RPi 4 or Allo USBridge signature for feeding Topping E30 ?

[TheBatsEar]

I'm planning on setting up a streaming device based on Topping E30 dac.
Is there any difference feeding it with regular RPi 4 usb or some clean usb outputs like Allo USBridge sig ?

I have a RPi4 connected via USB to the E30. Works flawless. Even DSD content. I downloaded a streaming software called Moode (which you burn directly to SD card). The music itself comes from a NFS linux server, from a Windows workstation (via DLNA) or from internet radio stations.

BTW, it also works with a RPi Zero. I didn't test the DSD files however, but for flac, mp3 and internet stuff even that is enough.

 

[TheBatsEar]

For months now the Pi/Allo keeps crashing every couple of weeks.

Do you, by chance, have some kind of USB disk attached? If so, is it using UASP, mayhaps? Had that problem, bought a better USB to disk bridge, fixed the problem.

 

[pogballistics]

Hi all,

I'm planning on setting up a streaming device based on Topping E30 dac.
Is there any difference feeding it with regular RPi 4 usb or some clean usb outputs like Allo USBridge sig ?
I would be inclined to say no as the dac input already filters noise but I'd like confirmation from an expert.

Ty

Allo USB bridge signature player ofcourse.

 

[Iavor]

Do you, by chance, have some kind of USB disk attached? If so, is it using UASP, mayhaps? Had that problem, bought a better USB to disk bridge, fixed the problem.

Hi, thanks for asking! No, there’s nothing attached to the Allo/pi - literally just power and Ethernet.

 

[Sprint]

Allo USB bridge signature player ofcourse.

I learnt something different in ASR. I use a Topping D10s. The noise or jitter produced by RPi4 usb (which is anyway less compared to RPi3 due to not sharing ethernet) is filtered by my Topping D10s anyways. Therefore, Allo USB bridge does not provide any additional value.

 

[TheBatsEar]

Hi, thanks for asking! No, there’s nothing attached to the Allo/pi - literally just power and Ethernet.

Must be something else then. Usually this kind of error points towards hardware. Could be your power supply, could be a cheap sdcard, could be something in the RPi. Hard to diagnose, unless you have another RPi to swap out.

 

[bikeguy]

Hi, thanks for asking! No, there’s nothing attached to the Allo/pi - literally just power and Ethernet.

The first thing I would do is get another SD card, flash it, and see what happens. Sometimes the SD cards go bad slowly, it's happened to me.

 

[Iavor]

The first thing I would do is get another SD card, flash it, and see what happens. Sometimes the SD cards go bad slowly, it's happened to me.

That’s super useful! Thank you! I’ll give that a go and report. So far (since I left the Allo Digione out and started using the Pi’s usb out into my Topping E30), Pi hasn’t crashed yet, but it hasn’t been that long.

 

[Iavor]

Must be something else then. Usually this kind of error points towards hardware. Could be your power supply, could be a cheap sdcard, could be something in the RPi. Hard to diagnose, unless you have another RPi to swap out.

Thank you! Sadly I don’t have another Pi, and even though they’re cheap I don’t fancy getting one until I have some indication the current Pi is faulty. Going to try a new SD card and also waiting to see if it crashes with the Allo no longer in use. Will definitely also try a different power supply. For now it’s working though, so won’t try any of these changes until it crashes again I think. Great to have your suggestions to test next if it does! Thank you!

 

[pogballistics]

I learnt something different in ASR. I use a Topping D10s. The noise or jitter produced by RPi4 usb (which is anyway less compared to RPi3 due to not sharing ethernet) is filtered by my Topping D10s anyways. Therefore, Allo USB bridge does not provide any additional value.

Allo has separated it in their player.

 

[Iglo]

Thank you! Sadly I don’t have another Pi, and even though they’re cheap I don’t fancy getting one until I have some indication the current Pi is faulty. Going to try a new SD card and also waiting to see if it crashes with the Allo no longer in use. Will definitely also try a different power supply. For now it’s working though, so won’t try any of these changes until it crashes again I think. Great to have your suggestions to test next if it does! Thank you!

Overall the RPi should be running rock solid. I have a few for different projects and all are running without any hickups, my first guess would indeed be a defective SD. If for instance the RPi is running and loses power (or someone just detaches the power as a way of shutting it down) this can corrupt the SD card and/or software installed. Not to say that is what happened but some people use the adapter cable as a power switch vs logging in to the shell and just send a shutdown command (or use a case with a soft-power off button).

 

[Falco]

Hi all, after reading this (old) topic with great interest I think an upgrade from a RPi4 with moOde OS to an Allo USBridge with moOde OS will not do much for the sound quality. At least not when I keep using the SMSL SU-1 and Audioengine 2+ (via RCA to SU-1).

Or is there any other reason to favor a USBridge over a RPi4?

 

[iano]

I agree, if you are using USB audio, no need for the Allo upgrade. I have used RPi's and other SBC's for audio for several years now. I think the Allo stuff seems well made, but in my experience it will not make an audible (or even measurable) difference via USB. If you were using spdif then maybe, I have not looked into that, but I doubt it would sound any better than USB. Personally, I focus more on making sure I have clean power supplies, nothing fancy. Some might suggest linear power supplies, but I have not found that personally nercessary, and indeed am happy with even the standard RPi power supply. My ears are old, so YMMV