Volumio Primo
Contents
We have already reviewed the Volumio Primo regularly the entire review can be found here. The Volumio Primo seems like a “simple little streamer” in a styled little box. Appearances are deceptive: the Primo is a very capable, musical streamer. With an insane upgrade path. This is also the reason we chose this streamer as a reference in this price range.
The sound
We immediately recognize the Primo sound when we press play. The Primo plays loose, playful … it grabs you immediately. Even with the standard power supply. To be honest, we were a little scared, because the standard power supply is just not that good. And the measurements (and playback) show and let you hear that immediately. But still: the character still holds up pretty well. And before we know it, we’re swinging along.
With the standard power supply, the Primo may not be the most “quiet” player. Nor the most detail-rich…. But the balance is very good. And it does have an incredibly smooth character, with a big and generous stereo image. And that makes for a high fun factor!
Measurements Volumio Primo
As with the other streamers without inputs, we can’t measure a whole lot. But what we see is that the standard power supply brings the performance down considerably. The noise is significantly lower when we connect the lab power supply. (And that also results in lower jitter!) This can also be seen in the noise on the lan connection. In short: invest in a better power supply if you go for the Primo
Specifications Volumio Primo
| Model and type | Volumio Primo |
| DAC Chip | ESS Sabre 9038Q2M |
| Outputs | XLR Single Ended, Coax |
| Digital In | USB, HDMI, LAN Wifi |
| Analog in | No |
| Own app | Yes, Volumio |
| Pre-amp | Yes, digital |
| Price | 799 |
Ifi Neo stream , the optical network connection generates more noise!!!! How is that possible?
The optical should disappear noise not introduce it? Why didn’t you try with a better power supply?
The power supply is the issue. And we test as-is. This is how you buy the streamer.
So the provided power x is for the neo stream only and the small usb ps causes all the problem?
Yes
Since the noise is generated in the eth to optical box shouldn’t be eliminated during the optical transfer to the streamer?
Apparently not… I measured multiple times…
So is it safe to assume that optical connection isn’t the holly grail for noise isolation? Or the measured noise might appear from another source?
I guess the implementation is just badly done… I never measured issues with other streamers.
In this instance the noise is probably injected in the signal before conversion to light. On the other end, the signal is simply converted back, including the noise.
No, optical isn’t a/the holy grail. If it would be, we all would use Toslink.
In case of this iFi streamer: just hook it up with a regular Ethernet cable, put a switch before it (one we tested adequate) and the result is good.
That…
Kind of ironic that an iFi product introduces noise with a supplied power supply, don’t you think?
Question, what are your settings for the dScope III? I typically use 100K input impedance, sample rate 192K, 32K FFT Prism-7 window and average over 8 samples. Your low end measurements look a little off. One thing you also have to remember is the VBUS/GND is tied to the internal supply and therefore you can get ground loops really easy when testing.
Thanks,
Gordon
Interesting test! Thank you. Going above 1000 eur by a coupld hundred the Eversolo Master version should do even better on the jitter front due to the femto clock and op amps. Would be interesting to measuer that one also.
We will test it as well