Has anyone picked one of these little guys up? I know a lot of people on HiFi Guides are always looking for a nice, cute, cheap streamer and this one might very well be the best bang for your buck and you can get it for under $250 shipped, ready to go out of the box and shipped.
https://www.allo.com/sparky/boss2-player.html#features
Excellent little streamer with a very very solid DAC hat. Also tests well according to ASR for those that are into that kind of thing. You can have it come with DietPi installed already and it’ll be seen by ROON (for those with it) right away.
If you’re looking for a set it and forget it streamer thats mad cheap…you’ve found it.
As for performance…listen man, its a Raspberry Pi streamer. This one has a well reviewed DAC hat. I think it sounds better than a RPi4 with a HifiBerry DigiPro hat to an SMSL SU8 being sent through speakers and the Boss2 is cheaper by around a hundred bucks all-in.
High recommendation if you need a streamer and I probably wouldn’t recommend another until you get 2-3-4x the price and you want the features, pretty aesthetics, etc. that come with the higher end streamer. Would definitely recommend this over Bluesound Node 2i and all of the other streamers in that sub $750 range.
I run an Allo DigiOne HAT on a pi4 using the BNC S/PDIF out into a Soekris dac1541, works nice.
Also, running a HifiBerry Digi2 pro HAT on a pi4 using the coax S/PDIF out into a Soekris dac1321.
The Allo HAT sounds better (to me) than the HiFiBerry using the coax s/pdif’s on each. is it 2x the price better 
but it’s noticeable to me.
I don’t run any pi streamers in an “all-in-one” config.
I do run another pi4 though, just using USB without a HAT. connecting to USB only DACs.
IMO you are better of using an outboard DAC if you have it - but, if I was going to go for an “all-in-one”, I think the Allo Boss Player would be my choice. And a good PSU like the Shanti
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I have one. For the price it’s amazing value. The streamer is as flawlless as whatever software you use. The DAC is a perfectly good DS DAC. Will anyone be pairing this with a set of Audio Research monoblocks? No. But as a compact, all in one cute little DAC/streamer it’s fantastic. I think it plays in the same league with Matrix Audio streamers which cost 5 times as much.
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Please forgive the thread resurrection here but I have one of these as the basis for my bedside system and it kills. It’s a full on sanity saver for me. I have it stacked on RPI 3 running into a tube headphone amp and I love how it sounds. Volumio is making my set up go and since they got Tidal Connect running, my listening has doubled. It’s a really versatile combo and a great deal for an all in one streamer/dac(you can even play CDs with a USB CD Rom)
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Hello and welcome to HFGF!
Sounds like you got yourself a nice bedside setup. The RPI based streamers really are neat, flexible solutions with a great value-to-quality ratio, for sure!
I have an Allo Boss2 that acts a a streamer and DAC for outdoor speakers that I’m putting up this afternoon. They’re convenient and easy amd sound good!!
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