Folks.
I'm well in line of the first feedback you bringing up about that review.
To bring up the first issue that hits me.
This Volumio guy is selling the DACs. There's a conflict of interest in the air!
IMO nobody who sells the stuff should run reviews - that doesn't look good to me!
And then surprisingly he's not that positive after all !?!? Does this speak for him?
One example:
"Not easy to assemble" ???
Ooook. Setting 2 jumpers that are easily accessible and well described in the manual can get a real challenge.
It took me less then 5 minutes for reading and setting the DAC up.
Of course if you rather intend to sell a full preassambled package - Volumio included - he's got a point.
If you want to lower potential support efforts, considering the rather low margin such a product generates for the reseller, you better sell a full package.
I might be wrong. It's just the impression I had after reading that stuff.
Enjoy.
I'm well in line of the first feedback you bringing up about that review.
To bring up the first issue that hits me.
This Volumio guy is selling the DACs. There's a conflict of interest in the air!
IMO nobody who sells the stuff should run reviews - that doesn't look good to me!
And then surprisingly he's not that positive after all !?!? Does this speak for him?
One example:
"Not easy to assemble" ???
Ooook. Setting 2 jumpers that are easily accessible and well described in the manual can get a real challenge.
It took me less then 5 minutes for reading and setting the DAC up.
Of course if you rather intend to sell a full preassambled package - Volumio included - he's got a point.
If you want to lower potential support efforts, considering the rather low margin such a product generates for the reseller, you better sell a full package.
I might be wrong. It's just the impression I had after reading that stuff.
Enjoy.
I dont get your point soundcheck. To me the tester tries to be as objective as possible, showing all critic points but at the end he judges the Katana as best DAC over the others in many important aspects. So what is so negative and wrong in his review?
Compared to just plug and play DAC HATs with less setting options Katana is some more complex, but why not mention it?
I agree, a seller should not do reviews, but in this case the tester did it to me in an authentic and honest way I can work with and re-construct what he means.
Lets see how other testers judge and how the fatigue thing will settle after burn in.
Btw. sitting in 1st raw of a rock concert can also be very fatiguing for your ears - but the experience is great! ;-)
Compared to just plug and play DAC HATs with less setting options Katana is some more complex, but why not mention it?
I agree, a seller should not do reviews, but in this case the tester did it to me in an authentic and honest way I can work with and re-construct what he means.
Lets see how other testers judge and how the fatigue thing will settle after burn in.
Btw. sitting in 1st raw of a rock concert can also be very fatiguing for your ears - but the experience is great! ;-)
Katana is a different beast.
Very revealing. I few days ago I went to see a small live band and I could not stop thinking that it had the same sound signature. Sounds are crisp , powerful and full of detail. .. In a word Katana sound.
In my car I got a very decent sound system. After Katana , I realize that car system is polished , sanitized . Loss of small details.
At last, Katanas will sound a bit too raw in the first day. I recommend waiting at least 72H for film caps and SC to stabilize. I think that Michelangelo tested in the first day and will update the review after a few days.
I can hear everything on my favorite Cohen tracks, his voice has changed , the background noises , the last hand clapping. Everything .
In a world like ours , everything is sanitized , food , milk and music , Katana will punch you. You will smell the fried garlic.Milk will smell of cow. Reality. Realistic.
Your ears will be overwhelmed.
But the music is unbelievable. You have a front seat to the live concert. Enjoy.
Very revealing. I few days ago I went to see a small live band and I could not stop thinking that it had the same sound signature. Sounds are crisp , powerful and full of detail. .. In a word Katana sound.
In my car I got a very decent sound system. After Katana , I realize that car system is polished , sanitized . Loss of small details.
At last, Katanas will sound a bit too raw in the first day. I recommend waiting at least 72H for film caps and SC to stabilize. I think that Michelangelo tested in the first day and will update the review after a few days.
I can hear everything on my favorite Cohen tracks, his voice has changed , the background noises , the last hand clapping. Everything .
In a world like ours , everything is sanitized , food , milk and music , Katana will punch you. You will smell the fried garlic.Milk will smell of cow. Reality. Realistic.
Your ears will be overwhelmed.
But the music is unbelievable. You have a front seat to the live concert. Enjoy.
As seller or manufacturer you list the features and measurements.
You don't hype (review) your own products!
Now. Let's have a closer look at the Volumio review of the DAC.
Reading comments like this:
Expert users !?!? This guys is just disqualifying himself with this.
Nope, he better "shall not make a remark" towards Allo.
He doesn't even get the model right. And for sure we're not talking about the
low cost version of that ES9038 series as being the most praised silicon used in the Katana.
- he's talking about the DAC driven in master mode.
The master mode slightly improves the situation. I'd agree.
There are many other solutions out there showing great separation and rhythm though.
Very brave!
Even a commercial iFi USB DAC at $249 comes with a class A output stage.
He obviously didn't get the point.
Obviously a guy with a great background as designer.
He didn't even understood the manual and is bashing the DAC.
You'd need 3x 5V supplies as outlined in the manual. He even
lists a chart from the manual in the review.
Yep. Hooking up a uUSB cable and a USB-C cable and connecting a red
and black wire requires some electronic skills. I see that.
And $100 for three quality supplies. And he's still talking about one +-15V
supply.
A variety of all kind of reasons.
Such a BS. The more I look into that article, the more nonsense jumps at me.An MCU between the PI I2S bus is required!?!?
Just to clearify things.
It usually doesn't require a separate HAT - nothing would have to be "stacked". There's no need to put something on the I2S bus.
The only reason why a MCU is needed is the ESS NDA.
The DAC manufacturer can not write an opensource driver showing
the DAC control codes. That's why that stupid, unnecessary and just expensive MCU is required in the first place. And we all have to pay
for it.
First it would be the only I2S HAT DAC.... . But even that is wrong.
Have a look at IANCANADAS thread and DAC offering over here at DIY-Audio.
And after all that and more stuff, you'll be invited to buy that great DAC at his site.
My advise after reading that review: Before pushing the "Buy Now" button : Don't forget! "Experts only"
Bottom line.
Congratulations to Allo for having such a great professional reviewer around.
(cdsgames - Very brave to post that link!
)I think we all should forget this review and start over with the next one.
Enjoy.
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Hi,
I noticed a discrepancy in SW1 between the pic on page 8 in the tech manual and my actual test unit. The tech manual shows 1=on. my test unit has 1,2,3=off.
Whats the correct sw setting for = Master Mode?
Also, where would one wire in a 3-pin rotary encoder (GND and 2 GPIO pins) cuz I don't see any of the Pi's GPIO pins exposed on a header.
-Tim
I noticed a discrepancy in SW1 between the pic on page 8 in the tech manual and my actual test unit. The tech manual shows 1=on. my test unit has 1,2,3=off.
Whats the correct sw setting for = Master Mode?
Also, where would one wire in a 3-pin rotary encoder (GND and 2 GPIO pins) cuz I don't see any of the Pi's GPIO pins exposed on a header.
-Tim
Attachments
Hi Tim
Katana works only in Master Mode, Slave mode was something we did with wires for our internal testing . I will check for the rotary encoder but I dont think we have provision for it.
He didn't even understood the manual and is bashing the DAC.
You'd need 3x 5V supplies as outlined in the manual. He even
lists a chart from the manual in the review.
Yep. Hooking up a uUSB cable and a USB-C cable and connecting a red
and black wire requires some electronic skills. I see that.
And $100 for three quality supplies. And he's still talking about one +-15V
supply.
Wrong. Katana DAC Tech Manual, page 4. Feeding the output stage with +-15 is an option and Allo confirmed it should allow to reach Katana's best SQ potential (with a very good PSU).
The deemphasis filter is meant to automatically or manually apply a certain attenuation to high frequencies, depending on the recording's characteristics. In auto mode the dac chip will try to automatically determine whether deemphasis should be applied or not. In my experiments with the 90x8 dacs this feature is not reliable, i.e. a lot of the time it fails at determining whether deemphasis should be applied or not. I choose to keep it at "disabled" since I don't have any recordings that would require deemphasis anyway.
The thing is, there is a right setting for this filter and a wrong one. It only has to do with the recording.
OTOH, apodizing refers to one of the digital filters, not to the deemphasis setting, so I am a bit confused.
For some, the real reason was perhaps before they came to this world.
Stereo Lab - CD de-emphasis
http://www.audioxpress.com/assets/upload/files/galo3025.pdf
And yes for many old timers those early 80s CDs are sometimes problematic.
Stereo Lab - CD de-emphasis