Allo - streamers, DACs, bridges etc.

[Hifi_swlon]

1. Did you have a chance to compare (seriously) those two connections with Devi? what are your feelings?
2. From your point of view does it make sense to spend more money (is it sonically justyfied) for much "better" (= expensive) bridge? (Aurender, dCS, Auralic)?

Hi Mike, this is probably a whole topic in itself (and I think there are some here already), but briefly:

1. Not personally. There are recurring opinions here from advanced users that - all things being equal (which they're probably not) - AES specifically is the best, but that spdif can still be better than USB.

This possible experiment with the Allo will be me trying it for myself in a fairly affordable way (with AES being via a converter rather than native to the device).

2. That's another whole topic . Depends if you have a lot of spare cash I guess. I would also blind test things personally - it's too hard to know otherwise. I think I've convinced myself of bigger differences than are actually there in the past. I intend to blind test AIR, and spdif from the Allo. And again AIR and AES (converted) from the Allo. I'd like to compare spdif and AES but I'd have to buy two! The key thing will be - can I tell them apart blind? If so, and reliably, I'll dig deeper.

In any case, why start expensive when there are cheaper options that you may like?