BOSS I2S DAC v 1.2
Top Reviews
DAR Review of BOSS DAC
"ALLO’s Boss DAC is a super tasty delicious Pi maker..."
Dimdim's Blog
"... regarding value-for-money, I think that the Boss DAC claims the priz."
TheArtofSound.net
"The BOSS is like no other imo. It's clean and tuneful signature brings it out to be a more sophisticated little number..."
DiyAudio.com
"We were and are very impressed by the Boss. It is amazing that it is possible to get such beautiful sound for 70 euros!"
RoonLabs.com
"First of all, it has such a deep, deep, low, juicy bass flowing out and projects powerful sound stage!"
RoonLabs.com
"Boss is by far the best Texas Instruments PCM5122 chip based DAC in the market, based on unique technological developments that Allo has put in..."
We all live in a society obsessed by brand names and the latest gadget. Sometimes with reason sometimes with none.
The RPI has one major problem with audio. The clocks coming from CPU can only output one frequency clock perfect (very close), resulting in major problems with audio files sampled at 44Khz (and multiple). Too much jitter on i2s clocks. So we invented the Kali but there is a second way.
Enter the master mode for i2s. Instead of the RPI giving the clock on the line, the DAC itself sends the clocks and RPI sends the data (file to be played). Since we used 2 clocks the problem above disappears. Ours is not the first master DAC on the market, there are others... read on.
Our BOSS DAC is unique, because of the way we have implemented the design. First we separate the power on 3 channels and filter it: one for the digital side, the second for analog and third for the clocks themselves. Then we take the filtered power and use a second filter (LDOs) to further quiet the noise. Note that we use some of the best LDOs on the market (LT3042 from Linear). In addition, we use Japanese oscillators from NDK for a very low jitter clock - almost as good as famous Crystek.
Finally, on the analog stage we are using a film capacitor (not ceramic) for a quiet DC to feed the TI IC (ceramic exhibit some piezo distortion, not what you want in analog stage). Not happy with this, we have added a supercapacitor for an extra kick when analog stage is asking (like deep bass).
What we have achieved, in our opinion, is the best analog implementation of the PCM5122 on the market, while at same time correcting the clock problem from RPI.
Yes we live in a society obsessed with the latest gadgets. The BOSS however, is a very solid implementation of the PCM IC that will give you the greatest bang for your buck. It will sound great no matter what you throw at it - this was our goal and promise to you.
Compatibility
- Compatibility: RPI only. Isolator board (at 192Khz). Relay attenuator.
- PSU: BOSS v1.2 can be powered independently after removing the jumper (see manual)
- Not Working With: Sparky, Kali
If you wish to independently power your boss 1.2 thanks to the on board typeC USb, please purchase a DC to Type-C USB Adapter Cable.
Please also read power instructions carefully.
*** NEW Features
