Olive Opus.. What do you think?

[TomDac]

Not that I'm getting one, but check this thing out....

http://www.olive.us/p_bin/?cid=01_07_opus

 

[Cherian]

I want one!!!!!

 

[Cherian]

Well maybe not Its $4,000.00 Think I can do better with a dell and a very good DAC.

 

[SugarMedia]

the specs look interesting. Too bad you can't audition one, yeah?

 

[Robin]

Looks Very Cool...

Not that I'm getting one, but check this thing out....

http://www.olive.us/p_bin/?cid=01_07_opus

Tom,

What kind of musical pre-amp would you recommend for use with the Olive / Opus for a dedicated music listening system?

 

[lugano]

Not that I'm getting one, but check this thing out....

For that price I'd rather buy a Mac mini ($600), 2 x 500 GB maxelerate HD's ($770), a Wavelength Brick USB DAC ($1750) and Apple's incoming iTV gadget ($300), total $ 3400 ....

 

[Spike]

Other options...

If you're looking at $3k+ (starting price) for the Opus, here are several other alternatives worth considering

If you're looking at the Opus vs the lesser Musica or Symphony for the DACs, then a serious contender would be the SlimDevice Transporter with the AKM DACs for $2k and run it off your network (assuming you're already set up). According to Alex Peychev, the digital guru behind APL HiFi, the AKM DACs are head-and-shoulder better than the current crop of Burr-Brown or Crystal Logic.

Now, if you are not that technical-minded, and just want a very musical source coming from a huge hard-disk server, the RWA Modded Olive can be had for around $1500. Yeah, I know that the Musica & Symphony come with puny hard-drives, but Vinnie Rossi of RWA confirmed that you can hook up an external hard-drive to the USB input and play from there.

I'm keeping my eye on the RWA Olive Symphony as an upgrade to my system around the Xmas time-frame

Spike

 

[Robin]

Transporter Direct To Amplifiers?

If you're looking at $3k+ (starting price) for the Opus, here are several other alternatives worth considering

If you're looking at the Opus vs the lesser Musica or Symphony for the DACs, then a serious contender would be the SlimDevice Transporter with the AKM DACs for $2k and run it off your network (assuming you're already set up). According to Alex Peychev, the digital guru behind APL HiFi, the AKM DACs are head-and-shoulder better than the current crop of Burr-Brown or Crystal Logic.

Now, if you are not that technical-minded, and just want a very musical source coming from a huge hard-disk server, the RWA Modded Olive can be had for around $1500. Yeah, I know that the Musica & Symphony come with puny hard-drives, but Vinnie Rossi of RWA confirmed that you can hook up an external hard-drive to the USB input and play from there.

I'm keeping my eye on the RWA Olive Symphony as an upgrade to my system around the Xmas time-frame

Spike

Spike,

Interesting device...
Is the Slim Device - Transporter have the ability to connect directly to and drive / control amplifers? Or does the Transporter require a pre-amp.? Or can it be connected either way?

 

[DrJRapp]

Let me say a few words about the Olive Opus. The Opus is nothing more than a Musica with a larger, noiser HD and different DAC chips that are installed by a upgrader for Olive. The Musica device itself is "jittery" as hell which doesn't make it an ideal candidate for an upgrade platform. I have a Musica which I play thru my Benchmark DAC1 which in itself has special reclocking to reduce jitter, yet it is unable to handle the Musica output and deliver what I call "quality" sound. Then again, my standards are high.

 

[Spike]

The Musica device itself is "jittery" as hell which doesn't make it an ideal candidate for an upgrade platform.

I disagree with this statement since the modifications will be done to reduce the jitter performance (as well as other aspects of the player). For example, the mods provided by Reference Audio Mods include, but not limited to:

1. Replacing AC power supply with battery driven unit.
2. Direct connect DAC output to output jack by removing ALL output op-amps.
3. Replacing stock oscillator with ultra-low jitter SuperClock.

Hmm, the modified Olive unit now sounds like a high-end music source to me

I have a Musica which I play thru my Benchmark DAC1 which in itself has special reclocking to reduce jitter, yet it is unable to handle the Musica output and deliver what I call "quality" sound. Then again, my standards are high.

The BenchMark DAC1 can only do so much with the signal coming from the "jittery" midfi Musica. It's what I'd call a band-aid to cover the jitter problem which should be solved correctly by upgrading to a better clock. Talking to the folks at Reference Audio Mods and Vinnie Rossi of RedWine Audio, they both converge on the same mods to take the Olive to a new level. It's kind of interesting to see both of the "upgrades" involve removing parts from the signal path rather than just component swapping.

Spike

 

[sleepysurf]

There have, indeed, been "issues" noted with the Olive Opus, and other models in that line. *THEORETICALLY* the Olive, Sonos, Squeezebox, or Roku type products *SHOULD* be able to deliver a pristine digital stream (with minimal jitter) to their native, or outboard, DAC. However, in reality, many of these products have faltered, due to poor engineering and/or software issues. Thus far, it seems the Slimdevices Squeezebox (and forthcoming Transporter) remain the "gold standard" for overall *AUDIOPHILE* performance. As all these manufacturers compete for market share, some have unfortunately taken shortcuts in their quest for profitability. I fear that "iPod mentality" will prevail, and quantity and convenience will reign over quality.

 

[DrJRapp]

I disagree with this statement since the modifications will be done to reduce the jitter performance (as well as other aspects of the player). For example, the mods provided by Reference Audio Mods include, but not limited to:

1. Replacing AC power supply with battery driven unit.
2. Direct connect DAC output to output jack by removing ALL output op-amps.
3. Replacing stock oscillator with ultra-low jitter SuperClock.

Hmm, the modified Olive unit now sounds like a high-end music source to me

Spike

The trouble is, after all that work is done, it still doesn't sound high end! None of those mods addresss the frequent dropouts or the compressed sound of the so called "lossless" storage. The unit also lacks low end ( or as some may say...sounds bright), midrange detail...what detail? My comments are not based on what other people say...but my own experience. My comparison is based on a/b against my 12yo Theta Data basic thru the same Bmark DAC1.

The Olive Opus doesn't contain any of your above modifications...just some new dacs and bigger HD...and it's $3400!

 

[Robin]

I found the Slim Device Web-site...

Spike,

Interesting device...
Is the Slim Device - Transporter have the ability to connect directly to and drive / control amplifiers? Or does the Transporter require a pre-amp.? Or can it be connected either way?

Spike,

Never mind I found the Slim Device Web-site in which I found the answer to my many questions.



http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_transporter.html



I really think this might be eventually a great third additional source piece to my future musical audio system. I even like the package deal of the Slim Device Transporter together with a SqueezBox for $2,000.

Thanks again for the recommendation Spike.