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Allo Boss2 Review (Stereo Streamer)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Yes. But then you might as well just get a raspberry pi 4. Which will do the job just as well, at half the price.
I have Boss2, but if I buy some better DAC then will use this for player...
Don’t waste your money. The BOSS 2 DAC measures very well. You are not going to find an audibly better DAC.
Think you are right...I do test with Marantz HDDAC...not worth it...Im not saying that is Boss better, but price win
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TerryO
Member
The problem is that many audiophiles are given to associating cost with sound quality. Naturally, the Audio Industry is quite happy to have you pay unbelievable amounts of money just to satisfy any insecurities we may contend with. Having spent the majority of my life raising children with all the costs that are entailed with that "Hobby", I certainly welcome anything that produces excellent sound, at what is an affordable price (by my standards)!
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Few days tested, must admit that Marantz have more pleasent sound, bas is better staged, warm sound...(little too much suppressed), you just listen, listen...but like I sad is 3x Boss in price. I would like see comparison with Denafrips Ares 2 or Chord Mojo 2.
B&WTube
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What competes with the Boss2? I have been trying to buy one, but their are no RPI 4's to be had at regular prices- and I missed the used one the Boss 2 Plug N Play that just come up on eBay. Tired of waiting, but it doesn't seem like there is anything close to as good, that can run Moode+Camilla, for the same or less$. Is there some option I am missing?
The Boss2 is a good Streamer/DAC but any number of SBCs with a good USB DAC would give the same or better performance.
The problem is software. MoOde runs only on RPi. Volumio is supported on RPi and x86 but you might find you have issues with a driver for a particular x86 board. There are few other Rpi apps such as ropieee, picoreplayer and dietpi. If you are prepared to pay there is Roon and BluOS (there might be free version of BluOS)
If you want free SW you are pushed towards the RPi.
B&WTube
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Thanks. I want the DSP from Camilla, so I guess I am just SOL indefinitely...and also, I am not paying more than what I already pay for streaming.
Sister_Ray
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- May 9, 2022
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Just bought one of these and I read that I can power it directly via the RPi USB-C PSU (5V 3A). Wondering how do I earth the Boss2 if I do not have the fancy Nirvana PSU just a plain RPi PSU? The Boss2 has a grounding pin below, but where should I lead the wire?
For my part, I bought a 3-prong plug at the local DIY outlet, connected one end of a single, insulated electrical wire to the ground pin of the plug, and the other to the grounding pin of the Boss2. *** WARNING : DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS IF YOU ARE NOT TRAINED IN SAFETY PROCEDURES FOR ELECTRICAL WORK IN A HOME ***
Roland68
Major Contributor
You can buy a ground rod that is about 16mm in diameter and 3m long.
You then drive this completely into the ground under the foundation of your house and connect the grounding pin of the Allo Boss2 to it with a sufficiently thick grounding cable. Perfect!
Of course you can also do it as described by Theodore8, but please only if you are sufficiently familiar with it.
You don't need to ground it. In fact grounding it is more likely to introduce problems than not through earth loops.
Once in a blue moon, grounding might solve noise issues. If you don't have noise issues, don't bother.
I totally agree with Tony.
My Boss2 has the Nirvana PSU connected and I can't tell any difference if ground is enabled or disabled on the Nirvana. This is great example of worrying about something that doesn't matter. If you don't have an issue - don't create problems for yourself.
Blew
Active Member
Please don't advise that!You can buy a ground rod that is about 16mm in diameter and 3m long.
You then drive this completely into the ground under the foundation of your house and connect the grounding pin of the Allo Boss2 to it with a sufficiently thick grounding cable. Perfect!
Of course you can also do it as described by Theodore8, but please only if you are sufficiently familiar with it.
Roland68
Major Contributor
The first one should have been understood as a joke, right? Even if it is the usual procedure for grounding a house.
For the second sentence, please note "but please only if you are sufficiently familiar with it". This means that someone who does something like this knows what they are doing in every situation and what the effects are. Otherwise you should keep your hands off something like that.
The video sheds light on some of the problems, and it's also easy to understand, but in reality the topic is much more complex and extensive.
NickGR
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- Apr 30, 2022
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Dear Amir
Thank you for your great work.
The pursuit of Truth is, in itself, is the path to follow.
I did purchase BOSS2 as my 1st DAC-Streamer, following your suggestion.
The ROON renderer was not installed.
I found the instructions how to download and install it.
https://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=3200
It sounds great.
I used your “Blind Test” ideas; A friend was pushing the buttons, switching a) from an excellent blue Vinyl (Like Minds is a 1998 jazz album Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, and Dave Holland) to the same music/CD quality, streamed via BOSS2 and b) from a CD player
I will never buy again CDs and Vinyl!
TIDAL and ROON are the future…. and QUOBUZ when they expand to Greece.
Listening with FOCAL Kanta-II speakers and via QUAD-40 amplifier and preamplifier.
Greetings from Greece
Niko
Thank you for your great work.
The pursuit of Truth is, in itself, is the path to follow.
I did purchase BOSS2 as my 1st DAC-Streamer, following your suggestion.
The ROON renderer was not installed.
I found the instructions how to download and install it.
https://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=3200
It sounds great.
I used your “Blind Test” ideas; A friend was pushing the buttons, switching a) from an excellent blue Vinyl (Like Minds is a 1998 jazz album Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, and Dave Holland) to the same music/CD quality, streamed via BOSS2 and b) from a CD player
I will never buy again CDs and Vinyl!
TIDAL and ROON are the future…. and QUOBUZ when they expand to Greece.
Listening with FOCAL Kanta-II speakers and via QUAD-40 amplifier and preamplifier.
Greetings from Greece
Niko
Go into the Moode Audio settings with your web browser and turn on Airplay.
If you have not setup Boss2 on your network plug the Boss2 into your router via ethernet cable and set it up following the directions here: https://github.com/moode-player/moode/blob/master/www/setup.txt
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