Allo Revolution DAC Micro USB port problem and repair

[mbhangui]

Often I would notice that whenever I touched the usb cable going inside my allo revolution dac, mpd (music player daemon) would momentarily lose connectivity. Music would pause and start again. Lately the problem started happening randomly. Google search revealed that the micro usb port is a problem. Few reported that the usb port isn't soldered properly on the board. I had got my DAC in Oct last year. It is still in warranty. Since I can do soldering myself, I asked allo support if I can repair it myself and will it void warranty if tomorrow something goes bad. They replied that I can try the repair and the warranty will still apply to everything else apart fom the usb port. To avoid the hassle of shipping it to bangalore and waiting for the repair, I opened the dac. Indeed the micro usb port wasn't soldered properly. Only two legs out of 4 of the outer metal housing was soldered. This caused the micro usb port to rock up and down on two of the legs (like a see saw) and ultimately 4 connectors got separated from the pcb trace on the board.



Did a reflow of the solder on the terminals. Soldered the two remaining legs of the housing on the PCB and now the DAC doesn't disconnect at all. If any FM faces this problem with revolution dac and the dac is out of warranty, this photo will help to repair it

 

[premoddev]

Glad that you were able to find and fix the issue..!! So there is a lack of quality checking from Allo?

 

[SwaroopKS]

Did you use solder in form of paste? if yes, then does it work with a heat gun or any specific tool?

 

[mbhangui]

Glad that you were able to find and fix the issue..!! So there is a lack of quality checking from Allo?

Plenty of people have had the usb connector falling inside. I think the quality of components soldered outside their reflow oven is a suspect. Even with my allo class D amp, the red and black connectors were interchanged.

Here is just one example

Allo Revolution broken micro-usb port :(

Hello, my allo rev dac micro-usb port has fallen inside the case just now :( Is it possible to get help? Order: 8672 placed on 06/28/2020 05:23:57 picture of port https://www.dropbox.com/s/z9s63h03su9edoz/2020-11-12 07.22.50.jpg?dl=0

audiophilestyle.com

 

[mbhangui]

Did you use solder in form of paste? if yes, then does it work with a heat gun or any specific tool?

I used normal solder and lot of reflow flux so that the solder doesn't create a join between the micro-usb terminals. I used a regular soldering rod (gun type). With good amount of flux you don't have to worry even if the soldering rod tip is touching multipler terminals. I do have a hot air station, but I used that only to blow away the excess flux after the soldering job was over

 

[sandeepsasi]

Often I would notice that whenever I touched the usb cable going inside my allo revolution dac, mpd (music player daemon) would momentarily lose connectivity. Music would pause and start again. Lately the problem started happening randomly. Google search revealed that the micro usb port is a problem. Few reported that the usb port isn't soldered properly on the board. I had got my DAC in Oct last year. It is still in warranty. Since I can do soldering myself, I asked allo support if I can repair it myself and will it void warranty if tomorrow something goes bad. They replied that I can try the repair and the warranty will still apply to everything else apart fom the usb port. To avoid the hassle of shipping it to bangalore and waiting for the repair, I opened the dac. Indeed the micro usb port wasn't soldered properly. Only two legs out of 4 of the outer metal housing was soldered. This caused the micro usb port to rock up and down on two of the legs (like a see saw) and ultimately 4 connectors got separated from the pcb trace on the board.

View attachment 67463

Did a reflow of the solder on the terminals. Soldered the two remaining legs of the housing on the PCB and now the DAC doesn't disconnect at all. If any FM faces this problem with revolution dac and the dac is out of warranty, this photo will help to repair it

View attachment 67464

I had faced a similar problem while using Allo Katana streamer. I was using Volumio back then. Playback stopped randomly and the web interface would no longer be accessible. I was thinking that the OS was crashing due to some reason. Some even suggested that there could be a momentary dip in supply causing Linux to shutdown (I was using R-Pi 3B+ that is apparently less tolerant to supply dips, unlike earlier models). Finally, realized that I was barking up the wrong tree. The problem turned out to be a faulty DC barrel to USB-C cable that was supplied with the streamer, which was occasionally causing a loose contact .

With regards
Sandeep Sasi

 

[mbhangui]

I had faced a similar problem while using Allo Katana streamer. I was using Volumio back then. Playback stopped randomly and the web interface would no longer be accessible. I was thinking that the OS was crashing due to some reason. Some even suggested that there could be a momentary dip in supply causing Linux to shutdown (I was using R-Pi 3B+ that is apparently less tolerant to supply dips, unlike earlier models). Finally, realized that I was barking up the wrong tree. The problem turned out to be a faulty DC barrel to USB-C cable that was supplied with the streamer, which was occasionally causing a loose contact .

With regards
Sandeep Sasi

I'm sure they have quality control issues with few things where manual soldering is required. Looks like components sourced from China are an issue. Few that I know of are the following

1. Their own SBC called sparky, they have used a chinese ARM processor for which there is no base support package for the latest linux kernel. My allo piano signature became totally unusable because of that. So I cannibalized the kali reclocker and piano 2.1 boards and fitted them on a Raspberry PI4 to make a new device
2.The Allo Shanti cables are horrendous. I will be modifying it the moment it goes out of warranty. I have obtained aviation connectors and will use that.
3. The micro-usb port on the allo revolution is of very low quality.
4. Their Class D amp has the binding posts wrongly connected in few cases.

All forgiven because their design are top notch. Anyone with a bit of DIY skills can tolerate the occasional QA issues.

Their products measure better and sound better than for example Toppings, but the fit and finish is way behind them. e.g. look at Allo Revolution and Toppings E50 DAC with ESS9038 vs ESS9068 chip

BTW I got your cables yesterday.

 

[sandeepsasi]

2.The Allo Shanti cables hare horrendous. I will be modifying it the moment it goes out of warranty. I have obtained aviation connectors and will use that.

I too have modded my Shanti to upgrade the stock cables. I used Finolex 4mm^2 cables that I had and DC barrel connectors with screw type joints.

BTW I got your cables yesterday.

Good to know!

With regards,
Sandeep Sasi

 

[Arfhour]

Often I would notice that whenever I touched the usb cable going inside my allo revolution dac, mpd (music player daemon) would momentarily lose connectivity. Music would pause and start again. Lately the problem started happening randomly. Google search revealed that the micro usb port is a problem. Few reported that the usb port isn't soldered properly on the board. I had got my DAC in Oct last year. It is still in warranty. Since I can do soldering myself, I asked allo support if I can repair it myself and will it void warranty if tomorrow something goes bad. They replied that I can try the repair and the warranty will still apply to everything else apart fom the usb port. To avoid the hassle of shipping it to bangalore and waiting for the repair, I opened the dac. Indeed the micro usb port wasn't soldered properly. Only two legs out of 4 of the outer metal housing was soldered. This caused the micro usb port to rock up and down on two of the legs (like a see saw) and ultimately 4 connectors got separated from the pcb trace on the board.

View attachment 67463

Did a reflow of the solder on the terminals. Soldered the two remaining legs of the housing on the PCB and now the DAC doesn't disconnect at all. If any FM faces this problem with revolution dac and the dac is out of warranty, this photo will help to repair it

View attachment 67464

Often I would notice that whenever I touched the usb cable going inside my allo revolution dac, mpd (music player daemon) would momentarily lose connectivity. Music would pause and start again. Lately the problem started happening randomly. Google search revealed that the micro usb port is a problem. Few reported that the usb port isn't soldered properly on the board. I had got my DAC in Oct last year. It is still in warranty. Since I can do soldering myself, I asked allo support if I can repair it myself and will it void warranty if tomorrow something goes bad. They replied that I can try the repair and the warranty will still apply to everything else apart fom the usb port. To avoid the hassle of shipping it to bangalore and waiting for the repair, I opened the dac. Indeed the micro usb port wasn't soldered properly. Only two legs out of 4 of the outer metal housing was soldered. This caused the micro usb port to rock up and down on two of the legs (like a see saw) and ultimately 4 connectors got separated from the pcb trace on the board.

View attachment 67463

Did a reflow of the solder on the terminals. Soldered the two remaining legs of the housing on the PCB and now the DAC doesn't disconnect at all. If any FM faces this problem with revolution dac and the dac is out of warranty, this photo will help to repair it

View attachment 67464

I too, along with many others I am sure, had this problem. My usb socket only had two legs badly soldered towards the outside of the circuit board. The were copious amounts of Araldite type adhesive which was mainly on the board with very little on the usb socket. My soldering skills do not extend to this type of work. I removed the main board. Simple job. Posted it to Advance Repair Services in Bradford. 01274 442200. They carried out the repair by return for less than £50.