Media Server Reviews

Volumio Primo music player/streamer Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital sources: Oppo Digital UDP-105 universal disc player, Baetis Prodigy-X PC-based music server running JRiver Media Center v27 and Roon, Pink Faun 2.16x Linux-based music server running Roon, Mytek Brooklyn, exaSound e38 Mark II, and Okto DAC8 PRO D/A processors. QNAP TVS-873 NAS.
Preamplifiers: Parasound P7, Coleman Audio 7.1SW Balanced Surround Switcher.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, Classé Sigma Mono.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima2 Studio (L/C/R), Revel Performa3 f206 (SL/SR), 2 × JL Audio f110v2 and 1 × JL Audio e110 subwoofers.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB). Analog: AudioQuest Earth/DBS balanced, Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA). Speaker: Benchmark Studio&Stage (NL2 to banana), Canare 4S11 (Blue Jeans Cable). AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion, SignalCable MagicPower 20A.
Accessories: AudioQuest Niagara 5000 and Brick Wall Brickwall 8RAUD power conditioners, Teddy Pardo 12V power supply (for exaSound e38), HDPlex 400W ATX Linear Power Supply and CyberPower 850PFCLCD AC filter (for the Baetis server).
Listening room: 24' L × 14' W × 8' H, furnished with 2 MSR Acoustics Dimension4 SpringTraps in the front corners, 2 Ready Acoustics Chameleon Super Sub Bass Traps to the sides, and moderately sound-absorbing furniture. Front wall has large windows partly covered by fabric drapes and 4"-thick 2' × 4' OC 705 panels. Rear of room opens into 10' × 7' foyer and a 12' × 8' dining area.—Kal Rubinson

COMPANY INFO
Volumio SRL
Via dei Pepi
76R Firenze, Italy
volumio.org
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
Strat56's picture
Submitted by Strat56 on January 29, 2021 - 1:17pm

Congratulazioni Michelangelo

DH's picture
Submitted by DH on January 30, 2021 - 12:26am

I tried this and liked it - except for the Volumio SW user interface, which I hated.

But it is impressive that Kal liked the internal DAC so much - no need for a DAC makes this a real bargain.

I wouldn't use it without a Roon or other interface. Fortunately, with it's plugin library you have a large number of SW user interfaces available to choose from.

If someone is just looking for an audiophile digital streamer- without DAC - I'd recommend the Stack Audio Link II. Can interface with almost any SW (and is Roon certified) and allows you to choose between network or direct to PC USB streaming.

skikirkwood's picture
Submitted by skikirkwood on January 30, 2021 - 11:36am

Really enjoyed your review Kal. I am one of "Volumio's techie users", being a principle contributor to its Spotify plugin.

One thing worth mentioning is Volumio has a very large, friendly and engaging user community. If you ever need help, people are always out there to give friendly advice.

And for others out there who enjoy contributing to open-source software projects, we are always looking for more contributions!

hb72's picture
Submitted by hb72 on January 31, 2021 - 7:59am

Hi, am using pro-jects stream box s2 ultra which runs a reduced version of volumio, unfortunately without the possibility to use the spotify connect plugin (possibly in favour for stability, not sure). While Volumio has the fantastic ability to enable mixing all music sources (own server or usb ssd with music from various streaming services , e.g. Spotify) in one and the same playlist, i really suffer from the very limited access to existing contents in Spotify due to Volumio/Libraspot not reading beyond entry number 50 (or so) in any list (it appears), meaning long playlists created in Spotify app show up truncated in Volumio/Libraspot, long album lists of very prolific artists do not show their earlier albums and so forth. While running and searching in parallel in the spotify app and carrying over e.g. album titles into volumio/libraspot somewhat mitigates that issue, the truncated personal original spotify playlists remain an issue hard to live with. Do you have any suggestion to that? Many thanks in advance and keep up the good work!!

BR, hb72

skikirkwood's picture
Submitted by skikirkwood on January 31, 2021 - 10:14am

Yes, the Spotify Web API returns a maximum of 50 objects per call. I never had the time to add pagination to the plug-in. Hopefully someone can pick up evolving the plug-in - that would be the first thing to do.

hb72's picture
Submitted by hb72 on January 31, 2021 - 10:55am

Thank you so much for prompt reply - would be really great to add pagination there

Tx

AaronGarrett's picture
Submitted by AaronGarrett on February 13, 2021 - 5:35am

I love Volumio. It's more clunky than Roon -- I'm also a lifetime Roon subscriber -- but due to the Spotify plugin you can access so much more music. And it sounds great, as good or better than Roon to my ears. I wish there was a Soundcloud plugin, but I understand that is a problem on Soundcloud's side. Thanks for your good work!

skikirkwood's picture
Submitted by skikirkwood on February 13, 2021 - 3:21pm

Hi Aaron, it turns out there is a new beta release of a Soundcloud plugin for Volumio. I just installed it and it works great!

It doesn't support authentication, so you can't log in. But just search for your username to see the playlists you've created.

https://community.volumio.org/t/plugin-soundcloud/43718

AaronGarrett's picture
Submitted by AaronGarrett on February 13, 2021 - 6:24pm

Fantastic! Thanks for the heads up!

jimtavegia's picture
Submitted by jimtavegia on January 30, 2021 - 11:50am

I always wait for your sound quality reviews as I have paid great attention to the changes and the improvements you have made in your systems over the years and when you are impressed with the stock DAC that is saying something.

alphorn's picture
Submitted by alphorn on February 3, 2021 - 2:34am

Thank you for your great review.

First of all I liked the analog output (stock DAC), too. It is excellent for the price. In absolute terms I found the performance to be "ok".

In my opinion the main strength of the Volumio is internet streaming (Qobuz, Tidal, ..). The quality of digital data seems to be very high. I came to the finding that the device does not implement fully effective jitter/noise reduction, though. Adding a inexpensive USB-converter like Audioquest jitterbug or - better - ifi ipurifier brought the data stream on a level of my Auralic Aries (first version) at least. That is great!

The only thing I do not like is the missing sleep/wake-up function respectively on/off knob. But given the price this is a minor concern, of course...

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