Digitalmeisters - Thoughts on Olive.....

You're right, there is going to be a LOT of dust in this area over the next year or two (at least). I think if I were going to get a stand-alone music server right now and didn't want it to be real fiddly, I would go to Sound Science and get one of theirs. I've never dealt with them but Neal seems to have a good reputation for knowing what he's doing, treating people right and selling very good products.
[/url]http://www.soundsciencecat.com/MusicVault.html[/url]

All this being said, I have a Logitech Touch right now and it's a lot of fun. I'm just waiting to see where everything heads. Many companies are getting into this area now in various forms (Bryston, Naim, etc.) so it should be fun!

That Music Vault stuff from Sound Science looks very interesting. Thanks.

If you just want to get started, and give things a try, a Sonos or something similar is not a bad place to start. You can get your CD's ripped to good quality digital files and enjoy them as well as Internet radio. The software interface is very good and if you eliminate some of the jitter, you have a system that does a reasonable job of CD quality (16/44) music.

A standard computer (Mac or PC) is another approach, but keep in mind that their audio output section is composed of about $.75 worth of parts and just because you feed trash into a $5000.00 Berkeley DAC doesn't mean that "Magic Happens". Sort of like putting lipstick on a pig. However, a system like Sound Science uses a high quality sound card ($600-$800) and is engineered for the best high resolution digital reproduction (24/192) and should be very good and worth the price.

Finally, if I wanted a high end digital player like an Olive, I would take a closer look at the new digital player from Bryston. They have taken an approach to the player that is very solid and well thought out. It also will do high resolution digital (24/192) and combined with their DAC should also be very good and worth the price.

Paul

thank you Paul.

The Bryston BDP-1 seems like an excellent piece of gear. I own a Bryston B60 and am a huge fan of their philosophy. The BDP-1 is expensive, but they followed a cost no object, sound quality over convenience approach. No wireless, no internal storage, etc. It simply plays digital files that you connect to it - ie thumb drive or hard drive.

What you could do is rip your CDs, save them to an external hard drive, then simply plug that into the BDP-1 and yoy're good to go. Well connect a DAC, then you're good to go.

Bryston is expensive, but more than worth their price IMO. They're a no-nonsense company that admirably stands behind everything they've ever built. I've dealt with them to upgrade my B60 and just some general questions. Great people. If it fits your budget and criteria, I highly recommend them.