Some of you might have noticed a link in Volumio’s header called “Custom Solutions”. Some of you might have wondered what it is and why we decided to make it so prominent. Well, here’s your chance to have a behind the curtains overview of what it means and why we’re so proud of this.
Essentially, Volumio is not only your favorite Audiophile Music Player, but it’s a technology that we do license to many Hi-Fi companies around the world. The idea is simple: Volumio is the result of the development efforts of our beloved community and of the developers working for the Volumio company. As we are great fan of efficiency, we understood that to create a top-notch music player, we had to involve (both financially and on a co-design basis) the more stakeholders possible: the more ideas we put in it, the more development resources we put it it, the better.
So, what you, in fact, use every day has been funded thanks to all the Hi-Fi companies (there are more than 30, worldwide) that embraced Volumio technology and used them in their product. On the other hand, such companies receive a tailor-made, state of the art streaming software, enabling them to bring new products to the market. And the Volumio company not only provides the software per-se, but a range of services (consultancy on software and hardware, support, branding, fine-tuning of audio performances etc), effectively removing all the complications that software inherently brings.
This is essentially why Volumio OEM has become the choice of many audio manufacturers for their streamers solution, ensuring them a stable, feature-rich and proven platform. And why the OEM program allowed Volumio to grow as it is today.
Enough talking about Volumio, now let’s see a case where we can safely assume that the Volumio OEM tailored software, together with exquisite audio and design expertise produced a remarkable result.
The ORATORIO. Created by France-based brand LIEDSON is an integrated high-end streamer with CD playback and ripping ability built-in. It captivated us not only for its sonic performances, but as well its elegant design. With Volumio OEM Solution, we provided to the ORATORIO a customizable platform where users can manage the device, inheriting proven stability and performance of the Volumio OS, and customizing the looks and feel to provide a coherent package.
Desktop Version
Gilles Aguilera, designer and founder at LIEDSON, created the Oratorio’s OS when he first developed the product. Decided to go on a different path, he later on tested Volumio on the device, resulting in a new decision to incorporate instead a customized Volumio version for the Oratorio’s main OS. As Gilles explained to us, he chose Volumio because the system is “fluid, responsive with very good ergonomics”.
Mobile Version
The ORATORIO, more than high-end streamer, a philosophy
Gilles carefully designed and developed the ORATORIO based on its passion for art and audio. Being an awarded painter/sculptor since the age of 18, he was fond by Italian art and the artists surrounding it. In addition, audio was another passion recollected since he was young, creating his first audio server worked under Linux in 2005.
After all, a great product comes with great design. Two years ago, with the help of an Italian designer friend, Gilles developed the first visuals of the Oratorio. Gilles’ wife contributed as well with the first model, developing a modernized device with noble materials while keeping it user friendly with its plug and play convenience.
All products from LIEDSON are assemble by hand
The ORATORIO is built around an aluminum chassis machined in the mass for a weight of 16 kg, the sides and the bottom have a thickness of 10mm, and the front face is 150 mm x 30 mm it serves as housing for the reader CD which is totally trapped, reducing mechanical vibrations to naught.
The wooden part “the hood” is machined from a noble wood, from 30 years old drowned burl. It is machined to tenths of a millimeter on digital control, to receive the imprints of the internal components (transformers, PCB, capacitor) which are fixed on the bottom of the ORATORIO.
Our products are intended for a demanding clientele seeking custom-built equipment, free from all noise, and unparalleled reliability. – Gilles Aguilera
We can surely agree the ORATORIO provides the complete package. Elegancy, timeless design and universality.
Powerful integrated technology
With an extended expertise on high-end audio equipment, Gilles carefully chose these four main parameters the audio server needed to follow:
- No heating,
- Gold-plated printed circuits,
- High quality components such as resistors, capacitors and diodes and,
- Rigorous pairing of each component.
Two years of research was done before choosing what is now the core of the ORATORIO system, an integrated circuit from Texas Instrument, built on the specifications for LIEDSON. According to Gilles, “the advantage of this DAC is that it requires very little electronics to operate, and its biggest advantage is that it happens operational amplifier output, the signal is directly transmitted to matched and non-magnetic resistors from TAKMAN.”
We are extremely pleased with the result of such great collaboration with LIEDSON. Working with their team to build and develop an optimized platform for the ORATORIO, the outcome is a truly first-class product.