Olive 4HD

Fred

Well-Known Member
May 31, 2010
296
5
365
Covington, LA
Anyone have any experience with this music server? It's quite an interesting looking component and I have found a host of very positive reviews and comments about its sound quality and operational ease. I believe the transport is Teac made, so I assume that speaks well for its quality. Feedback would be nice though. At $2,500.00 it would represent a pretty steep blind buy.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
I don't have a ton to share other than saying we had one on loan for a few days in our showroom. It worked fine. We did not do any critical listening on it.

We returned the unit as like you noted, it is a tough sell against a PC configuration put together to do the same.
 

RBFC

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
5,158
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1,225
Albuquerque, NM
www.fightingconcepts.com
I've heard that music files stored in the Olives are not transportable to external storage devices. Apparently, the file format is such that it's not compatible with other storage/playback systems. If anyone has information to the contrary, I would certainly appreciate hearing it!

Lee
 

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
2,915
36
435
Mexico City
I've heard that music files stored in the Olives are not transportable to external storage devices. Apparently, the file format is such that it's not compatible with other storage/playback systems. If anyone has information to the contrary, I would certainly appreciate hearing it!

Lee

You are correct, you can add external drives but can not share ripped files, hence the propietary technology of the unit. Easier than going thru a Mac/PC server but at a price.
 

Wardsweb

Well-Known Member
May 8, 2010
411
62
935
66
San Antonio, TX
wardswebllc.com
What you get is ease of use. Place it anywhere and connect via 802.11n WiFi or Gigabit Ethernet. You send them some of your CD's and they will pre load it for you. Then you add more music by just putting in a CD that it will rip to the internal hardrive using proprietary encoding. This may in turn be backed up to an external drive, but the music will onlly work on the Olive. It does allow you to build play lists and burn these to CD's using the internal burner. There is also a free app that allows you to control the Olive from a iPhone, iTouch or iPad. It does 24/192 and upsamples non-HD material. While the onboard Burr-Brown DAC is good, for the best sound I would use an external DAC of the best quality you can afford.
 

Vincent Kars

WBF Technical Expert: Computer Audio
Jul 1, 2010
860
1
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The official policy seems to be if you want to get the music of the HD, you have to ask Olive.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19465665

The entire tread on AVS forums is a must read for everybody considering buying an Olive
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1091695

Most music servers are a small PC (often Linux) with a sound card but with the looks of conventional audio gear.
A silent PC combined with a high quality sound card or an outboard DAC will probably:
• equal or outperform most of these dedicated boxes in sound quality
• offers a better interface
• at a lower price.
http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/HD_players.html
 

Fred

Well-Known Member
May 31, 2010
296
5
365
Covington, LA
The official policy seems to be if you want to get the music of the HD, you have to ask Olive.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19465665

The entire tread on AVS forums is a must read for everybody considering buying an Olive
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1091695

Most music servers are a small PC (often Linux) with a sound card but with the looks of conventional audio gear.
A silent PC combined with a high quality sound card or an outboard DAC will probably:
• equal or outperform most of these dedicated boxes in sound quality
• offers a better interface
• at a lower price.
http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/HD_players.html

Thanks! I'm heading over now.
 

Phelonious Ponk

New Member
Jun 30, 2010
8,677
23
0
What you get is ease of use. Place it anywhere and connect via 802.11n WiFi or Gigabit Ethernet. You send them some of your CD's and they will pre load it for you. Then you add more music by just putting in a CD that it will rip to the internal hardrive using proprietary encoding. This may in turn be backed up to an external drive, but the music will onlly work on the Olive. It does allow you to build play lists and burn these to CD's using the internal burner. There is also a free app that allows you to control the Olive from a iPhone, iTouch or iPad. It does 24/192 and upsamples non-HD material. While the onboard Burr-Brown DAC is good, for the best sound I would use an external DAC of the best quality you can afford.

Where's the ease of use? Any PC or Mac can be set up to automatically rip any CD put into it and spit it back out when it's done. And for $2500 you could buy a Mac Mini, pay someone to rip your entire collection and still come out ahead. I don't get the attraction of "servers" when they make sense. When they rip everything to a proprietary format that cannot be played back on anything but that brand...I wouldn't touch that if it were $250. YMMV

Tim
 

Vincent Kars

WBF Technical Expert: Computer Audio
Jul 1, 2010
860
1
0
When they rip everything to a proprietary format that cannot be played back on anything but that brand

It is slightly different.
They do rip to ‘normal’ formats (otherwise they can’t use all the open source software).
But boxes like the Olive are not accessible over the network so you can’t access the data on the HD and the backup to an external HD is probably encrypted.

But you can’t access your very own music anyway
 

Phelonious Ponk

New Member
Jun 30, 2010
8,677
23
0
It is slightly different.
They do rip to ‘normal’ formats (otherwise they can’t use all the open source software).
But boxes like the Olive are not accessible over the network so you can’t access the data on the HD and the backup to an external HD is probably encrypted.

But you can’t access your very own music anyway

Is the end result the same? I couldn't back up, decide to switch to a PC and play the files from the hard drive on the PC? If that's the case, you'd have to be foolish or uninformed to stick your hand in that trap.

Tim
 

Wardsweb

Well-Known Member
May 8, 2010
411
62
935
66
San Antonio, TX
wardswebllc.com
Where's the ease of use? Any PC or Mac can be set up to automatically rip any CD put into it and spit it back out when it's done. And for $2500 you could buy a Mac Mini, pay someone to rip your entire collection and still come out ahead. I don't get the attraction of "servers" when they make sense. When they rip everything to a proprietary format that cannot be played back on anything but that brand...I wouldn't touch that if it were $250. YMMV

Tim

I was thinking more in terms of plug and play. That and there are guys that don't want a computer; guys that want a status piece, guys that are looking to drop $5-10 thousand on a new toy. To each his own. I've said very often, there are many roads to audio nirvana.
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
6,455
29
405
What you get is ease of use. Place it anywhere and connect via 802.11n WiFi or Gigabit Ethernet. You send them some of your CD's and they will pre load it for you. Then you add more music by just putting in a CD that it will rip to the internal hardrive using proprietary encoding. This may in turn be backed up to an external drive, but the music will onlly work on the Olive. It does allow you to build play lists and burn these to CD's using the internal burner. There is also a free app that allows you to control the Olive from a iPhone, iTouch or iPad. It does 24/192 and upsamples non-HD material. While the onboard Burr-Brown DAC is good, for the best sound I would use an external DAC of the best quality you can afford.

Where's the ease of use? Any PC or Mac can be set up to automatically rip any CD put into it and spit it back out when it's done. And for $2500 you could buy a Mac Mini, pay someone to rip your entire collection and still come out ahead. I don't get the attraction of "servers" when they make sense. When they rip everything to a proprietary format that cannot be played back on anything but that brand...I wouldn't touch that if it were $250. YMMV

Tim

This has to be one of the strangest marketing slant a product has ever come up with... This is clearly aimed at the uninformed and/or the clueless... I would qualify it a total nonsense... I entirely agree with PP on this. Vincent , you are too kind.. This product is to be avoided at any cost....
 

Wardsweb

Well-Known Member
May 8, 2010
411
62
935
66
San Antonio, TX
wardswebllc.com
This has to be one of the strangest marketing slant a product has ever come up with... This is clearly aimed at the uninformed and/or the clueless... I would qualify it a total nonsense... I entirely agree with PP on this. Vincent , you are too kind.. This product is to be avoided at any cost....

Did you check out all the severs on Vincent Kars' link: http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/HD_players.html

They all do the same thing with varying degrees of expense. If not for marketing, Bose could never sell anything.

FYI: I use a dedicated PC for my server.
 

Vincent Kars

WBF Technical Expert: Computer Audio
Jul 1, 2010
860
1
0
This is clearly aimed at the uninformed and/or the clueless.

Here you find the experiences of a guy who was indeed completely clueless at that time:)
(He learned a little over time)

Indeed this is the comfort game. You buy a box and plug it in and beside some minimal configuration that is all you have to do.
It looks like and behaves like a kind of advanced CD player.
Will appeal to people who detest computers.

Interfacing varies.
I detest those small screens.
But Sooloos is an example of how to do the interfacing right.

Same Sooloos is also a nice example of the price/performance ratio.
Their networked DAC is a Via Epia PC with a RME sound card.
Nothing wrong with the hardware but €3,600 is a steep price tag.
Likewise http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?4143-NAS-the-Meridian-way
$5,000 (excluding HDDs) for a NAS?

In general even using freeware, clueing all the components together is a long and expensive development. Probably explains the price tag better than the hardware.

The moment you say this so called ‘music servers’ are simply dedicated audio PC’s one indeed might wonder if they do have substantial benefits compared with a standard PC.

I do think a good GUI and mature media player software in the end gives you a better end user experience.
As sound quality of a standard PC leaves a lot to be desired for, you need an outboard DAC.
A good DAC doesn’t come cheap.

My limited experience (having owned a Hifidelio and from that time on use a PC + DAC) tells me that you are better off with a PC + DAC.
 

Fred

Well-Known Member
May 31, 2010
296
5
365
Covington, LA
The marketing of the product does strike me as Bosesque. I guess from a lifestyle point of view it might be suitable to some. For me there appear to be way too many reliability issues and the proprietary encoding of your music files make it a no-go. I'll stick with a stand alone transport with separate DAC.
 

Phelonious Ponk

New Member
Jun 30, 2010
8,677
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The marketing of the product does strike me as Bosesque.

It doesn't really strike me that way at all. We may not like the limited bandwidth limitations of some Bose products. We may disdain the way another's particular implementation of a bi-polar design smears the imaging. We may find many problems with Bose at a price too dear, but whether we like it or not, Bose are selling some substance -- a sound, an approach that, if nothing else, manages to fill big spaces with sound from small speakers.

Not my cup of tea, but not vapor.

This is utter vapor; it's worse than vapor -- $2500 offers no advantage over a $500 pc and a $500 DAC (and I'm probably being too kind). The PC/DAC probably has the advantage. And to make matters worse, you pay a premium for a liability: If this thing crashes, you're hosed. You cannot take the files created in it - even if they are backed up on an external hard drive - and use them anywhere else. You're locked in. Bose is an old trick -- create something a bit unique, if not superior, and price/position it as superior, very loudly and consistently. Do ti well enough and enough people will hear the difference, read they hype and put 2 + 2 together, hearing 5 -- different = superior. If that doesn't sound terribly familiar, we're not paying attention.

The Olive? This is selling snake oil that makes the hypochondriac genuinely sick. Thinking audiophiles should not validate them with an iota of tolerance.

Tim
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
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We may find many problems with Bose at a price too dear, but whether we like it or not, Bose are selling some substance -- a sound, an approach that, if nothing else, manages to fill big spaces with sound from small speakers.

I thought Frank was doing that with his magical HTIAB.

This is utter vapor; it's worse than vapor

I think you are being far too harsh. First of all, the term vapor is normally used to describe products that are being marketed that don’t really exist. The Olive is a real product that does exist and will appeal to a certain segment of the market.

The Olive? This is selling snake oil that makes the hypochondriac genuinely sick. Thinking audiophiles should not validate them with an iota of tolerance. Tim

Again you are being far too harsh. Snake oil implies you are buying a product that claims to do something and by its very design, it is incapable of doing so. The Olive works as designed and advertised. Because you don’t like it and have such strong feelings against it doesn’t mean that someone else won’t be delighted with it or that they don’t already have hundreds if not thousands of satisfied customers. Calling their product “vapor” and “snake oil” is bordering on libel.
 

Phelonious Ponk

New Member
Jun 30, 2010
8,677
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Mark, you're absolutely right, I misused both of those terms. The Olive is neither vapor nor snake oil, it is a legitimate, existing product, ready to be shipped to those people who can't see a dead end with their high beams on and have a spare $2500 sitting around they're just dying to spend it on a another box they don't quite understand.

Tim
 

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