This is one of my favorite pieces of audio equipment — of all time. In 2006, after switching to playing ripped lossless WAV, FLAC, and AIFF files on a hard drive, there was no going back to my very good Metronome CD1 player. First, there’s the convenience of being able to wirelessly access my 400+ CDs from the Olive’s internal 250gb hard drive (HDD) using a browser and the Olive web app player like this:
But what really hooked me was the way the Olive Musica sounds. Their builtin DAC has a warm, dynamic, and nuanced sound. Likely this is due in equal parts to the noiseless hard drive and its well designed power supply.
The Olive Musica, also known as the Olive Symphony or Opus no.3, was Olive’s best and most successful audio device. Introduced in the mid-2000s, the wifi cards at the time supported only the 802.11G wireless standard and WEP security. Our modern N-based routers typically support legacy G-based devices on the 2.4Ghz band. In this case, I have found it easiest to hide the 2.4Ghz band since WEP doesn’t afford much security. This makes attaching the Olive to my LAN very easy, where router access is set up on one screen like this:
NOTE: You can avoid using wifi altogether if you are able to wire the Olive using one the Ethernet ports to a switch or directly to your router. I had to test after posting the ad since it had never been set up that way. It does work, and is very easy to accomplish on the Olive's Network settings screen.
As I mentioned, accessing the Olive’s music library of hundreds of ripped CDs is as simple as pointing a browser to the IP address you assign the Olive on your LAN. Here’s a closeup of what the Olive displays when started from the web app or accessed directly with the front panel jog wheel.
Although the builtin Apple CDROM drive allows ripping to the Olive’s internal HDD, I found it much easier to use software like the popular dBpoweramp to rip to external storage that serves as a backup for the Olive and also makes it easy to copy music over. For example, connect a portable USB drive to one of two ports on the Olive’s rear panel and use the jog wheel to import albums or songs. Of course you can still use the Olive’s CD player to spin disks, but once you’ve heard music files served from a well engineered HDD-based server, you too will be pleased with the switch.
You can connect the Olive to your preamp or integrated amp through the analog gold-plated RCA jacks on the rear panel. But as a bonus, not found on later Olive music servers, you can optionally connect to your favorite DAC by using the Olive’s RCA or toslink S/PDIF digital outputs. This is the way I have always used my Olive music servers.
In summary, the Olive Musica when equipped with the standard 250gb HDD gives the music lover the ability to use a browser on a phone or tablet to play the equivalent of over 400 CDs (or 700+ for FLAC rips) without needing to handle CDs. The sonic quality of the builtin DAC is excellent itself possessing a warm, dynamic, nuanced sound but the device lets you add your favorite DAC to achieve the sound you prefer.
I have two Olive Musica music servers for sale! One in black and the other in silver. Both have the standard 250gb internal HDD. Includes the original very nice remote control and C7 power cord. Please note that Olive is out of business so the Internet radio function is no longer available. Loaded with music - you can delete if you like. As for condition, you may find a few marks on the top case but, everywhere else is in great condition. I do not have the original box. Manual is a PDF.
Review:
https://www.macworld.com/article/178840/musica-2.htmlManual online, but you will receive the original PDF:
https://fccid.io/TMJWMC/User-Manual/User-Manual-609321Price: $185, not including shipping and fees SOLD!
Note to buyers:PP fee and shipping are extra. My usual offer to share over 30 years of system building experience to help maximize your purchase, including access to component insights, system tips, and recommended tweaks applies. Looking forward to finding a good home for these two pieces of over achieving audio gear. Oldies but still goodies!
