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Volumio Primo Plus

Versatile Streamer and DAC

[Italian Version Here]

Product: Volumio Primo Plus Streamer
Manufacturer: Volumio - Italy
Cost: €1200 (Currency conversion) - (YMMV)
Reviewer: Graeme Budd - TNT-Audio France
Reviewed: April, 2026

I admit that I was a late adopter of streaming preferring to stick with physical media until relatively recently, firstly using Deezer via my PC and phone and then a more integrated approach using Qobuz and the Audiophonics Evo Sabre DAC and Streamer running Volumio. Which as much by coincidence as by design brings us nicely to the subject of this article - the Volumio Primo Plus DAC/Streamer.

I guess a bit of background wouldn't go amiss. Volumio is a program that allows you to control pretty much all of your digital music sources via one interface (see our review here at TNT-Audio). It exists in basic (free) and paid versions - the basic is just that but if you're only running a NAS drive and in one room is perfectly adequate. The paid version adds integration for pretty much every streaming service (with the exception of Deezer who resolutely refuse to adopt the UPnP DLNA protocol that everyone else uses) plus multi-room capability and CD ripping possibilities.

Volumio can be loaded onto an old PC you have lying around (remember that laptop you bought for your mother in law that she never worked out how to get her email on without phoning you up) or onto a Raspberry Pi if you are of the DIY persuasion to create low cost DIY streaming solutions or they also make their own hardware complete with Volumio on board. And this brings us to the Primo Plus which is the new top of the range unit.
When our esteemed editor mentioned there was a review opportunity for a Volumio unit I jumped at it as I've been running Volumio for quite a while on the Raspberry Pi Evo Sabre DAC equipped Audiophonics unit and I:

a) wanted to see what a pre-built unit rather than an assembled DIY unit would bring to the party and
b) I had a Christmas party coming up and was intrigued by multi-room audio and
c) No 1 son has been badgering me to try multi-room for quite a while

So what we have for this review is a relatively small and sleek unit. It has volume and input selector controls on the front, a small dot matrix display and a small remote. Round the back there are RCA and XLR outputs and the habitual Toslink, coax and USB inputs along with an Ethernet port. Nothing unusual there but there's pretty much everything you're likely to need to integrate the unit into a system. It also gives access to the premium version of the software as part of the deal. You don't have to buy it as well. Which is pretty fair in my book.

Before starting you'll need a device to run the software - I run either a Samsung Galaxy Tab or Oppo A72 to get Volumio to talk to you. And subject to the caveat below I didn't run into any significant issues.

Once the software is installed the unit can be found on your network and you can connect your streaming accounts, find your NAS drives etc.
There's also a plethora of filter options, output levels for each output type, plugins (Soundcloud and even Youtube feature) and even the possibility to run the DAC without oversampling. Ah yes the DAC - it's a Sabre unit capable of running up to 384kHz allowing you to run any high res you wish. There's also SACD decoding for the three SACDs you bought in 2006.

On paper it's a fairly similar spec to the Audiophonics Evo Sabre I normally run. The DAC is the latest version from ESS but beyond that we're dealing with two similar units which makes for a fascinating head to head. DIY assembly vs Native hardware and from around €500 to €1200.

So is there a difference? Firstly the native unit boots up much faster. The whole start up procedure from off state is at least a minute faster. Now I know a lot of you don't turn things off but for the Eco conscious among you this is worth noting. Apart from that both units communicate well with the Volumio interface and can be controlled with ease.
They can also be linked to provide multi room audio (up to 6 units can be linked) and again this works pretty flawlessly - latency can be adjusted between rooms to ensure a seamless experience. My two units are at opposite end of the house so this isn't necessary but it's nice to know the feature exists. They'll also talk to Chromecast but I admit I didn't need to send sound to my TV so I didn't try this option.

The only gripe I have about the interface is that sometimes you have to click on the song above the one you want on the playlist. I'm not sure if this is Android related and it's not a regular occurrence but it is slightly annoying when it happens. But Volumio are pretty regular with updates when needed and they install easily so this isn't a deal breaker.

Listening

The Primo plus immediately impresses with a clean performance and I'd challenge anyone who doesn't own a really serious CD player not to be impressed but it's only compared to the Audiophonics that you realise what it does just that bit better. And that is to sound human. This isn't a day and night difference. The Audiophonics unit still works very well but compared to the Primo plus there's a bit of a sheen on the sound which makes it seem a bit detached.

The Primo dispenses with this sheen allowing you to get a better feel for the details in individual voices and instruments. I don't have a reason to say one is inherently more musical that the other but play Paul Simon's Under African Skies from Graceland and you'll see what I mean. The interplay between the two voices and their character is just more obvious and enjoyable and frankly just lets you get into the music.This obviously will depend on the resolution your system is capable of but even running with the new Fosi BT20A MAX and some Audio Note Ax Twos (so well below some of the other stuff I have in house) the difference is clearly audible.

The Primo made beautiful sense of Jon Hopkin's Light through the Veins. This is essentially an electronic track that loops over around seven minutes adding more layers as it goes. The Primo made the layers that bit more defined especially the strings. There was always something to catch your attention stopping this long track from becoming an endless mess of sameness (which you may feel it does if you play it in the car!) You can listen to the whole track of just pick a particular instrument - they're all there to be examined individually or enjoyed as an ensemble.

However the track that sticks in my mind the most though from listening is St Vincent's Masseduction. This is one of my favourite tracks to annoy boring people with at hifi shows. It's loud with a lot of bass, some distorted guitars and the wonderful Annie Clark with some typically provocative lyrics. The last time I played it at a show was on a large Kii Audio system at over 30 grand. I'm not going to say the Volumio/Fosi/AN UK combo at 4 grand was better but it was at least as enjoyable and probably did the important music stuff better. It also proved that a small system can successfully reproduce bass and distortion heavy music without losing composure. And the Primo plus has to be part of the rewards here - it manages to give the rest of the system something to work with at the right moment in time and space - what more should we ask of a source component?

Conclusion

The big question here is whether the Primo Plus is worth the extra over a DIY assembly unit? In pure performance it is - it's a better sounding unit that is a worthy addition to your listening space. As a primary unit I'd say go for it.

For multi room it makes sense to use it to control the rest of the system but I wouldn't necessarily get one for every room. There are simpler and cheaper Volumio units plus a plethora of DIY options for use as secondary units and I'm sure these would be adequate for the purpose. But the idea here was to create a top of the range unit and here Volumio have succeeded - and the versatility of their system to allow you to configure the install that you want how you want it.I have a feeling that if number 1 son has his way we're going to be heading down the full 6 unit multi room system sometime soon which should provide further fun with Volumio. Just need to decide whether it's going in before or after my twin 15 inch subwoofer project!

A comment from Michelangelo Guarise, CEO and founder of Volumio and Dario Murgia, Volumio HW lead, and Primo Plus designer

My love for music started very early, but one moment changed everything: when my mother gifted me a turntable. I still remember the first time I played a record and heard familiar tracks open up in a completely new way: more emotion, more detail, more depth. It taught me that great products do more than work well. They reveal what was already there, but not yet fully felt.

Around that time, I discovered TNT-Audio, an independent Hi-Fi and music publication, founded by Lucio Cadeddu and written by volunteer reviewers. What I always admired about TNT Audio is its spirit: sharing knowledge freely, helping people learn, and staying honest in a field where strong opinions, marketing language, and pseudoscience can easily take over. It helped shape not only my taste in audio, but also my values as a builder. Those values stayed with me when we built Volumio: share knowledge. Stay honest. Create real value. Let the product speak. Last week, TNT-Audio reviewed Primo Plus, a Volumio product. For me, this is a full circle moment. The platform that helped form my standards was now reviewing something our team envisioned, designed, and manufactured.

As founders, we build companies. But underneath that, we are often building from something much older: a belief, a lesson, a gesture, a person who changed our direction before we even understood it.
There are moments when your work speaks back to the ideas that shaped it. This is one of them.
Michelangelo Guarise

Jumping in here, because I share the very same feeling, being a TNT-Audio avid reader too, since very long time. When I got the news from Lucio Cadeddu that our Primo Plus was reviewed, and the outcome was very positive, I was super happy and I felt the same full circle feeling as well.
Dario Murgia

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© Copyright 2026 Graeme Budd - graeme@tnt-audio.com - www.tnt-audio.com

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