New Volumio Rivo

[ol_mcdonald]

I’m currently streaming from my MacBook Pro via Audirvana usb to my Topping D90SE and while it sounds great Audirvana leaves me wanting more. I’m intrigued by the new Volumio Rivo, a standalone streamer that also allows me to use my current DAC and has an hdmi output and UI I can control with my TV remote, providing more convenience and ease of operation. I do have the Volumio remote on my iPad but it’s lacking features I normally have connected directly to Tidal for instance, aaaand Tidal has no remote, so there’s that.

It’s almost a grand and I have zero experience with Volumio so there’s a little hesitation, fear of the unknown, lol. They have had a release of some cosmetically flawed units at a €200 discount which is enticing but there is absolutely zero chatter about this thing, yet I am undeterred, just seems like a fit for me.

Any insight or experience with Volumio would be appreciated. I’m as Amir would say “an early adopter”! FWIW, I’m not interested in Bluesound Node or Roon, just sayin…TIA!!

 

[norcalscott]

I am not sure about the value proposition of the Rivo - It's basically made from a $95 Khadus SBPC, with some other input/output boards. Maybe worth 400 Euro but not much more than that in my opinion. I guess the issue is that Raspberry Pi's are still hard to get, but I believe that is a superior, and much less expensive solution. I've been running Volumio for a couple of years on a RasPi 4 and it works really well - I run it headless and just use the Volumio app as the "remote" from my phone and iPad. I am grandfathered in with their older premium program, it is about 3 Euros per month and is worth it to get Tidal connect. You are correct in that the availability to control Tidal is somewhat limited on the Volumio remote.

I don't mean to dissuade you from the Rivo, it just seems a bit expensive to me for what it is. I'd probably consider the WiiM Streamer
instead.

 

[MrOtto]

This is good, tested on ASR, good streamer and DAC

BOSS2 Player

BOSS2 Player

allo.com

 

[mikelangeloz]

Nice to read about Rivo here. I just came in to provide a few clarifications, hoping that they are useful. First, there's not much chatter about it since the official launch and release (with all bells and whistles) is due in September, and we just made a closed sale to our community and aficionados.

IMHO comparing Rivo (or any other ready-to-use product) with Raspberry PI has many caveats, and is usually not a fair exercise. Our goal, when we develop and release an audio product is to offer a level of sound quality much higher than a PI, and ready to play (no tinkering needed). Long story short, my take is: Rivo is a ready-to-play product, with its primary purpose of delivering the highest quality via its digital outputs, meant to be used by anyone independently of their IT skills.

In a nutshell, Rivo features:
- S/PDIF and AES/EBU with galvanic isolation and dedicated power filtering
- USB out (dedicated to DAC) with a dedicated HUB with high precision external clock and dedicated power filtering
- All hosted on a Carrier board which hosts a custom version of VIM3L designed to maximize the efficacy of ground planes and several filtering stages
- All the above in an antimagnetic case (designed by a Red Dot Winning design studio) and ready to play with all Volumio Premium features for life (no need for a subscription to use TIDAL, TIDAL Connect, QOBUZ and all premium features).

If you are interested to read about our design philosophy (and what kind of principles we follow when we design and deliver products) there's a writeup here:

Volumio Dev Team Weekly Diary

June 10, 2022 Yeah, it’s been a long time since I don’t write here. The reason is simple: we went through some really hectic months. Mainly because our focus has been on getting our new line of products ready. You might have heard about our 3 new products: Rivo, Primo v2 and Integro. We are...

community.volumio.org

So, all in all, to reply to your question: if you already have a good-sounding DAC and you want to pair it with an adequate streamer, Rivo is for you. And it will deliver a substantially better experience and SQ than PI, and in a nicer and tinker-free package.

Hope I provided interesting and useful insights and glad to reply to any questions

 

[norcalscott]

Nice to read about Rivo here. I just came in to provide a few clarifications, hoping that they are useful. First, there's not much chatter about it since the official launch and release (with all bells and whistles) is due in September, and we just made a closed sale to our community and aficionados.

IMHO comparing Rivo (or any other ready-to-use product) with Raspberry PI has many caveats, and is usually not a fair exercise. Our goal, when we develop and release an audio product is to offer a level of sound quality much higher than a PI, and ready to play (no tinkering needed). Long story short, my take is: Rivo is a ready-to-play product, with its primary purpose of delivering the highest quality via its digital outputs, meant to be used by anyone independently of their IT skills.

Thank you for posting here! Your point about this including the premium subscription to Volumio is an important additional value, and I agree that having a ready-to-go package without the need for Pi tinkering is going to appeal to many.

I hope that you will consider sending one of these to Amir for testing as it would be great to validate the quality.

 

[mikelangeloz]

I hope that you will consider sending one of these to Amir for testing as it would be great to validate the quality.

If Amir and this community is interested to put Rivo under test, I would be glad to provide one

 

[norcalscott]

If Amir and this community is interested to put Rivo under test, I would be glad to provide one

Tagging @amirm to make sure he sees this.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

IMHO comparing Rivo (or any other ready-to-use product) with Raspberry PI has many caveats, and is usually not a fair exercise. Our goal, when we develop and release an audio product is to offer a level of sound quality much higher than a PI

Um, ok. How, exactly?

 

[Phorize]

@mikelangeloz I can see some added value with this product, but the test linked below appears to drive a coach and horses through the claim of a ‘level of sound quality much higher than a PI’.

MEASUREMENTS: Intel i7 PC and Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Audio Streamer - XLR / RCA, Noise and Jitter. Do digital transports / streamers really make a difference? Do USB cables?

A blog for audiophiles about more objective topics. Measurements of audio gear. Reasonable, realistic, no snakeoil assessment of sound, and equipment.

archimago.blogspot.com

Am I missing something?

 

[JiiPee]

IMHO comparing Rivo (or any other ready-to-use product) with Raspberry PI has many caveats, and is usually not a fair exercise. Our goal, when we develop and release an audio product is to offer a level of sound quality much higher than a PI, and ready to play (no tinkering needed). Long story short, my take is: Rivo is a ready-to-play product, with its primary purpose of delivering the highest quality via its digital outputs, meant to be used by anyone independently of their IT skills.

Nicely packaged set, but as far as I can see, it sends exactly the same digital information to a DAC as a Raspberry Pi-based streamer, so where does the "substantially better sq " come from?

 

[Madeintooting]

Michealangelo.

Just want to say thank you for all the efforts you've put into the software over the years and hope you can do as well with the hardware.

You deserve to get something out of it.

 

[MisterOZ]

Michealangelo.

Just want to say thank you for all the efforts you've put into the software over the years and hope you can do as well with the hardware.

You deserve to get something out of it.

The same from me. Volumio is an absolutely great software, I use it since several years in many streamers (an ifi stream actually) and I was very happy to see Rivo and the other hardware in Munich. I already preordered a Rivo and I’m looking forward to receive it.

 

[ol_mcdonald]

Hope I provided interesting and useful insights and glad to reply to any questions

Thank you and indeed you have, I appreciate your input and clarifications.

No tinkering or subscription. Spot on. Now anxious to read Amir’s analysis.

Thanks again!

 

[MarnixM]

I already using the Primo in combination with the Topping D90SE and I'm very pleased with the result. Also anxious to see the testresults of Amir in particular in comparison with the Primo.

 

[ol_mcdonald]

I do have the Volumio remote on my iPad but it’s lacking features…..

EDIT: Audirvana remote.

 

[ol_mcdonald]

This is good, tested on ASR, good streamer and DAC

BOSS2 Player

BOSS2 Player

allo.com

Don’t need a DAC tho…

 

[ol_mcdonald]

I am not sure about the value proposition of the Rivo - It's basically made from a $95 Khadus SBPC, with some other input/output boards. Maybe worth 400 Euro but not much more than that in my opinion. I guess the issue is that Raspberry Pi's are still hard to get, but I believe that is a superior, and much less expensive solution. I've been running Volumio for a couple of years on a RasPi 4 and it works really well - I run it headless and just use the Volumio app as the "remote" from my phone and iPad. I am grandfathered in with their older premium program, it is about 3 Euros per month and is worth it to get Tidal connect. You are correct in that the availability to control Tidal is somewhat limited on the Volumio remote.

I don't mean to dissuade you from the Rivo, it just seems a bit expensive to me for what it is. I'd probably consider the WiiM Streamer
instead.

WiiM is a definite, hard pass.

 

[rarewolf]

The VOLUMIO RIVO appears to be a great solution for many situations. I’m looking for something similar but I also only need it to provide a PCM stream to my Topping DX3Pro+. I would consider a device that included a DAC, but I would want to bypass it.

It would replace my iPhone that presently connects my media server to my DX3P+ via a USB Midi cable. As of yet, I’m struggling to find a Midi cable (lightning to USB-B OTG) that will remain physically connected. I’d appreciate it if if someone has a suggestion for a better cable, but a permanent PCM streamer would be best.

Acceptable cost would be relative to my iPhone already providing a very adequate solution (if I could only find an adequate cable).

I will consider the Rivo if it’s not too expensive, but it is much more than I need…

… TIA

 

[MarnixM]

Rarewolf, I am using the combination Volumio Primo connected over USB to the Topping D90SE (so I don't use the Primo DAC). Very pleased with it and less expensive.

 

[ol_mcdonald]

The VOLUMIO RIVO appears to be a great solution for many situations. I’m looking for something similar but I also only need it to provide a PCM stream to my Topping DX3Pro+. I would consider a device that included a DAC, but I would want to bypass it.

It would replace my iPhone that presently connects my media server to my DX3P+ via a USB Midi cable. As of yet, I’m struggling to find a Midi cable (lightning to USB-B OTG) that will remain physically connected. I’d appreciate it if if someone has a suggestion for a better cable, but a permanent PCM streamer would be best.

Acceptable cost would be relative to my iPhone already providing a very adequate solution (if I could only find an adequate cable).

I will consider the Rivo if it’s not too expensive, but it is much more than I need…

… TIA

Check Apples website. I needed a lightning to USB, they had it, and delivered it in 1.5 hrs for $10 fee.