Digitalmeisters - Thoughts on Olive.....

Pubul57,
You're right. This will need to become more standardized and easier for this to take off ... and I believe it will. As an example, compare how easy it is to purchase and install an app on your smartphone these days with integrated app stores. Something like this used to be a royal pain.

I've given up trying to predict where the computer industry will go next and/or how fast it will get there. I just sit back and am amazed at the pace of progress. This area will be that way too. My interim solution was to buy the inexpensive but VERY good and versatile Logitech Touch. This allows me to experiment with how the music is delivered, different formats and, eventually, different DACs while I'm waiting for things to settle down.

The Touch has been a lot of fun. I particularly like Pandora through my main system. Even though it's not what we would consider hirez, it sounds pretty darn good and I've heard a lot of good music I wouldn't have heard otherwise.

It's a brave new world!

Re: software. For folks who have been at this a while, is the pursuit of hardware that can handle 24bit, higher sampling rates, worth it? Seems like the promises of higher-res music is nearing the end of its first decade and still hasn't gained a firm toehold. Do folks with a longer history feel like momentum is building and it is a matter of time for recordings, new & old, to be available in high-res glory? Or will we resort to recordings of obscure classical groups to hear the full potential of our purchases?

I already have a Squeezebox product and love it! The ability to listen to far-flung radio stations (KHUM to WXPN) plus Pandora & Slacker is awesome. But if streamed compressed audio is going to be it, no need to saddle myself with the hassles/maintenance of a RAID setup, hunting down cover art files, etc.

The Logitech Touch does seem like a good way to dip one'stoe in the water and internet radio is also an appealing possibility. I think there might be a very legitimate issue of how much it would cost to create hi-rez versions of all the music already available in Redbook, and I'm not sure we have much of an emerging audiophile culture to drive the demand for it by the masses accustomed to MP3 players. It is an interesting question on the prodcution side, and whether or not we need greater bandwidth [?] for providing fast downloads - like a minute for a typical album. I'm not even sure the download model makes sense over time - why take of the space, it does seem like a real time music stream, on demand is where this should be heading one day, ala Netflix. I would pay $10/month to have that kind of universal, wireless access. Though at my age, I am likely to be playing my 3000+ CDs for a long time, till the piolycarbonate starts breaking down....

That Logitech Squeeze Box Touch really does seem like a good first step to familiarize myself with the technology and jargon. I don't even own an iPod, so.....

That Logitech Squeeze Box Touch really does seem like a good first step to familiarize myself with the technology and jargon.

Agree completely. I went a little deeper since the only options at the time were Transporter or SB and I was having a major domestic issue w 1000 cds in the living room and only storage for about 850!!! I would read the primer at computeraudiophile.com and give the Touch a try. The SQ w my Modwright Transporter is outstanding but if you're not having any real issues w CDs and just want to see what's up, definitely get a Touch, which will play back 24/96 and maybe 24/192. And yes, the SQ w Pandora is surprisingly good.