Thanks very much for the quick reply. I’m assuming the USBridge with DietPi will be plug-and-play— once it boots up it’ll just show up as a Roon endpoint, with no installation, etc.
One more question: I have a 5 volt linear power supply— will that be enough to power both the Sparky and the USBridge?
You need to run dietpi-config which will present menus to install software and configure your sparky. It is all menu driven and simple. Follow the install instructions on the dietpi website. As long as your power supply is 2A or more it will be fine.
Got the USBridge and Sparky SBC today. Came with Dietpi software. I went to the Dietpi website and downloaded the dietpi.txt for Roon Endpoint. Connected DAC (Dragonfly Red), Ethernet cable and power. Red light on the Sparky board flashes on and off but nothing happens. With the eMMC connected, I get power to the DAC but Ethernet doesn’t come on. With microSD card connected, eMMC disconnected, Ethernet comes on but there is no power to the DAC. . I’m powering the unit with a iFi ipower 5vDc, which should be adequate power.
I hope someone from Allo.com is reading this topic and will respond. I’ll also post this to the Dietpi website and try my luck there as well.
Seems like the place to ask this question of @allo.com.
I have enough USB signal manipulators, wish USBridge was available when I made other purchases. RPi/Dietpi plays most native DSD, but chokes on DSD512. I don’t know if it’s the RPi or my 
i5 Mini running Roon core…
Can Sparky/DietPi handle DSD512?
Thanks
On our test setup we don’t have a DAC capable of 512. Would you like to try it ?
I would, but I don’t as yet have a Sparky, hence the preliminary question.
I think maybe Allo are suggesting they’ll give you one to try/test for them 
@allo.com Johan I’ll test native DSD256 (iFi iDAC2) for you 
I was having problems with the RPi3 (pops and crackles) with all OS’s (DietPi, RoPieee, Moode).
I tried an Odroid C2 with the same setup and DietPi and all problems disappeared, so I figured it was the shared bus issue (in my setup).
See this thread will all of my observations the last 2 weeks:
We have found a patch and we will try to apply it. However today is off in India so will give some updates on Monday
They’ll do that ? Great.
Let me answer more in the affirmative. I have an iFi iDSD and can test DSD512. I don’t have any native DSD512 files (who does, I yet to find any), but I can upsample 44.1, 96, 176, and DSD64, 128, and 256. I forgot when I made my original post that I had moved my core to a dual Xeon machine, but I can test the core on both that and on the Mini.
The hardware at the listening post would be Sparky->iFI Nano USB3 (or not)->iFI iDSD->Schiit Lyr2 headphone amp->OPPO PM3 headphones.
If you want me to test, tell me what you want done and I’ll PM my address. I like to tinker and I have plenty of time on my hands so feel free…
Let us work first on the patch. Will pm you.
The patch was successfully applied . We will release a new image on Monday/Tuesday
I have a Sparky…and a DSD/DOP board…I would try it with the Kali and Paint 2.1 I have but they appear to have died or both unresponsive on the sparky or Pi’s I have tried.
Been meaning to email support at Allo about them…
Sounds nice. I would also like to try DSD512 to my iFi Micro iDSD Black Label. 
So how do I run roon on my new volumio USBridge?
Normal commands to download bridge dont work…
Use dietpi instead of volumio.
each here for volumio and roon bridge install - I have done it but you need some other libraries like bzip iirc
So volumio wont take a roon bridge on sparky?
Anyone from Allo on here to update this thread?
I just got my Vana player, which is working with Max2Play and Squeeze box, which technically funtions but is very slow for interactions, especially controlling the system from the android app.
I would like to switch to a DietPi OS on the sparky. I have a QNAP NAS as the file server. Currently spinning discs but will eventually be SSD, which I know is recommended, but it is working fine.
It is the control interface which is not responsive enough, either via a web browser on a networked PC, or the Android app.
I tried Volumio, and it “worked” but the experience of playing music was far worse even than Squeezebox, and tracks started and stopped playing constantly, so it was really not listenable, even though it made sound.
Would be awesome to be able to use ROON, or Moode. But I think I will need guidance on setting it up, if not an image I can just load and be done.
Any update from Allo or other experts?
Hi Colin,
At the risk of explaining something you already know, the Roon architecture consists of three functional parts. A Core, which runs on a computer (Windows, MacOS or Linux), an Output or endpoint which delivers digital sound and a Control which … controls them.
The Allo Sparky can run Roon Bridge, which is an Output only. You will still need a Core and a Control. The Roon program on a conventional computer will do that. some NAS are powerful enough to run Roon or Roon Server (Core only) and there are sections on this Forum relating to that. I wouldn’t reccomended running Roon without an SSD for the database.
The simplest way to run Roon Bridge on the Sparky is to download the Diet Pi image and burn it to a microSD card. The DietPi menu has an option to install Roon Bridge.