You might fire it up and think, “Wait, it looks the same.” And you’d be right. We didn’t redesign the interface or move buttons around. What we did was rebuild the foundation.

Why This Matters

Think of Volumio 4 like replacing the engine in your favorite car. From the driver’s seat, everything feels familiar. But under the hood, we’ve swapped in something more powerful, more efficient, and ready to take you places the old engine simply couldn’t go.

We’ve moved to Debian Bookworm, which is the technical way of saying we’ve given Volumio a completely modern foundation. This isn’t just about what you’ll see today. It’s about what we can build tomorrow, and the year after that, and beyond.

A Huge Thanks to Our Community

This kind of work doesn’t happen alone. Andy, Marco, Pascal, Ash, Gé, Josh, and our entire inner circle of moderators and developers spent countless hours testing, troubleshooting, and pushing this forward. When you’re rebuilding something from the ground up while keeping it running, you need people who care as much about getting it right as we do. We couldn’t have done this without them.

The App Changes Everything

Here’s where things get exciting. Volumio 4 works hand in hand with our new Volumio app, which just landed on the app stores. This is the first step in our vision: one seamless ecosystem for music playback, everywhere, for every kind of digital music.

The new app doesn’t just look better. It’s fundamentally more resilient. We’ve built a new connection method that stays rock solid even when your network gets cranky. The onboarding is now straightforward instead of confusing. You’ll spend less time troubleshooting and more time listening.

What You’ll Actually Notice

Your CDs will play quietly now. Most USB drives used to make noise during playback. That’s fixed. Silent CD playback with the vast majority of drives out there.

Bluetooth that actually works well. We completely rewrote the Bluetooth stack. Lower latency, better compatibility, and we didn’t compromise on sound quality to get there. There’s also a new plugin that lets you send audio from Volumio to Bluetooth speakers, and your Bluetooth remotes will now work with Volumio.

Everything feels snappier. Browsing your library is smoother. Things respond faster. It’s one of those improvements that’s hard to quantify but impossible to miss once you experience it.

NVME storage support. So many of you asked for this. Read performance with NVME devices is dramatically better now.

Better handling of big libraries. We’re running the latest version of MPD, which means if you have thousands of albums, Volumio handles them more gracefully and reliably.

More DACs just work. We’ve expanded USB quirks support, so if your DAC supports direct DSD, Volumio will recognize it.

Security updates built in. We’re on the latest kernel, which means better security as the world around us keeps changing.

Touchscreen displays. If you want to connect an HDMI touchscreen panel, Volumio 4 has you covered with improved display management.

We Learned Our Lesson About Plugins

Let’s talk about something important. The Volumio 3 launch was a success in many ways, but we heard you loud and clear about one thing: plugins weren’t ready at launch like they were for Volumio 2. That hurt the experience for many of you, and we get it. Plugins aren’t just nice to have, they’re part of what makes Volumio yours.

We listened. We learned. And we made sure not to repeat that mistake.

All the plugins you love are available right now for Volumio 4. From day one. We didn’t want anyone sitting around waiting for their favorite functionality to come back.

But we didn’t stop there. We’ve also added new capabilities to Volumio 4 that open up possibilities for plugin developers. This means the plugins you already use can get better, and new plugins can do things that weren’t possible before.

How to Get It

Volumio 4 is available today for Raspberry Pi and PC platforms. If you have one of our Volumio products or something from our OEM partners, you can expect to see the update roll out in Q1 2026.

Two Things You Should Know

First, you can’t update over the air from Volumio 3 to Volumio 4. You’ll need to reflash. It’s not ideal, but with a change this fundamental, it was the only way to ensure everything works correctly.

Second, we had to make a difficult call. Raspberry Pi 1 and Raspberry Pi Zero are no longer supported. The necessary binaries simply aren’t available for these older boards. We know this affects some of you, and we didn’t make this decision lightly.

What Comes Next

Today is about giving Volumio a foundation that can support everything we want to build. The interface looks the same because we wished to this transition to feel seamless for you. But now, with Volumio 4 and the new app working together, we can start building the features and improvements that weren’t possible before.

We’ve spent a year on the foundation. Now comes the fun part.

Welcome to Volumio 4.

Download Volumio 4 and get the new app from your device’s app store. As always, if you run into any issues, our community is here to help.

The post Volumio 4 is Here: A Year in the Making, Built for What’s Next appeared first on Volumio.

Qobuz Connect enables users to stream music directly using Qobuz to control their compatible Hi-Fi devices without the need for third-party applications, while enjoying the full Qobuz experience, with incomparable sound quality.

Volumio is pleased to announce that its devices are now compatible with Qobuz Connect, offering seamless integration of this innovative technology for high-fidelity listening.

A simplified, enriched listening experience, true to the Qobuz DNA

With Qobuz Connect, users can seamlessly and intuitively:

• Control their music from the Qobuz application: No more juggling between different remote controls or applications; select the Hi-Fi device and control everything directly from Qobuz.
• Pick up where they left off: Seamlessly switch from one device to another without losing the thread of the music, from headphones to speakers, without interruption.
• A single application to manage everything: Control the desktop application using a mobile device and vice versa for a seamless listening experience.
• Access the complete Qobuz experience everywhere: No need to switch between apps; enjoy unique editorial in the magazine while listening to playlists curated by experts, all at the same time in the Qobuz app.
• Enjoy unrivaled sound quality: listen to music in high resolution on all devices.

Volumio has joined this dynamic by integrating Qobuz Connect into its devices

“The integration of Qobuz Connect in Volumio is a great addition that allows our users to enjoy Qobuz from its native interface while benefitting from the sound quality that Volumio can deliver natively. It was a pleasure to be involved in the launch of Qobuz Connect since day 1, and we’re happy that we delivered a much-requested feature to our users right at launch. Congratulations to the whole team at Qobuz not only for this great milestone, but also for how well they cooperated with partners like us and listened to the needs of their loyal user base.” Says Michelangelo, Volumio CEO

“Qobuz Connect is a feature that has been eagerly awaited by our subscribers. We are proud to offer the most complete Connect solution on the market today, combining high resolution, app synchronization, and remote control. Our priority has been to develop a simple, intuitive interface to facilitate the experience of all our listeners,” says Axel Destagnol, Chief Product Officer at Qobuz.

Qobuz Connect makes it easy to enjoy the Qobuz experience on all compatible devices. Simply launch the application, select a device, press play, and enjoy your music in high resolution.

Qobuz Connect is now available on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS applications. This feature has been developed in collaboration with StreamUnlimited Engineering, a technology partner to many premium audio brands, facilitating integration into existing and new products.

The post Volumio announces the compatibility of its Hi-Fi equipment with Qobuz Connect appeared first on Volumio.

Supersearch: The AI Search Where Music Meets Curiosity

Picture this: you’re in the mood for some tunes, and instead of a regular search, you can type in questions, just like you’re chatting with a buddy or a record store guru. It’s like having a musical oracle at your fingertips. You might be asking for the perfect summer disco dance tracks or craving some Italian funk to spice up your playlist. You could even ask for songs fit for a sunny Sunday. The results of the AI search might not hit the bullseye every time, but it’s all about the thrill of the hunt, discovering new music, and crafting playlists that resonate with you.

To unlock Supersearch head to the search bar and toggle the ordinary/Supersearch switch

And type something like: Rock from the 60s

Or, if you’re feeling like a smooth operator: Smooth Jazz from England

Or, ask for music similar to your favourite artist: Word Music like Manu Chao

Related Artists and Albums: The Rabbit Hole

Volumio knows that there’s great joy in falling down the rabbit hole of musical discovery. So, we’ve added a feature that presents you with related artists and albums as you browse. It’s like exploring a never-ending maze of music. And the best part? If those related artists or albums are hiding in your library, streaming, or local, Volumio’s Supersearch will be able to access them. The related artists appear in the album or artist page with related suggestions

To see related artists or albums select an Artist or Album, if they are in your library (again streaming or local) you can directly browse them and Volumio will suggest related albums or artists below the album or artist description.

Need more than just sticky fingers?

Or want more Amy?

Infinity Playback: Where the Music Never Sleeps

Or, from your queue view:

Tweaking the Stage: A Sleek, Optimized Experience

At Volumio, we haven’t stopped revolutionizing your music discovery. So, We’ve taken it a step further by giving the artist and album presentations a subtle yet noticeable makeover. The result? A less cluttered and more refined interface that allows the music to shine through. Navigating through your cherished artists and albums becomes effortless, optimizing your visual experience.

Try Volumio AI and make the switch to premium!

If you’re already enjoying our free version of Volumio and don’t want to miss out on Volumio AI, upgrading to Volumio Premium is all you need to do. Simply log in to your myVolumio account, go to your account profile, select “Upgrade Plan”, and click to Upgrade Plan below the Premium account panel. And remember: new users have the chance to try Volumio Premium for free for 14 days!

New to Volumio? Don’t worry, you can get started in less than 10 minutes!

The post Volumio Introduces Supersearch: Music Discovery with AI Search Technology appeared first on Volumio.