I am now testing the BOSS… And boy… what a DAC
Great bass, great detail, very balanced… A more detailed review coming soon…
We should have it on Volumio shop in about 10 days, and of course it will be compatible with Volumio 
UPDATE: Here’s my listening impressions allo-boss-t5903.html
Yeap Mi and Ge have already integrated Boss in Volumio and yes its volt compatible
Around 22-25 Feb on sale
Hi @allo,
Maybe this should be a topic on its own, but I have a suggestion for a possible new project/board.
As we all like our RPi as a source, despite it not being a very good source to start with, I am thinking about a board that is capable of producing the best digital audio output signal possible. For these cases where there is no need for a direct D/A conversion at or close to the PI, I think there is a need for a RPi HAT board that is able to produce a very good digital signal.
As boards like the Kali or the BOSS do a good job at overcoming the standard bad areas of the I2S interface of the RPi (jitter, powerissues, etc.), it would be great if there is a board that benefit from these improvement when generating a digital signal.
Two digital output formats come to mind:
So instead of using the Pi’s own USB bus, a HAT board that is capable of creating a very clean USB audio signal. Selectable with or without USB power.A 3rd output option could be a direct cleaned I2S (like the Kali) but using either an RJ45 or HDMI output interface as more and more devices are available to accept a direct I2S signal via a RJ45 of HDMI input.
I am aware that this sounds a bit like a Hifiberry Digi (which I already have ) but I think there is room for improvements, like the USB and/or I2S outputs, using better reclocking, etc.
In case you think this is a good idea, I am always willing to discuss royalties
Sounds a lot like the HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro; that’s got the dual high-spec crystals for improved timing, transformer etc. What would you add?
Chris M
It indeed does to some extend and I am already a user of the Digi+ and once the Pro is supported by Volumio, it is probably the first thing I buy
But I think there is room for more choice. Not sure if the Digi+ Pro does perform actual reclocking (couldn’t find a clear answer). I like the power abilities of the Kali, feeding it by a better PSU.
An USB output would be a unique feature especially if it can support master and slave mode.
Using leds to show operational mode like which crystal is used, sample frequency, master or slave mode, etc, is great for testing purposes. And than being able to switch the leds off via either a jumper or software so it can run in a more stealth mode (not lighting up the room the whole time).
Offcourse a versatile board like this is not the cheapest, but if it remains below say $80 I think it can become very attractive.
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Its good to see that we think like our customers
we will release in a few weeks a new digital board that outputs Spidif (coaxial and bnc not optical). However what this board does, it reclocks the spidif signals AFTER the wm8804/05 for a perfect (less than 2ps of jitter is our target) on the output.
We are not using optical because it has very bad jitter.
Second you will see that most shield use a “transformer” on the output. In our opinion this approach is wrong , while providing galvanic isolation , it will skew the signal. So instead , we chose to isolate the board before the clocks.
Reclocked usb signal with NDK xtals , and USB power thats has about 1-2mV of noise. On usb signals the noise…is much much lower.
How is that Patrick ?
Hi @allo, Nice!
The Digiless sounds promising
Not sure (yet) if I would be willing to exchange my Pi for the Sparky board but the USB feature does make that board very attractive!
Does the Digiless get its own 5V input like the Kali? Would be great if it also could power the Pi and it becomes possible to use better powersources and not have to use the micro-usb bus of the Pi to power things.
But I assume the Digiless board only needs 3.3V as it does not have the optical out (good choice !)?
I also like the design choices you are describing for the Digiless. Can you share some more details on how the reclocking is done?
And price range?
Final questions, how about leds and software driver options (as the WM8804 does support software controlled options)?
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I noticed that you mentioned a resistor based volume control. I am guessing that is for your VOLT power amplifier right? Since your dacs have hardware volume control are there any plans to add rotary encoder volume control option? It would really awesome to be able to use your dac outputs directly to a power amp and control the volume with some kind of actual knob via a rotary encoder to rheostat like device. Basically use the dac as a preamp to drive any power amp since it has 2.1vrms output that is plenty to bring most amps to full power.
Hi, news about the Hiend super dac
Yeap project advancing nicely , some delays because of Murata , but we ordered PCBs for 1k run.
In 3 weeks we will get it in office, then 2 weeks of testing and mass production 48h
Allo,. what about hiend dac?
Its advancing…but slower then expected. We got lots of projects coming to mass production by next month so everyone is busy.
Anyway , I will announce some news next month.
Yesss! Tnx Allo!
Waiting impatiently for the isolator hat and the r2r dac… 
Isolator will be released next week.
r2r DAC, progressing but slow.
Will update when I have more…
In my humble opinion the dacs may have a different footprint, but no giant fan differences. There are three things that do, in my experience:
I think Odroid c2 marks the way in that direction and Kali in reclocker. I know that you are less receptive to improving food, but I do note a great improvement with dedicated and oversized linear feeding and independently feeding pcb.
Does Allo’s new work go in any of these directions?
In the end it is not a question of measurements but of ears. I’ve already mentioned it, but the result I got with linear feed and Odroid C2 (Volumio in Emmc memory) Kali + piano2.1 and music in memory microsd surpasses anything you have heard before, at any price: it is not for the spectacularity nor for the measurements but because it sounds exactly like a very expensive and very good turntable, and that never before Had gotten neither with computers of $ 3,000 with pieces of Paul Pang nor with Dacs of $ 12,000 as the Bricasti M1. By the way, always is much more important in all comparatives the computer against the dac.
Best regards.
Hello Jazz
I do agree with you.
Our next projects include :
Many thanks Allo, I think you are contributing in a real way to the democratization of high-end audio. I hope you do not want to sell the best new ones for thousands of dollars, as other gurus have done hahahaha. It would be wholly lawful on the other hand.
Congratulations, and I am sure that on behalf of people who love your products thank you for making us happy at affordable prices.
Thanks Allo. I read somewhere that the Isolator works better on LiPo batteries. I have searched for 5v lipo chargers etc, but cant seem to find any. Care to recommend something that will power the Isolator? Thanks!
Just curious, as I am wanting to use the Isolator hat with the Boss. Does this mean that my current acrylic case wont fit/house the isolator on the Pi3+Boss? I have the Boss acrylic case.