Allo Boss2 compatibility

I also ordered an Allo BOSS2 and I´m glad. I’m very curious to see how it differs from the current BOSS.
Now all we need is the support of Volumio.

regards
rust21A

Have a look over there: Allo Boss2 with Volumio - DAC Support - Audiophile Style

Can someone from Volumio explain why the Allo Boss2 is not supported yet? I don’t understand it, because it’s supported in the Raspberry Pi OS, just not in Volumio.

I would like to use Tidal Connect and other improvements made in Volumio since version 2.853 (the only workable hacked Volumio image from the thread in the Audiophile Style link above), but I can’t upgrade/update from within the Volumio interface (fails integrity checks).

I would rather not use unauthorized versions of Volumio downloaded from random websites (even if it is from Allo). In more current (official) versions of Volumio, I’ve tried copying the allo-boss2-dac-audio.dtbo file from a base RPI image into the Volumio /boot/overlays folder, and adding the the dtoverlay=allo-boss2-dac-audio line into the config.txt file but I can’t get Volumio to recognize the Boss2 DAC.

Is there something else I must for to get a current version of Volumio working with this DAC? I’m not afraid to dig around and have familiarity with the command line.

Thanks.

Have you tried with Volumio buster beta version?

Hi,
we did not even know Boss2 existed…
We used to have a very good relationship with Allo, so I don’t understand why they don’t even communicate with us when they launch a new product.

In any case, adding support to Volumio for any i2s DAC is very easy for manufacturer, all they have to do is follow this simple guide and send us a Pull Request:
https://volumio.github.io/docs/I2S_DACs/Adding_Compatibility_to_your_DAC.html

So you can report to Allo to follow this guide and send us a PR.
If their DAC is not available for Volumio’s current kernel, they can send a PR to the new buster branch:

Have you tried with Volumio buster beta version?

Not yet, but looking at the dacs.json, it doesn’t appear that the Boss2 is listed there yet either.

OK, thanks. I’ve left them a note on their support forum, we’ll see what happens.

Just tried buster, doesn’t see it. The overlay is in there, but it doesn’t appear to be listed in the dacs.json. I may try a test build of it later and add it myself to the dacs.json to see; I have the text from the Allo hacked build for it. Thanks.

I just saw this, here, which may be exactly what we BOSS2 users may need!

CHANGELOG
2.878 (21-04-2021)
NEW ADDITIONS
Allo BOSS2 Support

All the best!

Yep, I took the chance of adding BOSS2 compatibility.
However, since I don’t have one, it is untested. So, let me know if that works

Thanks for this, but I couldn’t get it to work, I was getting the dreaded “alsa not found” errors. I tried rebooting, enabling/disabling & rebooting, but couldn’t get it to work.

However, I was able to get it running using Allo’s procedures they added (see the end of the thread in the audiophile style post linked above), but that involves modding the kernel I believe.

Can you share the procedure here? Can’t seem to find it.

Here’s the link to the post from Allo:

Hi there,

is there any new news on the topic?
Really interested in this, as based on this would depend my purchase… I liked Voluimio very much, and now with Tidal connect in there, I would love to use it with Boss2 DAC.

Thanks,

From what I’ve understood, Allo Boss2 DAC is supported from kernel 5.4.77 onwards.

Volumio2 has the kernel 4.19.xx, so adding the dtbo will not be enough, the Boss2 driver module should be added as well.

On the other side, Volumio3 (Buster beta) has the kernel 5.4.83, so the driver and the dtbo are included already… adding the proper string on dacs.json should make the Boss2 working.

I don’t have this DAC available, someone who has it could please have a look to this thread and provide the required information, for adding compatibility?

Bumping for updates

please have a look here

Thanks

Hi.

Hello.

I am using a BOSS2 DAC with Volumio.

I have installed the RoonBride plugin and am playing it with Roon.

When I play DSD64, there is a bug in the DOP that transmits 32 bits.
For this reason, DSD64 does not produce any sound.

Is it possible to change it to 24bit on the driver side?

I think you shall better ask Allo about this, they did the driver.

My assumption is that this I2S DAC cannot accept Dop (or Direct DSD) so the suggested setting is to enabled Direct DSD Mode (in a way that DSD material gets resampled to PCM 24/192).