Need some suggestions for a DAC for RPI zero 2w

[nosferatu_cat]

As long as I'm at it, I should comment about I2S-based DAC HATs and their attendant drivers.

It's unfortunate that Allo has gone catatonic and hasn't updated its driver for the miniBoss2 DAC to work with the recent Linux kernel branch. I don't know if this is true (or necessary) for the various drivers for their other I2S-based products.

The fact of the matter is that as long as vendors provide proprietary drivers without access to the source code so others could carry on, this situation could occur with any. (The problem is not unique to the consumer audio device industry!)

Nevertheless, some of Allo's competitors such as HiFiBerry, IQaudio (now part of the Raspberry Pi family), and the like have been around for a long time and seem to be stable.

I don't think any of the competing DAC HATs in the Pi Zero form factor have the master clocks feature of the miniBoss2, but a number of full-sized HATs do.

A case in point is the HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro that I have on one of my systems. Mine's on a Pi4B but it could be on a Pi Zero just as well. The combination would be oddly shaped and require some clever mounting and encasement but should work fine. It seems that this board has been replaced in the HiFiBerry lineup by the more expensive (and more feature-full) DAC2 HD but the same principle applies.

I'm not familiar with other vendors' offerings but I imagine similar things can be said.

Will all these boards sound the same? Possibly but possibly not, depending on your system, your ears, and your source material. Which sounds better? I would not presume to say. I'm happy with my choices and that's all that matters to me.

Regards,
Kent

The sources for Allo and other vendor overlays and drivers should either be in the Raspberry Pi Linux kernel tree or in the vendor Git repos, assuming the repos are still public.

The question is whether someone with expertise in I2S kernel drivers wants to volunteer their time to investigate the Allo BOSS 2 issue under kernel 6.1.y

Thanks for this.  I love my Boss2 and have been wondering if someone could come up with an open source driver for the 6.1 kernel. 

On my Pi Zero 2W I've used both the Hifiberry and JustBoom HATs designed for the Zero and have been happy with them.  I've been using them wired direct to a pair of Anker Soundcore Motion speakers in TWS mode in my bathroom.  I put one speaker on a shelf in the shower.  I'm not sure how things would be with higher end equipment.