ including one PSU and isolator . Pecan PI streamer is 399$ with the PSU. As you can see in the review , noise was an issue on the Pecan PI ( more likely because of it has no galvanic isolation)

 

[orchardaudio]

Please note that this is misleading .

Katana streamer is 370$ including one PSU and isolator . Pecan PI streamer is 399$ with the PSU. As you can see in the review , noise was an issue on the Pecan PI ( more likely because of it has no galvanic isolation)

I was only quoting the price that was given to me by member of that forum.

So the as tested price is $470 = 370 + 100 for the two linear power supplies.

 

[johan]

Yes vs pecan pi 399 + taxes = 450 about ?

So 450 vs 470 (but on Katana you do have an extra isolator and you will keep the 2 linear PSUs)

Nowhere near 700 vs 225$ that you have above. I would apreciate if you correct your post

 

[orchardaudio]

Yes vs pecan pi 399 + taxes = 450 about ?

So 450 vs 470 (but on Katana you do have an extra isolator and you will keep the 2 linear PSUs)

Nowhere near 700 vs 225$ that you have above. I would apreciate if you correct your post

I fixed it.

It is 470 vs 400 both amounts without taxes.

My intention was not to be misleading I only used the information that was provided to me by the other member of that forum.

 

[Aafnp]

What would be better? RPi + Digione Signature + Naim DAC vs. RPi + Katana?
Not sure how the Naim DAC measures, but it at least sounds good.

 

[audioBliss]

What would be better? RPi + Digione Signature + Naim DAC vs. RPi + Katana?
Not sure how the Naim DAC measures, but it at least sounds good.

Subjectively only you can say which sounds better to you. But what I can say is that the Katana is an excellent device which can easily holds it's own in a very high end system when you run DietPi with Roon.

 

[johan]

Soundcheck double blind test results shutout was just announced .

Pecan PI , Katana , Boss , Khadas tone board and more DACs were tested with multiple amplifiers and judged by multiple people .

On Hypex AMP ( 0.0015 THD+N) Katana has placed second
On AB class amplifier (0.03THD+N ), Katana was again judged second

No matter what AMP was used Katana was one of the best.

https://forum.volumio.org/volumio-soundcheck-invitation-for-hamburg-germany-t5918-140.html#p64146

 

[m8o]

Soundcheck double blind test results shutout was just announced .

Pecan PI , Katana , Boss , Khadas tone board and more DACs were tested with multiple amplifiers and judged by multiple people .

On Hypex AMP ( 0.0015 THD+N) Katana has placed second
On AB class amplifier (0.03THD+N ), Katana was again judged second

No matter what AMP was used Katana was one of the best.

https://forum.volumio.org/volumio-soundcheck-invitation-for-hamburg-germany-t5918-140.html#p64146

If averaged? I see Katana SQ as third but then tied for 1st w/the analog amp. But the lack of clarity & transparency of the data obfuscates it all.

This experiment had so much promise. And I really looked forward to the results. But then undermined by what I struggle to even call a barely summarized list of findings. Let's see the data! ( I know you're not responsible for that. Just speaking generally. )

Several metrics for each device was collected. I see no reason why totals, average, median, and standard deviation, for each category can't be share for each device tested. What I read [again, ahem] 'barely summarized' is disappointing.

Do you know of another thread on another forum where details are shared? Thanx. Li I used the Google machine but located only one other forum that didn't have details either. )

 

[johan]

Hi

I agree. I asked on the forums for more clarity.

 

[johan]

Digital amp Katana has placed second and analog amp Katana has placed first with Primo DAC

Nowhere in the first 4 places is the Khadas or PencaPI. (and yet they were judged as being good)

I think that at this level differences are minute and it comes down to sound preference .