[LFC_SL]

http://www.aloaudio.com/amplifiers/the-island
 
Been stalking the Alo website as I really want to test out the balanced ouput stage on my Clas -dB and then I distracted by the Pan Am. And then woah a big bright colour banner, new product announcement!

 

[Lespectraal]

I knew ALO would develop such a device. A portable USB-powered DAC/AMP that can power just about any modest over-ear headphone out there. 

I really like the look of the Island though, reminds me of vintage 1950s electronics.

 

[Haidar]

Like this guy, I won't consider getting one until its tested against the DACPort
save-earth.co/2013/09/18/alo-theisland-thoughts/

 

[LFC_SL]

I get the first part of the article
 
I do not get the second part, mentioning cable manufacturer origins comes across as elitism.
 
And elitism in a niche hobby scores double negative points

That might be wrong but to me the article reads that way.

 

[belisk]

an interesting read about the USB spec
i see the new USB 3.1 specs can deliver upto 20V x 5A = 100W

hopefully with that we'll see alot more powerful portable amp/dacs running from our computer.

 

[AJHeadfi]

So is Cypher Labs completely nothing to do with ALO anymore?
 
The new CL Thereom looks much more interesting. Although I don't want balanced anything.

 

[dcginc]

has anyone tried it with iOS 7.X with a CCK? If so, does it need bus power or can it work like HRT's micostreamer w/o USB power?

 

[signals]

  has anyone tried it with iOS 7.X with a CCK? If so, does it need bus power or can it work like HRT's micostreamer w/o USB power?

 
Since there is no battery in the Island, it can not be run from a device that can't provide USB power.

 

[shipsupt]

You can get power out of the CCK, it's just limited.

 

[signals]

  You can get power out of the CCK, it's just limited.

 
See, that's why it says "Junior Head-Fi'er" under my name. Sorry for the ill-informed response. 

 
Maybe I'll try to pick up a CCK in the next few days and see if it works with my Island.

 

[shipsupt]

This thread stays pretty active too, so you could wait and see if someone else test it.  Or, if you do test it please post up on how it goes!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/507559/list-of-dacs-that-work-with-ipad

 

[signals]

I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but here's everything my computer will tell me about the Island. It does say that it requested 500ma from the computer, which is too high for the CCK, is it not? Unless they specifically engineered a mode into it where it will back off on it's request, I suspect the iPad will complain that it draws too much power. It was also news to me that it is an XMOS device. I guess it's not surprising, but I don't think ALO was forthcoming with that info.
 
There's a lot of output here, so I put it on a pastebin. Have a look if you are interested:
 
http://pastebin.com/8wFm15fa

 

[shipsupt]

It might be good to put your post over in that other thread with the link I posted.  The guys there should be able to decipher that information.  I'm guessing that it's going to be too much power for the iPad, but I am not sure so it would be best to check there.

 

[dcginc]

Just heard from alo, no go on island w iPhone, but I'm sure external power would work. I just did that w a Meridian Explorer,

 

[RMac]

  Like this guy, I won't consider getting one until its tested against the DACPort
save-earth.co/2013/09/18/alo-theisland-thoughts/

 "Yes, it offers balanced in/out and hi-res 24/192 USB DAC, but I don’t need balanced it/out as I don’t want to have a balanced headphone" He just casts the balanced output aside because he himself doesn't prefer it but I think that's a pretty good feature for a portable amp/dac, no?