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Digitalmeisters - Thoughts on Olive.....

Just starting to think about using a music server. I don't want to use a laptop, but a dedicated music server. What is the experience out there with the gear from Olive products across the line. Will I need an external DAC for the type of quality I am use to (most recently I've been using Accustic Arts and EMM Labs). What are the alternatives that function similarly in terms of storage, interface, and DAC. I am a complete novice to this music server approach, so I just want to learn as I start getting my mind around the whole new approach (relatively new) to digital playback.
pubul57
wildoats
339 posts
 
When someone makes a server for a decent price, easy for even dummies to use, and has sound that doesn't degrade the original disc / file quality after burning / download with compatibility to high rez downloads, they will corner the market. Sounds like no one has done it yet. So many hoops to jump !
hud
2 posts
 
Struggling with these issues. Tried to start another thread (Primer request) asking the following question with no success. Good info here. Is there a single voice which compares/contrasts the various approaches - Linn DS vs Sooloos vs Sonos vs Squeezebox vs Olive vs Bryson vs PS Audio vs ...? A true apples-to-apples comparison?
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
Nonpoint -

Pkubica said it far better than I could have. Other than his reasons, wireless isn't perfect - there's dropouts, lag, noise from it, etc.

The best I've heard is thumb drives connected to DACs that can play them directly, or through a player than accepts them. Naim's DAC sounded far better tis way than any other way, yet the inputs were all bit perfect. One or two others were the same way, but I can't recall what they were.

I have not heard the Bryston BDP-1, so I can't say this is the case with it. I'd be very surprised if it were not though.
nonpoint
5 posts
 
I just cannot get over how much it costs to get a high level of performance (converting computer data to digital music). However, I assume the R&D and manufacturing can not be cheap when you are dealing with smaller audio firms.

Thanks.
djohnson54
396 posts
 
Do you need any special kind of software to do this? Perhaps my questions are so basic that I am going to have research the rudiments here.

There are plenty of free programs out there to do this. EAC is a very popular one that tries to correct for read errors and make sure you get a good rip. However, I just purchased a copy of dbPoweramp ($38). It has multiple methods for ensuring a good rip but the thing that sold me was the fact that it gets metadata from up to 5 different databases and compares the information attempting to make sure it's accurate. There's a lot of crap in the metadata databases and making sure you have accurate and correctly spelled song titles/artist/album name is a HUGE investment in time.
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