11-28-2018, 03:09 PM
Generally speaking, the DAC chip itself is maybe 20% contributor to the overall SQ from a DAC. The majority contributors are (1) the circuitry that produces stable, low noise power for the other circuits in the device, (2) the circuit that provides signal clocking and (3) the analog output stage.
On all these fronts the multi-board Katana stack architecture is light years ahead of any single-board HAT DAC. There is only so much that can be done on a single, small HAT board. The other contributor to overall SQ are the external power supplies feeding the DAC. These also need to provide stable, low noise power.
As far as product issues the real measure is whether the company fixes them, makes their customers whole and then improves their QC. You would be surprised to know how many of the popular HAT DAC's have hardware defects, buggy drivers or drivers that the manufacturer won't invest the time and money into to get accepted into the Linux kernel.
Allo's goal with Katana is to achieve SQ comparable to DAC's in the $1000 price bracket. If they meet that goal then its a huge win for enthusiasts :-)
-Tim
On all these fronts the multi-board Katana stack architecture is light years ahead of any single-board HAT DAC. There is only so much that can be done on a single, small HAT board. The other contributor to overall SQ are the external power supplies feeding the DAC. These also need to provide stable, low noise power.
As far as product issues the real measure is whether the company fixes them, makes their customers whole and then improves their QC. You would be surprised to know how many of the popular HAT DAC's have hardware defects, buggy drivers or drivers that the manufacturer won't invest the time and money into to get accepted into the Linux kernel.
Allo's goal with Katana is to achieve SQ comparable to DAC's in the $1000 price bracket. If they meet that goal then its a huge win for enthusiasts :-)
-Tim
