The future of hi-fi? AI-powered Supersearch promises to curate the perfect playlist

AI-powered music discovery tool promises to curate the perfect playlist
(Image credit: Volumio)

Artificial intelligence is creeping into every area of our lives, and now it could be about to revolutionise music discovery. Open-source music player Volumio has introduced Volumio AI, which includes a feature called Supersearch. This uses AI – specifically ChatGPT, which has been making waves of late – to provide better recommendations and more accurate search results while allowing users to unlock new features like endless playlists.

If you've played with ChatGPT, you'll know how powerful it is. Supersearch works in much the same way; describe what you would like to hear and it will serve up relevant tracks. After some bangers for a kitchen disco, or a spot of relaxed folk for a chilled Sunday afternoon? Supersearch promises to fit the bill.

It has other skills too. As you browse, it will suggest related artists and albums, so you're never far away from a killer recommendation. If what it recommends is in your music library, or one of your streaming services like Tidal, Qobuz or Spotify, you can access it through Supersearch.

Infinity Playback will keep the party going forever with playlists that never end. Once you get to the end of your playback queue, it will automatically load new tracks in a similar vein for seamless continuation. Finally, there's a new interface that is supposedly more refined and less cluttered. 

Volumio AI with Supersearch is available with Volumio Music Player's paid tier, which costs £51.99 per year or £5.99 a month / $69.99 per year or $7.49 a month. It's accessible on Raspberry Pi, PC, or ASUS Tinkerboard platforms, or on Volumio's own Rivo, Primo or Integro digital music streamers.

MORE:

33 Spotify tips, tricks and features

Should you go with Apple instead? Check out our Apple Music review

Here's our rundown of the best music streaming services available right now

Joe Svetlik

Joe has been writing about tech for 17 years, first on staff at T3 magazine, then in a freelance capacity for Stuff, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Men's Health, GQ, The Mirror, Trusted Reviews, TechRadar and many more (including What Hi-Fi?). His specialities include all things mobile, headphones and speakers that he can't justifying spending money on.

  • mr_sneff
    I'm a long-term user of Volumio, it's a great OS for a Raspberry Pi based streamer, but so far I've been unimpressed with infinity playback. I played Small Car by Marvin Pontiac and the best AI could come up with was a series of songs with car in the title. More work required
    Reply
  • F8lee
    Recalling how ChatGPT generated an image of a black female Nazi officer and other ridiculous results thanks to poor "training", I hesitate to trust A.I. to give truly fair and appropriate results. Add to that the possibility that a bad actor could alter code to essentially eliminate certain kinds of sounds or bands or whatever from the results list and the user will never know, I am going to avoid this "convenient" tool at all costs.
    Reply