New Customer?
Create your accountNo products
Prices are tax included
With its Katana, a master DAC for Raspberry Pi, Allo offers an extremely powerful high-end solution, at a contained price and directly competing with equipment sold at higher prices. To achieve such a result, the brand has carefully selected the best components to integrate them into a complete module on 3 stages.
By buying this product you get 26 loyalty points
Find here a selection of useful and/or essential accessories for this product. These are specially selected by the Audiophonics team according to the characteristics of the product.
This is the "SOUND QUALITY" version: -100.5dB @ 1Khz weighted.
This model has been optimized for sound quality. While "sacrificing" a few dB of THD+N, ALLO found the subjective experience to be, in a word, closer to analog sound.
DAC for Raspberry Pi ES9038Q2M 32bit 384kHz DSD128 6x AOP SparkoS Labs
With its Katana, a master DAC for Raspberry Pi, Allo offers an extremely powerful high-end solution, at a contained price and directly competing with equipment sold at higher prices. It is also probably the best DAC for Raspberry Pi to date. To achieve such a result, the brand has carefully selected the best components to integrate them into a complete module on 3 stages.
For the Katana, Allo turns to the excellent ESS ES9038Q2M conversion chip. This is indeed the latest version of the ESS converters, displaying excellent characteristics with a THD+N to -120dB and leaving the design of the analog part in the hands of the integrator (Allo in this case). Another advantage of this chip is the support of high sampling rates, up to 32bits 384kHz in PCM but also the DSD 128 and DoP.
All Delta Sigma circuits are extremely sensitive to jitter. To avoid this problem, Allo uses two Ultra Low Jitter NDK NZ2520SDA 45.1584 / 49.1520 Mhz clocks. In addition, the signal is also filtered by 2 LDO and an HF filter. Finally, to perfect signal synchronization and filtering, buffers are also integrated. This set of components results in a tiny jitter of 390fs.
The Katana's analog stage benefits from a complex design offering excellent performance. This is based on discreet PDOs from SparkoS Labs. This brand specializes in high-performance audio components, operational amplifiers and discrete controllers. It therefore has particular know-how, enabling it to offer exceptional PDOs. The Katana takes advantage of this know-how by integrating no less than 6 simple SS3601 discrete PDOs, filtered at input and output with LDOs for extremely low noise. Each DAC is then manually configured under real operating conditions and programmed for THD+N compensation to reach a value of -112.75dB. On the connector side, there is a stereo RCA output (unbalanced) but also a balanced XLR output, to solder (connectors sold separately).
For its Katana, Allo directly integrates an unbalanced stereo RCA output on the DAC module. But the brand does not stop there and also allows anyone to add a balanced XLR output. For that, some solderings are enough, Allo having envisaged points to be soldered to add to the module of the XLR subbases.
For wiring, we invite you to refer to the guide available in the "Download" tab of this page. XLR subbases are sold separately.
Find in the "Downloads" tab of this page or by following this link the Katana user guide. It details the different modules composing the Katana, explains the different ways to feed it and provides configuration information.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| DAC | ESS ES9038Q2M |
| Hardware compatibilité | Raspberry Pi 3 B Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Allo Isolator (prochaine version uniquement) |
| Software compatibility | DietPi Volumio Available at the end of July :
|
| Outputs | RCA XLR balanced output can be wired (soldered, connectors not supplied) |
| THD+N | -100.5dB @ 1kHz, 0dbfs, A-Weighted |
| Jitter | 390fs |
| Clock | 2x NDK NZ2520SDA (45.1584 / 49.1520 Mhz) |
| Power supply | Not included - 5V 3A (refer to the downloadable guide to discover the different power options) |
| Package | KATANA DAC Screws DC 5.5 x 2.5 to DC 5.5 x 2.1 DC Barrel Adapter Type-C-to-DC Adapter Cable (inner barrel 5.5mm x 2.5 pin) MicroUSB to DC Adapter Cable (inner barrel 5.5mm x 2.5 pin) Battery Wire-to-DC Barrel (inner barrel 5.5mm x 2.5 pin) |
XH cable connector to bare wire - use with terminal block below (28cm)
Terminal adapter to DC Jack 5.5 / 2.5mm
DC Jack 5.5 / 2.5mm adapter
Cable female jack DC 5.5 / 2.5mm to Micro-USB (12cm)
Cable female jack DC 5.5 / 2.5mm to USB-C (10cm)
We deliver all over France, and internationally.
To find out the amount of shipping costs, simply go to your cart once you have added the desired products.
To discover our different services and delivery options, click on the following logos :
Average votes 5.0 / 5 1 reviews | Why write products reviews ? You can share your feelings about products and help other people by sharing your experience |
Albert H.
English 
Français