ALLO Boss

Audio Gear DACs
141

Is the Boss working in the latest version of Volumio as I cant get it to work at all, keep getting the unable to find audio output error, when I select the Allo Boss DAC in the settings I am unable to see the hardware volume setting after restarting the Pi.

I’ve tried all afternoon and just about ready to bin it and wait on proper drivers for the Boss Dac.

142

It just works out of the box, after you enable i2s DACs and select allo BOSS. Then reboot.
While you are there, there is a new image to be released today, you can try it if you want:
updates.volumio.org/pi/volumio/2 … pi.img.zip

Let me know

143

Ok I’ll try it again, I’m on latest version but I’ll try that new link, unless my Boss has arrived dead of course [WINKING FACE]

144

no joy, I can select the Boss DAC after switching on i2s device, Volumio restarts and the Boss DAC is in the menu but down below the volume is either showing ‘undefined’ and when I click on that I then get ‘software’ or ‘none’. No matter whether I choose none or software I still get the same ‘failed to open audio device’.

DAC is working fine as I tested it with PiCoreplayer so it’s not the DAC.

145

After fighting with it for 8 hours I gave up. Can’t believe the Boss has been released without proper working drivers/kernels for the main Distros, I’ve looked on the Allo site and funnily enough the driver page gives you a 404 message.

Going to try RuneAudio and DietPi today and hopefully get some joy there.

146

What images did you try and what were the problems? I only tested it with 2.114 (where the DAC aren’t ordered alphabetically) I believe… no problems there. It’s on my dev Pi, for now, so I haven’t fully tested the other images. Maybe something broke along the road, but I think the devs will need specifics in order to be able to fix them. :wink:

147

We have proper drivers from day1. And I am listening to it as I speak. So there must be something wrong in your setup.
Please try this:

  • Flash this image: updates.volumio.org/pi/volumio/2 … pi.img.zip
  • First boot, wait 3 minutes before doing anything
  • Go to playback, enable i2s dac choose Allo BOSS and click save
  • The system will ask you to reboot, do it
  • After reboot you should be up and running.

Some things you want to consider:

  • Are you using a 2A power supply?
148

Hi,

Thanks for the help, using a 3a PSU and so far no joy, there seems to be some issue causing it NOT to see the proper volume control, which I think is the problem, sometimes it shows software or none, no audio whichever one I choose ( ‘none’ I wanted for full Spotify use ), no matter I’ve managed to get it running using another Distro in the meantime, I just wanted to try Volumio for the Spotify plugin, I’ll try again once I’ve more time.

Thanks for your help.

149

I think what you’re experiencing is an edge-case issue: a bug exposed by a particular configuration. I am indeed using Volumio 2.141 with Spotify plugin and BOSS. And everything works fine, volume control included.

If you can tell me the exact same sequence you did, I will look at it and find where the bug is. Thank you if you will do it.

150

Hi,
any news about a case for rpi3+boss+volt?

Enrico

151

So this is our engineer said :

Raspbain has not upgraded the linux kernel to v4.9. Boss DAC drivers are available on linux v4.9.20.
For linux v4.4, source patch files are available at github.com/allocom/Patches

Regarding boxes, I wont commit to a firm date, but they will be available very soon. We are busy taking pics , making SKUs , adding it to website.
We will have 2 colors , with 2 different offsets so you can customize your box.

152

Do Allo Boss DAC will work with Odroid C2 .?

Thanks,
Juzio

153

No

154

And finally… cases are available: volumio.org/product/acrylic-case/
:wink:

155

Allo,

Any idea about when will the case for BOSS be available at www.buyapi.ca ?

156

First impression about the boss. For PSU I use a powerbank at the moment so long term I have to find a good PSU.

In the same system it can’t beat the m-dac. I don’t think it’s a problem because they are in very different price categories and I just wanted to mention it because it was earlier a case.

Nevertheless I like the sound of the boss. It reminds me of the sound signature of emotiva xda-1. It’s not bright but it has power and details. (M-dac is more realistic and bright.)

So it’s a good stuff and if somebody likes this sound signature it can be a good choice.

157

Did anybody compare boss HW volume control to soft volume control? Which should be preferred?

158

You should always prefer hardware mixer than software mixer.
See here:
volumio.github.io/docs/User_Man … ality.html

159

Thank you!

160

FYI, I had a similar issue. My setup was

  • RPi 3
  • 3A power supply
  • Volumio 2.141, upgraded a couple of times. Original image flashed probably ~6 months ago
  • No big config changes: wlan credentials, hotspot disabled, playback buffer, background image

The Allo BOSS was on, but the “LED1” was off.

Flashing a fresh Volumio 2.141 fixed it.