RPI 4B streamer + Topping E30 or Allo Boss 2 player

[SanVJ]

Hi Guys,

I'm planning to add a streamer and a dac to my desktop setup. Should I go with the Allo Boss 2 player or a RPI + seperate DAC?

And please suggest if there are any better options available under 20k.

Amp: Fosi BT20A
Speakers: Micca RB42

Thanks,

 

[mbhangui]

I have done my own streamers using RPI3, RPI4 with external dacs (allo and others). I'm pretty satisified with the setup. They easily trounce the sound I get with DAC connected to apple hardware or my Linux HTPC.

But I haven't tried allo boss2. But I have heard nothing but praise about that hardware.

 

[MNX]

Hi Guys,

I'm planning to add a streamer and a dac to my desktop setup. Should I go with the Allo Boss 2 player or a RPI + seperate DAC?

And please suggest if there are any better options available under 20k.

Amp: Fosi BT20A
Speakers: Micca RB42

Thanks,

If you are also using your desktop for playback, then RPi + an independent DAC (Something like E30 or similar) make more sense. With Allo B2P, you are pretty much limited to the RPi for input.

 

[SanVJ]

I got the boss2 player and their SMPS, you'll not find much better out there price/performance wise, it's cleaner than the 1.2 just does everything right in my opinion.

Thanks for the response.

Do you have Nirvana or Shanthi? Is there notable difference in SQ between these and normal 5v PS?

 

[SanVJ]

If you are also using your desktop for playback, then RPi + an independent DAC (Something like E30 or similar) make more sense. With Allo B2P, you are pretty much limited to the RPi for input.

Thanks for the response. My laptop soundcard is very bad that's the reason I'm looking for external dac and a streamer. I have my music stored on a external HDD.

 

[SanVJ]

I have done my own streamers using RPI3, RPI4 with external dacs (allo and others). I'm pretty satisified with the setup. They easily trounce the sound I get with DAC connected to apple hardware or my Linux HTPC.

RPI streamer better than apple hardware!!! Intresting.

 

[mbhangui]

RPI streamer better than apple hardware!!! Intresting.

apple keeps a fixed sample rate. Only if you have an iphone or ipad you can play bit perfect. https://darko.audio/2021/06/apple-musics-hi-res-streaming-is-a-bit-of-a-mess/

Apple’s Music app does not switch sample rates automatically. We must do it manually via the Audio MIDI Setup app. And if we want to maintain the data integrity of the studio master, we have to change it every time the song’s sample rate changes. Every. Time. Any mismatch between the stream’s sample rate and the sample rate specified in Audio MIDI Setup will see macOS’ Core Audio layer upsample or downsample accordingly. The latter will wipe out any extra data loaded into a hi-res studio master’s stream.

 

[SanVJ]

apple keeps a fixed sample rate. Only if you have an iphone or ipad you can play bit perfect. https://darko.audio/2021/06/apple-musics-hi-res-streaming-is-a-bit-of-a-mess/

I didn't know that. Thanks for the link.

 

[mbhangui]

If you are also using your desktop for playback, then RPi + an independent DAC (Something like E30 or similar) make more sense. With Allo B2P, you are pretty much limited to the RPi for input.

Actually Allo Boss2 is an RPI4. It has 4 usb ports and you can connect any external dac to it and play music. So you are not limited to just using the onboard dac connected to the GPIO ports.

 

[mbhangui]

It's not an rpi4, it's attached and there's not much point in attaching an external DAC as the boss2 measures extremely well, but there's no harm in subjective A/B comparison. Personally if I'm happy with something I don't look for better as far as audio goes IMHO once you have a good amp and source the speakers are the only thing that make a discernible difference.

It is either RPI4 2GB or RPI4 4gb. The boss2 is a card that sits on the GPIO pins. There are two versions. Acrylic and aluminium case versions built to accomodate RPI4. The boss2 board can be pulled out easily. also the RPI4 usb ports are accessible.

Features

• Boss2 Acrylic Includes: Boss2, Acrylic Case with OLED screen and Remote control. Case compatible with RPi4 only.
• Boss2 Alu includes: Boss2, RPi4, Aluminum Case with OLED screen and Remote control. Case compatible with RPi4 only.

Here is the inside of the allo boss2 case with a RPI4 and the boss2 card connected over it. I own around 5 allo products myself along with all their power supplies. Many a times I connect an external dac to play music from my allo piano 2.1 player which has Kali and Piano 2.1 board over an RPI4 board. In fact I have made my own distribution of linux for allo devices with bits and pieces released as opensource

GitHub - mbhangui/mpdev: music player daemon events watcher

music player daemon events watcher. Contribute to mbhangui/mpdev development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

GitHub - mbhangui/pistop: Start/Stop services on all clients on server shutdown

Start/Stop services on all clients on server shutdown - mbhangui/pistop

github.com

These allo devices run linux and hence are very flexible in accomodating anything connected to the USB ports. Just connect any DAC and run the command aplay -l, it will show you the dac connected. Run alsamixer and you can control any configuration the external dac has.

 

[jmascreen]

It is either RPI4 2GB or RPI4 4gb. The boss2 is a card that sits on the GPIO pins. There are two versions. Acrylic and aluminium case versions built to accomodate RPI4. The boss2 board can be pulled out easily. also the RPI4 usb ports are accessible.

Features

• Boss2 Acrylic Includes: Boss2, Acrylic Case with OLED screen and Remote control. Case compatible with RPi4 only.
• Boss2 Alu includes: Boss2, RPi4, Aluminum Case with OLED screen and Remote control. Case compatible with RPi4 only.

Here is the inside of the allo boss2 case with a RPI4 and the boss2 card connected over it. I own around 5 allo products myself along with all their power supplies. Many a times I connect an external dac to play music from my allo piano 2.1 player which has Kali and Piano 2.1 board over an RPI4 board. In fact I have made my own distribution of linux for allo devices with bits and pieces released as opensource

GitHub - mbhangui/mpdev: music player daemon events watcher

music player daemon events watcher. Contribute to mbhangui/mpdev development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

GitHub - mbhangui/pistop: Start/Stop services on all clients on server shutdown

Start/Stop services on all clients on server shutdown - mbhangui/pistop

github.com

These allo devices run linux and hence are very flexible in accomodating anything connected to the USB ports. Just connect any DAC and run the command aplay -l, it will show you the dac connected. Run alsamixer and you can control any configuration the external dac has.

View attachment 68341
View attachment 68340

Can we take I2S output from RPI or USBridge Signature?

 

[mbhangui]

Can we take I2S output from RPI or USBridge Signature?

USB signature gives access to the ports so you can take I2S output. But allo boss2 itself uses I2S and once it is attached to the RPI4 you lose access to the GPIO ports.

In fact that's how one connects the digione board over the usb signature. The allo usb signature is a bit different from other allo devices. It doesn't actually use a RPI but rather the RPI3 compute board (the green board in the picture below).

 

[SanVJ]

USB signature gives access to the ports so you can take I2S output. But allo boss2 itself uses I2S and once it is attached to the RPI4 you lose access to the GPIO ports.

In fact that's how one connects the digione board over the usb signature. The allo usb signature is a bit different from other allo devices. It doesn't actually use a RPI but rather the RPI3 compute board (the green board in the picture below).
View attachment 68342

USB signature is just a streamer without a DAC, right?

 

[mbhangui]

One problem with these allo devices are the quality of usb ports. They suck big time. Just few weeks back I repaired my allo revolution dac. It is still under warranty, but the pain of sending it to bangalore and waiting for it, I did it myself. The same issue is there with the USB port on the allo usb signature. Allo boss2 is fine because the USB ports are actuall from RPI4.

Allo Revolution DAC Micro USB port problem and repair

Often I would notice that whenever I touched the usb cable going inside my allo revolution dac, mpd (music player daemon) would momentarily lose connectivity. Music would pause and start again. Lately the problem started happening randomly. Google search revealed that the micro usb port is a...

www.hifivision.com

Basically there are two issues with allo products

1. Wherever the board requires manual soldering, the jobs is often botched up.
2. The quality of usb ports metal casing is bad. USB male plug that goes in will not fit tight and will often have lose contacts. So I removed the factory fitted usb ports and fitted my own.

 

[mbhangui]

USB signature is just a streamer without a DAC, right?

Yes. It is meant to be used with external dac.

 

[MNX]

Actually Allo Boss2 is an RPI4. It has 4 usb ports and you can connect any external dac to it and play music. So you are not limited to just using the onboard dac connected to the GPIO ports.

Yes. Actually what I meant was, you can't use the Boss 2 as an independent DAC like, say an E30. Or to put it simply, the Boss 2 DAC Hat can't take anything except the Pi's I2S. (Now this confuses me also to put into words. )
Of course, you can take the USB out and feed it to other DACs.

 

[mbhangui]

Yes. Actually what I meant was, you can't use the Boss 2 as an independent DAC like, say an E30. Or to put it simply, the Boss 2 DAC Hat can't take anything except the Pi's I2S. (Now this confuses me also to put into words. )
Of course, you can take the USB out and feed it to other DACs.

There are USB to I2S bridges. So if you put the allo boss2 on this bridge it can become a standalone dac

USB-to-I2S Bridge Chip Simplifies Digital Audio Design - New Industry Products

eepower.com

 

[MNX]

Thanks for the response. My laptop soundcard is very bad that's the reason I'm looking for external dac and a streamer. I have my music stored on a external HDD.

If you are using independent DACs, no need to use your internal soundcard. Instead you can simply use the USB to feed the signal to the DAC. That's the rationale behind suggesting for an independent DAC + RPi setup.
The Allos are excellent value for money also if you want a single box solution.

 

[MNX]

There are USB to I2S bridges. So if you put the allo boss2 on this bridge it can become a standalone dac

USB-to-I2S Bridge Chip Simplifies Digital Audio Design - New Industry Products

eepower.com

Ha ha ha . That's some hi-fi jugaadu. Don't think OP wants to go this route.

 

[SanVJ]

If you are using independent DACs, no need to use your internal soundcard. Instead you can simply use the USB to feed the signal to the DAC.

Yes, I figured it out.