I've owned an Allo DigiOne Signature for over a year now, and a month ago I purchased a USBridge Signature. When the Shanti LPS became available a few months ago, I immediately bought one and my opinions as expressed in this post were formed powering both devices with the Shanti. Both streamers have served as the sole source of music in my system which consists of a Naim Supernait 2 w/HiCap DR, Chord 2Qute w/SBooster LPS and Dali Rubicon 2 speakers. The system is "fully loomed" with Audience Ohno cabling, except for the USB cable between the streamer and DAC which is a Moon Audio Black Dragon. Since I'm NOT a professional reviewer I'll be brief and to the point: To my ear and in the system listed above, the USBridge Signature offers a darker background and thus greater detail and better focus than the DigiOne Signature(BNC output used). To be specific, inky black backgrounds that immediately fill this particular music lover with the desire 'park it' in the sweet spot, close my eyes and 'take the ride' when a good record comes on. To me, of the two, the USBridge Signature is better. When a recording is of high quality to begin with, for example the new Dixie Chicks album(The Chicks, "Gaslighter" 16/44.1 download from Qobuz), you're gonna hear it with this gear. While I'm woefully unqualified to properly review these products here, I never the less, must also document the initial issues with setup that I suffered with BOTH devices below. This is meant only as a caution to anyone unfamiliar with Allo(Rasp Pi) devices.
Issues: Initial set-up of BOTH devices for me was, frankly, a PAIN IN THE ASS. Since a full year had passed between the purchases of these two streamers, I really expected the USBridge Signature's initial set-up to be easier since I was by now well versed in the Rasp Pi world. In fact it turned out to be TWICE as hard as the DigiOne was, taking longer even than the official 10 day return policy offered by Allo on the product. In BOTH cases, it took days worth of back and forth on the Audiophile Style forums with Allo tech support to finally resolve the EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT popping and cracking in the audio output experienced by me and many others. Same issue, both devices, sold a full year apart. What's up with that Allo? The fix consisted of having to update ethernet firmware drivers as well as multiple re-flashings of the micro sd card with different bespoke versions of different Rasp Pi OSes to FINALLY arrive by TRIAL AND ERROR at a combination free of pops and cracks in the audio in my particular system. Once this critical issue was finally resolved in BOTH streamers they finally exhibited the "high value" qualities extolled by many different reviewers. I envy anyone who has purchased a Allo Streamer and gotten it to work as advertised right out of the box. Having said that, once they ARE working correctly, I believe they do offer the highest value of any hardware in HiFi that I've personally experienced. One other minor gripe with the USBridge Signature is that the LED indicator lights on the front are way too bright at night, something I resolved by hiding the device behind a piece of art glass. It's a boring little black box anyway so no loss there. The DigiOne Signature continues to have a face only a DIY loving mother could love and does exceptionally well when hidden behind other gear since, to date, no one makes a nice case for it. Avoid the clear one if you're going to buy one.
Issues: Initial set-up of BOTH devices for me was, frankly, a PAIN IN THE ASS. Since a full year had passed between the purchases of these two streamers, I really expected the USBridge Signature's initial set-up to be easier since I was by now well versed in the Rasp Pi world. In fact it turned out to be TWICE as hard as the DigiOne was, taking longer even than the official 10 day return policy offered by Allo on the product. In BOTH cases, it took days worth of back and forth on the Audiophile Style forums with Allo tech support to finally resolve the EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT popping and cracking in the audio output experienced by me and many others. Same issue, both devices, sold a full year apart. What's up with that Allo? The fix consisted of having to update ethernet firmware drivers as well as multiple re-flashings of the micro sd card with different bespoke versions of different Rasp Pi OSes to FINALLY arrive by TRIAL AND ERROR at a combination free of pops and cracks in the audio in my particular system. Once this critical issue was finally resolved in BOTH streamers they finally exhibited the "high value" qualities extolled by many different reviewers. I envy anyone who has purchased a Allo Streamer and gotten it to work as advertised right out of the box. Having said that, once they ARE working correctly, I believe they do offer the highest value of any hardware in HiFi that I've personally experienced. One other minor gripe with the USBridge Signature is that the LED indicator lights on the front are way too bright at night, something I resolved by hiding the device behind a piece of art glass. It's a boring little black box anyway so no loss there. The DigiOne Signature continues to have a face only a DIY loving mother could love and does exceptionally well when hidden behind other gear since, to date, no one makes a nice case for it. Avoid the clear one if you're going to buy one.
