Originally, Volumio gained global recognition for its free and open source music player, designed for Linux and Raspberry PI platforms, which gradually expanded into a complete music control and multiroom solution for everyone that hates the convenience of ready-to-use solutions. But quickly the Florence-based company expanded its business model also to the world of dedicated hardware servers/players, while also providing its technology and expertise to other companies ion the hifi space.
The new Motivo (which means "meaning/reason" in Italian, Portuguese and Latin) is Volumio's attempt to go a step further and create an elegant, fully integrated solution that combines the experience of its software with the aesthetics, and physical connection of an hardware player that doesn't need an external smartphone or tablet for control. As Volumio describes in the announcement, "We believe Motivo is the ultimate music enjoyment machine."
The design is an all-in-one audio streamer, packed with the company's best analog reproduction technology and a digital bridge offering the best digital interfaces for today's streaming experiences. The Volumio Motivo also serves as a premium headphone amplifier for any type of headphones, with two dedicated outputs for high-impedance and low-impedance headphones. Effectively, the product was the result of Volumio's experience with a community-based approach.
"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."
Based on the received feedback - as an example, the decision to integrate a headphone amplifier emerged as a top requested feature - the Motivo combined all the features of a classic streamer and integrated DAC, with a screen that allows users who would like to use an iPad with Volumio dreamed of seeing. And of course, there's plenty of "complications" available on the software, such as a selection of different DAC filters for those who like to tweak the sound to the limit.
Internally, there's a power amplifier that can be connected to the stereo balanced (4V RMS) or unbalanced (2V RMS) analog output. The ESS Sabre DAC ES9038 supports sample rates up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD direct up to DSD256, and is paired with a circuit co-developed with Amanero Technologies, to generate the I2S and DSD signals and the USB bridge for an external DAC. Amanero uses a combination of hardware and firmware and performs the re-clocking of the I2S and DSD signals to achieve an even lower jitter, and Motivo also supports I2S/DSD over HDMI, which is the latest trend to connect "audiophile" DACs.
Inside Motivo there's a main linear regulator for the analog section, generating a clean 6V supply internally, while every sub-section of the analog section 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. The design also incorporates galvanic isolation, and separate PSU rails for each digital output, all using classic tried and tested components.
Even the Volumio OS was tweaked extensively to allow the combination of hardware and software to extract every bit of performance from the system. And that expands to the angled touchscreen display, which allows access to every feature and brings a tactile dimension to any music exploration. Volumio designed the Motivo to allow complete management of a music library with ease and convenience, including access to music streaming options from Qobuz, TIDAL or Spotify.
Volumio is also expecting that a Roon Ready certification will be confirmed, and further software features will be introduced, such as an AI-powered Supersearch feature, enabling users to ask Motivo for “A Playlist for a Party”, or “Artists similar to Killing Joke”. Motivo will also connect to any SONOS or Chromecast endpoint.
Volumio will demonstrate Motivo at the 2024 High End show in Munich, where we can expect to learn all remaining details regarding price and shipping dates.
www.volumio.com
