Home Review Volumio Rivo streaming bridge – Ultimate Upgrade Path!

Review Volumio Rivo streaming bridge – Ultimate Upgrade Path!

16

Pros

  • Sounds remarkably well
  • Clear upgrade path
  • Nice software
  • Roon compatible

Cons

  • SPDIF output is a bit lacking
  • Provided power supply should be better

Price: € 989

Build quality
Usability
Sound
Price
Volumio Rivo

Measurements and Conclusion

Contents

Measurements

It is very interesting to see how the Rivo performs on the standard adapter and a linear power supply. We grabbed the well-known Sbooster in this case.

By default, the Rivo does not measure particularly well on the internal clock. We see 37.3ps on average with the standard power supply. If we attach the Sbooster, we see that it drops to 33.8 ps.

What is much more noticeable, however, is that the low freq modulation drops a lot: the spikes towards 30ps are completely gone. We see a maximum of 1.5 ps with the sbooster attached. In short: all low freq modulation disappears. The phase noise measurement failed in this case. We also noticed that the Wavecrest had some trouble to get a decent lock on this crystal. That gave some issues with the phase noise measurements, because it takes a while to get enough samples and calculate the noise.

Looking at the noise measurements, it is abundantly clear where the extra jitter comes from. While the standard power supply is quite stable; it does jitter. This is evident in all measurements. This noise works through everything and thus affects the sound as well.

Conclusion

The Rivo is an intriguing streamer. Volumio aims high by presenting itself in a segment of the market with some fierce competition, and where the number of prospective buyers is much smaller than the segment of the market where the Primo is present.

The Rivo is a device for HiFi lovers who own a good DAC with USB and/or AES connection. Which of those two connection option deliver the best quality is depending on the quality of the input in the DAC, we recommend to test both options if your DAC has both inputs. An upgrade of the power supply will upgrade the sound quality significantly, an option that is almost obligatory given the performance potential of the Rivo.

Type test
Single Test
Inputs
  • Digital USB
  • Streamer ethernet
  • Streamer wifi
  • Bluetooth
Outputs
  • Digital Coaxial
  • Digital AES
  • Digital USB
Product type
Streamer
Max samplingrate
768 kHz
Max bit depth
32 bit
Weight
2.5 Kg
Dimensions
  • Width: 34 cm
  • Depth: 21 cm
  • Height: 11 cm
Production country
Italy
Measurements
Power Stability RIVO power supply
Power Stability RIVO power supply
Rivo - LAN Noise - Stock VS Sbooster
Rivo - LAN Noise - Stock VS Sbooster
Rivo PSU vs Sbooster noise
Rivo PSU vs Sbooster noise
Rivo VS Sbooster PSU - Noise
Rivo VS Sbooster PSU - Noise
Volumio Rivo - overzicht - Stock PSU
Volumio Rivo - overzicht - Stock PSU
Volumio Rivo - overzicht - Sbooster PSU
Volumio Rivo - overzicht - Sbooster PSU
Volumio Rivo - Details - Stock PSU
Volumio Rivo - Details - Stock PSU
Volumio Rivo - Details - Sbooster PSU
Volumio Rivo - Details - Sbooster PSU

16 COMMENTS

  1. Martijn,

    Thank you for your exceptional and comprehensive review. I’m still considering the Rivo in this configuration over an Eversolo. Especially since I’m currently using Volumio for my current streamer. Not to mention would rather continue using a dedicated streamer for an upgrade.

    Semi unrelated, but wanted to ask if adding the switch made a considerable difference? I’m currently using an extender in client mode with Ethernet cable through a some DX engineering Ethernet filters then into my Okto dac 8 stereo. Was also wondering if a D-link DGS 105 would still offer a similar benefit. Thank you, and Happy Holidays 🙏🏼

  2. Martijn,

    Thank you for those exceptional and comprehensive review I’m still considering the Rivo in this configuration an Eversolo. Especially since I’m currently using Volumio for my current streamer. Not to mention would rather continue using a dedicated streamer for an upgrade.

    Semi unrelated, but wanted to ask if adding the switch made a considerable difference? I’m currently using an extender in client mode with Ethernet cable through a some DX engineering Ethernet filters then into my Okto dac 8 stereo. Was also wondering if a D-link DGS 105 would still offer a similar benefit. Thank you, and Happy Holidays 🙏🏼

    • You buy the Primo if you want to have a streamer with DAC and want to use its analogue outputs. You buy the Rivo if you have a DAC with AES or USB connection. These are two different use cases in two different price brackets, so any comparison is kind of futile.

      But if the budget is the hard limit, I’d pick the Primo with Dodo. Why? Because for the price of 1800 Euro’s you probably won’t find a 800 Euro DAC that sounds as good as that combination.

  3. Hoe goed de review ook geschreven is, het blijkt moeilijk om in te schatten of de streamer een meerwaarde betekent tov, in mijn geval, de interne streamer in mijn Bryston BDA3.14 DAC. In feite is dat een Raspberry PI (Pi=3,14). DAC en streamer zijn intern via I2S verbonden door de fabrikant zelf uiteraard. Die kent zijn product door en door. Zuiver obv de prijs is de Rivo gelijk of iets beter dan de Pi, hang je er een aparte voeding aan, dan zou hij beter moeten zijn.

    Bovendien hangt de Bryston aan een Audes ST1500DC, waardoor de kwaliteit ook weer (positief) wordt beïnvloed.