I was talking about our hardware engineers. I wont put everyone in the same basket, especially not you Soundcheck since I heard ( a bit) how many DACs , hardware and software you tweaked to get better sound..don't take offense where none was intended.
When I asked (after the LPF was fixed) if there was an improvement in SQ , the reply I got from our team was "yes but its very hard to define what, we dont have musical ear..." hence my remark.
I am here to listen to feedback , learn and if possible to contribute.
I dont think at this point SQ can be fully measured by machines.You can get a good idea with some measures about "general " sound but in the end nothing beats listening .
Klaus:
Woohoo peak ~310+ Mbps -- on piCoreAudio:
Announce: piCorePlayer 3.10 - Page 59
Cool stuff.
Do you know the state of LMS's default sox on windows? Would like to enable multi-thread mode...
Woohoo peak ~310+ Mbps -- on piCoreAudio:
Announce: piCorePlayer 3.10 - Page 59
Cool stuff.
Do you know the state of LMS's default sox on windows? Would like to enable multi-thread mode...
Zachary,
I tried dicking around a bit more, Clive's gone, his 4.4.x.simple branch is gone... so it's a guess for me as to what advaudio repo to pull from, and I don't know how to surgically compile in allo's boss drivers (from their repo) into it-- did a brute force on some alternate branches, but still did not work.
For now ended up just using the latest volumio test image... and compiled the latest squeezelite straight on that, and start that at boot.
Klaus, how are you giving these kernels to Tim (Moode) and piCore... is there a new GitHub set up with your work? Who's dealing with Clive's work?
Thanks!
I'm good, using your volumio image and added a squeezelite instance, it's working well-- Thanks!
Hi folks.
Allo provided me with a production unit now. They now got the output filter fixed. Nice.
However.
I was quite disappointed to find out that they didn't do anything about the external power option.
1. Desoldering a resistor is a NoGo from my side. (all others offer a jumper)
2. Power-inlet on the wrong side of the board.
3. No standard jack or better a terminal similar to what the rest of the bunch provides.
And Allo still hasn't managed to get their Boss driver into the most current RPI kernel (4.4.50)
That's not good.
For now. It requires fully committed pi-audio distro maintainers to make that
driver available.
And that's quite some extra work - free of charge - done for a company that makes (or going to make) money of that HW.
BUT - on the other side there are also device manufacturers like the one who's providing the Mamboberry HW,
who just uses competitor drivers or trusts that the community will handle it.
Something I'd call a very questionable (short term) business model.
Bottom line.
The Boss is quite a good sounding DAC. There's a good chance that you don't even need the Kali.
The external power story gets a "NotAcceptable" from my side.
And. As long as Allo hasn't managed to get their (rather complex) driver into the RPI base kernel, Allo and potentially their customers might face serious problems.
It's the software and its availability which makes a product a product. Without it it's useless.
No to forget. SW has to be (long term) maintained. And that's as critical as general availability!!
Allo still has to prove that they're able an committed to provide.
Enjoy.
Allo provided me with a production unit now. They now got the output filter fixed. Nice.
However.
I was quite disappointed to find out that they didn't do anything about the external power option.
1. Desoldering a resistor is a NoGo from my side. (all others offer a jumper)
2. Power-inlet on the wrong side of the board.
3. No standard jack or better a terminal similar to what the rest of the bunch provides.
And Allo still hasn't managed to get their Boss driver into the most current RPI kernel (4.4.50)
That's not good.
For now. It requires fully committed pi-audio distro maintainers to make that
driver available.
And that's quite some extra work - free of charge - done for a company that makes (or going to make) money of that HW.
BUT - on the other side there are also device manufacturers like the one who's providing the Mamboberry HW,
who just uses competitor drivers or trusts that the community will handle it.
Something I'd call a very questionable (short term) business model.
Bottom line.
The Boss is quite a good sounding DAC. There's a good chance that you don't even need the Kali.
The external power story gets a "NotAcceptable" from my side.
And. As long as Allo hasn't managed to get their (rather complex) driver into the RPI base kernel, Allo and potentially their customers might face serious problems.
It's the software and its availability which makes a product a product. Without it it's useless.
No to forget. SW has to be (long term) maintained. And that's as critical as general availability!!
Allo still has to prove that they're able an committed to provide.
Enjoy.
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I purchased the Boss DAC to use in a secondary system, connected to active speakers, but I took it for a spin this afternoon on my main system, connected to a Slagle Autoformer Passive Preamp -> Hypex NC400 Mono Amps -> Harbeth P3ESR Speakers, and I have to say I was quite impressed.
I no longer have another DAC to compare it to however - I "downsized" a while ago (but kept the NC400) and am regularly using a "full digital amplifier", essentially for convenience and cost, and have no desire to invest in a high-end DAC - but I will probably purchase another "Boss" as the SQ is really quite good (and price is very reasonable).
I would be curious to see what others think of this Dac.
I no longer have another DAC to compare it to however - I "downsized" a while ago (but kept the NC400) and am regularly using a "full digital amplifier", essentially for convenience and cost, and have no desire to invest in a high-end DAC - but I will probably purchase another "Boss" as the SQ is really quite good (and price is very reasonable).
I would be curious to see what others think of this Dac.
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Hi.
Allo just came back with a boss patch update for the latest 4.4.50 kernel.
THX.
They also underlined that they are contentiously pushing to get the
code into the RPI kernel. ( as PM to me)
And that means if you just received your shiny new Boss you have
to find a distro that comes with a custom audio kernel supporting the Boss.
For those capable of making kernels:
Here you'll find the boss patch for download.
Meanwhile I'm receiving PMs asking me, if I could make a preliminary Moode
release with Boss support available.
Folks. No - I can't and No - I won't! Check with Tim!
Enjoy.
Allo just came back with a boss patch update for the latest 4.4.50 kernel.
THX.
They also underlined that they are contentiously pushing to get the
code into the RPI kernel. ( as PM to me)
And that means if you just received your shiny new Boss you have
to find a distro that comes with a custom audio kernel supporting the Boss.
For those capable of making kernels:
Here you'll find the boss patch for download.
Meanwhile I'm receiving PMs asking me, if I could make a preliminary Moode
release with Boss support available.
Folks. No - I can't and No - I won't! Check with Tim!
Enjoy.
I hope my conclusion regarding sound impression wasn't quite negative. 
I think I mentioned that I consider the Boss the best of the bread.
And yes. The filter made a positive difference.
I also had a look at the Rune forum comment.
I do not share the "it's good enough" opinion, no need to look for e.g. better
power supply options. If you don't try you'll never know.
########################
The updated Boss driver also comes with a "slave" option.
Basically the overlay config in config.txt would have to look like:
This way Kali and Boss should be running together. I'll try that asap.
Why?
1. The Boss would get the clean Kali power.
2. The Boss quality onboard clocks just feed the PLL of the DAC.
On the other hand The reclocker feeds clean I2S into the DAC.
Allo claims that the Boss clocks are lower jitter than
the Kali clocks.
What clock option will have more impact??? Not sure.
One more:
Not sure if I mentioned this already.
There's talk about the AKM449x (Allo?) and HQ Sabre DACs (Audiophonics) popping up here and there. To be honest. I'm not that enthusiastic.
All these DACs require a very good output stage. That usually goes hand in hand with more complex power supplies. If you e.g. follow the Soekris DAC thread you'll have noticed that 95% of all people bypass the opamp output stage for a reason. If you follow e.g. some of the AKM threads, you'll notice that Class-A stages or high quality transformers are the way to go.
What can we expect from such a opamp based outputstage HAT HQ DAC? As I said, I wouldn't buy the Audiophonics just by looking at it.
However. Allo shows us that they are listening and that they are creative.
Let see what they are coming up with.
Ah. Not to forget. These HQ DACs should preferably run in SW mode.
This will require some decent brainwork to get the drivers going.
Let see how this develops.
Cheers
I think I mentioned that I consider the Boss the best of the bread.
And yes. The filter made a positive difference.
I also had a look at the Rune forum comment.
I do not share the "it's good enough" opinion, no need to look for e.g. better
power supply options. If you don't try you'll never know.
########################
The updated Boss driver also comes with a "slave" option.
Basically the overlay config in config.txt would have to look like:
Code:
dtoverlay=allo-boss-dac-pcm512x-audio,slaveThis way Kali and Boss should be running together. I'll try that asap.
Why?
1. The Boss would get the clean Kali power.
2. The Boss quality onboard clocks just feed the PLL of the DAC.
On the other hand The reclocker feeds clean I2S into the DAC.
Allo claims that the Boss clocks are lower jitter than
the Kali clocks.
What clock option will have more impact??? Not sure.
One more:
Not sure if I mentioned this already.
There's talk about the AKM449x (Allo?) and HQ Sabre DACs (Audiophonics) popping up here and there. To be honest. I'm not that enthusiastic.
All these DACs require a very good output stage. That usually goes hand in hand with more complex power supplies. If you e.g. follow the Soekris DAC thread you'll have noticed that 95% of all people bypass the opamp output stage for a reason. If you follow e.g. some of the AKM threads, you'll notice that Class-A stages or high quality transformers are the way to go.
What can we expect from such a opamp based outputstage HAT HQ DAC? As I said, I wouldn't buy the Audiophonics just by looking at it.
However. Allo shows us that they are listening and that they are creative.
Let see what they are coming up with.
Ah. Not to forget. These HQ DACs should preferably run in SW mode.
This will require some decent brainwork to get the drivers going.
Let see how this develops.
Cheers
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