Is this the future of the next CD player

this may be the future but it is nothing new. SIMA came out with a similar unit a few years ago, albeit with a few less features.
i don't think msnbc or any other popular news site will accurately show us the future for technology products. check out tech oriented sites for that info...

The future of audio will come out of technical discussions?

Most of the revolutions in audio have been driven by one thing only, convenience.

The 78 was less convenient than the LP, which was less convenient than the musictape, less than the CD. Sound quality claims were usually just smoke-screen marketing claims to make people feel better about choosing the lazy option.

That is where computer-based music servers come in. But what has to be solved is acceptable means of music download and standards that make it all seemless for the lazy option to be marketable.

The Olive looks great.

Has anyone heard the new "Opus" model advertised on their website? This is the "audiophile" version at $3000, quite a jump from the about-$1000 pricing of previous models.

Also, does anyone know what the USB ports are used for? External DAC? External hard drives to expand storage? External HDs to backup the internals?

Thanks,

Eric

"Also, does anyone know what the USB ports are used for? External DAC? External hard drives to expand storage? External HDs to backup the internals?"

USB are for External HD or memory stick. You'd run an external DAC off it's digital outputs.

Hi Kana,

Can you tell me more about using USB-attached hard drives with the Olive?

Can I use this to expand the amount of music the device will store? Can I expand a device from 80gb to, say, 300 or 400gb just by adding an inexpensive external USB-attached drive?

Is there some way to backup the internal drive on the Olive?

Cordially,

Eric