Volumio is about to take a bold step into new territory. After years of serving passionate audiophiles and high-end audio manufacturers with cutting-edge streaming technology, we’re proud to announce the next chapter in our journey:

Introducing Volumio Pro

Launching this fall, Volumio Pro is our new offering tailored for the Audio Pro business, a powerful, flexible streaming platform designed to meet the needs of commercial spaces, hospitality, retail, wellness, and beyond.

Volumio Pro brings together the best of our technology: seamless streaming, robust control systems, and premium audio performance with tools designed specifically for professional environments.

But there’s more.

Meet Volumio Soundcraft, Your AI-Powered Audio Curator

At the heart of Volumio Pro is Volumio Soundcraft, our proprietary AI-powered DJ and content curator based on our Corrd technology. Volumio Soundcraft doesn’t just shuffle songs—it crafts smart, context-aware audio programs based on:

• Mood and Ambience
• Time of Day
• Commercial Strategy
• Customer Flow and Activity
• User-Defined Playlists & Themes

Volumio Soundcraft is built to help businesses maximize engagement and tailor sonic experiences, with the ease of automation and the power of data.

The Volumio Soundcraft engine brings a revolutionary edge to professional audio environments with its AI-based DJ capabilities, delivering intelligently curated music through auto-generated playlists and programs powered by Corrd. Designed for seamless brand alignment, it fine-tunes music schedules to reflect your unique customer profile—adjusting the tone by the time of day, season, weather, or even shopping behaviour. Whether you’re managing a boutique retail space, a trendy café, or a luxury hotel chain, Soundcraft ensures a consistent, fashionable, and emotionally resonant sound atmosphere—customized by room, guest type, or location. It’s more than background music; it’s a smart soundtrack that speaks to your brand.

Volumio Soundcraft adapts to your audience, environment, and brand identity—seamlessly, stylishly, and smartly.

A Sneak Peek Is Coming

Get ready: we unveil the first images of the Volumio Pro device, including a close-up of its rear panel, packed with the professional-grade connectivity you expect.

Whether you’re a venue manager, retailer, or integrator, Volumio Pro is designed to seamlessly integrate into your AV system, offering rock-solid reliability and unmatched flexibility.

Key Features:

• Powered by Volumio OS: The trusted audio streaming platform, optimized for pro use
• Volumio Soundcraft AI Engine: Smart audio programming at your fingertips
• Multi-Zone & Remote Management: Control multiple spaces from a central dashboard and APIs
• Professional I/O: XLR, digital, analogue, and network connectivity
• Cloud Integration: Real-time updates, remote configuration, and analytics
• Commercial Licensing & Support: Built for business, backed by Volumio

Coming Fall 2025

Volumio Pro will officially launch this fall. With it, we’re not just entering a new market, we’re opening a new dimension in audio.

For more information, contact us.

Stay tuned for the reveal.
A new sound is coming.

The post Coming Soon: Volumio Pro, A New Audio Dimension for the Professional Market appeared first on Volumio.

There must be a meaning to all of it. There must be. This was the foundational question we started with when conceptualizing Motivo. Motivo means just that: “meaning” in Italian.

Enjoying music involves multiple senses, aesthetic conditions, physical connection and emotional communication. We wanted to embody all of that in what we believe is the ultimate music enjoyment machine.

Welcome to Volumio Motivo: the most versatile streamer yet

Motivo is:

• Your all-in-one audio streamer that fulfills your passion for music. We packed it with the best analog reproduction technology to deliver pristine sound quality as a streamer.
• Your digital bridge offering the best digital interfaces for your digital system, improving even more our award-winning digital streaming technology.
• Your premium headphone amplifier that delivers breathtaking sound quality no matter which headphone you want to pair it with.

All of that by leveraging the thing that all digital music lovers miss: a phisical connection to their music, thanks to a functionally distinctive design that allows touch interactions.

A Journey of Innovation and Community-Driven Design

The development of Motivo has been a  long journey of passion, setbacks and hard work. This is the product we took most time to develop, for various reasons. But luckily, we were not alone. Right after conceptualizing what Motivo should have been, we got our beloved community involved. Some of you might remember our “Voumio Motivo Co-creation” initiative: more than 600 people provided us feedbacks on what their ultimate listening machine should have.

Motivo was designed following these feedbacks. For instance, the decision to integrate a headphone amplifier emerged clearly as the top requested feature. And this is why we added a state-of-the-art headphone section to Motivo.

Excellence in Analog Sound

Motivo can be used as a classic streamer with an integrated DAC, a power amplifier can be connected to the stereo balanced (4V RMS) or unbalanced (2V RMS) analog output. The Sabre DAC ES9038 supports sample rates up to 384kHz/32bit and DSD direct up to DSD256.

We wanted Motivo to offer unmatched sound quality and functionality. For its analog section we wanted the high-performance ESS Sabre 9038 DAC and paired with a bespoke connection which we co-developed with Amanero Technologies. Every detail of this implementation has been tweaked to offer the best achievable performance: inside Motivo there is a main linear regulator for the analog section, the same regulator that it’s used in the high-end linear power supplies. With this particular architectural choice, there is no need to use a linear power supply to power the device, because the clean 6V supply voltage is generated internally. Every sub-section of the analog part is powered by a dedicated low-noise low-dropout regulator, connected in cascade with the 6V linear regulator, to achieve the cleanest supply and the lowest noise for each element.

On top of that, the I2S and DSD signals required to feed the DAC are generated with Amanero, another Italian technology extremely popular in the Audiophile world. Thanks to the close cooperation between Volumio and Amanero, a custom version of the USB bridge has been implemented. This customized version, a combination of hardware and firmware, performs the re-clocking of the I2S and DSD signals, to achieve an even lower jitter compared to the standard version of Amanero.

Volumio OS has been equally tweaked extensively to allow the combination of hardware and software to extract every bit of performance from the system.

This combination ensures that Motivo extracts the utmost quality from its analog outputs, making it a superior choice for streamers seeking audiophile-grade sound reproduction.

The definitive transport

Furthermore, Motivo excels as a transport. We incorporated an improved version of the digital section of our award winning Rivo transport, making it our best-performing digital-transport to date.

It incorporates advanced reclocking, galvanic isolation, and separate PSU rails for each digital output. The S/PDIF coaxial and optical digital outputs are generated by the WM8804 transceiver from Wolfson/Cirrus, connected directly to the I2S bus of the System-on-Module. The coaxial output has galvanic isolation, implemented with a high-bandwidth transformer from the Japanese company Murata. The external USB ports and the internal USB port required by Amanero are connected to a USB HUB from Microchip, with proprietary technology that reconstruct the USB digital signal for improved signal integrity.

Motivo also supports I2S/DSD over HDMI allowing it to be paired with the finest DACs out there. And it’s the only transport on the market that supports all I2S protocols and pinouts: simply select your DAC model from a dropdown and Motivo will configure its I2S transmission protocol to match your DAC requirement.

Dual Headphone Amplification: Designed for Audiophiles

Recognizing the diverse needs of headphone users, Motivo features a no-compromise headphone section. It includes the flagship class-AB TPA6120A2 amplifier from Texas Instruments. The headphone amplifier is connected differentially to the Sabre DAC ES9038, to minimize the common-mode noise.

The output stage of the headphone amplifier has been fine-tuned for high-impedance headphones and low-impedance headphones, with two dedicated outputs.

This setup ensures that every listener can experience music with clarity, depth, and precision, regardless of their headphone choice.

Ergonomic and Intuitive Design

Motivo’s design is both beautiful and functional. It’s more than just a showcase of beauty and style—it serves a dual purpose.

We wanted it to fit well atop of your main gear’s rack: its angled touchscreen display, reminiscent of top-loading CD players, offers intuitive interaction for the times you want to operate it via its touchscreen. Likewise, it’s the perfect companion for desktop Hi-Fi systems: use it as an integrated headphone setup or to drive active loudspeakers and access conveniently every feature easily with a fingertip.

The 8” multitouch IPS display brings a tactile dimension to your music exploration, allowing you to manage your music library with ease and convenience, for the times you don’t want to use a smartphone or a tablet to control it, no matter where you place it.

This thing of beauty is yet again a masterpiece from Tomas Ortiz Ferrer from Design Narratives and Jibbing. Together we have been recently won the IF Design Award for our product range.

Volumio at Its Best

We wanted Motivo to be the best possible Volumio experience yet. This is why Volumio OS has been tweaked extensively to maximize Motivo’s sound quality and usability.

Some notable features of the custom Volumio OS you will find on Motivo:

• DAC Filter selection: The Sabre 9038 offers 6 a selection of 6 digital filters to tweak slightly its sound features. Select the one that better fits your tastes.
• Selective standby function: you can decide Motivo’s standby behaviour. By default, Motivo will go into power-saving mode after 10 minutes of idling. You can configure this to your liking.
• Auto Power-On: in case of power outages, you can have Motivo to turn on automatically shall you want it to.
• HDMI I2S Mode: I2s over HDMI is a standard that each DAC manufacturer implements in a slightly different way. With Motivo you will be able to select the appropriate protocol for your DAC.
• Status LED and Display brightness: Tune the brightness of the 8” Display and the Status LED to your liking.

Motivo requires no additional subscriptions to enjoy the full goodies of Volumio Premium, as all premium features are already included. There’s little if nothing the Motivo can’t play, which puts it above many rivals – including more expensive ones. Native DSD support is included and makes the most of the format. Logging into Qobuz, TIDAL and Spotify is a breeze, and these are as easy to navigate as your own digital music library (if you have one).

Its lovely display makes it a joy to select and browse music – bringing up artist and album info, and giving you jump-off points to discover more. It’s easy to go down a musical rabbit hole, and if you like what you discover it’s simple to create playlists and add favourites.

And there’s more:

• Motivo supports all major streaming services: TIDAL, QOBUZ, Spotify, Radio Paradise, and all file types. ROON Ready certification is expected to land soon.
• With our AI-powered Supersearch, you can ask Motivo what you want to listen to, for example, “A Playlist for a Party”, “Artists similar to Tame Impala”, “Jazz with Female voices” , and it will create a playlist for you.
• Infinity Play: Hit the infinity symbol when you’re playing a track and Volumio will take you off on a musical tangent: your own personal radio station.
• CD Playback and Ripping: connect a USB CD Drive and you can listen and copy your CDs.
• Play to Sonos and Chromecast: want to listen to your soundbar in another room? With Motivo you can cast your music to any SONOS or Chromecast endpoint.

Our testament to musical bliss

What you will find with Motivo is more than great industrial design and cutting-edge music technology. It’s our love for music and our devotion to delivering the best music experience possible. Every Motivo, carefully assembled at Volumio HQ in downtown Florence, contains all our ingenuity, love, and passion.

We hope you will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it.

SHOP NOW

The post Introducing Motivo: our flagship Streamer, Transport and Headphone Amp appeared first on Volumio.

Over the past seven years we have committed to give music lovers the best audiophile experience in an innovative approach. Starting with the Volumio project, the music player software that gave life to our eponymous company and an incredible community, this aspired us to give more. A couple of years later, after a thorough research, our community support and long hours of hard work, we launched the music player and streamer, Primo. It was such a thrill introducing our first complete audiophile product!

But the most wonderful feeling was the great response we’ve received since. When we launched the Primo in 2018, it did not cross to our minds that in less than two years, we would receive the most prestigious award in the Hi-Fi Industry. Today, we are proud to announce Volumio Primo received the EISA Award for Best Digital Source Product 2020-2021! Dreams do come true, it’s a proven fact for us.

It all started as a hobby…

We believe that Volumio is the real proof that if you do something with passion and effort, you can accomplish anything. From deciding to go through an unusual path for the audiophile world and encountering many struggles since the beginning, Michelangelo Guarise, founder and creator of Volumio, described his thoughts after receiving the great news from EISA:

“When we started the Volumio project a couple of years ago, there were many people doubting us (sometimes even laughing at us) for creating something strange; a new principle of having a dedicated OS for low-powered devices. Regardless, we continued with the same approach of being totally different due to the following reasons: the Open Source aspect of it and subsequently, the involvement of the community in the design process. Later on, we tried to create something radical with the Primo, still embodying the philosophy of Volumio: sound quality, great usability and nothing more, wanting to steer away from the audiophile weasels that you can find in many devices. This achievement is truly special because it shows that our philosophy that was seen as absurd and not brilliant in the beginning, turned out to be a winning one. Moreover, it feels important because many people enjoy the Primo.” – Michelangelo Guarise, Founder and CEO of Volumio.

Volumio Primo can be controlled with any device.

Volumio Primo, an EISA award-winning product

In case you haven’t heard about them before, the EISA (Expert Imaging and Sound Association) has been around for over 35 years representing the biggest worldwide editorial collaboration of consumer electronics. Currently with 61 international experts magazines, every year they gather and select the best CE products to be honored with the prestigious EISA awards. And this year, Volumio Primo was chosen as one of the best products in the Hi-Fi industry, winning the Digital Source category award.

While focusing on the range of performances, the EISA Awards judges describe the award-winning Primo in these words:

“This unassuming-looking little black box is a highly affordable solution to all your digital streaming needs, for not only will it play music stored on home network devices, it also allows you to access a huge range of online music services. With simple operation via web browsers or apps, and an on-screen GUI delivered over HDMI, the Primo includes digital outputs to feed any DAC while also playing music via USB stores. Compatible with music formats all the way up to DSD, via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, this small wonder is the perfect way to start your streaming adventure.”

We could not have said it better, the set of capabilities that Primo offers is what captivates the audiophile audience and we are glad the EISA members could see and agree with us.

All goes back to the design philosophy, creating a music player and streamer devices that provides three main principles. Of course, the first one to mention must be sound quality, followed by universality and last but not least, practicality. These simple but essential elements are shown in the Primo streamer through various features, from the ability to play every music format and sources thanks to the Volumio OS, to the set of multiple input and output capabilities. A certainly tiny, but powerful device.

An achievement for many of us

One more last thing we want to say: THANK YOU!

This award is dedicated to ALL who were and are part of the Volumio journey. This award is for the Volumio Team, for every contributor, every users who gave us feedback, every user who is listening music now with the Primo, every member of our community who supported us throughout all these years, and last but not least, to the great partners and Hi-Fi companies that believed in the Volumio project and use our technology.

Are you ready to start your streaming adventure?  

Now let’s celebrate and continue to build a great Hi-Fi future! Cheers!

The post Volumio Primo wins EISA Award for Best “Digital Source” Product 2020-2021 appeared first on Volumio.