ok I am seeing the issue...if you want only the acrylic with Boss2 order from here BOSS2 Acrylic (EU)
Its 124$ (99$ + tax +freight charges to EU)
There is an issue on EU side , we are correcting .
Its 124$ (99$ + tax +freight charges to EU)
There is an issue on EU side , we are correcting .
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FYI.
Your $99 HAT competition just got trashed over at ASR.
A pity that we havn't seen an Allo product review over at ASR for quite a while.
I am pretty sure Amir would be happy to show a HAT that delivers above its price tag.
But first there need to be a "real" HAT (without display, etc. -- you know what I am talking about. . ).
A well done review - and ASR delivers the most predictable and reliable reviews - will start the marketing turbo.
Good luck.
Your $99 HAT competition just got trashed over at ASR.
A pity that we havn't seen an Allo product review over at ASR for quite a while.
I am pretty sure Amir would be happy to show a HAT that delivers above its price tag.
But first there need to be a "real" HAT (without display, etc. -- you know what I am talking about. .
). A well done review - and ASR delivers the most predictable and reliable reviews - will start the marketing turbo.
Good luck.
Nice~~ Still sad Revolution DAC didn't get proper measurement, might have boosted your sales a bit.
I will ask Amir for Rev measurements , last time he got the unit but because of some software (from the DAC ic) he was not able to get proper linearity measurements(at low levels). Since he had a lot of other hardware he gave up...not before he told me unit was measuring 2db better then what we had.
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hmm ..
if you are within 3-4 months away from a XLR DAC (Revolution Signature?) and join the ~120dB SINAD Club, it may make sense to wait for this splash and in the interim give the Boss2 full field at ASR. Anyway, just a thought from this peanut gallery.
Hi.
Regarding Bluetooth:
I've been trying to get Bluetooth APTx-HD working on a RPi. That's a nightmare.
There are DRM issues asf. You'd have to compile it all yourself. The code
base and documentation pretty much sucks. ASF. ASF. I gave up on it after a day
fiddling around with it.
Bottom line. High quality Bluetooth needs to come, best with a Qualcomm chip that
includes the high quality (restricted) codecs. Preferably right on the DAC.
I therefore currently do not see any option to get the Boss2-player playing highest quality
Bluetooth audio.
I do think the "dongle" approach of Khadas is a feasible way forward.
Regarding power supplies ( and learning that a Shanti 2 it's on it's way).
We had quite heated discussions more than once about long cables, impedances and
transient responses.
The other day I talked to a friend. He mentioned that he got IanCanadas UltraCapConditioners attached to a Shanti and a Nirvana. To make a long story short. The UCConditioner
lifts the performance of Shanti and Nirvana quite a serious step up.
I told him I am not surprised about his findings. That's been expected.
And if you've followed above link you'll see why. The impulse-response get's close to perfect. You won't achieve that with a 5ft cable and some cheap plugs.
Some of us got into that direction by cutting the cables and getting rid of the plugs.
And guess what. According to him the Nirvana performs better than a Shanti in that UCConditioner config. Oooook.
I never understood why Allo spared a nice fad Ultracap output buffer on the Nirvana btw. I am pretty sure Nirvana could have performed at least as well as Shanti. Yep. Maybe even better. I simply assume Allo left it out on purpose.
When I started the discussions in 2017 about the best possible 5V SMPS - a kind of trigger for the Nirvana development - I also mentioned that a cap-buffer at the tip of the DC cable is the way to go. I said The Sbooster Supplies that I had around really benefited from such a buffer. Allo unfortunately never jumped on it.
Now. Let's look ahead.
Instead of a Shanti 2, I'd rather like to see
1. a Nirvana2 with UltraCap buffer
2. and Allo Ultracap buffer dongle (see UC Conditioner) that can be attached to any existing 5V power supply. Even if such a device would cost 70-80$, you simply would use your existing supplies as charging device for such a buffer. (If that'd be an option for Allo, I'd suggest that Allo should have closer look at the saftey measures, charging, discharging, balancing, turn-on/off handling - see IanCanada products)
Have a good one.
Cheers
Regarding Bluetooth:
I've been trying to get Bluetooth APTx-HD working on a RPi. That's a nightmare.
There are DRM issues asf. You'd have to compile it all yourself. The code
base and documentation pretty much sucks. ASF. ASF. I gave up on it after a day
fiddling around with it.
Bottom line. High quality Bluetooth needs to come, best with a Qualcomm chip that
includes the high quality (restricted) codecs. Preferably right on the DAC.
I therefore currently do not see any option to get the Boss2-player playing highest quality
Bluetooth audio.
I do think the "dongle" approach of Khadas is a feasible way forward.
Regarding power supplies ( and learning that a Shanti 2 it's on it's way).
We had quite heated discussions more than once about long cables, impedances and
transient responses.
The other day I talked to a friend. He mentioned that he got IanCanadas UltraCapConditioners attached to a Shanti and a Nirvana. To make a long story short. The UCConditioner
lifts the performance of Shanti and Nirvana quite a serious step up.
I told him I am not surprised about his findings. That's been expected.
And if you've followed above link you'll see why. The impulse-response get's close to perfect. You won't achieve that with a 5ft cable and some cheap plugs.
Some of us got into that direction by cutting the cables and getting rid of the plugs.
And guess what. According to him the Nirvana performs better than a Shanti in that UCConditioner config. Oooook.
I never understood why Allo spared a nice fad Ultracap output buffer on the Nirvana btw. I am pretty sure Nirvana could have performed at least as well as Shanti. Yep. Maybe even better.
I simply assume Allo left it out on purpose.When I started the discussions in 2017 about the best possible 5V SMPS - a kind of trigger for the Nirvana development - I also mentioned that a cap-buffer at the tip of the DC cable is the way to go. I said The Sbooster Supplies that I had around really benefited from such a buffer. Allo unfortunately never jumped on it.
Now. Let's look ahead.
Instead of a Shanti 2, I'd rather like to see
1. a Nirvana2 with UltraCap buffer
2. and Allo Ultracap buffer dongle (see UC Conditioner) that can be attached to any existing 5V power supply. Even if such a device would cost 70-80$, you simply would use your existing supplies as charging device for such a buffer. (If that'd be an option for Allo, I'd suggest that Allo should have closer look at the saftey measures, charging, discharging, balancing, turn-on/off handling - see IanCanada products)
Have a good one.
Cheers
UCconditioner adds significant capacitance, maybe too much. I suspect that you are right and you would need to match the buffer to the load - different dongle for ≤ 1A than ~3A .
Frankly.
Allo simply tries to protect their products or the compromises they had to go for.
To be fair.
As a commercial company you have to go for compromises at one point.
If you want to address the mass market these compromises can get pretty annoying. I know.
E.g. the iFi iPower faces the same issue. It's not just Allo.
We shouldn't forget though. This is DIY-Audio!
To be fair to us (DIY-community). We asked for screw terminals for Shanti/Nirvana from day one to keep the DC-rails as short as possible. We knew 5ft cables plus plugs and adapters are bad.
And I also mentioned and proposed several times the Sbooster approach to attach a buffer to the end of the cable. Yep. There are ways.
Now.
Supercap supplies act like advanced batteries, not like simple buffers.
The bigger the better. The bigger you make them the longer the charging
time of course.
There are IMO no better supplies - if we talk unregulated supplies!
Now Allo says to put these supercaps close to the load. Very Interesting.
. That's what we are telling them all along. Having 5ft cables on a Shanti 5V DC rails
simply sucks. We shouldn't forget the Shanti comes, yep, with a supercap buffer on the output. And a lot of its potential performance simply gets wasted exactly due to the cable.
That's why I have been asking for proper measurements. And because these measurements would look all but beneficial - from an Allo perspective - they better
leave it alone. Anyhow. IanCanadas measurements give a little idea that the dynamic behavior of a power-supply really matters.
IanCanadas solution you can put right next to any device. This can't be done better
with any external supply. Beside that it's one of the few solutions I have seen that handles these buffers rather safe.
And I earlier simply suggested that Allo could design a "black-block" supercap buffer product that can be attached to any power supply. Simply an IanCanada like solution in a nice commercial wrapping.
Anyhow. If Allo has better ideas. I am all ears.
Hi Soundcheck
any wire or PCB trace acts as a inductor..Getting a supercap on the DC input , will show you the decrease (at that point) of voltage spike..
However if you check the load , you will see that inductance on PCB traces after the DC input (while lower) will still be present .
So I maintain my point. The best way to design is to add capacitance next to load to minimize the inductance .
Yes on a RPI Ian design makes sense . It will help . Usbridge , for example , we used plenty of capacitance on board ( tens of thousands of uF).
I am testing a simple solution that could use a small supercap , usable with both Shanti and Nirvana right at the DC connector. Size , price have to be taken into consideration .
any wire or PCB trace acts as a inductor..Getting a supercap on the DC input , will show you the decrease (at that point) of voltage spike..
However if you check the load , you will see that inductance on PCB traces after the DC input (while lower) will still be present .
So I maintain my point. The best way to design is to add capacitance next to load to minimize the inductance .
Yes on a RPI Ian design makes sense . It will help . Usbridge , for example , we used plenty of capacitance on board ( tens of thousands of uF).
I am testing a simple solution that could use a small supercap , usable with both Shanti and Nirvana right at the DC connector. Size , price have to be taken into consideration .
The original SBooster 'buffer' was a simple LC filter with plenty of capacitance[see image], the current Ultra is an active device (similar to noise reduction in iFi and Allo Nirvana?) at the end of the supply cable that connects directly to the load. For Shanti/Nirvana a 'simple' supercar buffer would be all thats required ?
Attachments
Yes, " maintain my point, to get as close to the load as possible."
The funny thing. There's nothing to maintain. We actually all know - since decades - that a DC rail should be as short as possible.
The point is your PS devices are coming with very long "fixed" cables on the DC rail.
By "maintaining your point" you simply confirm a weak spot of your power supplies.
Keep in mind. Your PS devices are widely used powering also non-Allo products, that do not come with supercaps inside!
Anyhow. Looking forward to your "supercap-buffer" developments.
PS:
Allo please get in sync with Audiophonics regarding the BOSS2.
They sell it as 384k/256 DSD device and your manual shows 192.
And please copy your "test results" from the Boss2 bundle product also to the BOSS2 DAC section.
And finally I'd appreciate a note in the manual or elsewhere, if the display-board can be detached (desoldered)
The funny thing. There's nothing to maintain. We actually all know - since decades - that a DC rail should be as short as possible.
The point is your PS devices are coming with very long "fixed" cables on the DC rail.
By "maintaining your point" you simply confirm a weak spot of your power supplies.
Keep in mind. Your PS devices are widely used powering also non-Allo products, that do not come with supercaps inside!
Anyhow. Looking forward to your "supercap-buffer" developments.
PS:
Allo please get in sync with Audiophonics regarding the BOSS2.
They sell it as 384k/256 DSD device and your manual shows 192.
And please copy your "test results" from the Boss2 bundle product also to the BOSS2 DAC section.
And finally I'd appreciate a note in the manual or elsewhere, if the display-board can be detached (desoldered)
