Ah, thanks for clarifying - I only have IQAudio boards and the software volume control there seems to work as expected with Volumio.
Yes, because it is done in DAC. Doesnāt matter IQAudio or Allo or Audiophonics.
The problem is that optional attenuators (āStepped Attenuatorā or āRelay Attenuatorā) are not normally controllable from RPI ALSA volume control that Roon is using.
Until Roon will program special code in Roon Bridge to control outside of DAS optional attenuators from Allo with uniques code required there is no solution for Roon interface driven volume control.
Nether Roon nor Allo I guess are not working on it.
Allo got Volumio to set-up it for their basic server/ player. Thatās it for the moment. Unless Allo can give us some news.
Janis
Thanks, helpful to know as I had wondered about adding a hardware attentuator at some point - glad I hadnāt got round to it!
Hi Janis,
What do you mean by no BOSS Player? I thought they were selling a fully integrated BOSS DAC + RPi with all SW flased and ready to use (https://www.allo.com/sparky/boss-player.html). For 129$ (including plastic housing) I thought I would have a complete Roon ready Streamer+DAC (assuming I plugg in a Wifi dongle)
Again Iām very new at this so maybe I got it completely wrong 
Also, it looks Audiphonics has now replaced ES9028Q2M by ES9038Q2M, did you had the chance to test it?
Ahh I see. That is bundle that is called Boss player now. All right. It will work.
No, I have not tested the new 9038.
Janis
Hi Janis,
Are you aware of any company selling āsimilarā plugg&play player box based on Audiophonics DAC?
Also, is my understanding correct that when they say RPi 3 is supporting Wifi, BT etc, they refer to ācapabilitiesā but I still need to add a Wifi or BT dongle to get it working?
David
Hi Janis,
Found an answer to my 1st qestion 
https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/lecteurs-reseau-audio-raspdac/audiophonics-raspdac-i-sabre-es9038q2m-v2-lecteur-reseau-raspberry-pi-3-b-p-12664.html
Not sure there is the Kali here though, furthermore I guess I would need to add a few bucks for a Wifi dongle right?
So total would be around 450ā¬ which more than an Auralic Aries Mini for instance, which is a real end user product with more connectivity, versatility and supportā¦
We canāt really talk about cheap DIY anymore
Well, I learned the answer to this one the hard way: Roon Bridge will not run on the Pi Zero, so there is not much point in purchasing a MiniBoss.
A Pi Zero / MiniBoss combo could be used as a Roon endpoint, but it would have to be through AirPlay or Squeezebox emulation. The MiniBoss could also be used with a Pi 3, but it would be a strange fit and no case would be available for this. So the regular Boss DAC on a āfull sizeā (ARMv7) Pi remains the way to go for RAAT compatibility.
Hiā¦how did you power the Pi+Boss? Did you power the Boss directly, or did you power the Pi? Powering them seperately is also possible.
On what Iāve read, the way you power it, may result in different hearing results. Measurements of different ways powering it, havenāt been done.
The Allo Boss is now a few days connected to my hifi set. The first evening I could only listen to it on headphones, and the sound blew me away 
Then I started listening by speakers. Well, Iām not all that impressed, even though I hear lots of clarity, new noises and details and great stereo imaging. You see, the vocals sound really bad 
and simple music sounds great but once a rocksong opens up the sound becomes harsh, like too much water is pushed through a small pipe. The bass might be more specific but itās too far on the background in my opinion.
I guess I like a warm full sound, I still achieve with old CD players.
For 5 years now I listen to the RP with Hifiberry dac+. Thought I needed to improve the sound. I ordered a Yamaha NP-S303. The internet radio sounded great, but not so my flac and wav files. It was a cold sound, and made me turn off my favorite music. I returned the Yamaha. I dont know yet about the Allo Bossā¦
Iāve just moved from a Boss 1.2 dac to a Starting point systems Dac3, which uses a TDA1543 NOS chip. Very neutral sounding and the vocals come through beautifully. A French guy makes these his self.
Can be had for below Ā£100 if you look around on forums and auction sites.
I get what you mean about the boss sometimes sounding harsh.
Perhaps give it 50-60 hours to burn in.
I wound up with Katana For a year and have since moved on from that.