Allo Boss2 Review (Stereo Streamer)

[wemist01]

Yes a handy device. One could be seated in the "sweet spot" in whatever room your system is in, and using a notebook or a tablet or even a phone you could play Internet streams through the thing, or you could play stored tracks from a NAS or PC on your network that has ample storage. Nice to see such a machine with a very good DAC at such a friendly price.

I'm trying to measure the plusses and minuses of ways to drive an in-house/outdoor powered speaker system. One solution is a network receiver that is driven by app. That's a one-time expense; from there I can play radio or stream Spotify or any service available on the receiver app.

The promise of a streamer is the potential to access my local networked music files. I was looking at Roon and was disappointed by the subscription fee. No way for me to even demo it without giving a credit card number. Paying additional monthly fees for a low-fi house speaker system isn't worth it for me. Is there any capable, free way to arrange a streamer solution that competes with the functionality of a network receiver?

If it needs to be said, my dedicated two-channel audio system is adjacent the computer and have no difficulty playing my digital music files on it. The in-house system needs to cater to what I might want to listen to while cooking, showering, or sitting out on my deck.

 

[Fahzz]

Can this thing run LMS/Squeezebox?
Can it play a local library stored on an external drive?
Thanks.

 

[cbhere]

Can this thing run LMS/Squeezebox?
Can it play a local library stored on an external drive?
Thanks.

I can see squeezelite option in the settings hope this is what you are looking for, screenshot attached

 

[Cut-Throat]

Can this thing run LMS/Squeezebox?
Can it play a local library stored on an external drive?
Thanks.

Yes, it can run LMS via PiCorePlayer. I use the Allo Digione and a Boss DAC with PcP LMS. And yes you can use an External Drive. I use a NAS in house and when I am travelling I take my Allo Boss and a small USB drive (2TB) with 5,000 Albums.

 

[cbhere]

I'm trying to measure the plusses and minuses of ways to drive an in-house/outdoor powered speaker system. One solution is a network receiver that is driven by app. That's a one-time expense; from there I can play radio or stream Spotify or any service available on the receiver app.

The promise of a streamer is the potential to access my local networked music files. I was looking at Roon and was disappointed by the subscription fee. No way for me to even demo it without giving a credit card number. Paying additional monthly fees for a low-fi house speaker system isn't worth it for me. Is there any capable, free way to arrange a streamer solution that competes with the functionality of a network receiver?

If it needs to be said, my dedicated two-channel audio system is adjacent the computer and have no difficulty playing my digital music files on it. The in-house system needs to cater to what I might want to listen to while cooking, showering, or sitting out on my deck.

I think Boss2 can serve the purpose, you can connect this to the powered speaker and you can control it from any smartphone/tablet/PC (basically any device with a browser connected to the network) anywhere in the network, you will have the below options:
1. Bluetooth
2. Airplay
3. Spotify
4. Roon
5. If you run an LMS server on ur pc it can connect and play files from the PC through squeezelite
6. UPnP/DLNA

 

[noel_fs]

what the fuck, 150 for a good streamer? thats insane

 

[Kachda]

Yes you can control volume

Thanks. Is there also a physical rotary volume control or is that just a power switch ? Thanks.

 

[Kegemusha]

I think Boss2 can serve the purpose, you can connect this to the powered speaker and you can control it from any smartphone/tablet/PC (basically any device with a browser connected to the network) anywhere in the network, you will have the below options:
1. Bluetooth
2. Airplay
3. Spotify
4. Roon
5. If you run an LMS server on ur pc it can connect and play files from the PC through squeezelite
6. UPnP/DLNA

UPnP is what I need at home ,I had this Allo in my list as streamer to replace the sonos connect that I have, and now that I know it measures good then even more tempted.
Thanks for those measurements!

 

[Cut-Throat]

what the fuck, 150 for a good streamer? thats insane

Actually, if you already have a DAC, a great Streamer can be had for around $50. Just buy the Raspberry Pi Model 4 and use the USB output into your DAC.... I have compared the Allo Digione (Coax) vs. Model 4 Rpi (USB) and they both are comparable SQ, now that the RPi has corrected problems of earlier versions with USB.

 

[cbhere]

Thanks. Is there also a physical rotary volume control or is that just a power switch ? Thanks.

It’s not a rotary volume control, it’s a 4way joy stick with a press button for selection. It can be used for increasing and decreasing volume.

 

[AndreaT]

Basically is the ability to "remote" the playback. That is, put a box in your stereo rack but have the control be on some computer elsewhere. This way your PC doesn't need to be next to the audio equipment.

It would be divine if streamer sellers could point out if the streamer needs a network or might work as a standalone player from an external hard drive w/o any further networking (like the Weiss MAN-301 and it’s iPad interface), along with the maximum HD size allowed. It does make a difference in complexity of required setup.

 

[cbhere]

It would be divine if streamer sellers could point out if the streamer needs a network or might work as a standalone player from an external hard drive w/o any further networking (like the Weiss MAN-301 and it’s iPad interface), along with the maximum HD size allowed. It does make a difference in complexity of required setup.

Great point, I think it’s possible with this player moode audio. I can see an option for WiFi access point similar to Weiss Man-301 in the settings but need to further test it for confirmation. Screen shot below:

 

[amirm]

It would be divine if streamer sellers could point out if the streamer needs a network or might work as a standalone player from an external hard drive w/o any further networking (like the Weiss MAN-301 and it’s iPad interface), along with the maximum HD size allowed. It does make a difference in complexity of required setup.

This one can do that too. But you still need it networked for the control App to talk to it. You could also connect a display to these devices and play thing fully locally with a keyboard/mouse.

 

[SDX-LV]

missing dual subwoofer outs

 

[Labjr]

I'm not really familiar with streaming. Will JRiver work with this? And it works with up to 192khz and DSD64 but not higher sample rates? Is DSD native or DoP?

 

[astrokari]

FYI, if anyone in the US doesn't want to pay shipping from EU, these are in stock over at PiShop.us. They quote me $10.95 for shipping. Note that they're selling these with early-run cases that had to be modded to widen the microSD slot, but it could be worth it for the shipping discount?

 

[Timbo2]

And if you aren't going to see it and don't need the expensive case you can save $50! (I'm also not suggesting that $50 for a decent aluminum case is unreasonable.)

 

[cbhere]

Great point, I think it’s possible with this player moode audio. I can see an option for WiFi access point similar to Weiss Man-301 in the settings but need to further test it for confirmation. Screen shot below:
View attachment 127067

Just tested Access Point mode, once connected to the player directly by choosing the moode WiFi network we can play files stored on the device SD card or any drive connected to USB on the player from the mobile browser by pointing the browser to 172.24.1.1
This is great for complete offline use

 

[Labjr]

Is there a direct mode that will work with no internet connection?

 

[tolip]

W

And if you aren't going to see it and don't need the expensive case you can save $50! (I'm also not suggesting that $50 for a decent aluminum case is unreasonable.)

Depends on what you already have. Lets take pishop.us prices for example, most likely similar result with other shops. If you get the Boss2 with aluminium case you get Boss2 + RPI4 2GB+16GB SD card with Moode installed for 153.95USD. The DAC only plastic case version is 99.95USD. So might look like you can save 54USD. Thats only in case you already have a spare RPI and SD card. Separately Pi4 2GB is 35USD. So if you don't have a spare RPI its only 19USD saving. If you tick SD card option on cheap version it adds another 8.95USD. That leaves a saving of 10.05USD. So you would pay that much extra for aluminum case and factory assembly and its just plug and play in case you are happy with preinstalled Moode. Otherwise just a software change. Worth considering. Also you get a ground point on the case which you would need to hack onto the DAC only plastic version if needed. Personally I'd get the DAC only version or even better a DAC (if only it would be available) without case, display, joystick button and remote as I already have a spare PI + few SD cards and I would run Volumio and build a custom case with nice touchscreen + rotary encoder for volume control + buttons on front panel, all the connectors on back side and dual PSU inside to keep it all looking nice. I'd say I might enjoy the building part as much or even more than using it later but for someone who wants an easy working solution the metal version is really the better option.