Cheap Trick - How the Raspberry Pi & Allo Boss DAC Give Champagne Sound on a Beer Budget

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Cheap Trick - How the Raspberry Pi & Allo Boss DAC Give Champagne Sound on a Beer Budget

Рет қаралды 4,047

Күн бұрын

This week's Hi-Fi Riff goes a little off piste, into the weird and wonderful world of hardcore computer audio. When it's value for money you're after, there's only one game in town - the Raspberry Pi.
Mike and David audition this lovely little computer, loaded up with streaming software and kitted out with an Allo Boss DAC. The result is a fun little streamer that gives a lot of sound per pound. The 'Blakes 7' styling makes it all the more enjoyable, for sci-fi geek David!
Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features Mike and David's unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs. Business executive Mike has a wealth of knowledge from previous hi-fi retail experience, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.
So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and please leave your comments below. And don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.
Follow Hi-Fi Riff on Instagram here: hifiriff

Пікірлер: 26

@gdp6586 Жыл бұрын

Bought a pi about 5 years ago and plugged a “hifi berry” amp hat on top driving wharfedale original diamonds, sounded great in the kitchen. Then bought the “hifi berry” digi out hat and plugged that into a Cambridge dac and lined out to a linn pre power amp with the diamonds sounded better brought it into the front room. Then i upgraded to linn streamer and then pi went back into the kitchen. Then I upgraded and upgraded to klimax linn. So the good old pi started my new hifi addiction. Well recommended for 1st steps to hifi!

@denteomd Жыл бұрын

You should try the Allo Digi one signature, Its output is co-axial and BNC, you then connect it to a DAC of your choice and wow, really sounds like a different beast with a high end DAC.

@nigesavage5548 Жыл бұрын

Great riff gents, and bonus points for the Blake's Seven reference!

@robertleitch2016 Жыл бұрын

This Schiit Rekkr thing won't go away. These good folks in Santa Clarita have a retail outlet in neighbouring Newhall called The Schiitr, and an AI contact page called Schiit Talker. All a bit too Beavis and Butthead (of fond memory) for me. And there's more; their new CD transport is called the Schiit Urd. I doubt if they'll display the same tact and sensitivity as Citroën did with the UK and Ireland only BX19 DTR. (For everywhere else it was a TRD...)

@steventromans9005 Жыл бұрын

Great little introduction to streaming I used the Allo transport version for quite a while into a marantz HD DAC then into a denafrips Pontus 2 until I upgraded to a Auralic Aries finally Great little product

@mikeyevs Жыл бұрын

Agree completely. I also have the transport into a pair of meridian active speakers... It sounds really good! Another riff for another day... Mike

@markkinsman5013 Жыл бұрын

I believe a tour of David’s back room will reveal the worlds largest inventory of a particular speaker mentioned in this video.

@analogueman5364 Жыл бұрын

Another great riff, thanks chaps. As the owner of a Pi for the last 2 years I can attest to their fantastic bang for buck with sound quality. Personally I wouldn't bother with a dac hat, buy a half decent separate dac instead (topping or Cambridge Audio dac magic for example), hard wire the Pi into the router as Mike suggests, a decent USB cable to the dac and away you go. I use my Pi with Volumio and Tidal connect plus a 1TB SSD card containing my ripped CD collection. The dac is plugged into my preamp (which is part of a very decent hifi system) and frankly its hard to tell the difference most times between when I'm playing a file from the SSD or the original CD. That said, I understood Pis were difficult to get hold off at the moment but maybe that's sorted its self out of late.

@geoffadams590 Жыл бұрын

What a great Riff - so good to see the Mike & Dave Show (or is it Dave & Mike? Like Ant & Dec I'm never sure which is which) covering these amazingly clever and versatile little devices. I've had my fingers in several Pi's over the past few years, rocking a Logitech Media Server setup with Pi3 endpoints with HiFiBerry Digi & DAC hats, and a Pi4 Server. Pi devices have been in short supply for the past few years, and classic laws of supply and demand have pushed prices skyward (if you can find one the buy, that is). Another great Riff - well done. As Young Mr Grace might say, 'You've all done very well!' 😀

@doctorbritain9632 Жыл бұрын

I've been running a Pi2 with a dongle Dac through a class D amp to drive my outdoor speakers for a few years. Works great streaming through Roon.

@thepickyaudiophile Жыл бұрын

Rocking the USBridge Signature with the Digione Signature hat and the Shanti PSU, pretty serious streamer really 😊 Struggling to get to grips with some of the very expensive streaming boxes with underdeveloped software platforms and the inbuilt promise that it will be a brick once they stop developing the iOS app. Ditto the Sonos/blue sound boxes with subpar quality digital out. Hence the Allo route it is.

@menfallinloveandwomenmakeplans Жыл бұрын

Dear Chaps, Good to see that you are still digging around and coming up with worthwhile stuff for little money. Did you say this can be configured as a streamer only? Good. There does not seem to be many such items available. There are many misleadingly named 'streamers' around but they are combination streamer-DACs. Many people have a DAC already, used with a laptop. We just need a streamer only to replace the laptop and connect to the DAC. That iFi streamer gets mixed reviews because of difficulties with setting up. You reviewed a Musical Fidelity two box streamer and DAC combination. That streamer might connect to a range of DACs. Is it difficult to set up? But there really aren't that many streamer only items out there. Would you agree?

@TheBodhisattvaWisdom 5 ай бұрын

The Allo Digione together with a good quality external dac, may surprise even the most hardcore audiophile ears.. ;-)

@TheDjcarlos67 Жыл бұрын

I friend tried to explain what these devices do the other day but I couldn't get it. I'll let you know if your video does a better job😅

@sbatty65227 Жыл бұрын

Isn't thst thr TARDIS Chameleon Circuit? 😂

@jonlaws4493 4 ай бұрын

Pi with reclocker and protoDAC is vey hard to beat.

@Hi-FiRiff 4 ай бұрын

Not heard the protoDAC, but I did review the Metrum Acoustics Ambre for StereoNET and was very impressed as to what the Pi was capable of. Mike

@TheCharlesAtoz Жыл бұрын

The best tandem in hifi! Do you gentlemen plan on doing any interviews?

@TheDjcarlos67 Жыл бұрын

Hi fellas. Any chance you share a list of parts required as I fancy building one of these? I'm not at all skilled with electronics but you said it was built in minutes so I'm gonna give it a go

@supercompooper Жыл бұрын

ORAC DAC

@owenoneill5955 Жыл бұрын

Does it work with Apple and have a lightening connection? Seems like it does.

@PeterMumford 7 ай бұрын

The Allo Boss DAC is not no longer available.. Allo has gone dark. Hifiberry's dac2 HD is a nice substitute. Hifiberry also makes a nice looking metal case.

@Hi-FiRiff 7 ай бұрын

Such a shame!

@2011FM Ай бұрын

Hello the Hifi Riff guys. Out of my curiosity, please advise how the Wiim mini/ pro/pro plus competes against the Radpberry Pi as a hifi streamer in terms of sonic quality & performance. Can any of the former substitute the Pi as the more practical replacement with Wiim's own apps being quite easy to use? Since I have never owned or used any of the Pi's but tried all the Wiim's already, please share some words and thoughts to get me well informed. Thanks and cheers.

@Hi-FiRiff Ай бұрын

I have a pi with an allo boss DAC I use it with a dc power supply (powerbank) and in my system it sounds great. I reviewed the metrum acoustics Ambre for Stereonet, which is pi based (and expensive) and that sounded brilliant. In summary the pi can be extremely capable when implemented well, which is incredible for such an inexpensive thing! Hope this helps a bit. Mike

@robertleitch2016 Жыл бұрын

Immediately had a look at the allo site. Once they've got you through that gateway you can spend a fair whack of money for the higher end stuff - much more than the £500-600 which established manufacturers offer for well-regarded fully-built streamers for the less adventurous. Also noted that purchasers in the UK and Switzerland are served through India. Who thought it was such a smart idea to leave the EU?