Allo Boss DAC review

allo.com · April 25, 2018, 9:52am

On the PCm5122 dac ic its possible to have a small pop when changing the sample rate.

wizardofoz · April 25, 2018, 10:22am

I usually fix my sample rates in DSP for my RPi HAT endpoints. Cant say I have noticed any pops or clicks on my IQAudIO hats in this config

zang_tumtum · May 1, 2018, 6:18am

April is off.
Waiting aluminium case for Boss.
Any news about it?
About silver version?
Exactly when we can buy it?

Michel_Picard · May 11, 2018, 6:13pm

Boy and girls, it’s with great emotion that I discovered this : https://allo.com/sparky/aluminum-case-boss-player.html

It’s finally here \o/

ezman · June 9, 2018, 6:50am

I’d like to power the Boss from an external 5V power supply without a USB type C connector. Can you confirm that I can supply power to the J19 GPIO header, pins 1 or 2 for +5V and pins 15 or 16 for ground, while leaving J25 un-jumpered?

Thanks,

Eric

rahulkc_s · June 18, 2018, 10:05am

J25 open case - J19 power (1 or 2 +5v , 15 or 16 GND) goes to RPI only. Boss will not get power.
J25 Close case – J19 pins powering will feed to RPI & BOSS.
J25 Open - J19 15 or 16 GND , +5V to J25- 1st Pin ( board edge side PIN -> mark ). This case external power to Boss only.

jimmyb · July 14, 2018, 12:42am

I have the same question:

Is the attenuator board compatible with the aluminum case ??

Or, would we be forced into an acrylic case, to add an Attenuator to the Boss unit ?

(The Allo website does offer an acrylic case for that combination. If that’s the only option, I might reluctantly avoid the Attenuator.)

thanks

ezman · July 14, 2018, 10:54pm

The third set of jumper/power settings is the one I’ll use.

J25 Open - J19 15 or 16 GND , +5V to J25- 1st Pin ( board edge side PIN → mark ). This case external power to Boss only.

Thanks,
– Eric

jimmyb · July 17, 2018, 4:57am

Apologies for the bump, I’m trying to see if allo/johan could help with this Boss case question? thanks.

@allo.com

Janis · July 17, 2018, 6:05am

Unfortunately Allo attenuator board is not possible to drive from Roon. So, to control volume HW buttons with wiring are required.

Andy_Spinks · August 3, 2018, 12:45am

Anyone compared the Boss with the MiniBoss? Is the sound quality the same? Is the MiniBoss equally Roon ready?

Jon_McNeill · August 17, 2018, 11:47pm

Quick question concerning the Boss—I’m thinking about buying one with a case now, but then down the road I may swap with the DigiOne HAT and try with a different DAC. Will I still be able to use the same case, or are the cases for the RPi+DigiOne substantially different?

Tony_Reimann · August 18, 2018, 3:15am

The cases are different and can’t be interchanged.

David_Dana · August 29, 2018, 4:02pm

Hi all, I landed here following numerous good reviews of the BOSS Player and I’m considering to get one but I’m really a rooky wrt RPi type of solutions and have some questions. I hope you can help me a bit.
My intention is to use the BOSS Player connected (via RCA) to an old Analog stereo amplifier to enable streaming over Wifi capabilities (first using UPNP, in the long run using Roon).
Here are my questions :

Sound Quality wise, is there any difference between BOSS Player and the Mini BOSS Player Plus?
WouId I need the extra CPU power of the Player (vs. the Mini Player+) and if yes for which type of usage?
What is the role of the optional attenuators (“Stepped Attenuator” or “Relay Attenuator”) and would I need one in my set-up?
How can I know which OS I need between DietPI, Max2Play or Volumio?
I guess in my usage I would need to add a Wifi dongle right? Do you have any model to recommand?

Thank you upfront for your feedback

Janis · August 29, 2018, 6:07pm

Hi

From sound quality the new Audiophonics DACs are much better quality than BOSS (TI chipset is not really best for DACs, even Allo has squeezed max possible from it).

Allo Relay Attenuators are not actually compatible and SW compatible with Roon. I purchased one and it is dusting, as Allo team is not having any RPI support outside of Volumio player - attention not OS (means no Roon client support on Volumio neither)! Only if you do HW wiring and switches it will work.

Janis

David_Dana · August 29, 2018, 8:10pm

Hi Janis,

Thank you for your feedback. Are you referring to Audiophonics ES9038Q2M?
Well it is twice the price so indeed I guess we can expect it is better
To be honest, if the SQ is much better I would be ready to put the extra money. But I just had a look on the Audiphonics website and my main concern is that I’m completely new to RPi and I don’t find the equivalent of the BOSS Player, meaning a sort of plug&play solution I can use with basic power supply and no soldering, SSH configuration and set up and other Linux guru tweaks…
Wondering if this product is for me…

Coming back to your other comments, are you saying the BOSS Player is not a Roon end point?

David

dhusky · August 29, 2018, 8:28pm

AFAIK you can install Ropieee to make it a plug and play endpoint or simply install Roon Bridge under Volumio by following the instructions here: RoonBridge on Volumio Raspberry Pi Image? .

Janis · August 29, 2018, 8:34pm

Hi,

I’m referring to Audiophonics ES9028Q2M.
It is much better in my tests I did than BOSS.

Money is relative. Top quality DAC price is 20,000$. We are here talking about amounts less than shipping cost of such device.

I’m also not RPI expect, but set-up of it was not more complex that BOSS. The DietPi has preloaded drivers for both of them, and you need to select either Allo or Audiophonics driver for sound card in installation. There are many discussions on RPI set-up in this forum. With the Audiophonics ES9028Q2M no HW work or soldering required. However, with previous 9018 chip based DAC it was mission impossible to use it. With all jumper soldering it didn’t work as there were no driver support in RPI, and I had to return it to Audiophonics.

Unfortunately, if you want to save 2000$ (price of basic quality ready DAC for use), and have DIY RPI DAC for 200$ - you will need to do some minor SHH.

There is no BOSS Player.
There is BOSS DAC that works very nice with Roon.
But all these optional attenuators (“Stepped Attenuator” or “Relay Attenuator”) is marketing for DIY HW people that would do soldering HW switches, etc. Or you have to live with Volumio and forget Roon.

Janis

Janis · August 29, 2018, 8:39pm

It will not help to run optional attenuators (“Stepped Attenuator” or “Relay Attenuator”).
Roon bridge will play on Volumio, but volume control is not possible from Roon. You need to still do HW volume switching.

Only if you will use Volumio player then SW volume control over these optional attenuators will work. But then no Roon.

seagull · August 29, 2018, 8:42pm

Does the Allo Boss 1.2 Player with aluminium case work with WiFi?
Or is the aluminium case shielding and do I need a WiFi dongle to be able to work with WiFi?
I’ll be using the player with RoPieee.