I do understand this point of view.
However we think that not everyone has higher end PSUs or LT3042 convertors.
This isolator board is meant for anyone that wants isolation between SBC/reclocker/Dac
Furthermore it can power the next stage with very clean power. We suggest using batteries (Lifepo4)
We have designed the 5V so it can output about 700ma continuously and 200ma on the 3.3v. That should give it plenty of option on what to power next...
At last , we have isolated i2s , i2c and plenty of GPIOs. Full details will be revealed shortly..
However we think that not everyone has higher end PSUs or LT3042 convertors.
This isolator board is meant for anyone that wants isolation between SBC/reclocker/Dac
Furthermore it can power the next stage with very clean power. We suggest using batteries (Lifepo4)
We have designed the 5V so it can output about 700ma continuously and 200ma on the 3.3v. That should give it plenty of option on what to power next...
At last , we have isolated i2s , i2c and plenty of GPIOs. Full details will be revealed shortly..
You IMO need to distinguish between 1st and 2nd stage regulation/supply.
A LT3042 - as great as it is as a 2nd stage regulation - it can't do the job alone.
There are IMO different characteristics required for the 1st and 2nd stage supply.
Nobody needs a highly regulated supply as a 1st first stage supply. That one
should deliver energy en masse, it should be fast and clean.
That's why we see different behavior running separate supplies.
If that's done right the LT3042 kicks in with its qualities.
Please. Don't get me wrong. I know you guys build great products.
I really like the Kali and I also like the Boss.
And I do also see, by looking at the image, that you folks put quite some effort into that isolator. It looks really well done. (with the power jack at the right spot
)
And I'm sure there'll be numerous inmates and probably even other target groups then us audio folks out there, who wouldn't mind to hook up a >5.9V supply to get the isolation in place.
Again. I'd rather prefer a 5V Kali2 with a "little" isolation onboard and I'd also try to avoid a triple-HAT (isolator/reclocker/dac). But that's just me.
Cheers
A LT3042 - as great as it is as a 2nd stage regulation - it can't do the job alone.
There are IMO different characteristics required for the 1st and 2nd stage supply.
Nobody needs a highly regulated supply as a 1st first stage supply. That one
should deliver energy en masse, it should be fast and clean.
That's why we see different behavior running separate supplies.
If that's done right the LT3042 kicks in with its qualities.
Please. Don't get me wrong. I know you guys build great products.
I really like the Kali and I also like the Boss.
And I do also see, by looking at the image, that you folks put quite some effort into that isolator. It looks really well done. (with the power jack at the right spot
)And I'm sure there'll be numerous inmates and probably even other target groups then us audio folks out there, who wouldn't mind to hook up a >5.9V supply to get the isolation in place.
Again. I'd rather prefer a 5V Kali2 with a "little" isolation onboard and I'd also try to avoid a triple-HAT (isolator/reclocker/dac). But that's just me.
Cheers
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You IMO need to distinguish between 1st and 2nd stage regulation/supply.
A LT3042 - as great as it is as a 2nd stage regulation - it can't do the job alone.
There are IMO different characteristics required for the 1st and 2nd stage supply.
Nobody needs a highly regulated supply as a 1st first stage supply. That one
should deliver energy en masse, it should be fast and clean.
That's why we see different behavior running separate supplies.
If that's done right the LT3042 kicks in with its qualities.
Please. Don't get me wrong. I know you guys build great products.
I really like the Kali and I also like the Boss.
And I do also see, by looking at the image, that you folks put quite some effort into that isolator. It looks really well done. (with the power jack at the right spot
And I'm sure there'll be numerous inmates and probably even other target groups then us audio folks out there, who wouldn't mind to hook up a >5.9V supply to get the isolation in place.
Again. I'd rather prefer a 5V Kali2 with a "little" isolation onboard and I'd also try to avoid a triple HAT (isolator/reclocker/dac). But that's just me.
Cheers
I know about the Kali with isolation and many people have been asking for it. It will be done (design started a while back) with a few surprises .
By the way, thx you for your positive words .
I have a Kali feeding an AK4495 I2S DAC. Had cracks between tracks/albums until moved to squeezelight renderer in Moodeaudio. Now mostly gone.
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I also use squeezelite. Actually I do not have cracks between tracks, but I do have loud cracks between albums.
What do you use to mute the dac?
I do not mute the DAC. As I said, I had cracks between everything (tracks, albums, stop-start, seek...) until I did 2 things :
- Squeezelite as the renderer in Moodeaudio
- Logitech Media Server Version : 7.9.0 on a linux debian machine as the music server
Oops, did not see your post. Glad you solve the issue.
- Squeezelite as the renderer in Moodeaudio
- Logitech Media Server Version : 7.9.0 on a linux debian machine as the music server
Oops, did not see your post. Glad you solve the issue.
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Hi folks.
I'm a bit late to the party. DJ Le Roy and Jonners basically referred my over here.
The selling points were
1. Dual Mono operation leading to
2. potentially better sound then Boss - if the Piano2.1 gets paired with the Kali
Now.
The 2.2 mode still leaves both channels active on both DACs. Correct? Hmmh.
That's not double mono, isn't it?!?!
In a perfect double-mono scenario I'd expect a left channel on one DAC and a right channel on another DAC chip and both output channels per DAC paralleled via e.g. PurePath/firmware.
The 2nd best solution would than probably be turning off one input channel per DAC inside the firmware to avoid some crosstalk at least. Which would leave one output channel sitting idle per DAC.
What's the actual solution at hand nowadays?
********
Some Qs about the implementation
I won't use Volumio.
How do I generate and load the firmware with a different OS at hand?
How do I configure the modes?
By default I see the standard PSM51xx mixer/filter settings in Alsa.
Can these by bypassed/replaced with customized firmware on this DAC?
BTW:
I do see two Piano overlays in the kernel - the PianoDAC+ doesn't exist -- correct?
I'd appreciate if somebody can clarify the situation for me.
Thx
I'm a bit late to the party. DJ Le Roy and Jonners basically referred my over here.
The selling points were
1. Dual Mono operation leading to
2. potentially better sound then Boss - if the Piano2.1 gets paired with the Kali
Now.
The 2.2 mode still leaves both channels active on both DACs. Correct? Hmmh.
That's not double mono, isn't it?!?!
In a perfect double-mono scenario I'd expect a left channel on one DAC and a right channel on another DAC chip and both output channels per DAC paralleled via e.g. PurePath/firmware.
The 2nd best solution would than probably be turning off one input channel per DAC inside the firmware to avoid some crosstalk at least. Which would leave one output channel sitting idle per DAC.
What's the actual solution at hand nowadays?
********
Some Qs about the implementation
I won't use Volumio.
How do I generate and load the firmware with a different OS at hand?
How do I configure the modes?
By default I see the standard PSM51xx mixer/filter settings in Alsa.
Can these by bypassed/replaced with customized firmware on this DAC?
BTW:
I do see two Piano overlays in the kernel - the PianoDAC+ doesn't exist -- correct?
I'd appreciate if somebody can clarify the situation for me.
Thx
@soundcheck,
I am using one this way with piCorePlayer, selecting the generic I2S driver (the one used for ES9023 DACs such as the Mamboberry). So no Piano driver used at all.
It sounds interestingly good, I'm really interested in seeing Allo take the advanced capacitors of the Boss and the 'twinned' configuration of the Piano in this configuration and creating a 'Super Piano' or a 'Boss 2.1'.
Greg in Mississippi
I am using one this way with piCorePlayer, selecting the generic I2S driver (the one used for ES9023 DACs such as the Mamboberry). So no Piano driver used at all.
It sounds interestingly good, I'm really interested in seeing Allo take the advanced capacitors of the Boss and the 'twinned' configuration of the Piano in this configuration and creating a 'Super Piano' or a 'Boss 2.1'.
Greg in Mississippi
I just looked at the 2.2 and 2.1 firmware files on the Allo git.
These all cover different sample rates and crossover frequencies.
These are stereo (2.2) or mono subwoofer (2.1) crossover settings.
I did not see a " straight-dual-mono".bin firmware.
And... ...I still havn't found what I'm looking for...
...the tool or process to load the firmware or config into the DAC.
These all cover different sample rates and crossover frequencies.
These are stereo (2.2) or mono subwoofer (2.1) crossover settings.
I did not see a " straight-dual-mono".bin firmware.
And... ...I still havn't found what I'm looking for...
...the tool or process to load the firmware or config into the DAC.
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The Volumio release that has the 'dual mono' was not an official one - it was a test release from Allo. With the '2.1' setting it gives the L channel from one of the 'SUB' outs and the R from one of the MAIN outs. The middle two RCAs are inactive. The '2.0' setting gives 'dual stereo', i.e. both channels from both DACs.
No idea how to get there without using Volumio though.
No idea how to get there without using Volumio though.
No idea how to get there without using Volumio though.
I'll try. I'm also in touch with Allo.
@Soundcheck
This is what I did:
-Volumio Allo image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwRHgia-WFv2NzFfYldRWmY1dlk/view
-Playback Options → Output Device: Allo Piano 2.1 → Reboot
-Playback Options → Subwoofer Mode: 2.1 → Reboot
Volumio is the only distribution where I can use the Piano 2.1 in dual mode setting. I hope it will be implemented in Picoreplayer which I normally use.
This is what I did:
-Volumio Allo image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwRHgia-WFv2NzFfYldRWmY1dlk/view
-Playback Options → Output Device: Allo Piano 2.1 → Reboot
-Playback Options → Subwoofer Mode: 2.1 → Reboot
Volumio is the only distribution where I can use the Piano 2.1 in dual mode setting. I hope it will be implemented in Picoreplayer which I normally use.
The designer referred me to the doc that you'll find on the web. Very nice.
I sneaked a bit around.
First of all it's a bit confusing that Allo talks about a allo-piano-dac-plus and just the piano
on the driver namings. But than calls the DAC+ DAC2.1 - which also can do 2.2 and 2.0.
Ok. Just cosmetics.
The firmware file locations are harcoded into the driver code. I looked it up in the code.
You need to copy the firmware files (taken from the Allo Piano firmware git) manually to /lib/firmware/allo/...
Depending of which mode is selected, the piano dac+ driver will load the respective firmware into the DAC.
My question: Where do I select -- which mode to run!?!?
I'd expect it to be configurable though the overlay. But there's nothing explained about it in the README. Or do I just copy a single firmware file into one of the firmware directories. Hmmh?
Then I also learned, that there is no dual-mono firmware being made available by Allo.
That's what the firmware git suggested.
It seems Volumio has generated a customized firmware version, which would be sitting under /lib/firmware/allo/2.1 or. 2.2 on a volumio installation.
These namings 2.1./2.2 are a bit misleading. You need to use them to be compliant with the stuff that's hardcoded in the driver. Hmmh.
OK.
Slowly but surely we're getting there.
The documentation IMO for sure needs an update explaining all this.
Thx.
I sneaked a bit around.
First of all it's a bit confusing that Allo talks about a allo-piano-dac-plus and just the piano
on the driver namings. But than calls the DAC+ DAC2.1 - which also can do 2.2 and 2.0.
Ok. Just cosmetics.
The firmware file locations are harcoded into the driver code. I looked it up in the code.
You need to copy the firmware files (taken from the Allo Piano firmware git) manually to /lib/firmware/allo/...
Depending of which mode is selected, the piano dac+ driver will load the respective firmware into the DAC.
My question: Where do I select -- which mode to run!?!?
I'd expect it to be configurable though the overlay. But there's nothing explained about it in the README. Or do I just copy a single firmware file into one of the firmware directories. Hmmh?
Then I also learned, that there is no dual-mono firmware being made available by Allo.
That's what the firmware git suggested.
It seems Volumio has generated a customized firmware version, which would be sitting under /lib/firmware/allo/2.1 or. 2.2 on a volumio installation.
These namings 2.1./2.2 are a bit misleading. You need to use them to be compliant with the stuff that's hardcoded in the driver. Hmmh.
OK.
Slowly but surely we're getting there.
The documentation IMO for sure needs an update explaining all this.
Thx.
