I used Volumio on RPi for 5-6 years ago. It worked but it was unusable due to all the bugs in the distributuion/os. And the visual interface was bad, to put it simple. For the last year or so I’ve been reading about Volumio devices, Primo, Rivo etc and all the positive reviews and I wanted to test one. So I’ve got a Volumio Rivo Black Limited Edition. Bought it second hand. Powerd it up - nothing happens, just green light, never turning blue. After the factory reset via usb it turns on. Familiar interface (has any development been done in the last 5 years??) and familiar layout with library scan, UPnP, plugins etc. And now, a couple of days of using Rivo here is my summary:
PROS:
used as pure transport and as Roon endpoint the sound is exquisite!!! Really really good. Beats any other transport/streamer I’ve used. Cannot even find words to describe how good it sounds.
CONS:
everything else!! Bugs, bugs, bugs and… more bugs. Cannot find one single part of the software that I like. Not one.
Sorry for the honest opinion. But this is my experience.
I will keep it and use it as Roon endpoint. But will not even try to use the app or the built in functions because they are NOT working as they should. And here is a question: is it possible to install another software on Volumio Rivo? Anything else? And second question - since it’s probably not possible to install anything else and users of Volumio devices are doomed to use proprietary software as well - whan will I be able to upgrade OS im my rivo to Volumio 4? It’s on 3.9 something I think. And no, checking the available software upgrades does not give the possibility to upgrade to Volumio 4. I am thinking - SOMETHING of all the bad things in this generation of OS MUST be better in Volumio 4.
You need to elaborate on the bug part. I own a Rivo myself and it runs here 24/7 without issues.
If you list them @Volumio can address them or we can help you solve them.
Cannot browse Tidal or Spotify. Logged in both services, play via connect works (with frequent drop-outs) but services not visible in “music” menu and browsable in the app
Publishing ca 700 albums via minim server dlna. Volumio can see server but hangs when trying to list up and show all albums
Matrix x-spdif2 ddc - does not work with Rivo. Works with anything and everything else.
Have not even tried to let volumio scan my local library. It’s a huge library and volumio just gets stuck in the middle. And if I add new albums I need to do a new scan - stuck again.
You have a DAC which appears not to be supported by Linux. You haven’t responded to you’re earlier posting. Without a log we can’t help you.
Without a log when scanning fails we can’t help much. I have a library with +67000 tracks (3500 albums) on my NAS and have no issues. Most issues with a failing scans are due to broken tracks. But we need a log so we can investigate.
This is in the backlog of Volumio to resolve. Paginating is failing for some DNLA servers. If Minim serves it’s data in blocks (pages) it can go wrong. Seems that is happening.
Also for this issue we need logs. When you play tracks with the native Tidal integration and it breaks.
I understand that you need to logs in order to have any chance to understand the issue. But some of the issues are not possible to solve.
My ddc is recognised when attached to rivo via usb and when initial “first startup” is initiated. But will not act as an output device. And the reason for that is in the kernel implemented in volumio. Not possible to solve without changes in the kernel.
My library contains more than 10k albums. So yes, I know that it works with 3,5k.
Really shame that a piece of software in 2026 cannot handle dlna refresh in a correct way.
No, I cannot play/use tidal in Volumio directly, cannot even access these services in volumio, they do not show up in the music menu. But the spotify plugin and tidal are active in the background - I can play music through rivo with tidal connect and spotify connect. But both drop ut frequently so they are not usable.
And that’s why I’m gonna use this device only as roon endpoint.
Please understand we have no crystal balls, don’t do tarot’s and my magic wand is broken.
We need logs to support you with data, instead of assumptions. So you help us to help you.
On the Tidal part, this is a premium service that comes default enabled with the Rivo, so it seems something went wrong with the registration or factory reset.
Yes, I think so as well. Will do the factory reset once again, maybe it will initiate Tidal correctly this time.
I really think that’s a shame that a device with such huge potential and the ability to provide superb digital signal to a dac is not paired with a better software. I’ve had MANY streamer-solutions and nothing else can match Rivo when used as Roon endpoint. Nothing that costs 1k euro, anyway
If I were you, I’d focus on one issue at a time.
Save some logs, action the recommendations.
Once one issue is resolved, move onto the next.
I’ve been using Volumio (on R Pi) for about 8 years now, from time to time I’ve had issues. But the current (V4 and accompanying app) version is very usable and reliable. News on the forums indicates that V4 for the Volumio hardware is coming soon.
Yes, that’s probably the right way to go. Time consuming and causing irritation, but I am aware that some of the issues might be resolved. But I think that I will just continue using my Rivo as Roon endpoint and be happy with it. Really happy actually, it sounds extremely fine! Let’s see if V4 turns things around. Hopefully the new version will be rolled out to Rivo devices soon.
Glad the Rivo is performing well as a Roon endpoint. That is not a small thing - you said yourself nothing else in its class matches it in that role, so at minimum you have a device doing one job extremely well.
On the rest, I want to be straight with you, because I think it saves everyone time.
Several of the items you listed are solvable. Some may not be. We cannot tell which is which from descriptions alone, and that is not a formality - it is the actual constraint. A description tells us what you experienced. A log tells us what the device did. Those are different things, and only the second one is something we can act on.
Right now the thread has a lot of the first and none of the second. @Wheaten asked for logs. The request still stands. Nothing downstream of it can move until it is met.
So here is the practical path, and @pwstereo already pointed at it:
One issue at a time. Not five. One.
Generate a log at the moment that one issue occurs.
Post the link from http://<rivo_IP>/dev
We read it, we act on what it shows, we move to the next.
A couple of specifics so the effort is not wasted:
Tidal and Spotify not appearing in the music menu: Tidal ships default-enabled on Rivo as part of the included service. If it is not showing, that points to the registration or factory-reset path @Wheaten already raised, not to a browsing bug. A log captured right after a clean factory reset, while logged in, is what tells us where that broke.
The Matrix X-SPDIF2 DDC: you have stated this is a kernel-level limitation. That may be correct. But “recognised on first startup, not available as an output” is a specific, logged behaviour. If it is a kernel matter, the log shows it, and that is exactly the evidence that would justify raising it upstream. Without it there is nothing to raise.
On the time-consuming part - it is. We know. Every person answering you here is a volunteer spending their own evening on it. That is precisely why logs matter: they let us spend that time on your actual problem instead of on guesses about it. Assumptions are slow. Data is fast.
If you would rather keep the Rivo as a Roon endpoint and leave it there, that is a completely legitimate choice and no one will argue with it. But if you want any of the other items looked at, the door is open and the entry requirement has not changed: one issue, one log.
