Good choices for a RPI DAC HAT Volumio build in 2025

Kia ora team,

I’m looking for advice on a RPI-based DAC build for 2025. Seems to be heaps of discussions as to whether a RPI4 or RPI5 is the way to go for Volumio and across the interweb lots of discussion as to whether various existing DACs will work with a RPI5 or if I need to stick with a RPI4 to ensure DAC HAT compatibility.

Ideal build at the moment looks like Volumio + RPI5 4Gb + Allo BOSS I2S DAC v 1.2 (likely at some point with its own dedicated power supply to the DAC).

Is this going to work without too much messing around or am I much better to go a different route on RPI and/or DAC HAT.

I’m not looking for a war of words on what’s a better DAC - rather just whether this is likely to work or whether there is a more stable/supported alternative combo with “roughly” the same quality of DAC board is out there.

Looking to buy at least the RPI in the next couple of days so crucial to know if an RPI5 is going to be the right foundation to start from or if a RPI4 is a bet.

Thx all

I have an Allo Boss DAC (the original Boss, not the Boss2) connected as a HAT to an RPI 3b+. It works just fine. For a while, I powered the Boss separately with an I2S supply, but could not discern any difference in sound quality.

According to the Allo website, the Boss is compatible with RPi 2, 3 and 4.

I thought one of the reasons to go with the RPi 4 or 5 is that the USB connection is clean and steady, and can be used with a USB connected DAC.
Using a HAT type DAC was important on the earlier RPi models to ensure a clean digital signal without interruption.