The Boss2 ASR review is out.
It basically confirms the few measurements being posted by Allo.
The positioning in the upper section of the SINAD chart was expected.
(So Hans: It's not just a little better then a HifiBerry DAC.
)
What wasn't expected (from my side) were the differences shown between channel1 (performing worse) and channel2 !?!?
Which in the end also led to a lower ranking. That's a pity.
Hey Allo. You almost hit the 115dB Sinad level. Bad luck that you missed that one.
OK.Ok. Let's stop that nonsense number crunching.
However.
Congratulations Allo. It looks you've done quite a great job.
And all the with a basic RPI, no isolator, no reclocker, no supercap supply... ! And all that at a highly competitive price.
I am not sure if there's a solution out there that comes with a better price/performance ratio.
After all it's a 99$ DAC we're talking about, which wasn't even separately powered.
What's left of course is the the sound judgement.
The actual sound impression the DAC is making is gonna be different story.
CU
It basically confirms the few measurements being posted by Allo.
The positioning in the upper section of the SINAD chart was expected.
(So Hans: It's not just a little better then a HifiBerry DAC.
)What wasn't expected (from my side) were the differences shown between channel1 (performing worse) and channel2 !?!?
Which in the end also led to a lower ranking. That's a pity.
Hey Allo. You almost hit the 115dB Sinad level. Bad luck that you missed that one.
OK.Ok. Let's stop that nonsense number crunching.
However.
Congratulations Allo. It looks you've done quite a great job.
And all the with a basic RPI, no isolator, no reclocker, no supercap supply... ! And all that at a highly competitive price.
I am not sure if there's a solution out there that comes with a better price/performance ratio.
After all it's a 99$ DAC we're talking about, which wasn't even separately powered.
What's left of course is the the sound judgement.
The actual sound impression the DAC is making is gonna be different story.
CU
Last edited:
Soundcheck praising our design ...wow.
To all of you , our measurements were spot on . We do not push " best measurements" as some competitors do. I think that J test is better with the correct earthing .
Cirrus says that -115 is possible on XLR . The EVM of Cirrus measures at -111 . As usualy we beat the analog engineers of design company .
Also note that DPLL is disabled on Boss2. You are listening to NDKs SDA.
Suprecaps are included (Soundcheck on analog supply and another rail . We lost 1db in THD when super caps are removed .
Very low out of band noise .
To all of you , our measurements were spot on . We do not push " best measurements" as some competitors do. I think that J test is better with the correct earthing .
Cirrus says that -115 is possible on XLR . The EVM of Cirrus measures at -111 . As usualy we beat the analog engineers of design company .
Also note that DPLL is disabled on Boss2. You are listening to NDKs SDA.
Suprecaps are included (Soundcheck
on analog supply and another rail . We lost 1db in THD when super caps are removed .Very low out of band noise .
Praise where praise is due.
My praise relates to "performance" in the RPI HAT segment.
And overall "price/performance" in particular.
The "actual" design and bundling is a different story. My critical points regarding Boss2 mentioned earlier shouldn't be forgotten.
And I know that Boss2 has a supercap onboard. What I was referring to is that 1. the Nirvana, that's being used, is not a supercap supply. And 2nd we've also seen with Katana that even an onboard-supercap doesn't necessarily avoid DC rail modulations.
I actually assumed that Amir didn't use the starground for best performance. That's a pity.
But he's known for just hooking the stuff up and test it. From that perspective it really went well.
He later seemed to have figured out his grounding issue. Both channels look much better and more equal with proper grounding in place.
I do think that a 2nd supply rail e.g. by using a Shanti might have been an even better choice. If you guys look at new developments, introducing a 2nd switchable DC jack for a proper 2-rail Shanti use on your devices could be a nice option.
Enjoy.
I always said that supercaps best location is on PCB next to load..
We designed Nirvana to be easy to use and have ultra low noise and no leakage current . Compared with "other" low noise SMPS, it gives you an improvement on both. I understand that you want a supercap but I also think that our target market does have a need for it. If you want supercaps , we have Shanti .
If you have a Boss2 + Nirvana , supercaps are placed on the right location.
Also note the complete absence of mains noise.
We designed Nirvana to be easy to use and have ultra low noise and no leakage current . Compared with "other" low noise SMPS, it gives you an improvement on both. I understand that you want a supercap but I also think that our target market does have a need for it. If you want supercaps , we have Shanti .
If you have a Boss2 + Nirvana , supercaps are placed on the right location.
Also note the complete absence of mains noise.
@cdgames,
Please convey our best wishes to your Allo staff and their families in India in view of the terrible hardships, sorrow and sadness they are experiencing. We only wish the best for them.
We have made a donation to the Canadian Red Cross to help with the Red Cross rescue efforts in India.
Namaste.
Please convey our best wishes to your Allo staff and their families in India in view of the terrible hardships, sorrow and sadness they are experiencing. We only wish the best for them.
We have made a donation to the Canadian Red Cross to help with the Red Cross rescue efforts in India.
Namaste.
Bad luck that he used his flawed measurements for the video.
And havn't understood what this device is all about.
I left a related comment over at ASR.
What I didn't mention over there was that continuous annoyance over the ASR logic that if something measures great - beyond audible threshold - there won't be any difference in soundquality. Which is a commonly known myth, which ASR and like-minded followers continue to be pushing. That's a pity. I think that ASR could do better, if he wanted to. If he really wanted to become "scientfic".
All that would of course put Hans's review-by-listening into a different perspective.
Enjoy.
Ktham ,
thx you for your kind words . I know that some of our staff are passing through difficult moments .
However as US/EU before, this new wave will peak and will start slowing down . India , the biggest democracy of the world , like any democracy , can be at times , chaotic. I am fully confident that things will get much better based on the strength and resilience of its people . I also see that countries from entire world (including US/Canada/EU/Japan/TW and a few that that I forgot) are sending medical supply's .
Things will get better..for all of us .
thx you for your kind words . I know that some of our staff are passing through difficult moments .
However as US/EU before, this new wave will peak and will start slowing down . India , the biggest democracy of the world , like any democracy , can be at times , chaotic. I am fully confident that things will get much better based on the strength and resilience of its people . I also see that countries from entire world (including US/Canada/EU/Japan/TW and a few that that I forgot) are sending medical supply's .
Things will get better..for all of us .
This is DIY-Audio.
It'd be up to us to get it assembled in the first place. Beside that we'd have to fiddle around with a 2nd power inlet for the Shanti DC-Rail-2 anyhow.
Hey Allo.
Would you be willing to sell the Boss2 with just the Boss2 Aluminium case only?
I really don't need a RPi4 2GB - I'd require a 4GB - and have plenty of them around.
You'd just have to add the Alu case as option on the DAC page.
Thx
Exactly what I wanted too, but with 8GB Pi. I tried the Allo Boss2 player with Moode OS and Shanti. I was way too disappointed with the sound. I guess, HAT DACs just cannot be compared with stand alone DACs for sound quality. Its the same as Integrated amp vs Separates.
So I retained the Shanti supply, while returning the Boss2 player (courtesy cdsgames) and this is what I have done now.
I am very new to Rpi. However, after some careful research, I bought a Raspberrypi 4 8GB and a Argonone V2 case. Power is from an Allo Shanti Linear Supply which has two outputs: 5V 3A and 5V 1A2. So this also powers my DAC, a Topping DS50s. Ground the Shanti power supply to the entire audio chain at one point. Tried Moode and didn't like it. I tried picore player 64bit and couldn't go more than half way through as I couldn't find local libraries. An External HDD is connected to one of the USB3.0 ports of the pi. DAC is connected to one of the USB2.0 ports of the pi. Have a shielded Ethernet cable from Router to pi.
Other equipment consists of a Marantz CD 5004 player. Coax connection to DAC. Diy clone of First Watt M2 amplifier and Fostex FE168ESigmas in MLTQWTs.
Finally used Volumio2 and the Argonone scripts for Power Button and Fan Control. I , changed the Fan settings to custom - 40degC/20%, 45degC/30%, 50degC/50%, 55degC/75% and 60degC/100%.
I use BubbleuPnP to play YouTube Video in Volumio as renderer. Or local music from Hard Disk using Volumio direct. If you have a premium Spotify account, Volumio has Spotify Connect. I tried it for a day and I now want to get a annual Spotify premium account. And ofcourse, Web Radio built into Volumio.
Smart phone or Laptop is used as a Remote Control for the Raspberry Pi4.
System sounds better than I have had anything before.
Raspberry Pi4 can be fully shut down (1) Using browser with Volumio IP, (2) Using Volumio App or (3) Holding down the Power Button on the Argonone V2 case.
Power up for the Raspberry Pi is just a momentary press of the same Power Button on the Argonone V2 case.
No fear of SD card corrupting.
Hello Jay
You have used a d50s vs Boss2 and you think that Boss loses in SQ ?
Is this the one? Just by looking at the harmonic content (H5 and H9 ) , I know how it will sound. Typical ess sound , bright .
I am biased of course , but I think that Boss2 sounds better . (again based on H content). Everyone has a specific taste and there is no right and wrong.
You have used a d50s vs Boss2 and you think that Boss loses in SQ ?
Is this the one? Just by looking at the harmonic content (H5 and H9 ) , I know how it will sound. Typical ess sound , bright .
I am biased of course , but I think that Boss2 sounds better . (again based on H content). Everyone has a specific taste and there is no right and wrong.
Last edited:
HAT vs external DAC !?!? It doesn't matter!
What matters is the implementation.
Now. The Topping D50 measures worse than the Boss2, if I'm not mistaken.
As we all know. Measurements are not telling the whole story. That'd be confirmed
once more.
However. I am surprised to hear somebody being "disappointed". That
sounds like serious audible differences.
I do know that Allo does plenty of listening tests while designing their gear.
And I am pretty sure they keep an eye on the competition. Especially Topping
seems to have a good rep in the segment.
From what I see Allo tried to not leave any stone unturned. Lot's of regulators,
supercap, great clocks asf asf.
Can we trust Samuels judgement!?!?
Let's assume there is some truth in Samuels story and the Boss2 can't even beat a $250 D50 soundwise.
What is it, what makes the difference!?!?
Is it the output stage !?!?
Is it the DAC !?!? And/or the DAC not being dual-mono !?!?
Would be interesting to figure out what makes the difference, if there's a difference.
Enjoy.
What matters is the implementation.
Now. The Topping D50 measures worse than the Boss2, if I'm not mistaken.
As we all know. Measurements are not telling the whole story. That'd be confirmed
once more.
However. I am surprised to hear somebody being "disappointed". That
sounds like serious audible differences.
I do know that Allo does plenty of listening tests while designing their gear.
And I am pretty sure they keep an eye on the competition. Especially Topping
seems to have a good rep in the segment.
From what I see Allo tried to not leave any stone unturned. Lot's of regulators,
supercap, great clocks asf asf.
Can we trust Samuels judgement!?!?
Let's assume there is some truth in Samuels story and the Boss2 can't even beat a $250 D50 soundwise.
What is it, what makes the difference!?!?
Is it the output stage !?!?
Is it the DAC !?!? And/or the DAC not being dual-mono !?!?
Would be interesting to figure out what makes the difference, if there's a difference.
Enjoy.
Last edited:
Once more. It depends on its implementation. On 10 different ESS implementations, you'll have ten different sound characteristics.
And please explain your pretty general "bright" verdict.
Any measurements supporting this??