Allo Boss2 Review (Stereo Streamer)

[redjr]

I also hear a difference in sound when trying new DACs...seems to be a psychological effect . My perception changes in 2-3 days

Expectation bias.

 

[amper42]

Yes most OS will allow you to play from local files . Yes all OS will allow you to play from local file with no internet .

On the bottom of Boss2 you can see a blue heat pad that's placed right under CPU , to transfer heat to the alu case the case is a heat sink)

We do not recommend to use the internal WIFI for audio files . Please get (or use any dongle compatible with RPI) a decent one from us and you will have excelent performance .

BT was tested and works well with Moode (not tested on other OS)

@johan - How do you setup the USB wireless adapter sold by Allo with the Boss2? Is there a way to tell the MAC ID of the USB adapter with a Macintosh? I don't have a PC. The unit offers really poor wireless without the USB Wifi adapter working. Can you offer a step by step install instruction?

 

[PurdueDeep]

I can't get the Boss2 to work over wifi with the USB stick I ordered or without. I'm using a Mac computer. I was able to log into the Boss2 with ethernet connected and configure Wifi with Moode but the Boss2 hardware still does not accept the USB wifi stick connection and ZERO configuration instructions are provided.

This silly thing is a crossword puzzle and the posted manual is worthless as it has ZERO startup instructions. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Its a little troublesome but you should be able to. Just click the wps button on your wifi stick and on your router(in that order, within two minutes).
Then you can go to port it displays and adjust settings!

you are right. The setup is awful. But this is easily my favorite piece of tech in the audio world. Its not like i get paid to provide tech support even. And here I am.

 

[amper42]

Its a little troublesome but you should be able to. Just click the wps button on your wifi stick and on your router(in that order, within two minutes).
Then you can go to port it displays and adjust settings!

you are right. The setup is awful. But this is easily my favorite piece of tech in the audio world. Its not like i get paid to provide tech support even. And here I am.

Thanks for trying to help. I push the WPS button on the wifi stick and within 30 seconds push the WPS button on the Linksys router software. Still can't see any evidence the Comfast CF-912AC USB wifi stick is trying to connect. Even the router troubleshooting logs show nothing from the USB stick.

I took off the blue thick aluminum cover on the Boss2 and the RPi4 internal wifi works considerably better. The case design significantly restricts the internal wifi signal. Not very safe around kids with the top off but the internal wifi would be sufficient if the Boss2 case wifi blocking was not so aggressive.

If I could get the Comfast CF-912AC to respond, find it's MAC ID or how to give it access to the network that would be helpful. WPS is not doing it. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

 

[threni]

Hello

Please use the RPI connector on the side of the alu case . I am checking for earthing of acrylic case

Hi, I'm looking into getting the miniboss, but it's not been reviewed here, and the "Technical Details for miniBOSS DAC" link on this page:

https://www.allo.com/sparky/miniboss-rpi-zero.html#downloads

is broken.

How does this perform (output power, SINAD, etc) compared to the boss2?

 

[Dyabolikal]

Hello all, please excuse my novice question: from a software perspective, would it be possible to output music from the Allo Boss 2 in Moode while simultaneously running something like Plex to stream video to another device?

If it can't be done through Moode, can another distro like Raspbian or DietPi run multiple programs simultaneously that would allow it, while still maintaining the Boss 2s full functionality for audio output?

Thanks!

 

[MrHifiTunes]

Any news on how to ground the acrylic version?

Also Im a bit confused on the filter settings.
Can it be explained what they stand for?

 

[Fahzz]

Hello all, please excuse my novice question: from a software perspective, would it be possible to output music from the Allo Boss 2 in Moode while simultaneously running something like Plex to stream video to another device?

If it can't be done through Moode, can another distro like Raspbian or DietPi run multiple programs simultaneously that would allow it, while still maintaining the Boss 2s full functionality for audio output?

Thanks!

Maybe Look at Max2Play? It will run Kodi and Logitech Media Server. There is a small license fee for the software.

 

[Snoopy]

Hello all, please excuse my novice question: from a software perspective, would it be possible to output music from the Allo Boss 2 in Moode while simultaneously running something like Plex to stream video to another device?

If it can't be done through Moode, can another distro like Raspbian or DietPi run multiple programs simultaneously that would allow it, while still maintaining the Boss 2s full functionality for audio output?

Thanks!

Apple TV 4k hdmi for the video. And a streamer with AirPlay for the audio. Isn't that what you want?

 

[Jith77]

Hello all, please excuse my novice question: from a software perspective, would it be possible to output music from the Allo Boss 2 in Moode while simultaneously running something like Plex to stream video to another device?

If it can't be done through Moode, can another distro like Raspbian or DietPi run multiple programs simultaneously that would allow it, while still maintaining the Boss 2s full functionality for audio output?

Thanks!

not sure if it helps, but rpi can be booted from multiple sd cards. You will have to maintain separate SD cards for the different scenario. I dont know specifically about allo boss, but don't see any reason for it not to function.

There are other options to boot from multiple OSes. You can check this for reference - https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-install-multiple-oses-on-a-single-sd-card-for-raspberry-pi/

 

[Audiofool1Q84]

Could you please explain which filters you engaged and how that's done. I have Non OS enabled. Thanks.

I'd like to know as well. In fact a few comments here on filters but I can't seem to find any documentation anywhere on what each of the 4 filters actually do

 

[Audiofool1Q84]

Im running the Boss2 w RPI4 as a roon endpoint and on the display its showing 32 bit for a track that is 24 bit 96. Any ideas why this is? also can anyone give any good info on what the filters are. I find it sounds best with All engaged and Non OS engaged and slow rolloff.

I have this problem only while using Airplay (no matter the device or app). Airplay should be 16 bit but I get only 32. Am on the latest Volumio 2.9 and upsampling is off - the local tech support guy has no clue.

 

[Audiofool1Q84]

Hi all:
First time poster long time lurker here. After reading about the Boss2 I thought this would be a good solution for music in my wood shop. I have no internet connection at my wood shop so streaming is out of the question. What I do have is a SSD connected locally to the Boss2 with all on my flac files on it.

I did not want to use my phone as an interface because it is small and I often forget it when I go to my shop. So I picked up a cheap Kindle fire 7, stripped everything Amazon off of it to use strictly as an interface with the Boss2. I wanted something that could be carried around the shop with me it needed. I built a quick stand and connected it to my cheap shop stereo. I am very impressed with the sound from this little device.

Before taking it to my shop I had it plugged into my system at home and was pleasantly surprised.View attachment 136784

This looks awesome. Could you please explain what connection did you use and how did you prepare the Fire tab (in terms of os/software) to interface like this?

 

[Winvieh]

OK, that is interesting, I thought that you were limited to only the software choices on the Allo.com website, Moode or Dietpi+Allo, can anyone else confirm, can you use any Raspberry Pi style OS, can you use Picoreplayer with the Logitech Media Server loaded on the SD card?

Yes, runns fine. Installation get an error, if you don not have resized filesystem. that's it.
Regards Winnie.

 

[Winvieh]

Well, i like the piCore-player.

This is robust. You can interrupt the power supply without any trouble. This is not true if you run the LMS on same device.

Also it is very small, with resized filesystem about 380 KByte.

This means, you can store the image with Win32Diskimager (only allocated) fast and small on your PC. Also you can use a quality SD card, fast and with every size, and there is only this small amount allocated.

Also it is easy to define the SOX parameters. I allowed rates specified, and the doubling with filtering. The results are better, for my ears, when i do not enable to extend from 44.1 KHz to 192 KHz, it's better to realize 24 Bit with 88.2 KHz.

Change in squeezelight settings:
Max sample rates: 44100,48000,88200,96000,192000 and
Upsample settings: v::3.5:28:95:100:45

if you change v in vX, than you enhance to expand everything to 192 KHz.

Other OS are bigger on SD's, sometimes they take the whole SD.

Best regards Winnie.

 

[Fahzz]

I'd like to know as well. In fact a few comments here on filters but I can't seem to find any documentation anywhere on what each of the 4 filters actually do

Same for me. I'd like an explanation as well. Anyone?

 

[Winvieh]

Well,

those 4 filters, rechable via menue, are not well defined.

Somehow like my expensive Sony cd player, long time ago, there have been a lot of filters, with explanation, but understand what they are doing or what for, is another chapter.

There it was terrible, in every cd there was onother filter sounds good. But they system dosn't help reminding....

My way is simple, find a good combination and leave it.

Regards Winnie.

 

[Dyabolikal]

Maybe Look at Max2Play? It will run Kodi and Logitech Media Server. There is a small license fee for the software.

Apple TV 4k hdmi for the video. And a streamer with AirPlay for the audio. Isn't that what you want?

not sure if it helps, but rpi can be booted from multiple sd cards. You will have to maintain separate SD cards for the different scenario. I dont know specifically about allo boss, but don't see any reason for it not to function.

There are other options to boot from multiple OSes. You can check this for reference - https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-install-multiple-oses-on-a-single-sd-card-for-raspberry-pi/

Thanks everyone for the options and input, much appreciated! I obviously have some more research to do. Part of the appeal for me is learning to tinker with a Raspberry Pi in general, so maybe I'll end up with more than one Pi down the road to satisfy different functions.

 

[Gaspar74]

Same for me. I'd like an explanation as well. Anyone?

For filter selection I find that Pase compensation is off. High pass filter is off. De Emphasis is on and Non Over sampling is on. this seems to work best for me.

 

[Fahzz]

Ok. Thanks I'll try that combination.